Crossing to the Future, it's Not Easy to Be a Man

By the time Qi Long shouted, the others had also noticed that the one who had silently snuck up behind them was none other than Ling Lan whom they had been waiting for. They all became restless with excitement.

The small smile on Ling Lan"s lips had disappeared without a trace at the moment Qi Long had turned around. Hearing Qi Long"s question, Ling Lan huffed coldly and said with a stern expression, "I had been sitting behind you all this whole time. You all were just so careless that you forgot to check your backs. If I were an a.s.sa.s.sin, none of you would have escaped."

She had thought that after going on an interplanetary adventure, they would have become more vigilant — but they were unexpectedly still rather careless, actually neglecting a spot which they should never neglect.

Facing Ling Lan"s stony visage, Qi Long and Luo Lang did not dare to put up any form of protest. They immediately bowed their heads and accepted the lecture, faces filled with embarra.s.sment and remorse.

Only Han Jijyun tried to explain, "Boss, you intentionally suppressed your aura. Even if we had been more careful, we still wouldn"t have been able to guard against you!"

Qi Long and Luo Lang nodded emphatically at Han Jijyun"s words. In fact, when they had first arrived, they had carefully observed their surroundings as well as the few travellers seated on those seats behind them. Finding that their auras were all exceedingly normal, nothing at all out of the ordinary, only then had they let down their guard.

"Even if you don"t sense any danger, you should not let down your guard completely," advised Ling Lan.

"Understood, Boss!" The five boys nodded respectfully. They knew that Ling Lan was only saying this for their sakes, otherwise he would not have personally set up this situation to teach them this lesson.

Ling Lan cast a satisfied glance over them and then said, "Since everyone"s here, let"s go to the registration point of the First Men"s Military Academy." That said, she began to move, but she had only taken a few steps when Xie Yi spoke up from behind her, "Boss Lan, please wait a moment!"

Ling Lan turned with a quirked brow, "You have something to say?"

Xie Yi let out a deep breath, trying to ease his nerves, before saying, "Yes, I want to tell you, Boss Lan, the answer to that question you asked me three months ago."

Ling Lan folded her arms across her chest, lips tilted up slightly, tone interested as she said, "Oh?"

Ling Lan"s gaze caused Xie Yi"s heart to spasm, and the courage he had built up almost deflated. He clenched his fists tightly, silently cheering himself on.Don"t be nervous, you must spit it out. Whether you live or die all depends on today"s attempt!

He breathed in deeply once more and then said, "In the team, in terms of combat power, I am indeed no match for the leader or Luo Lang; in terms of strategy, I cannot compare againstour strategist1; in terms of attention to detail, I cannot beat Lin Zhong-qing ... but, I have a strength that no one else has. That is, my skin is thick enough, able to do things they might not be able to do ..."

That statement of "my skin is thick enough" caused the others to reveal expressions of shock. Was Xie Yi planning to use a "sticky-candy2strategy" to cling to Boss Lan until he could not take it anymore and chose to acknowledge him? They surrept.i.tiously wiped off the cold sweat pouring from their foreheads at the thought. Had they forgotten to tell Xie Yi that Boss Lan"s tolerance was beyond horrifying? This move was doomed to fail!

"Three years since joining the team, I have gotten to know the personalities of my other teammates. The leader and Luo Lang are focused on combat, and have no patience to interact much with others. The strategist is intelligent and good at planning, but this gives pressure to others, who won"t dare to approach the strategist easily, afraid they would be carelessly manipulated by the strategist ..." Xie Yi listed out his teammates" strengths one by one, and his gaze finally fell on Lin Zhong-qing, "Lin Zhong-qing is good with people, and he"s careful and observant — a lot of our intel was obtained by him from others, so this role would actually be really suitable for him as well. But, the support logistics for our team is a heavy duty, so he is also one of the busiest in the team ..."

Everything Xie Yi said was on point; Ling Lan nodded in acknowledgement of his logic. Seeing this, Xie Yi initially unsteady heart received a boost of encouragement, just as if he had been givena shot of heart tonic3.

With renewed courage, he raised his head abruptly, meeting Ling Lan"s gaze head on, and said confidently, "So, I am prepared to take on the role of external communications. The team needs a diplomatic personnel to moderate when cooperating with other teams. With my thick skin, letting me go and communicate with the other party would undoubtedly be the most appropriate option. No matter what kind of att.i.tude the other party has, I will be able to take it."

"It"s unexpected that you would actually find such a role for yourself. Don"t you think it"s a waste of your talent?" said Ling Lan coldly, eyes trained on Xie Yi, her gaze almost boring a hole right through him, "Qi Long has told me before that you are a fighter no weaker than Luo Lang. Don"t you want to be a main attacker of the team?"

Xie Yi chuckled dryly and said, "If there were only five of us in the team, without you, Boss Lan, around, perhaps I might be ambitious enough to try and fight for a primary attacker position, but ..." He shook his head, "the leader and Luo Lang will definitely not relinquish the two main attacker positions. And besides, for you, Boss Lan, your right and left arms should be the leader and Luo Lang whom you are most familiar with and have the best rapport with. This will undoubtedly be more acceptable for you. I am well aware that three years is not enough time for me to challenge them for their positions."

At this point of his explanation, Xie Yi"s gaze turned sharp. "Of course, in another three to five years, once I"ve become confident that my rapport with Boss Lan won"t lose to the two of them, I will fight for a change of role."

Back when Xie Yi had been contemplating the issue, he had considered a formation without Ling Lan, with Qi Long as the leader. In that formation, he indeed had a high chance of becoming a main attacker, but Xie Yi believed that, with Ling Lan"s capabilities, as long as the other"s injuries were fully recovered, getting into the First Men"s Military Academy was a sure thing. A year later, Ling Lan would definitely make a successful comeback and re-enrol into the First Men"s Military Academy. Thus, he needed to consider the situation a year later.

Xie Yi"s words touched Ling Lan. She had not expected that Xie Yi would include her in his considerations when coming up with his role in the team. If her father had not bungled up and caused her to be sent into the First Men"s Military Academy, she would have really felt guilty for Xie Yi"s struggles in coming up with this answer ...

Ling Lan peered intently at Xie Yi and then said, "I understand!" That said, she turned around and left, being the first to walk out of the great hall of platform number 9.

Xie Yi stood stunned, unsure what Ling Lan meant by that reply. Right then, Luo Lang nudged Xie Yi excitedly, scolding him teasingly, "Idiot! This means Boss has acknowledged you."

Luo Lang"s words caused Xie Yi to be overwhelmed with pleasant surprise. He really had Boss Lan"s acknowledgement now? That"s awesome! His suspended heart finally settled down after three months of worrying, and he actually felt his eyes grow damp. He couldn"t believe he was on the verge of crying — this was really too embarra.s.sing, really not what a grown man should be doing ...

Qi Long trailed Ling Lan closely; as he pa.s.sed by Xie Yi"s side, he patted his shoulder heavily in congratulation. Three years" time was enough for them to consider Xie Yi like a brother, so they had sincerely hoped that he would be able to get Boss Lan"s acknowledgement. Otherwise, it would have been a terrible shame even for them.

Following right behind Qi Long, Han Jijyun nodded at Xie Yi. Although his expression was just as austere as ever, his eyes could not hide his happiness and well wishes for Xie Yi.

When Lin Zhong-qing pa.s.sed by Xie Yi"s side, he laughed softly and said, "Xie Yi, congratulations." Lin Zhong-qing had also gone through Ling Lan"s evaluation, so he really understood Xie Yi"s feelings at this moment. That year, when he had earned his acknowledgement, he had been equally moved beyond composure — because this meant that he had truly become a member of the team, no longer at risk of being a pa.s.sing guest ...

Right at the end was Luo Lang. He smiled gently at Xie Yi, lovely as peach blossoms, his eyes glimmering with emotion, leading others to become mesmerized against their will. However, Luo Lang"s following words instantly shattered this spell, "Idiot Xie Yi, why are you standing there stupidly? Not coming?"

Seeing Luo Lang"s diminishing figure, Xie Yi chuckled dryly as he hurried to keep up.

Xie Yi could not help but sigh internally. Their entrance into the First Men"s Military Academy definitely would not be calm and peaceful. Luo Lang was very likely to become their team"s ownHelen of Troy4... he could almost imagine it — in the military academy, him having to constantly run around handling all kinds of "diplomatic incidents" caused by Luo Lang ...

"If Boss Lan is around, he should be able to hold back those deviant and insincere fellows, right?"Thinking this way, Xie Yi began to fret over how he would live through that one year at the military academy without Ling Lan there to hold down the fort.

"I hope I"m just worrying over nothing!"Xie Yi could only think this way.

The six of them walked out of the platform. A cooling breeze swept by, and all of them felt refreshed. Although the s.p.a.ceport was a fully enclosed man-made s.p.a.ce, it simulated the natural environment on the planet, making people feel very comfortable.

The hover car stop was right outside the platform; they arrived at it after just a few steps. Meanwhile, by this time, Ling Lan"s backpack had already migrated onto Qi Long"s shoulders. As Ling Lan"s capable follower, how could he allow Boss to personally carry his own backpack?

Freed from her luggage, Ling Lan stuck both her hands into her pockets, a carefree expression on her face. Since her follower wanted to please her, she should give him a chance to perform. Besides, she also knew that Qi Long"s body, which was built like a bear, could even take on another500 to 600 catties5without any trouble, which was why she could just kick back and enjoy this treatment.

The hover cars of the s.p.a.ceport seemed to come one after another in a never-ending stream. The six of them swiftly managed to hail two hover cars and split up into two groups, and after keying in the district they needed to go to, the hover cars zoomed off towards their destination. The whole way there, all they could see were hover cars flying at different heights. They sped and weaved among one another at an unheard tempo, the scene much as if they had entered a rhythmic world of hover cars.

The First Men"s Military Academy"s registration point was at landing platform 99 of District-K. Once the hover cars of Ling Lan"s group entered District-K, the horde of hover cars in the sky was no longer visible, and the hover car closest to theirs had already moved to keep a kilometre away from them. It was clear to see that there were really very few people coming into District-K — this proved that the First Men"s Military Academy was really not easy to get into.

The hover car very quickly arrived on landing platform 99, and Ling Lan and the others disembarked. Right in front of the landing platform was a gateway — to enter, one needed to have a gate pa.s.s, and this gate pa.s.s was an acceptance letter from the school.

Seeing this, the expressions of Qi Long and the others dimmed and they stopped walking. They knew that the time for them to part with Ling Lan was about to come; their initial excitement was now taken over by the sadness of parting.

"Why did you stop?" Seeing her five companions stop almost simultaneously, expressions dejected, Ling Lan was snickering in her heart, but her face only revealed a vague puzzlement.

"Boss ..." Qi Long was the first to speak, but he did not know what else to say.