Chapter 1157 Part of the Lan family!
“What, Ling Xiao? The person who used his name to acquire merits and selfishly used his powers to promote his son to his current position? Fortunately, he failed even after putting in all that effort and his son became useless. It really makes me happy to know that.” Suddenly, a sharp voice echoed within everyone’s ears.
“What did you just say?” Li Yingjie was the first to turn livid. He walked up with an angry expression on his face and shouted.
The person, who spoke in an insulting way, was a 25-year-old young man. He had an expression of schadenfreude as he mocked Ling Xiao with a belittling gaze.
Ling Lan slowly turned around and a flash of killing intent went through her eyes. If she was the one being insulted, she would not care too much about it. However, her father, Ling Xiao, and her mother, Lan Luofeng, were the two people she didn’t allow anyone to insult. No matter who stepped over this line, Ling Lan would retaliate hundred-fold.
“Am I wrong? It’s only because he lied to the world, making them actually believe that he and his son were the saviors of the battle on Planet Haijiao. All bulls.h.i.+t if you ask me!” That young man spat on the ground with a smug gaze, it was as if he really believed that he was the only one in this world who was ‘woke’ enough to understand the truth about Ling Xiao. The man’s gaze and action infuriated Luo Lang and the others greatly.
“Ignorant b.a.s.t.a.r.d, speaking so absurdly.” Even Gu Dongyang, who usually could stay calm, was angered by this young man. Right as he was about to walk up and teach this ignorant fool a lesson, a white hand stopped him.
“If you dare to question General Ling Xiao, then you probably have a strong enough background. Who are you?” Ling Lan asked calmly.
“Heh, only elites could question Ling Xiao? I’m a proud citizen of the Federation. I ,of course, have the right to question any higher-up of the military,” said the young man proudly.
Ling Lan smirked and raised her eyebrows. “Just an average citizen?”
“That’s right. Citizens aren’t allowed to speak freely?” The young man stared Ling Lan down and had an unruly expression on his face.
Bang!
The young man was suddenly sent flying before landing on the ground with a heavy ‘thud’. The sudden commotion instantly attracted the attention of the visitors who were looking through the murals. They all gathered towards the commotion with surprised expressions on their faces. It should be known that fighting was prohibited near the Statue of Heroes.
“Yo-you dare to attack me?” The young man, who was laying sprawled on the ground, pointed at the shadow standing before him and shouted out loud. The left side of his face was swollen pig like a pig. In between his words, blood burst out from between his teeth which made him look somewhat pitiful.
Seeing the pitiful situation the young man was in, those who came towards the commotion had expressions of pity on their faces. Right as they were about to blame the person responsible for the act, they immediately stopped having the thought right away.
The person who did this was actually a beautiful girl. Despite her tomboyish look, her face made everyone else understand that this person was definitely a woman. If she wasn’t, they would poke their own eyes out.
Thus, the bystanders began to think about what had happened before the fight. In the end, they came to the conclusion that the young man had perverted thoughts after seeing the beautiful woman. He probably flirted with her and was beaten up badly instead.
Luo Lang blew on his fist and smiled radiantly. “What’s wrong with attacking you?”
“J-Just you wait.” The young man didn’t think that these scholarly-looking individuals were actually so barbaric. He immediately used his communicator to call for reinforcements. Ling Lan and company didn’t stop him from doing so as they wanted to know what person stood behind this young man who dared to be disrespectful towards General Ling Xiao.
Not long after, a few people came out of the Statue of Heroes. After seeing the young man laying on the floor pitifully, they were instantly surprised.
“Who did this?” One of the more muscular men shouted out angrily as he stared at those around them.
“I did.” Luo Lang raised his head proudly.
These newcomers fixed their surprised gaze towards Luo Lang. According to the way they were standing, Luo Lang was without a doubt the one who had attacked the young man. It was only because of Luo Lang’s face and physique that made them rule him out by a.s.sumption.
“Miss, I’m not sure what our family’s underling has done to upset you. However, isn’t taking such a severe method of handling such matters unreasonable?” The man leading the group looked at the young man on the floor who had half of his teeth gone. Despite knowing that it was quite possibly his underling’s fault, the amount of force used still made him angry inside.
“Who are you calling miss?” Luo Lang instantly exploded with anger after being referred to as a woman. He quickly stepped out and threw a punch.
Bang!
Two fish smashed into one another. The man who spoke couldn’t handle the force behind Luo Lang’s fist and moved back ten or so steps before managing to regain his balance. Luo Lang on the other hand took back his fist and snorted coldly. “So, you’re somewhat capable it seems. That was just a lesson. If you refer to me as a female again, then don’t blame me if I put in more force behind the next hit.”
Luo Lang’s words dumbfounded those around them. This little lady was a man? Was that true? Are they really going to poke their eyes out?
The muscular man’s expression changed. When he looked at Luo Lang once again, his expression was now much more alert. “I’m sorry for the mistake just now, friend.” He could only bow his head down because he was clearly in the wrong.
Luo Lang was satisfied with the reply. He flicked his sleeve and then began to answer the question that person had asked, “I beat him because he was insulting General Ling Xiao. I was already holding back. If not, making him lay in bed for a whole year would be the least of his worries.”
Luo Lang’s words widen everyone’s eyes. They looked at the young man, who was already taken into the group of people led by the muscular man, like he was an idiot.
Someone actually dared to insult their idol… Were they out of their mind?
The muscular man cried out internally. He knew best what type of person his underling was. He was always very unwilling to accept Ling Xiao and his son, and he would constantly mock them of fis.h.i.+ng for fame. Although he warned him to speak and act with caution, it still wasn’t very effective. He finally caused a scene.
“A’Jin, is that true?” The muscular man turned around and looked towards the young man who was beaten up. After averting the gaze of Luo Lang, he silently gave a look to the young man.
“Of course not.” The young man called A’Jin was clever and immediately changed his tone. “General Ling Xiao is our military’s role model. How could I disrespect him? You guys definitely heard it wrong or perhaps misunderstood.”
Seeing his underling react well, the frozen expression on the muscular man’s face loosened a bit. He turned towards Luo Lang and said gently, “This is a total misunderstanding. I can vouch A’Jin’s respect for General Ling Xiao. It is from the heart. He definitely wouldn’t say anything to insult the general. It’s possible you people heard him wrong or misunderstood him.”
“That’s right. However, you people beat me up without any reason. Shouldn’t you do something to rectify your mistake?” The young man, A’Jin, wasn’t willing to just take a beating like this. He actually made a remark and turned the situation against Luo Lang and the others.
After hearing that, the muscular man stared down his underling. However, what was said had already been said, forcing him to hold the wolf by its ears. He could only play along with his underling’s statement and said, “Indeed. My underling was beaten up without any reason. Shouldn’t you do something to apologize to him?”.
Those watching around them were now completely confused, and didn’t know who to believe. Logically, there was indeed no one who was stupid enough to insult General Ling Xiao. However, looking at the people from Luo Lang’s group, they were either calm, of n.o.ble status, happy-go-lucky, or beautiful. They didn’t seem like people who would randomly accuse someone of doing such a heinous act.
“I was so excited that I turned on a recording when I walked in the Statue of Heroes. How about we look at the audio and video of the recording to clear things up?” At that moment, Ling Lan, who was standing on the side, spoke out.
‘What? Audio and video?’ A’Jin’s expression changed instantly as panic showed in his eyes.
“Alright, I don’t want you to apologize anymore,” A’Jin shouted.
‘Oh’ Everyone’s face showed an expression of understanding the situation. A’Jin’s sudden change of heart made everyone realize that he definitely had insulted General Ling Xiao. They all looked at the young man’s group of people with glares, some were even death glares. They all seemed to want to go up and beat them up for doing such a thing.
The vengeful looks from everyone made A’Jin and the muscular man have disheveled expressions on their faces. The muscular man also ruthlessly glared at A’Jin then he smiled apologetically as he pretended to brush the matter as a minor thing. “I’m sorry. It seems that this underling of mine indeed made some poor remarks. However, please believe me that he didn’t do it on purpose. Can we just leave this matter be?”
Luo Lang received Ling Lan’s silent glance and walked up. He lifted up his beautiful little chin and spoke proudly, “You think you saying that it was not purpose would solve anything? You think you can just leave this matter be, and we’ll just let you go?”
“What do you want?” The muscular man instantly grimaced when he heard Luo Lang mocking his proposal.
“Well, since you dared to insult General Ling Xiao, you must be prepared to be taught a lesson by others. Thus, we’ll settle this matter through a battle.” Luo Lang instantly gave out this challenge.
“Heh, someone who’s halfway into the domain stage actually wants to challenge someone who’s only at the early-stage of Qi-Jin. Even if my underling was the one who wronged you, aren’t you being too over the top by forcing this challenge upon him?” asked the muscular man angrily.
“I’ll allow you to find someone to subst.i.tute this garbage of a human being,” Luo Lang looked at A’Jin with a look of disdain. Then, he said proudly, “How about that?”
“No, don’t do that.”
“That’s not fair for you.”
“Don’t be so naive.”
“You’ll fall into their trap.”
The bystanders instantly shouted out towards Luo Lang after hearing him giving the young man a way out of the situation.
However, everyone’s suggestions were completely useless. Luo Lang seemed to have already made his decision to determine a winner through a challenge in order to get back Ling Xiao’s reputation.
“If that’s the case, then I, Lan Rong, will accept the challenge in the stead of Lan Jin.” The muscular man responded coldly and stopped pretending to be polite when he saw the determined look on Luo Lang’s face.
After hearing the name ‘Lan Rong’, everyone at the scene had a change in expression. Their begrudging expression instantly vanished. Many of them slowly backed away and were prepared to leave the scene.
“Lan Rong, Lan Jin, all from the Lan family! Heh… I see,” Ling Lan smirked. The Lan family, who had been silent all this time, finally couldn’t hold themselves back and began to act on their own accord.
Ling Lan knew very well about the other parts of the family that her mother didn’t want her to know. With Little Four digging far into the all the data, it was impossible for Lan Luofeng to hide her secret.
She just wasn’t sure whether her father knew about this. Or perhaps he knew but pretended to not know in order to keep her mother happy?
“See you at the arena tomorrow.” Lan Rong accepted the challenge and left after saying those words. He led Lan Jin and the others out of the Hero Statue Museum.
“They’re from the Lan family. You guys should leave Planet General as soon as possible…” The bystanders who haven’t left breathed a sigh of relief while showing worry and concern. Those who were somewhat daring weakly gave them the suggestion of leaving. Then, they sighed and went their separate ways.
On Planet General, there might be a chance to right wrongs when offending others, but the offending the Lan family… Unless their luck was through the roof, no one would be able to save them, even if that person was General Ling Xiao.
It was because the top-ranked official in the military had the surname ‘Lan’. Plus, those from the Lan family battled in countless wars for the Federation, lost many of their brethren and almost got wiped off the face of the galaxy. Only three seeds remaining from the Lan family had escaped that fate. How could the Lan family not care and protect them? It was because of such actions that created this generation’s oddity, Lan Jin. However, it was still alright. Despite being a squandering pre-p.u.b.escent teenager, he never caused any big trouble.
The higher-ups of the military also treated them well because of their relation with the First Marshal and the merits of the Lan family which made the Lan family acquire a G.o.d-like status on Planet General. People were afraid to even slight them.
Gu Dongyang had a worried look on his face as he watched Lan Rong and the others leave. No one knew better than him of how terrifying the Lan family could be on Planet General. It could be said that the Lan family was nothing anywhere else, but on Planet General, the status of the Lan family was extremely special. Offending them was clearly not a good thing to do.
“Regiment Commander, do you think…” Gu Dongyang thought whether or not they should ask General Ling Xiao to make this known to the First Marshal to resolve this conflict.
“Don’t think too much. Even if we were to back off today, they would still come to us the next day,” Ling Lan said calmly.
After Ling Xiao and Ling Lan’s reputation went higher than the First Marshal, the Lan family stopped being silent. Unless the First Marshal made a move, the Lan family wouldn’t find any chance of causing Ling Xiao any trouble. Plus, her father wouldn’t give them any chance to trouble her mother. With this in mind, they could only find ways like this to trouble her.
Gu Dongyang and Xie Yi’s expressions showed they were in deep thought. Luo Lang saw Xie Yi was thinking carefully. He thought for a moment, then his eyes instantly entered a calm state.
“So those words were deliberately said for us to hear.” After the calm personality’s a.n.a.lysis, Luo Lang finally understood.
“That’s why, no matter if we had the original video of the incident, the challenge was going to happen either way. The difference was whether we brought it up or they brought it up,” continued Ling Lan.
“Giving us three days… the military planned this out perfectly.” Gu Dongyang felt the pressure and anxiousness from a brewing storm.
All the factions within the military were trying to push for chaos. This was exactly what they wanted, for the First Marshal’s faction to fight amongst themselves.
“It could still be the First Marshal’s doing… It’s just that I don’t know what that old fox is actually planning.” Ling Lan frowned. Even if her amazing father were to face the First Marshal, he would be afraid. She was not even worth mentioning because she was not perfectly skilled in dealing with politics. She was even more unsure of her success.