Chapter 363: <King of Close Combat>!

Translator:ryuxenji

Editor:H2dH2mr

This kind of mecha displayed the characteristics of its bestial form, possessing four thick and strong limbs. The power these limbs could produce were explosively strong — in close-range combat, its power would completely overwhelm humanoid mecha. As for what kind of bestial form it would take, that depended on the operator's preference. This mecha before Ling Lan was in the form of a kingly lion.

The only shortcoming of this bestial mecha was that it could not enter high altitudes or outer space — the thrust force of its engines would only allow it to fight at a maximum altitude of 50 metres. However, by abandoning high-altitude flight, its ground attack capabilities were greatly increased. It had powerful strength at its disposal in close-range combat — a humanoid mecha would have no way of standing up against the impact of its charges. The only thing capable of putting up some resistance were humanoid ace mecha which specialised in close-range combat.

With regards to long-range attack capability, two long-range laser cannons hung on the bestial mecha's back. The range of these long-range laser cannons far exceeded that of ordinary beam guns and long-range laser guns. Thus, when it came to long-range attack distance, before a humanoid mecha could attack it, this mecha would already be able to attack first.

Although this bestial mecha was very formidable in both close-range combat and long-range combat on the ground, hence its name of <King of Ground Combat>, there still were not many ace operators who would choose it. This was because, just like its title said, it was only the king of ground combat. Nowadays, a majority of battles were conducted in outer space or high up in the air. On these two fronts, this bestial mecha was significantly limited. The moment it entered those types of battlefields, it was certain to be crushed by humanoid mecha.

The third mecha in the line had been the long-range attack mecha that Qiao Ting had taken. Although its shooting range was less than bestial mecha's, it was greater than other types of ace mecha. Especially in a space battle, no mecha could compete with its long-range attacks, and at the same time, it was also second in terms of speed, only slightly weaker than the transformer mecha — no other mecha could compare. This type of mecha boasted the second-best survival rate (the first being transformer mecha) and it was also the second-best at accomplishing tasks. In terms of overall strength, this mecha ranked first.

The fourth mecha had obviously thicker limbs than other humanoid mecha. There were two swords attached to its back — one was a heat-based weapon, a beam saber with powerful energy, while the other was a cold weapon, a broadsword which could deal the strongest physical damage. Just by looking at it, one could tell that this was a mecha specialising in close-range combat, otherwise it would not have been equipped with two melee weapons.

Let's leave the beam saber aside for the moment and just look at that broadsword. With a blade width of about a metre and a centre thickness of about 50 centimetres, it was clear to see that this was definitely an extremely heavyweight cold weapon, unparalleled in its dominance. One swing of this sword would be able to break the outer shell of a mecha, as long as enough force was put behind it. Because the equipped defence for mecha in general were beam shields, the defence threshold of mecha against firearms was the highest, while their defence threshold against cold weapons was the weakest. This was also why cold weapons had not been eliminated from the arsenal of mecha.

The close-range mecha was the strongest when it came to close-range combat. On the ground, the difference between its strength and bestial mecha was pretty much negligible. It only lacked long-range attack capabilities, but if it managed to get close in the skies or in space, victory was basically determined. Thus, a close-range mecha on the battlefield would oftentimes receive the most battle accolades. However, its survival ratings were also the lowest compared to other ace mecha. Still, as long as its operator lived, this type of mecha was also usually the main mecha type to advance to imperial level. For this reason, the Federation soldiers called it the <King of Close Combat>!

Ling Lan fell deeply in love with this mecha at first sight — her eyes shone with an intense need to possess it. She desperately wanted to board this mecha. This was closely related to how much Ling Lan loved close-range combat; even in mecha, Ling Lan still preferred fighting at close range.

However, Ling Lan suppressed her bucking enthusiasm to look over at the fifth mecha. The fifth mecha was very strange. Mecha usually sported a suspension system on their backs for the purpose of hanging various long-range or close-range weapons. But this mecha did not have that. Its back was directly affixed with a thick and sturdy round metal object, somewhat reminiscent of a turtle's shell. However, this turtle shell had several additional pipes running across it horizontally and vertically, spread out across the shell like green veins. Ling Lan counted closely and found that there were three on each side, six pipes in total, while two more ran across the top, bringing the grand total of pipes to eight.

At first, Ling Lan was rather bewildered, unsure what kind of ace mecha this was. Luckily, Little Four swept in to help once more, instantly searching out a similar mecha type from his databases. Only then did they learn that this type of mecha was called an artillery type mecha. It could be said that this type of mecha was equivalent to a small mobile attack bastion. Its firepower was the most powerful among all the ace mecha. The eight artillery barrels could automatically adjust themselves to lock on to a target and shoot. Basically, even an ace mecha would find it difficult to fend against the simultaneous fire of its eight barrels. This type of mecha was suitable for large-scale space battles. Each time it attacked, it would be able to annihilate a large batch of enemy mecha, hence it was also known as the <King of Star Space>.

But it also had a fatal weakness — because of its own burdened weight, its speed was the worst among all the ace mecha, making it very easy for an enemy to draw close. Once it let an enemy get close, especially if it were the <King of Close Combat> which was an ace mecha just like itself that managed the feat, its end would pretty much be decided. Thus, once it moved, it needed another ace mecha or eight special-class mecha to accompany it and protect it. That is, those escort mecha would need to step in at critical moments to intercept other ace mecha from getting close.

Ling Lan decisively cast aside the fifth mecha from consideration. Ling Lan was not at all interested in this type of mecha which relied on its configuration and build to win; only those mecha that required control skill would make her feel challenged. Ling Lan decisively returned to stand below the fourth mecha. Leaping upwards, she used both her hands and legs at together to climb swiftly up the mecha and pulled the lever to open the cockpit.

A click rang out as the cockpit was opened, and an opening that would allow easy access to an adult was revealed. Ling Lan bent over to take a quick look inside before jumping in, where she then immediately sat down.

Ling Lan closed the cockpit doors and the lights dimmed. Immediately after that, Ling Lan pressed on the activation button of the mecha. The cockpit lit up once more, and at the same time, in the control seat, a safety belt popped up automatically to bind Ling Lan's body securely. This was to prevent the intense vibrations from piloting the mecha from harming the operator.

"A.I. activated. Checking in progress. Please wait! The estimated time for this check is two minutes. If emergency activation is necessary, please press the emergency activation button." The mecha A.I. followed its procedural settings, voicing out the notifications to alert the operator.

This was the first time Ling Lan was using this mecha, and the situation was not urgent, so she naturally chose regular activation. This time, she was going forth into a treacherous battlefield where the chances of survival were slim, so it was necessary to guarantee as much safety as possible. If she missed out on discovering any hidden problems on the mecha just because she wanted to save these two minutes, it would be too late for Ling Lan to cry later if anything happened.

Ling Lan was a calm and rational person; she naturally would not allow herself to be put into such a dangerous position. She patiently waited for the two-minute activation check to run its course, and only after confirming that everything was normal with the mecha did she begin operating it.

"Little Four, from now on, begin taking over for the A.I.. We must not let the computer retain any battle data of me in the following battle." Mecha possessed auto-saving functions. For one, its recordings were used as proof of an operator's battle merits, and two, it was also useful in helping mecha mechanics adjust and modify mecha based on an operator's habits to make a mecha more in line with the needs of its operator.

Of course, the recording function of the military academy mecha was to facilitate the instructors of the academy in checking the control skills of the cadets. If there were any flaws or weaknesses captured in the video, the instructors would be able to immediately correct the students and fix those issues.

Ling Lan knew very well that when the fighting ended and the military academy's monitoring systems came back online, it would definitely investigate these mecha which had been used in the battle. And these saved recordings of the fight would be the evidence they would pore over. Ling Lan did not wish to expose herself to the administrators of the academy. Even if it was just as Ling Xiao's son, she did not want that to happen.

Just imagine, even someone as powerful as her dad Ling Xiao had been unable to resist the schemes and backstabbing from within the military itself. If the military found out that Ling Xiao's son was also a mecha piloting prodigy like him, Ling Lan did not believe that those people who had set up Ling Xiao would be content to sit back. If by any chance they felt that they could not allow Ling Xiao and his child to continue growing, not only would she be in danger, Ling Xiao's safety may also be put at risk.

Ling Lan naturally knew that Ling Xiao was very strong, but she did not believe that Ling Xiao had enough power to fend against treachery from those who may be friends. This recent period together had let Ling Lan know that Ling Xiao was someone who treasured emotions deeply. Unless he was absolutely certain that the other had truly betrayed him, Ling Xiao would not actively suspect his friends.

This was a strength of Ling Xiao but also a weakness — even as Ling Lan respected Ling Xiao for it, she could not help but worry for him. Thus, till now, she still did not dare to let Ling Xiao know of her true strength and abilities. She was worried that in his joy, Ling Xiao would run and tell his so-called friends about it ...

At the heart of it all, Ling Lan was still concerned about the high-ranking person hidden within the depth of the military who had almost killed Ling Xiao. Being able to arrange all of that so naturally, without flaws, Ling Lan believed that only the few great marshals or the great generals would be able to do so. It may even be the result of several people working together ... so, even if Ling Xiao was extremely trusting of the First Marshal, Ling Lan was actually very suspicious of the other deep inside.

"Got it, Boss!" Little Four responded excitedly when he heard Ling Lan's instructions, as she had always restricted Little Four from interfering with matters of mecha; now, she was finally letting him help. This made Little Four feel that he was truly able to help Boss now ... did this mean that he was well-deserving of his position as number one follower now?

Little Four carried this smug happiness and excitement with him as he took over the administrative rights of the mecha's A.I.. The first step would be to screen the recording function of the mecha.

Little Four understood that his boss did not intend to turn off the recording system completely, otherwise Ling Lan could just have turned off the system herself without needing him to step in. Ling Lan had ordered him to get involved because she wanted to utilise Little Four's ability to create false images, to let the mecha indicate that no one had piloted the mecha. In other words, no one would be able to discover from the recording system that this mecha had ever been used in this battle.

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