Chapter 603: armed melee challenge!

Translator: Henyee Translations  Editor: Henyee Translations

The captains standing at the side saw many recruits entering the Lingtian Battle Team. Most of the outstanding recruit entered the Lingtian Battle Team. They felt complicated.

Since Lingtian was a new battle team, they were able to take in as many people as their star level allowed. The staff member was shocked by the number of ace operators that entered the team so he didn’t realize that the maximum capacity of the Lingtian Battle Team was 50. If he noticed this, he would have realized the real star level of this battle team.

Ling Lan checked through her team members again and ascertained that she didn’t leave anyone out. The members of the Lingtian Battle Team would be able to stay together now.

Ling Lan finished everything and turned to look at the captains standing at the side. She raised her eyebrows and asked, “Did you all come here to reminisce about your past?”

Her cold voice woke everyone up from their thoughts. The captains finally remembered that they were here to find new bloods for their battle teams. Why were they distracted by Ling Lan?

The captains rushed to the recruits that they took a fancy on. Although Qi Long and his friends were taken, there was other people on their list.

The atrium became noisy instantly. Some of the recruits thought that they would be randomly allocated by the mainframe so when they received an invitation from a captain, they felt elated and grateful. They immediately accepted the invitation.

Shen Rufei knew that he lost. None of the people that he wanted would join his Mecha Clan. He was humiliated and embarrassed. There was no point in staying here anymore so he prepared to leave when no one noticed him.

Ling Lan saw Shen Rufei’s movement and a cold gaze shot from her eyes. Li Lanfeng noticed this and understood what she wanted. He rushed out and blocked Shen Rufei. “Senior Colonel Shen, don’t leave so quickly.”

“Major Li, what do you want?” Shen Rufei asked angrily.

Li Lanfeng waved the broken chair leg in his hand and smiled. “Have you forgotten what we said just now?”

Shen Rufei’s face changed. He remembered the armed melee challenge that Zhao Jun said. He rejected the challenge because Zhao Jun was not a member of Lingtian at that time. Now, Li Lanfeng must be finding him for the same thing.

Li Lanfeng’s action caught the attention of some Lingtian members. They realized that Shen Rufei wanted to leave so they all gathered around him.

Although Shen Rufei held a position that he didn’t have the capabilities of holding, he was still able to sit on it for all these years. This showed that he was a smart person. He looked at the situation and knew that he couldn’t avoid the armed melee challenge. He shouted decisively, “Li Lanfeng, I accept your challenge.”

Shen Rufei came alone. He had the option of choosing a 1 VS 1 battle. As compared to Zhao Jun and Qi Long who were at the late-stage of Qi-Jin, Shen Rufei felt that Li Lanfeng was much easier to deal with.

Shen Rufei knew that Li Lanfeng had a weak body. He was an ace operator when he entered the military but he was only able to sustain his prime state for only 10 minutes. This made him almost useless in a battle.

Hence, he was not chosen by many battle teams and became the first ace mecha master to be randomly allocated by the mainframe. Luckily, he was sent to the Mecha Clan in Zhao Jun’s battle team. Although they were on different battle teams but they were content to be able to live together.

After that, Zhao Jun started to get stronger and Li Lanfeng got famous as a strategist. They caught the attention of the Nameless Battle Team and became temporary members of Nameless.

Since Li Lanfeng was not known for his mecha operation skills, it further proved that his body was weak. Hence, his physical skills should not be good too. To Shen Rufei, Li Lanfeng was the best choice for him to have a one on one battle with. This was Shen Rufei’s plan.

The members of Lingtian were angry when they heard what Shen Rufei said. They felt that he was unscrupulous. Everyone knew that Li Lanfeng’s body was weak. It had caused him quite a lot of inconvenience.

Luo Lang rushed out. “There is no need for a senior like you to take part in a armed melee challenge. I can take part in the battle for you. Do you dare to fight me?” Luo Lang knew that because of his looks, the other party might allow him to take the place of Li Lanfeng. He looked as weak as Li Lanfeng.

Shen Rufei sneered. “Major Li was the one who invited me for the battle just now. Why are you being a coward now? It is shameless of you to ask other people to take your place.” Shen Rufei glanced at Luo Lang. He knew that Luo Lang was between the middle and late-stage of Qi-Jin. He would be crazy to accept his request.

Zhao Jun wanted to say something but Li Lanfeng stopped him. He smiled and said, “Since Senior Colonel Shen wants to fight with me so badly, I will not reject you.”

“Lanfeng!” Zhao Jun frowned. He disapproved of Li Lanfeng’s decision. Li Lanfeng was only at the peak of Refinement. He was not Shen Rufei’s match.

Li Lanfeng consoled Zhao Jun. He looked at Ling Lan. Ling Lan nodded at him. Her eyes were calm but Li Lanfeng felt a sense of trust coming from it.

Ling Lan believed him. Li Lanfeng clenched his fist. The nervousness in him disappeared. He felt warmth in his heart. The trust Ling Lan had towards him energized him. This was the best kind of friendship anyone could have.

Li Lanfeng looked at Shen Rufei and took a firm step out. An invisible pressure came from him and Shen Rufei took a step back instinctively.

When he realized what he did, he felt embarrassed. He shouted, “You have the courage. However, I will not go easy on you.”

Qi Long and the rest of the people were frustrated. There was no way Li Lanfeng would win. They wanted to stop him but they realized that they couldn’t move.

“Let him fight.” Ling Lan’s cold voice appeared beside everyone. Besides Li Lanfeng and Shen Rufei, everyone heard her voice.

They all looked towards her. Ling Lan nodded. Her cold voice sounded beside their ears again. “Clear 30 meters away from the center of the battle.”

“Yes!”

The members of Lingtian saw that Ling Lan agreed to let Li Lanfeng fight so they put down their worries and moved away from Li Lanfeng. They brought everyone out and gave Li Lanfeng and Shen Rufei room to battle.

Chapter 604: Concern?

Translator: Henyee Translations  Editor: Henyee Translations

The other captains finished recruiting their new members and realized the atmosphere in the atrium was tense. They saw the empty space in the middle and saw Li Lanfeng and Shen Rufei standing there. They got a shock and quickly asked the members of Lingtian about what was happening.

When they heard that Shen Rufei requested to battle Li Lanfeng to settle the feud between him and Lingtian, they felt that he was unscrupulous too. They didn’t know why Li Lanfeng accepted the challenge.

Shen Rufei saw the space that was cleared out for them. He raised his leg and kicked a metal chair beside him. The chair broke. He reached out and grabbed a broken chair leg.

Li Lanfeng held onto his broken chair leg tightly. They stood three meters apart and stared at each other.

The atrium was dead silent. Li Lanfeng and Shen Rufei didn’t move. They were looking for an opening in each other’s defense. Once they found it, they would attack it furiously.

A few minutes passed by. Shen Rufei couldn’t find any opening on Li Lanfeng. He thought that Li Lanfeng was just an easy opponent but it seemed like he might be wrong. He felt frustrated.

Li Lanfeng’s eyes lit up. He rushed out and aimed the broken chair leg at Shen Rufei’s head.

Shen Rufei narrowed his eyes. He raised his hand and blocked the attack.

“Bang!” A loud sound erupted as the two broken chair legs hit against each other. Sparks flew out from the impact.

The two people jumped back and slid for a few meters. They distanced themselves and started a staring competition again.

People with sharp eyes saw what had happened in that instant. When the two weapons collided, Shen Rufei raised his leg and tried to sneak an attack on Li Lanfeng. However, Li Lanfeng saw through his intention and blocked his sneak attack. The force produced from this action caused them to bounce back.

Shen Rufei’s heart dropped after this attack. He thought that he could dominate over his opponent but they were on par. In the database, Li Lanfeng’s physical skills were at the peak of Refinement while he was at Qi-Jin.

“You hide yourself well,” Shen Rufei gritted his teeth and said.

Li Lanfeng replied indifferently, “I didn’t hide it on purpose. I just forgot to update my information.” This was the truth.

For these three years, Li Lanfeng persisted in practicing the movements that Ling Lan taught him. When other people were eating, he was practicing. When other people were sleeping, he was still practicing. Everytime he practiced, he felt his bones resisting the changes and felt that they could break at any moment. He had to experience this pain a few times every day. Sometimes, he thought he would die from the pain.

Thinking back, Li Lanfeng was amazed that he managed to survive. He shivered slightly when he remembered back the pain.

However, it was a good thing that he persisted. This foundational actions required persistence. People who practiced it would only feel pain in their first year. In the second year, the pain would gradually lessen but there was no real improvements on his body. Many people would give up and feel that it was a waste of effort and time. However, Li Lanfeng continued on. He trusted Ling Lan. He felt that if there were no results, it meant that he was not practicing hard enough.

Li Lanfeng started to push himself harder. He would only stop after he was exhausted. Sometimes, he was so exhausted until he had no more energy to climb onto his bed. He would sleep on the floor of his dormitory.

After repeating this for months, Li Lanfeng finally felt the benefits. He managed to breakthrough and advanced to Qi-Jin. He had been stuck at the peak of Refinement for a long time so his foundations were strong. Thus, after half a year, Li Lanfeng continued smoothly into the middle-stage of Qi-Jin.

Just like what Li Lanfeng said, he was too busy with his missions and practices so didn’t have the time to go to the assessment department to update his information. Of course, he did have his own thoughts so he didn’t tell Zhao Jun and Li Shiyu about his improvement. He wanted Ling Lan to be the first person to know about this good news.

He wanted to show off his Qi-Jin skills in front of Ling Lan and tell him that he didn’t let him down.

However, Shen Rufei didn’t believe what Li Lanfeng said. When he saw how the rest of the Lingtian members were shocked at Li Lanfeng’s Qi-Jin level, he sneered. He had an idea. “This is weird. You are a good strategist but you can’t even believe in your own teammates…”

Shen Rufei’s words had a double meaning behind them. He was trying to tell the members of the Lingtian Battle Team that they trusted the wrong person.

But, his words were useless. The members of Lingtian were not affected by his words at all. They were stunned at Li Lanfeng’s level of physical skills but they were not unhappy with him. Li Lanfeng had left for three years. If he didn’t make any improvements in these three years, they would instead be worried for him.

The only people that could be affected would be Zhao Jun and Li Shiyu…

However, before they could react, Li Lanfeng smiled at them mysteriously and said, “If they really did care for me, they would know what my true level is.”

Li Lanfeng’s gaze made Zhao Jun uneasy. Was he saying that he didn’t care much about him? That was why he didn’t realize that Li Lanfeng was already at the Qi-Jin level.

He looked at Li Shiyu. Li Shiyu was calm. He seemed to have already known about Li Lanfeng’s advancement to Qi-Jin.

Zhao Jun felt apologetic towards Li Lanfeng. He thought back about the past three years. He had been too busy with missions and practicing his mecha piloting and didn’t spend much time with Li Lanfeng… sob, old friend, it is my fault. Please don’t look at me with those eyes. I will feel even more guilty!

Li Shiyu noticed Li Lanfeng’s gaze too. After a while, he saw Zhao Jun looking at him. He seemed to be asking if he knew about Li Lanfeng’s true power. Li Shiyu recalled how close Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng were and felt that Zhao Jun would definitely know about Li Lanfeng’s true capabilities. On the other hand, he was always in the hospital and the laboratory. He didn’t spend much time with them…

Chapter 605: I Didn’t Embarrass You!

Translator: Henyee Translations  Editor: Henyee Translations

That was just an excuse! Li Shiyu stopped himself. The fact was, he neglected his teammate. If he had shown more concern towards Li Lanfeng, he would have noticed the change in his physical skills.

Li Shiyu felt guilty. He started reprimanding himself. He still didn’t treat Li Lanfeng and Zhao Jun as his real friends. If it was his eldest cousin brother, he would have noticed any changes with him right away.

Li Shiyu knew that he was in the wrong. However, he was afraid of hurting Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng’s feelings so he forced himself to maintain calm. He must make them believed that they were important to him. He would start treating them like his family from now on.

Li Lanfeng used one sentence to solve the potential trust crisis between them. Ling Lan smiled. Li Lanfeng was indeed a sly and cunning person. He managed to turn the situation around in just a split second.

Shen Rufei realized his instigation was useless. He was furious. This change in emotion caused him to reveal an opening to Li Lanfeng.

Li Lanfeng rushed towards Shen Rufei without any hesitation. He swung the broken chair leg and it formed lingering shadows in the air. “Bang, bang, bang.” The two weapons collided with each other as the two people started fighting again.

The fights between soldiers were bloody and serious. They would not hold back unlike cadets in the military academies. Unless they couldn’t find any weapons, soldiers wouldn’t fight empty-handed. This was why the fights between soldiers were known as armed melee challenges.

Shen Rufei and Li Lanfeng fought with all their might. “Boom!” Li Lanfeng swung his weapon forcefully at Shen Rufei. Shen Rufei tilted his body to the side and dodged the attack. The weapon hit the ground and a crack formed on the floor. The crack stopped right in front of the crowd.

Ling Lan’s prediction was accurate. She was certain about the capabilities of these two people. The force of a Qi-Jin level attack could only travelled at most 30 meters. If the crowd stayed further than 30 meters away from them, they would not be implicated.

The logistics commander smiled bitterly. Both the people who were fighting were higher ranked than him. How was he supposed to stop them?

The logistics commander looked at the floor and then shifted his gaze back onto the two people that were fighting. He told himself that he was too engrossed in watching the fight so he didn’t notice anyone destroying public properties.

Shen Rufei was furious after dodging the attack. He wanted to kick Li Lanfeng.

Li Lanfeng moved and evaded the kick. His movements were weird and unpredictable. Qi Long, Luo Lang, Han Jijyun and Lin Zhong-qing saw his movements and stopped worrying about him.

They had been with Ling Lan for the longest time so they knew that was a unique skill created by their boss. It was the most suitable skill to be used in close-range combat.

Shen Rufei missed Li Lanfeng and kicked the floor instead. Cracks formed on the floor again. The logistics commander saw it and decided to brainwashed himself. “I didn’t see anything…”

Li Lanfeng noticed that Shen Rufei was stuck so he immediately aimed his weapon at Shen Rufei’s face. The force caused wind to form around him.

Shen Rufei had not regained his balance so there was no way he could dodge the attack. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to receive the blow with his weapon.

“Boom!” A loud noise erupted beside Shen Rufei’s ear. The sound of the collision burst his eardrum as the weapon struck too close to his ears. Blood slowly flowed out of his ear.

Shen Rufei gasped in pain. The pain irritated him. He used his left hand to grab Li Lanfeng’s right hand which was holding the weapon. He raised his weapon and slammed it down on Li Lanfeng with a hideous grin.

Li Lanfeng was shocked by the loud noise just now. However, he was further away from the weapons when they collided so he was not hurt. However, without the pain to stimulate him, he reacted slower than Shen Rufei and was caught by surprise. He was unable to escape.

In the face of such crisis, Li Lanfeng remained calm. He knew that he couldn’t avoid Shen Rufei’s attack so he decided to release all his spiritual power. He gasped and blood flowed out of his mouth. The spiritual power he released was far greater than what his body could handle. Hence, he received some internal injuries.

But, with the help of his spiritual power, Li Lanfeng was able to analyze Shen Rufei’s attack and the weapon’s trajectory.

There is a chance! Li Lanfeng saw an opportunity. He flicked his wrist and threw his weapon out and caught it with his left hand. He focused all his internal energy on his left hand and swung his left hand as hard as he could at Shen Rufei.

“Bang!” Another loud noise rang by their ear drums. Both weapons flew out of their hands.

The noise hurt both their eardrums this time. However, since Shen Rufei was hurt the second time, he was in a worse state the Li Lanfeng. More blood flowed out from both of his ears. It dripped onto his shoulders and stained his military uniform.

Clang! Clang! The two weapons fell on the floor. They rolled a few meters away before stopping. Everyone noticed that the two straight metal pipes were now badly dented and damaged.

“Bam!” The two people that lost their weapon had no choice but to use their fist.

Shen Rufei held onto Li Lanfeng tightly so Li Lanfeng couldn’t escape. However, Shen Rufei couldn’t dodge Li Lanfeng’s retaliation too.

“Bam!” “Bam!” “Bam!” …

Their fist smashed onto each other again and again. Soon, both their fists were filled with blisters and wounds. They had forgotten all about battling techniques. They were just using raw brutal force to attack one another. It was a fight based on strength and stamina.

The members of Lingtian were silent but they clenched their fist tightly and prayed for Li Lanfeng. They didn’t expect the gentle and cunning Li Lanfeng to have such a violent side to him too. They felt their adrenaline pumping through their veins.

“Three more attacks and the match will end.” Ling Lan’s smile got brighter.

Three attacks later, Shen Rufei suddenly spit out a mouthful of blood. He lost. The injuries from their Qi-Jin attacks as well as the physical injuries from the brawl accumulated inside him and it overwhelmed his body.

Li Lanfeng smiled at him sarcastically. He used all his energy left and punched Shen Rufei one