The vice-captain was stunned. "Are you saying that General Ling Xiao would not give the commander any chances to act?"

"Let us wait and see. I guess that the special forces will receive a mission soon. I am just not sure how long the mission will last." The Sting Special Forces was at fault so it was understandable if General Ling Xiao taught them a lesson. He just hoped that the general would not bear any grudge against the special forces.

The vice-captain understood the situation. He said with contempt, "I knew that Lian Shaojing is a burden. Why did the Sting Special Forces even take him in?" Lian Shaojing was recommended by the captain of the Sting Special Forces. Hence, his actions represented the whole special forces. This was why General Ling Xiao might direct his anger to the special forces.

"I just hope that the general will have some mercy on us." The vice-captain wanted to cry so much that he felt depressed. General Ling Xiao was everyone"s idol in the 23rd Division. They all applied to join the 23rd Division because of him. If General Ling Xiao bore a grudge against them because of this, they might all go crazy. They would rush to the hospital and kill Lian Shaojing even if it was just to appease the general.

"Once we receive our mission from the headquarters, we will know whether the general is angry or not." The captain, on the other hand, was relaxed. General Ling Xiao was a fair person. He would not take his anger out on them unless the commander of the special forces offended Ling Lan again. They would only just be tormented during their mission.

The next day, as expected, the headquarters gave them an order. All members of the special forces had to undergo a three-month training at the camp of the first battle team, the Bladed Special Ops Team.

The soldiers who were from the Bladed Special Ops Team turned pale when they heard this news. Those soldiers who didn"t know about the Bladed Special Ops Team thought that this was a reward for them. They thought that their general gave them a holiday. They excitedly packed their bags and happily went to the training camp…

"Seems like the general wants to protect the new recruits for three months." The commander pondered over the general"s intention. He then gave a cheerful smile. "This means that he won"t do anything to me if I find them after these three months."

General Ling Xiao was indeed a logical and good father who knew how to nurture his child. A person would only grow during hardships. General Ling Xiao wanted to use the special forces to motivate his son. The commander, who initially wanted to stop his team members from finding Ling Lan, started to have other thoughts.

"Ling Lan, the Heir of the 23rd Division. Let me see how much you have grown." Emotions flashed in the eyes of the commander.

The order by the headquarters was soon made known to everyone in the 23rd Division. The other normal battle teams that were waiting to see what the special forces would do started to get fidgety.

"The order from the headquarters, is it an indication of the headquarters" att.i.tude… or is it an indication of General Ling Xiao"s att.i.tude towards Lian Shaojing"s incident?"

"General Ling Xiao felt that the recruits were right." Everyone understood what their general was trying to tell them. Of course, right from the start, the recruits didn"t do anything wrong. The other battle teams were just afraid of the special forces so no one stood up against them and said that the special forces were in the wrong.

This situation was broken by the order from the headquarters. Since the headquarters had spoken, the other battle teams didn"t need to worry anymore. There were many high potential recruits this time so many team captains decided to openly recruit people. They hoped that before the recruit training camp ended, they would get their desired recruits to enter their team and strengthened the power of their team.

A hover car flew towards the South city. The South city was one of the many division cities within planet Southcrest. A division city referred to a city which housed the families of soldiers from a certain division. The South city was where the family members of the 23rd Division soldiers stayed at. It used to be known as a military base but it quickly expanded so they changed the name and called it a division city.

There were ten division cities on planet Southcrest. The population of every division city was more than a million. The South city was the most extravagant and prosperous division city. There were 5 million people living inside. The headquarters of the 23rd Division was here and all the leaders of the 23rd Division stayed here too, including General Ling Xiao.

The hover car drove to an empty, flat piece of land. Then, lowered itself until it was two meters above the ground and traveled for another 10 more minutes before stopping in front of a manor.

There were two soldiers on duty guarding the gate of the manor. When they saw the hover car, one of them went forward and signaled for the car to stop at the side.

The car stopped. The car window slowly wound down and a person wearing a metal mask was revealed.

The soldier on duty was used to seeing people in a metal mask. It was common for soldiers who came back from the battlefield to have certain injuries and disabilities. The Federation would use their advanced technology to help these soldiers overcome their disabilities. For instance, people who were blind were given artificial eyes and those that lost their nose had an artificial nose implanted on them. These products were well-loved by soldiers as they allowed them to be able to live normally again. The only flaw was that they would have to wear a metal mask. However, There was an artificial human-skin mask too but they were too expensive. Soldiers were not willing to spend their credits on these things. They didn"t care much about their appearance in the first place so buying the skin mask would be a waste of credits for them.

After some time, such products became available for the common ma.s.ses too. People that were born with disabilities could use such products. Some even managed to join the military. No one discriminated against people wearing the metal mask. This was why Li Lanfeng was able to live happily in the Scout Academy and the military academy with his mask and no one questioned him about it.

The soldier on duty saluted to the person in the car. The person in the car saluted back. No one could relax in front of the General"s manor.

"Please take out your pa.s.s," the soldier on duty reminded.

The person in the car immediately pa.s.sed over a chip. The soldier on duty took out a small device and scanned the chip. A "beep" sound was heard and the information about the people in the car appeared on the screen of the device. Their pa.s.s to enter the manor appeared too.

"Major Zhao Jun from the 4th ace mecha clan of the 23rd Division, Flying Eagle Ace Mecha Clan, no. 0173. Major Li Lanfeng from the 4th ace mecha clan of the 23rd Division, Flying Eagle Ace Mecha Clan, no. 0214. Major Li Shiyu from the 4th ace mecha clan of the 23rd Division, Flying Eagle Ace Mecha Clan, no. 9189. You all are authorized to enter the manor."

The soldier on duty softened his expression slightly when he saw their names. He took the device again and ascertained their ident.i.ty. Then, he called the people inside the manor. "Captain, Major Zhao Jun from the 4th ace mecha clan of the 23rd Division, Flying Eagle Ace Mecha Clan, no. 0173, Major Li Lanfeng from the 4th ace mecha clan of the 23rd Division, Flying Eagle Ace Mecha Clan, no. 0214, and Major Li Shiyu from the 4th ace mecha clan of the 23rd Division, Flying Eagle Ace Mecha Clan, no. 9189, would like to enter the manor. Please confirmed their arrival."

"Arrival confirmed. Please send them in," the people inside the manor replied quickly.

"Yes." The soldier on duty opened the gate and let the hover car in.

The hover car drove for around a minute before they came to another checkpoint. An officer with a stern face was standing on the checkpoint. He signaled for them to stop.

"Are you Major Zhao Jun, Major Li Lanfeng, and Major Li Shiyu?" the officer asked with a cold expression.

The three people nodded. The soldier continued, "Please get down the car. You all need to get into another hover car to complete the rest of the journey."

The three of them knew that this was done for safety reasons. Nothing outside the manor could be brought in. When they got off the hover car, six soldiers came over to them with devices in their hands and moved the devices around their bodies. No dangerous items were found. The soldiers nodded towards the officer.

The officer became more polite. He waved his hand and a hover car came over. He opened the door and said, "Please get into the car."

Li Lanfeng and his friends climbed into the car. The officer sat beside them. He introduced himself, "I am General Ling Xiao"s adjutant, Teng Huacheng. If you need any help later, please look for me."

Li Lanfeng and his friends smiled politely. They didn"t even dare to thank him. They knew that the Lieutenant Colonel was just being courteous. If they really troubled him, they would be seen as insolent.

The hover car soon arrived at a huge manor. This was where General Ling Xiao stayed. Teng Huacheng led the three people into the manor. They saw a female second lieutenant standing inside the atrium.

"Lieutenant Colonel Teng, are these the three majors that Senior Colonel Lan invited?" the female second lieutenant asked.

"Yes, Second Lieutenant He," Teng Huacheng smiled as he replied. He had been serving as General Ling Xiao"s adjutant for two years. He knew who was the boss in this house. Hence, he didn"t dare to offend anyone around General Ling Xiao.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel. Please come with me, Senior Colonel Lan wants to see you all." Second Lieutenant He smiled gently as she reminded them, "Senior Colonel Lan is General Ling Xiao"s wife. However, Senior Colonel doesn"t like the term "wife" so we all call her Senior Colonel Lan."