Chapter 731: Loggerheads!

The senior colonel was frustrated. With the current amount of evidence, he couldn’t register this case to court. Hence, he could only ask her for questioning and not interrogate her. These two terms meant similar things but there was a huge difference between them.

Initially, he thought he could scare the evidence out of Ling Lan since she was young and inexperienced. Yet, she was surprisingly well-seasoned. A single sentence from her placed them on the passive side.

Since Ling Lan asked, the senior colonel had to reply. “This is just a questioning. My men are just too passionate about their job. If they did anything wrong, please forgive them.”

Ling Lan gave a cold smile. “Since they are part of the Disciplinary and Investigation Committee, they should know what they should do and what shouldn’t. If they do not, they shouldn’t be able to sit in this position.” Ling Lan looked at the fierce-looking lieutenant colonel. She said indifferently, “Lieutenant colonel, what do you think?”

The lieutenant colonel’s face twitched. He suppressed his anger and didn’t reply to her. He must not be angered by Ling Lan. If he did, Ling Lan might be able to derail the conversation for it to not be about her, in that situation, the loss would outweigh the gain.

The senior colonel felt he needed to speak up now. He pulled the conversation back to the main topic. “Regiment Commander Ling, we have seen your data. However, there are some doubts we would like you to clear up.”

Ling Lan glanced at the senior colonel calmly. The senior colonel didn’t wait for Ling Lan’s reply and immediately asked her, “Regiment Commander Ling, after you entered the 23rd division, you didn’t undergo the three months long recruit training camp. May I ask why?” Injured? This was not a good reason to escape from the recruit training camp. There must be something going on.

Li Lanfeng heard this questioned and scoffed. The people from the Disciplinary and Investigation Committee looked at him angrily. The senior colonel controlled his temper and turned to look at him. He said with a tinge of unhappiness in his voice, “Major, is there anything wrong with my question?”

Li Lanfeng coughed. He smiled and replied, “The reports clearly stated the reason why our regiment commander didn’t undergo the recruit training camp. Our Regiment Commander Ling was injured at that time. As for how he got injured, it’s written there too. The 23rd division headquarters gave him a special dispensation so he didn’t need to undergo the recruit training camp. I don’t understand why you feel the need to ask this question when the answers are written so clearly. If you suspect there is something wrong with the documents, you should ask the headquarters.”

“I just want to hear the reason from Regiment Commander Ling directly.” The senior colonel was furious after listening to what Li Lanfeng said. F**k, I’ve never seen such an uncooperative soldier.

“Of course, you can. However, our regiment commander can refuse to answer such meaningless questions.” Li Lanfeng smiled gently. He was not afraid of the senior colonel’s intense gaze.

“The Disciplinary and Investigation Committee will report your actions to the higher authorities. If you continue to not cooperate with us, don’t blame us for being merciless.” The lieutenant colonel could no longer control his anger.

“Please do it.” Li Lanfeng waved his hands indifferently. His calm expression made the people from the Disciplinary and Investigation Committee feel even more indignant. They didn’t expect to meet such huge resistance the moment they started their investigation.

“Regiment Commander Ling, please remember that you are a soldier. You should cooperate with us and help us with our investigation.” The senior colonel slammed the table and glared at Ling Lan furiously. His gentle expression and friendly demeanor had disappeared.

“Senior colonel, our regiment commander would not be sitting here wasting his time, listening to your accusations if he didn’t want to cooperate with you.” Li Lanfeng slammed the table too and glared at the senior colonel coldly.

F**k, you are in our territory. If they allowed themselves to be bullied in their own territory, they should just dissolve their mecha clan.

Ling Lan sat in the middle of the confrontation like an ice statue. She ignored the argument that was happening and sipped her tea nonchalantly. Leopard is performing well, I must give him a thumbs up later. As expected, it’s relaxing to have someone at the front-end fighting for her. I need to nurture him more in the future.

Ling Lan found Li Lanfeng’s usefulness and decided to use it shamelessly.

The senior colonel glared at Li Lanfeng for a long time. In the end, he backed down first. He looked at the calm Ling Lan and reprimanded her, “Regiment Commander Ling, is this how you treat your guest?”

Ling Lan looked down and blew her tea elegantly. She took a sip and replied indifferently, “Senior colonel, if you want to ask, ask something that isn’t written in the reports. Let’s not waste each other’s time.” She raised her eyebrows slightly and looked at the senior colonel.

“Our mecha clan needs to be on the battlefield soon. Every minute we are wasting could be put to better use. One minute of training could increase our chance of survival in the battlefield. Let’s not waste time, indirectly killing people.”

You are a murderer! The senior colonel screamed in his heart. Those people said he had killed two mecha operators heartlessly. However, no information could be found even after they searched through the entire database of the 23rd division. It was as though the two mecha operators never existed.

The senior colonel didn’t know he had found the truth. The greed for merit blinded him, causing him to oversee this possibility.

The senior colonel took much effort before he managed to control his anger. He no longer waited for them to make a mistake. He could tell the three majors were very experienced people. It would be difficult dealing with them. Just like what Ling Lan said, he should stop wasting each other’s time and go directly to the point. Even if he didn’t get any information, it was better than getting angered by them like this.

“According to what we know, you brutally killed two people when you first became the Regiment Commander of 250 Ace Mecha Clan. This was the reason why your men reported to us that you didn’t have the capabilities to be their leader.”

Ling Lan raised her eyebrows. “Who said that?”

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“We have enough evidence to prove that you were vicious towards your men when you were just appointed as a regiment commander. You killed two people, Regiment Commander Ling, if you confess now, you may still have a chance to get a lighter sentence.” The senior colonel stared at Ling Lan. He directly threw this question at her so that she would get agitated. That way, she might show them some loopholes.

Confession will place you in jail while resistance allows you to go back home for the new year. This was a saying used in her past life, and it speaks the truth.

Ling Lan wanted to go back home for the new year. There was no change in her expression as she firmly replied with a calm face, “I didn’t.”

“Didn’t? You are lying!” The young major who had been controlling his anger and watching the questioning from the side sprung up furiously and shouted at Ling Lan.

“I’m lying? Where is your evidence then? Who are the people that died? What are their names? Where are they from? When did they enter the military?” Ling Lan threw a flurry of questions to the other party.

The other party was speechless. They didn’t have any relevant evidence but this caused them to suspect even more that someone was protecting Regiment Commander Ling behind the scene by destroying all the evidence against him.

“Since you can’t show any evidence, should I suspect that you are trying to frame me?” Ling Lan glanced at the officers intently. The officers lowered their heads, not daring to look at Ling Lan directly.

“What is done by night appears by day! Regiment Commander Ling, the people that accused you are from your own mecha clan, not us.” The senior colonel gave a cold smile. He refuted Ling Lan’s words.

Ling Lan had nothing to respond to this query. Someone from her mecha clan complained against her. Whether the complaint was true or fake, she couldn’t refute it.

The Senior Colonel was delighted. He finally managed to gain the upper hand in this confrontation. He waited to see how the other party would respond.

Li Lanfeng smiled. He finally entered the trap. He waited so long for this moment.

Li Lanfeng gave a gentle smile and answered calmly, “Senior Colonel, those people that accuse our regiment commander, are they the people who stayed back at the base?”

The senior colonel narrowed his eyes. He looked at the smiling Li Lanfeng and pondered over his intention for asking this question. He couldn’t find what the other party wanted to do, so he decided to be safe and remain silent.

The senior colonel smiled and looked at Li Lanfeng, without replying to him.

Li Lanfeng didn’t seem awkward after he got ignored. He nonchalantly continued on, “You all should know that there are different levels of mecha operators in a mecha clan. Some are good, some are bad. This time, our regiment commander brought all the capable soldiers on this mission. Those that are left…” Li Lanfeng appeared to be sad and disappointed. He clicked his tongue to show his unhappiness. “Actually, our regiment commander had made a decision, that if these mecha operators couldn’t pass the test after he comes back from this mission, they would be moved to normal mecha clans or be sent out of the military.”

The senior colonel got a shock when he heard that. He said without thinking, “You can do that?” When he came, his superiors had told him what kind of mecha operators were in 250 Ace Mecha Clan…

Li Lanfeng appeared stunned by the senior colonel’s expression. “Why can’t we do that? An excellent ace mecha clan should only keep the best mecha operators. Those that didn’t meet the requirements would be cut.”

He was trying to confuse truth by mixing it with falsehood. They were being incredibly disrespectful towards these mecha operators who achieved many merits before. The senior colonel was furious but he controlled his emotions. He signaled his assistant to hand him the folders with information about the mecha operators of 250 Ace Mecha Clan.

He took the documents and slammed it in front of Li Lanfeng. He said coldly, “I’ve read through the background of all the mecha operators in 250 Ace Mecha Clan. They are excellent mecha operators from other divisions. How can they be not capable? Are you trying to send them away just because they don’t listen to you?”

Li Lanfeng didn’t flinch (Well, he was wearing a mask so even if he did, they wouldn’t be able to see it.). He took a folder out and pushed it towards the senior colonel. He said with a smile, “Being outstanding in the past doesn’t mean they will remain outstanding. Why don’t you take a look at the documents inside this folder first?”

The senior colonel took out the documents from the folder curiously. It contained the past results of these mecha operators. He was shocked. The results were terrible. The senior colonel knew these mecha operators were forsaken by their past division, so it was normal to have such results.

The documents felt like a hot potato in his hands. These documents alone were enough to refute his statement that these mecha operators were excellent. However, if he showed his hand now, would he get used by them? The senior colonel’s mind worked furiously.

The senior colonel saw the three majors staring at him, waiting for his reply. He then thought of something. “Everyone has their lows, we should be more patient towards them.” Even if they wanted him to show his hand, he wouldn’t do it.

“Senior colonel, you are right. The military has its rules but we are not heartless. However, these mecha operators had been like this for a few years. We need to be responsible to the other soldiers. We can’t let them continue like this. It is unfair to the other soldiers who are fighting hard at the frontline, who are working for their benefits while these operators just stay at the base doing nothing, but mope around and obtaining the same benefits as those who are working at the frontlines.” Li Lanfeng tapped on the document in the senior colonel’s hand, signaling him to look carefully.

The senior colonel’s expression changed. He knew what these mecha operators were like. Is the other party forcing him to state his intention? Then, he remembered what the commander had said when he came to the 23rd division. He sneered. “They have many achievements during their time in the military. Even if they can’t regain their powers, we should still not give up on them. Are you trying to deny their merits? Do you want the soldiers in the military to be disappointed in us?”

“Senior colonel, is there a misunderstanding?” Li Lanfeng was elated when he heard the senior colonel finally stating his true intention. He pretended to be surprised and explained himself, “I’m just saying that we need to be responsible for them since they can’t go back to their old days and control a mecha, we should send them to where they truly belong. Letting them stay in 250 Ace Mecha Clan is just harming them.”

“Isn’t this…” The senior colonel stopped talking abruptly. He was shocked to realize that he had walked into the other party’s trap. 250 Ace Mecha Clan was a forsaken ace mecha clan. However, it was not an official status. If the 23rd division wanted to reorganize 250 Ace Mecha Clan and Ling Lan carried out this mission on an order, then there would be no problem at all.

As the regiment commander of an ace mecha clan, he had the right to send those underperforming soldiers out from his clan. The senior colonel turned pale. He let down his guard and got fooled by the other party.