Ling Lan was dead!

The moment she found herself hovering in the air looking down at the scene below her, she knew she was dead.

She found that she could see through solid walls. She saw her parents crying outside the Intensive Care Unit and the solemn expression on her younger brother's face. She also watched as he released a quiet sigh when no one was looking, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Ling Lan was not angered by this. She knew very well that she had been a burden upon her family for a whole 24 years, almost ruining their household, which was not very wealthy to begin with. If it were not for the fact that her disease was so bizarre that it was considered worthy of research, resulting in government support for her medication, she might have already passed away a full ten years earlier due to the inability to afford treatment.

However, despite the delay, she still could not escape death in the end. The only surprise to her was that humans really did have souls.

She peered up into the distant darkness of the night sky, and wondered fantastically — perhaps there were beings such as Ox-Head and Horse-Face 1 out in the world, or perhaps a Shinigami, like in the anime Bleach , who would suddenly spring out and drag her into the afterworld?

Abruptly, she laughed, mocking herself for reading all kinds of useless books and comics while she had been bedridden. Shinigami were from Japan — why would they show up in China? Ox-Head and Horse-Face were much more likely to appear, and perhaps even a small ghost dressed in traditional clothing?

"Idiot! There are no such things as human souls; this is your spiritual self. If you don't come back soon, you will really disperse into the air and become part of this world's energy." A childish voice rang out beside Ling Lan's ear, its tone frantic and concerned.

Before Ling Lan could respond, she felt herself drawn back by an overwhelming pull, and her consciousness started to fade. Right before she blacked out, she seemed to hear that same childish voice cry out joyfully, "I made it! I almost thought that my host would be lost for sure."

At that very moment, the national first-rate military hospital Ling Lan was in was plunged into darkness. Soon after, the entire capital along with several neighbouring provinces and cities also joined it in the dark.

The impossible occurrence of such a wide-scale simultaneous blackout affecting the capital and several other province cities immediately prompted a commotion in the otherwise quiet night.

Fortunately, the blackout did not last long, only lasting for 3 minutes. All the cities quickly returned to normal, leaving only the National Power Company in disarray. Within those 3 minutes, the electricity they had supplied to those involved cities had mysteriously disappeared, as if the Power Company had not provided any electricity to begin with. But in reality, as proven by their numerical data, they had released more than a trillion kilowatts in those 3 minutes, a greater amount than they ever had before.

This matter was quickly handed over to the National Security Agency to investigate. After several months, the answer given to the public was that the computer systems used by the Power Company to track the electric supply had been broken into by hackers, who had then tampered with the data and stopped the power supply, resulting in the mass blackout. And just like that, the public outcry over the blackout drew to a close.

However, the investigation results that were finally sealed into the nation's top-secret security files were as follows — unexplainable phenomenon. The power disappeared into thin air, just as if it were an act of God!

*****

Star Calendar Year 4731:

At the spaceport of Planet Anta, all the warriors headed for the front lines were lined up to enter the regular battleships. Meanwhile, in front of the commanding mothership of the top-ranked official, a pair of lovers faced each other among the crowds of people saying goodbye, speaking in soft tones with their hands clasped.

"Ling Xiao, you must come back alive," pleaded Lan Luofeng with teary eyes.

Ling Xiao nodded. He had not expected that he would have to rush into battle after being married for only two months, but the enemy was relentless and their nation wasn't faring very well, leaving him no choice but to take action.

"I leave the household in your hands." Ling Xiao felt sorry for his newly wedded wife due to his imminent departure — once he left, all the messy bothersome issues in the family would fall upon this delicate woman before him. Could she hold off those greedy people? In his heart, he wasn't at all certain.

With red-rimmed eyes, but a firm voice, Lan Luofeng said, "Don't worry, Ling Xiao. I will take good care of our household." She placed Ling Xiao's hand on her abdomen, and said shyly, "In another eight months or so, you are going to be a father."

"We have a child? That's great!" Blindsided by the happy news, Ling Xiao embraced his wife and twirled her around in circles, joyous laughter spilling from his mouth.

Lan Luofeng held onto Ling Xiao anxiously but did nothing to stop his celebratory actions. After a long while, Ling Xiao finally put Lan Luofeng down and hugged her close, saying, "Luofeng, thank you!"

"What are you saying? I am your wife, and this...is also a child I anticipate."

Lan Luofeng smiled gently with her hand pressed against her abdomen, the joy in her heart overflowing. "I wanted to ask, what shall we name the child?"

At her words, Ling Xiao started to consider it seriously. Looking at the mirrored joy on his wife's face, a spark of inspiration flared. "I have decided. Whether it is a boy or a girl, our child shall be called Ling Lan! The child is both yours and mine, and is worthy to bear both our surnames." Lan Luofeng was also an only child, so perhaps this name would give his wife some happiness.

Sure enough, Lan Luofeng was overjoyed, nodding vigorously. "Yes, let's do as you say."

The tears in her eyes could no longer be held back, and Ling Xiao could do nothing but frantically help her wipe them away.

At this time, the platform announced the call for final boarding. Lan Luofeng hurriedly composed herself, wiped away the rest of her tears, and said with a smile, "Ling Xiao, you must fulfil your promise to me — Ling Lan and I will wait for your return together."

Ling Xiao nodded gravely. "I always fulfil my promises."

With anticipation for his child in his heart, Ling Xiao left, boarding the commanding mothership under Lan Luofeng's teary gaze. Very quickly, the commanding mothership closed its doors and started up, and under the guidance of air control, it disengaged from the navigation frame of the port, slowly rose into the air, and pulled away from the Star of Anta, leading innumerable battleships into deep space.

Meanwhile, unnoticed by the people focused on the departure of the airships, a massive amount of energy was generated by the simultaneous powering up of the countless airships, causing this patch of space to waver and even fold in on itself in some places. An almost microscopic particle suddenly appeared out of thin air and rushed towards the Star of Anta at the speed of light.

Still mired in sadness, Lan Luofeng suddenly felt her abdomen grow hot and cold and couldn't help but scream out in shock, her hands drifting instinctively to cover her belly. This drew the concern of the chamberlain Ling Qin, who until now had been quietly standing watch like wallpaper in the background.

"Young mistress, are you alright?"

Lan Luofeng closed her eyes and carefully took stock of herself. Finding nothing wrong, she finally relaxed, and replied, "Uncle Qin, I'm fine. I think I was just a little too emotional."

At that, Ling Qin breathed out a sigh of relief, "Young mistress, since the young master has already left Anta, I think we should go home now. It's too chaotic here, I'm afraid it may be harmful to your health."

Lan Luofeng was not a stubborn person, and she felt that Ling Qin's concerns had merit, so she nodded and said, "Lead the way, Uncle Qin."

In short order, the two of them were seated in a hover car, speeding away from the spaceport towards home.

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Ling Lan once again regained consciousness, but this time there seemed to be something wrong with her eyes, so she could only rely on her sense of feeling. It felt as if she was contained in a sealed vat of warm water, surrounded by liquid on all sides. At times, the vat seemed to be moved by someone, and she would be bumped around.

Could it be that she didn't die? Had she been placed into a nutrient solution by the hospital to take care of her body?

Before she could figure things out, her consciousness faded, and she was enveloped by darkness once again.

After an indeterminate amount of time, she woke up again, still within the warm liquid, and this time she was aware for a little longer than before. This time, she could hear some sounds, although they sounded muffled as if coming from several walls away, so she could not make anything out clearly. She really wanted to know what was happening to her, but being unable to move, she could only work on trying to decipher the sounds. Before she could make any progress, however, she lost consciousness again.

Dammit! Couldn't she just have a little more time? As Ling Lan lost awareness, she couldn't help but make this brief protest.

As if Ling Lan's protest was heard, the time Ling Lan spent awake grew longer and longer, until one day, she found that she could move.

After being trapped for so long, she naturally swung her fists and kicked out with all her might, but after only a few movements, she was entirely tired out and even felt sleepy again.

This would not do. She could not keep being weak like this, or else how would she endure the inhuman pain when it came? Speaking of which, she hadn't felt pain in a long time. Could it be that the pain only came while she was unconscious? Ling Lan suddenly felt that being unconscious could also be a good thing.

However, Ling Lan was not a girl who liked to avoid her troubles, or else she would not have had been able to live every day with excruciating pain for 24 years. She rallied her spirits and began to practice the set of health-bolstering Qi cultivation exercises taught to her by an old Chinese doctor who had treated her when she had first entered the military hospital.

Even though she still had not felt any Qi form after over 10 years of practice, the pain in her body would lessen greatly after each session and become easier to endure. While this may well have been due to self-delusion, or some sort of placebo effect, it had nevertheless provided her with motivation to continue practicing the exercises.

She lost consciousness as she practiced, and when she awoke once again, an unknown period of time had passed. She moved her limbs and shifted around for a bit before stopping to get a sense of her own condition and was immediately dumbfounded. She could actually sense something which she had never felt before ... something like Qi. It was unreal, like something out of fantasy — could it be that she was a talent blessed by the heavens, and her fake death had caused two of her extraordinary meridians, Ren and Du, to open up, turning her into a martial arts master?

Ling Lan could not understand why she succeeded this time when hard training for over 10 years had had no effect. Still, being able to sense Qi was a good thing. The old Chinese doctor had said that if she could achieve a sense of Qi, her illness would have the possibility of being healed. For 24 years she had wished for her illness to be cured so that she would no longer have to live every day in almost unbearable pain, feeling as if her entire body was being crushed.

Ling Lan was ecstatic, and her enthusiasm for practice grew. She began practicing during her every waking moment, and this continued until she achieved a meditative state. Until now, she still had no clue that she had become a fetus, and that what had happened in her past life was no longer any of her concern, and that her worries were for naught.

********

Lan Luofeng caressed her abdomen with a face full of worry. She was already 5 months into her pregnancy, but she had not felt any recent fetal movement from her baby. If it weren't for the fact that all the medical exams showed that her child was developing normally, she would surely have had a mental breakdown.

Truthfully, she could take no more bad news. A month after her husband Ling Xiao had left for battle, news had come saying that there had been an accident when the fleet he was leading had entered a death tunnel to outflank the enemy camp, and that headquarters had lost all contact with his fleet.

Later on, it was confirmed that the fleet had run into some energy disturbance in the depths of the dead star meteorite zone while passing through the death tunnel, and the entire fleet had been consumed by this devastating energy. There were no survivors. Every single member was lost, and no remains could be found.

Before she could even fully absorb this terrible news, something even more distasteful had happened. A branch family member N-generations apart from Ling Xiao had 'stepped up' to inherit the honours and privileges gained by Ling Xiao's sacrifice. He had even had the gall to imply that he was doing her a great favour and would take care of her for the rest of her life.

Lan Luofeng had thrown that disgusting man out immediately, but those horrid people had been unwilling to give up. They had brought a representative over from the federal government to discuss the matter.

Lan Luofeng was not a weak person. She knew that crying would only result in Ling Xiao's sacrifice being taken advantage of by these despicable people. With no other choice, she made a prompt decision. In front of those hateful and despicable people, she proclaimed that Ling Xiao had a son who was currently in her belly, and that only his son had the right to inherit all of Ling Xiao's accolades.

Bias actually existed in the Federation's inheritance law with regards to military benefits — only male family members were allowed to inherit. This was why Lan Luofeng did not reveal she had a child from the beginning. Both she and the chamberlain Ling Qin knew that the child in her belly was a girl, but under these circumstances, she could not retreat. Ling Qin was in agreement and fully supported her decision.

They had already thought it through — the moment Ling Lan was born, they would arrange for another baby girl to be raised alongside Ling Lan to be her loyal guard, who would also marry Ling Lan publicly once they were adults.

They would also think of a way to manage Ling Lan's other identity so that she would be able to appear in public as a girl as well. Of course, all this still required more detailed thought and consideration. Still, Lan Luofeng believed that by the time Ling Lan grew up she would definitely have been able to come up with a solution that would give Ling Lan the best of both worlds.

Lan Luofeng had only one unwavering thought, and that was that all of Ling Xiao and her possessions could only belong to Ling Lan. All those other bastards who crawled out from god-knows-where would not be allowed to take advantage of Ling Lan. She would not allow it, never, no matter the cost.

Of course, another reason for Lan Luofeng's confidence was the unwavering loyalty of the main household vassals of Ling Xiao. They closed ranks around the Ling family home and kept a close watch, leaving those greedy outsiders no chance to harm their young master. Furthermore, the Ling family also had their own personal hospital, which made it even more convenient for Lan Luofeng to hide the secret of Ling Lan's gender.

Just like that, under this strict guard, the time for Lan Luofeng to give birth finally arrived. Naturally, the chosen place of birth was their personal hospital. No mistakes could be made at this final juncture. The doctors and nurses responsible for Lan Luofeng's delivery were family loyalists specially arranged by the Ling family — they would never ever expose this secret.

********

Ling Lan was still practicing when cry after piercing cry disturbed her meditation, causing her to be very annoyed. At the same time, she could hear the sound of water flowing, and then her body was being repelled by some unknown force, and she was sliding downwards headfirst.

In shock, she immediately spread open her legs to hold her position, stopping her body from sliding down any further.

"God dammit, why doesn't this child come out? The amniotic fluid has almost run dry." The delivering doctor and nurses were sweating buckets. Everything looked like it was going well, but the child just did not want to come out. It was looking more and more like a case of obstructed labour. If that was the case, then they would have to do a caesarean section. Under those circumstances, their little miss's secret could not be guaranteed since too many people would have to be involved, highly increasing the likelihood of the secret being leaked.

Lan Luofeng gritted her teeth and petted her distended belly, saying, "Dear, stop tormenting mummy. Come out quickly to meet me. Even if you are angry at mummy for making you live an abnormal life, you still need to come out to yell at me, right?"

… Alright, Lan Luofeng's IQ had dropped into the negatives due to the pain, so what she said should not be taken seriously. Which mother wants her child to yell at herself?

But Lan Luofeng's words were heard by Ling Lan, and combined with what she just felt, along with her condition a while back, Ling Lan abruptly realised she had become a fetus. No wonder she had been unable to move for such a long time...

However, didn't she die? Was she reincarnated? Why didn't she drink Meng-Po soup 1 ? Were the memories of her past life too deeply ingrained? The gentle and mellifluous voice of her current mother proved that this was not her mother from her past life, so that ruled out the possibility of rebirth.

"Oh geez, you still have the spare time to think about reincarnation and rebirth? Your mother is about to suffer from obstructed labour because of you ... draw back your legs now!" A childish voice rang out in her mind in a panicked tone, reminding her of what she was supposed to do right now.

Ling Lan listened and drew back her legs. Then she heard a soul-wrenching scream, and a surge of energy pushed her body out.

Instantly, she could sense the presence of light ...

Before she could do anything, she felt fingers digging into her mouth, making her feel like puking. She couldn't help but open her mouth to protest, and then she heard her own screeching calls!

That's right, calls! Ling Lan would never admit that those were wails — that would be too embarrassing.

Mistress, the young miss is healthy!" The Ling family doctor finally gave a sigh of relief. With both mother and child safe, their duty was done. All smiles, she brought the now stubbornly silent Ling Lan over to Lan Luofeng's side.

Lan Luofeng opened her tired eyes and caressed her child lovingly. Then her expression tightened. Resolutely, she said, "Tell Uncle Qin both Young Master Ling Lan and I are fine!"

"Yes, Mistress!" The doctor stifled his smile and donned a similarly serious expression.

The birth of the young miss, no, the young master did not mean the end of the matter. To fully protect the privileges left behind by Major General Ling Xiao, there were still many hard battles to be fought.

Properly cleaned up, Lan Luofeng and Ling Lan were moved to a deluxe hospital room where Ling Qin had already set up a specialised instrument used to assess the various body stats and potential of infants.

"Mistress, allow me to examine the young master’s condition." In truth, Ling Qin was a little disappointed that the child was a girl. Even if Major General Ling Xiao’s premium military benefits were successfully inherited by the young miss, the Ling family would have no chance within this generation to obtain the strongest ultimate weapon which represented the Federation — just like the one Major General Ling Xiao had — the IN mecha!

The Federation’s law allowing only male relatives to inherit military honours and benefits, though seemingly biased, did in fact have some basis. Among all the functioning IN mechas, there was not a single one with a female operator.

The requirements to be an IN mecha operator were extremely high — not only did you need to have immense spiritual power, you also needed a strong and sturdy body. This was because the IN mechas were operated by a combination of willpower and body movement, which worked together to realise many extremely dangerous and complicated attacks and combat techniques. Depending on the power behind these movements, a fraction of the energy was reflected back to the operator. Without a strong body, an operator could be injured just by executing a single basic move.

The natural physical difference between men and women may not be noticeable with regular mecha, but it was glaringly obvious when it came to IN mecha. There wasn’t a single woman who could withstand that sort of recoil, even if she had trained up a muscular body. With regards to operating the IN mecha, the natural physical gap between the genders could not be eliminated by hard work.

Then let’s talk about those inherited military benefits. Those benefits actually referred to valuable resources being cultivated by the nation. The nation would invest vast amounts of money and manpower to nurture the designated inheritors of those military benefits. The grand goal was that these carefully cultivated candidates would be able to operate an IN mecha someday and become an ultimate weapon in service of the country.

Therefore, women, who could not operate IN mecha, had been directly cast aside by the Federation. As those politicians would say, they could not waste taxpayers’ money, right? And so this outright biased law which discriminated against women was officially ratified without facing any opposition from the general public.

Naturally, the present Ling Lan knew nothing of this. Right after her first two grand cries at her birth, she had jumped straight into training, because at the very moment she had entered the world, she had found that her sense of Qi had heightened even further, giving her an almost roiling sensation. Even if she had no idea what was happening, she instinctively knew that this was a golden opportunity that should not be missed, and so immediately entered a meditative state without regard to where she was.

Of course, Ling Lan was only so bold because she was an infant. Besides sleeping and eating, and eating and sleeping, she basically had nothing else to do. Even if she entered a training trance, outside observers would just assume she was sleeping, and would not be particularly worried. More importantly, from the words she had heard her mother speak at her birth, she knew that her mother in this life would make sure she was well-protected, which gave her the reassurance to just let go and focus on training.

Lan Luofeng carefully passed Ling Lan over into Ling Qin’s arms and watched as Ling Qin slowly placed Ling Lan into a transparent elliptical compartment.

The moment Ling Qin withdrew his arms, the transparent compartment sealed itself and beams of alternating green and red light swept across Ling Lan’s body.

Suddenly, the transparent compartment emitted a piercing warning whistle ——

"What’s going on?" Lan Luofeng sat up hurriedly in her bed. Her face, which was already pale due to her recent delivery, turned even paler in her fright and worry over her child.

Ling Qin was just as taken aback by this unexpected warning whistle. However, before Ling Qin could rush over to check, the warning whistle went silent, and the assessment resumed as normal. Everyone was still alarmed and uncertain, but they did not dare to stop the assessment of Ling Lan and so continued to wait patiently.

Ling Lan was utterly oblivious to all of this — at that moment a childish voice in her mind was crowing gleefully, "Luckily I have quick reflexes, or else my host’s secret would have been revealed. When I greet the host later, I must get her to praise me well ... hehe!"

Finally, the assessment device started to report its findings.

Assessment data:

Physical Fitness: [S] rank!

Spiritual Power: Tier-2!

Potential: [S] rank!

Assessment overview: Excellent; focused cultivation recommended.

Ling Qin was astounded by these results. In disbelief, he rushed over to take a closer look at the copy of the results printed out by the machine.

The results were clearly printed out in black and white, proving that he had not misheard.

[S] rank physical fitness was rare even among male infants, appearing at a rate of 1 or 2 in a thousand. Of course this wasn’t the most extreme case, for Ling Lan’s father, Ling Xiao, had been a gifted genius born with a physical fitness of [SS] rank, which occurred at a rate of 1 in several ten thousand. Ling Qin suspected that Ling Lan’s good physical fitness must have been inherited from her father.

Even more surprising, Ling Lan possessed natural tier-2 spiritual power. This meant that Ling Lan would have a natural advantage in mental training, a situation which only occurred at a rate of 1 in several ten thousand individuals ...

Deeply moved, Ling Qin shivered. Even Ling Lan’s father, the Major General Ling Xiao, had only possessed tier-1 spiritual power at birth.[S] rank potential — the same basic assessment as Major General Ling Xiao. Major General Ling Xiao was the operator of an IN mecha ... does that mean that their young miss Ling Lan might also be able to operate an IN mecha?

An IN mecha operator ... Ling Qin’s shivers intensified at the thought, and he almost burst into tears. Could it be that the Ling family would produce the first female IN mecha operator?

If that happened, it would truly be a slap in the face to all those federalists!

Although Lan Luofeng was also shocked by the results of Ling Lan’s assessment, she was at heart a mother, and her first thought was how she could protect her child. Solemnly, she said, "Uncle Qin, Ling Lan’s assessment results must be sealed."

If Ling Lan’s assessment were to be made public, the nation would certainly suggest taking her in for intensive cultivation. If Ling Lan were a boy, Lan Luofeng would have been fine with that. However, Ling Lan was a girl, and Lan Luofeng would not see her daughter suffer that life. Also, if the nation were to decide to send over specialised trainers instead, the secret of Ling Lan’s gender would also be easily exposed. Thus, Lan Luofeng was determined that Ling Lan’s assessment be sealed.

Actually, even before Ling Lan was born, Lan Luofeng had already decided that she would let Ling Lan live as she pleased. She did not really want Ling Lan to follow in her father’s footsteps and become part of the military. Lan Luofeng knew very well that as long as Ling Lan did not commit any major crime such as treason, she would be able to live off of the premium military benefits earned by Ling Xiao’s sacrifice the way she wanted without worry. Even if Ling Lan wanted to live like a rich wastrel, Lan Luofeng would not object.

Lan Luofeng looked upon Ling Lan in the device with loving yet remorseful eyes and thought, "Sorry, baby Ling Lan, for making you live an abnormal life ... It’s because you are Ling Xiao’s daughter, and I will not permit anyone other than you to enjoy the privileges your father’s sacrifice have gained.

"But you are also my daughter, and I love you, so I selfishly do not wish for you to bear the burdens of the Ling family. In the future, I won’t go out of my way to raise you in any specific way — you will be free to choose whichever path you’d like. Even if you end up being a wastrel, mummy will always support you."

It must be admitted that Lan Luofeng had the makings of an irrationally protective mother — if Ling Lan were to wish for the destruction of the Ling family in the future, Lan Luofeng may even help draw up the plans with full enthusiasm.