Chapter 608: The Price Of Being Stubborn?
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Ling Lan and her team members were sent to the Middle Second Corps. The commander of the Middle Second Corps was elated when he heard that five ace mecha masters were sent to his corps. However, when he saw the mecha clan they were allocated to, his heart turned cold.
He sent a request to the headquarters of the 23rd Division and pleaded for the Lingtian Battle Team to be sent to any other mecha clan. But, his request was rejected. The headquarters replied that new battle teams are required to stay in their allocated mecha clan for at least a year before they could be moved somewhere else.
In the beginning, this rule was set to protect mecha clans. It was to prevent the higher authorities from pulling people out of the mecha clan just because they noticed that someone was powerful. It could also protect the recruits from being targeted and transferred to other mecha clans just because his faction was different.
However, the 250 Mecha Clan was a forsaken mecha clan. All the mecha operators inside were useless and had no ability to fight at all. No one wanted to stay there. The only benefit would be not having to go onto the battlefield.
But battlefield was where powerful people should go. There were many talented mecha operators in the Lingtian Battle Team. If they were sent to the 250 Mecha Clan, it would be the same as destroying them. The commander sighed. This was a crime!
Some people might be curious as to why the 250 Mecha Clan still existed. Why couldn’t they just retrench these mecha operators or get new positions for them?
Well, the Federation couldn’t retrench them. All these mecha operators had many outstanding achievements in the past. Some were even commended in front of the entire Federation.
However, heroes would grow old and die too. Due to certain reasons, these heroes became useless. They were not crippled. With the technology now, any form of disabilities could be cured.
They were mentally unstable. Some lost the courage to fight in the battlefield. Others would become maniacs once they operated a mecha and start killing people around them. There were even operators who got sick of mechas and felt that they would never be able to operate a mecha again.
They had no families. They dedicated their entire life to the Federation and only knew how to kill people. They didn’t know how to survive in a normal world and had no other skills. The Federation had to take care of them. If they didn’t, they would lose the faith of the soldiers who were fighting in the battlefields.
These people used to be supported by their original mecha clans. But, when the 23rd Division first formed, Ling Xiao had to request for more manpower from the other divisions. The other divisions took this chance to stuff these people into the 23rd Division.
By the time Ling Xiao noticed this, there was nothing he could do. However, he didn’t want to give up on them. He formed the 250 Mecha Clan and gathered all these people together. He hoped that they would relive their glory someday.
The 250 Mecha Clan was not in the list of mecha clans for recruits. But for some reason, this year, it appeared on the list and even got the most powerful recruits…
The commander of the Middle Second Corps felt an ache in his heart. He didn’t know if the recruits would be affected by those useless soldiers. Would they become useless as well and give up on themselves a year later? The commander had tears in his eyes when he sent the Lingtian Battle Team off.
The 250 Mecha Clan was not far away from the main base of the Middle Second Corps. Besides Ling Lan and her team members, there was only the driver left in the bus. The two captains were sad when they left the hover bus. They must have felt that if Ling Lan didn’t form her battle team, they would not be allocated to the 250 Mecha Clan.
The hover bus travelled for two more hours before reaching the base.
Everyone felt at ease when they saw the base. It looked very new. The main gate was bright and beautiful. The high walls surrounding the base showed that it was a highly protected base. With such facilities, the 250 Mecha Clan should not be a bad clan.
Ling Lan raised her eyebrows in surprise. She had prepared herself to see a dilapidated base but it was better than what she imagined.
However, her relief was destroyed the moment they landed.
There were no soldiers on duty outside the main gate. The driver of the hover bus was used to it. He honked his horn repeatedly to signal that they had arrived.
“So noisy.” A voice came from the sentry tower. A few moments later, a middle-aged soldier rubbed his eyes as he popped his head out of the window. He saw the hover bus. He yawned and stretched his body before slowly making his way over.
Ling Lan and her companions frowned when they saw the attire of the soldier. He was wearing a military uniform but he didn’t wear his military hat and military boots. He had a pair of slippers on his feet. The beam handgun that was supposed to be on every soldier on duty was not on his body too.
Ling Lan shook her head secretly. As expected, she shouldn’t have much hope for 250 Mecha Clan.
The soldier walked over with his eyes half closed. He didn’t ask them who they were. He immediately took the pa.s.s from the driver and scanned it with a device. Without reading the information on the device, he opened the gate. Then, he slowly returned to his sentry tower and continued sleeping.
Everyone from Lingtian was speechless. What kind of Mecha Clan was this? Was it so powerful that no one dared to attack it or was it too lousy to pose a threat to anyone?
Ling Lan tapped her index finger repeatedly on the handle of the chair she was sitting on. She had been too positive about 250 Mecha Clan. Its condition was worse than what she thought.
The hover bus entered the base once the gate opened. Ling Lan saw the rusty pieces of training equipment in the training dojo. The inside of the base was entirely different from its exterior. It seemed dead. There were no sounds of soldiers training or any signs of life.
Information about the 250 Mecha Clan appeared in Ling Lan’s mind.
250 Mecha Clan. It derived its name from there being 250 mecha operators in the mecha clan. They were the most powerful ace mecha masters in the entire Federation. However, for various reasons, all of them gave up on themselves. Some got their powers sealed.
A few of the mecha operators couldn’t even win against an advanced mecha operator. These ace mecha operators had no families and had no other skills beside in killing people and fighting in wars.
They were mentally unstable as well and would go crazy if they got stimulated. The military was unable to let them leave the army. They had many achievements before so the military couldn’t just abandon them too. Hence, these mecha operators were left in the base.
Now, the 23rd Division was responsible for these people. Ling Xiao didn’t know what to do with them so he just ignored them.
“This is troublesome…” Ling Lan didn’t think that her father would bring her battle team out of 250 Mecha Clan if she just waited and didn’t do anything for one year.
“Does he want me to solve this problem?” Ling Lan thought about it gloomily.
As expected of her father who liked to make her life difficult. Why must she help him to solve the problems he couldn’t solve? Ling Lan would complain to Lan Luofeng once she had the chance to. F**k.
“Maybe this is a challenge? This might be the price I have to pay for being stubborn.” She recalled how Ling Xiao easily agreed to give her two more years in the military. Thinking back, he must have started his plan then.
Her father is really sly and cunning. Ling Lan cursed her father in her heart.
Finally, they arrived at the dormitory district. The hover bus stopped and the soldier opened the door. He explained to them, “The accommodation area and the office area are just in front. Your commanding officer should be there too.”
Once Ling Lan and her team members got down, the hover bus left. It seemed as though there was a monster chasing after the bus.
“Looks like we are abandoned.” Han Jijyun smiled bitterly.
“I look 250 up Mecha Clan just now but found no information about it. News about 250 Mecha Clan has been restricted,” Li Lanfeng said calmly. He started searching for data about the 250 Mecha Clan when he noticed the weird expressions of the two captains. However, he didn’t have the authority to access the information.
“Only soldiers whose ranks are higher than a Lieutenant Colonel would be able to access the information. We don’t have the rights.” Ling Lan was not surprised.
Li Lanfeng looked at Ling Lan. Since Ling Lan knew what rank could access the information, it meant that she had found the relevant information already.
Ling Lan exchanged a glance with Li Lanfeng. She was happy to know that Li Lanfeng understood what she meant. She looked at her other team members and realized that Han Jijyun understood her too. Xie Yi and Lin Zhong-qing reacted slightly slower. Luo Lang and Qi Long, on the other hand, just looked at the people around them. They were used to throwing such complicated matters to their teammates to think about. This was not a good thing. Ling Lan decided that once they settled down in the Mecha Clan, she would find some time to train both of their thinking abilities.
Two people surprised Ling Lan with their performance. One of them was Gao Jinyun. He understood her words around the same time as Lin Zhong-qing and Xie Yi. The other person was Luo Chao. She was a timid and shy young girl. She reacted even faster than Gao Jinyun. Seems like her team members were slowly improving by themselves.
Ling Lan was gratified. She continued, “Although 250 Mecha Clan is known as the grave of mecha operators, I believe that there are powerful people hiding in this place. Everyone must be careful. Before we understand the situation here, control yourselves and not make any trouble.”
Ling Lan decided to point out Li Yingjie. “Li Yingjie, don’t look around. I am talking about you.”
The other team members laughed and looked back at Li Yingjie. Li Yingjie blushed in embarra.s.sment. He refuted, “I am not an idiot. I know what to do.”
“Remember your promise then. Don’t turn into an idiot,” Ling Lan replied calmly.
Everyone couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Li Yingjie glared at Ling Lan angrily with puffed up cheeks.
Ling Lan ignored Li Yingjie. She had warned him. If he still created trouble for himself, she would not help him.
“Boss, I found it.” Little Four showed Ling Lan the location of the regiment commander of the Middle Second Corps. Ling Lan didn’t see anyone when they came over to the meeting place so she asked Little Four to help her find the regiment commander. They must complete a mission given by the regiment commander before they were officially considered a part of 250 Mecha Clan.
Ling Lan brought her team members to the place where the regiment commander was at immediately after she got the location.
On an empty field at the back of the dormitory district, a middle-aged soldier laid on the gra.s.s. He had a bottle of alcohol in his hand and was drinking from it continuously. He seemed to be drunk.
Footsteps came towards him from afar. His eyes suddenly turned sharp and a cold glint flashed pa.s.sed it. However, in the next second, his eyes became unfocused again.
“Old Brother Liu, you are here again.” A pair of military boots appeared beside him. A gentle-looking and handsome 30 year old soldier smiled at him. His arrival caused the dead atmosphere to become lively again.
Old Brother Liu opened his half closed eyes and looked at the person that came, in a daze. After a minute, he seemed to regain his focus and said, “Ah… commander…!” He burped. The smell of alcohol filled up the air.
The person that came frowned. The frown only lasted for a second. After that, he persuaded the soldier on the ground, “Old Brother Liu, what happened last time was not your fault. How can you answer to your team members if you continue to be drunk like this?”