Chapter 397: Choosing A Mentor!
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
Qiao Ting could not help but frown at these words. It looked like the Lingtian Mecha Clan was on guard against spies after their name list.
However, Qiao Ting's brow soon smoothed out again. For the Lingtian Mecha Clan to place so much importance on their name list, so afraid that it would be leaked ... that was a sign of low confidence; this was a good thing. Moreover, even if he did not know the contents of the opponent's name list, as long as he was here, even if all the members he brought with him were intermediate mecha warriors, victory would still belong to the Leiting Mecha Clan. It looked like this match just meant way too much to him, causing him to be somewhat unsettled.
Seeing that the regiment commander was not angry, the newcomer instantly relaxed. He quickly took out a chip and hand handed it over, saying, "This is the intel we've managed to gather on the various regiment commanders and team leaders of the Lingtian Mecha Clan over the past few days. The ones marked with red dots are those we reckon could be on the representative name list."
Someone beside Qiao Ting quickly reached out to take the chip and then handed it respectfully to Qiao Ting. Qiao Ting accepted the chip and aligned it with his communicator to scan it, thus copying over all the contents of the data chip.
Soon, from Qiao Ting's communicator, a virtual screen sprang out before Qiao Ting's face, and the information contained in the chip was fully displayed on the screen.
The first name on the list was Ling Lan. However, all aspects after Ling Lan's name were filled with question marks 1 — in the end, as the final conclusion, there was only one hypothesis, speculating that the other might be an advanced mecha warrior, or maybe even a special-class operator.
"This is the intel you all have gathered?" Looking at the page full of question marks, and that unverified speculation, Qiao Ting's face turned dark as he snapped out the question.
The newcomer wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead and hurried to explain, "Regiment Commander, it's like this. The first regiment commander of the Lingtian Mecha Clan has always acted on his own. Our people have no way of obtaining any accurate information on him from others. However, we still managed to get some detailed info on the other regiment commanders and team leaders. Our hypothesis is also based on the other regiment commanders and team leaders, so there is a certain factual basis for it."
Qiao Ting sniffed coldly before looking down at the intel again. Sure enough, other than Ling Lan, there were more or less some concrete stats for the other members. Hence, he set aside his dissatisfaction and began perusing the information intently.
Right after Ling Lan was information on the three regiment commanders, Wu Jiong, Li Yingjie, and Qi Long. The data compiled was fairly specific — their personality, attack specializations, etcetera were all listed out one by one. This included their mecha level, which was stated clearly as advanced mecha warrior. Of course, exactly which stage of the advanced mecha warrior level they were at was unable to be determined since the intel people had never fought them personally before.
Looking at this list, Qiao Ting was extremely satisfied. All the regiment commanders of the Lingtian Mecha Clan were advanced mecha warriors, and a majority of the sixteen team leaders under them were also advanced mecha warriors, with only four or five being intermediate mecha warriors — these numbers were completely incomparable with those of the Leiting Mecha Clan. This revenge fight would undoubtedly be Leiting's triumph.
However, this name list equally startled Qiao Ting. After all, the regiment commanders and team leaders of the Lingtian Mecha Clan were all still cadets who had just entered their second academic year. For them to be able to advance to advanced mecha warrior level at this age meant that they were absolutely prodigious characters with abnormal mecha piloting talent. What's more frightening is the fact that the Lingtian Mecha Clan had not just one or two, but a whole bunch of them ... Hells, who would have expected the Central Scout Academy of Doha which had been quiescent these many years to actually produce such a mass burst of talent this year, producing so many geniuses in one go.
If the Lingtian Mecha Clan was given a little more time, perhaps the Leiting Mecha Clan would really be no match for them anymore. Qiao Ting secretly rejoiced, even more determined in his heart to utterly crush the Lingtian Mecha Clan in this revenge match ...
"Looks like, it is necessary to add on some wagers!" Qiao Ting finally realised personally why his vice regiment commander had decided to risk that wager back then for these people. In order to utterly eliminate the threat to the Leiting Mecha Clan's claim to supremacy, they could only completely absorb the other party into their ranks.
"Aside from this regiment commander of the Lingtian Mecha Clan being somewhat problematic, the others are all nothing to worry about." Qiao Ting's initially stern face finally cracked a smile — it looked like he had indeed been worrying too much.
"Just send the original name list as planned!" Qiao Ting finally made his decision. At his order, his confidant beside him immediately sent the pre-set name list over to the mainframe.
"Even if everyone participating are advanced mecha warriors, those I've chosen for our side are all advanced mecha warriors at the peak stage, just one step away from entering special-class operator level. Lingtian Mecha Clan ... even without me taking action, my team members will be enough to make you all choke." A smug smile hung on the corners of Qiao Ting's lips.
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"Boss, Leiting's name list is out." Little Four, who had been closely monitoring all activity of Leiting's side instantly managed to grab a copy of the battle name list Leiting had submitted to the mainframe.
In the middle of researching to decide which mentor she should choose, Ling Lan heard Little Four's cry and a smile appeared on her lips. As expected, Leiting had been unable to hold back. "Let me see."
Little Four immediately displayed the name list in Ling Lan's mindspace. Scanning the name list, Ling Lan nodded. It was as she expected — Qiao Ting truly wanted to emphasize his individual prowess in this revenge match.
"Even though they're all advanced mecha warriors, these operators have already advanced into that level for over 2 years. Whether in terms of mecha controls or battle experience, they outclass our team members by a lot." Little Four instantly gathered all data he could find on everyone on the name list, and he could not help but warn Ling Lan, tone serious.
"With two special-class operators, Li Lanfeng and Zhao Jun, in the lead, even the most experienced advanced mecha warriors will end up as cannon fodder in this battle," said Ling Lan with a cold smirk. "Send over the name list we have settled on now as well then."
Qiao Ting, when you find out that we actually have special-class operators on our name list, will you regret deciding too hastily? A smile tugged at the corners of Ling Lan's lips; she really wanted to see Qiao Ting's face change in colour ...
It turned out that this time, Ling Lan had chosen purely based on ability, without fearing any possible claims of nepotism. She had placed the strongest eight in her own battle clan into the name list, adding on Wu Jiong and Li Yingjie who were both at the late stages of advanced mecha warrior. Aside from the middle stage advanced mecha warrior Ye Xu, the final name on the list was the unexpected Gao Jinyun, who had only just entered advanced mecha warrior level.
The reason why Ling Lan had given up on picking other stronger candidates in favour of Gao Jinyun was that she wanted to see for certain what Gao Jinyun's skills were like in terms of mecha. Gao Jinyun may have passed in terms of strategizing, but his personal level of strength was equally essential — Ling Lan needed to conduct further observation.
Both sides had only sent in their clan's name list at almost the final moment of the time limit. As for when the fight would begin, that was not something they could control. The challenge time would be determined by the mainframe, which would only inform the two parties a week before.
After sending in the name list, Ling Lan stopped worrying about it. As for whether or not the opponent would manage to obtain their name list and figure out even more of their strength before the fight, Ling Lan very shamelessly threw the problem over to Wu Jiong to handle. Ling Lan believed that if she had to personally handle everything herself, that would absolutely be a sign of incompetence (Ling Lan would forever use brilliant methods to disguise her lazy nature).
After setting aside the matter of the challenge fight, Ling Lan once again turned her focus on choosing a mecha piloting mentor. The two months of mecha piloting theory and knowledge class was coming to an end. From next month onwards, the cadets would have to follow a mecha mentor in practical mecha training. And now, an application to request one's choice of mentor laid before Ling Lan.
Yes, the cadets had the right to apply for any mentor they liked — they could choose and order up to three mentor candidates they most wanted to follow for their practical training. However, the application did not mean that they would definitely get the person they wanted. The instructors would also browse through the applications to select the students they wanted to take in as well. If the first-choice instructor refused, the application would automatically appear within the consideration pile for the second-choice instructor. And if the second-choice instructor refused, the application would then move on to the third instructor.
Although it looked like the application process was extremely ideal and fair, it should be known that every instructor had limited student slots. Very often, these instructors would have already filled up all their slots after the first batch of applications. Therefore, the possibility of being selected by one's second or third choice mentor was infinitesimal, unless the first batch of students was truly lacking ... this also resulted in many students missing all three instructors they requested for, only to be saddled with the tragic outcome of being randomly assigned a mentor by the mainframe.
Thus, the cadets attached great importance to the application of mentors. In order to ensure that they managed to follow an instructor with an operation style similar to theirs, the cadets would have already begun studying the various mecha instructors in the academy from the time they first started school. They did not go after the strongest, only aiming for those most suited for themselves ...
At present, Ling Lan had also come to the time to choose a mentor. This troubled Ling Lan greatly, for Ling Lan truly loved close-combat mecha down to her very bones. However, the military academy only had one ace operator mecha instructor specialising in close combat, and this one and only ace operator instructor just so happened to be a master of berserker attack methods, which was the complete opposite of Ling Lan's fine-tuned and delicate style of operation. If she chose this instructor, it was very likely they would butt heads, for any instructor would be unhappy with his own student not learning his style and instead choosing to do things their own way.
Ling Lan involuntarily looked at the number one instructor on the ranking list, Tang Yu. This was an elite mecha operator whom everyone in the academy lauded as a mecha professor. He was undoubtedly one of the strongest mecha instructors in the academy, because he had a thorough comprehension of every type of ace mecha. Even though he was most proficient at long-range attack, his close-combat abilities were also very powerful, and because long-range attack required a great attention to detail, Tang Yu's operation style was extremely meticulous and delicate, belonging to the same category as Ling Lan's style.
"Instructor Tang Yu, eh?" Ling Lan frowned lightly. If Tang Yu had not just finished mentoring Qiao Ting, Ling Lan would not be so troubled. Ling Lan truly did not want to have anything to do with Qiao Ting ...
"Oh, forget it, let's look for someone else." Ling Lan still decided to give up on that option in the end 2 , thinking to just randomly choose another from among the other instructors. After all, she was already learning mecha piloting from Instructor Number Three in the learning space now, so the practical training mentorship in the academy here was not as crucial to her as it was for the other students.
At this time, Little Four who had remained silent all this while could not help but speak up, "Boss, if Instructor Tang Yu is the best one, then why won't you choose him?" Little Four just could not accept his boss learning from a subpar instructor; that would be such a disgrace to his boss.