Little Four saw many buttons at the head of the bed and so infiltrated into the system. Very soon, he had found that safe of Shi Mingyi's which contained so many agents. Opening it, he discovered that aside from the antidote for the anaesthetic, the other agents were all myriad types of arousal-enhancing agents, which were collectively known as aphrodisiacs.

Little Four had already found the description of aphrodisiacs in his database. With a troubled expression, he said in the mindspace, "Boss, it seems like there are no antidotes for aphrodisiacs. The only antidote is to find him a woman ... but this whole academy is all boys, you are the only girl."

Seeing Ling Lan sweep a fierce glare in his direction, Little Four quickly ducked his head and muttered at his fingers, "Of course, if that's really out of the question, it's also fine to find a man for him ..." According to the database, there were cases where men helped men to clear out the aphrodisiac, although, Little Four really did not understand why the antidote had to involve males and females ... the innocent Little Four still did not really understand what was meant by the carnal pleasures of love.

"You can just stop giving those rotten ideas of yours," huffed Ling Lan in exasperation.

Right then, Luo Lang struggled to sit up, and tolerating the discomfort of his body, he said to Ling Lan, "Boss, I'm fine." Luo Lang did not want to hold his boss back at this dangerous moment.

Ling Lan threw a glance at Luo Lang's trembling legs — in this state, could he really follow her to charge out of Tianji headquarters? Ling Lan did not think Luo Lang could really do it.

Perhaps sensing Ling Lan's distrust, Luo Lang bit gently at his lower lip, face determined as he said, "Boss, believe me, I can do it!" He, Luo Lang, would not lose to anaesthetic, and he also would not lose to this ridiculous aphrodisiac ...

Luo Lang's determination made Ling Lan sigh internally. Although Luo Lang looked like the most delicate one among all her companions, the stubbornness and aggression in his bones were no less than Qi Long's — it could be said that the other members of the team were a bracket weaker than him in this respect. Ling Lan believed that if she really permitted Luo Lang to follow behind her, even if he pushed himself till he was littered with injuries, Luo Lang would still stubbornly keep pace behind her as long as he remained conscious. What a little fellow who tugged at one's heartstrings ...

Ling Lan could only nod and say, "Understood!"

Ling Lan's reply made a smile bloom on Luo Lang's face — Boss was still willing to believe in him ...

Right at that moment, Ling Lan darted forwards, and before Luo Lang could react, she had already pinched the back of Luo Lang's neck forcefully. With a trace of incomprehension in his eyes, Luo Lang fell unconscious.

Ling Lan's left arm reached out and tugged, pulling Luo Lang easily into her embrace, her lips parted to say softly, "Silly little fellow, isn't it much more convenient if I carry you?"

"Ah~ah~ah~ah~ah~! Boss, you actually gave away your first virgin hug to this brat Luo Lang!" Little Four went utterly berserk at this sight. I mean, this was Boss Lan's first hug! He had originally set it so that he, Little Four, would be the one to receive it ... why had this brat taken it away now? At this moment, filled with envy-jealousy-hate, Little Four was unbelievably resentful at how backward the technology of this world was, actually lacking any physical constructs which an intelligent bio-entity could inhabit and use. Otherwise, he would long have taken Boss's first hug for himself.

"Shut your mouth. My first hug has long ago been given to Mum ..." Little Four's words rendered Ling Lan somewhat speechless. Wasn't her mum the first to hug her right after she was born? It should be ... right? Ling Lan was a little uncertain.

"It doesn't count for the same gender. It must be for the opposite sex. The opposite sex, you hear me? And also, it must be you, Boss, who initiates the hug." Little Four objected stubbornly, insisting that Mummy Lan's hugs did not count.

"Then, it still would not be Luo Lang. My first hug has already been taken by Dad," Ling Lan calmly revealed the truth to Little Four. The thing he was obsessing over had long been given out long ago.

Little Four was stunned. "How come I didn't know about this?"

"At that time, you were already completely bowled over by Dad ... you could see nothing else but him," said Ling Lan disdainfully. Every time Little Four saw Ling Xiao, he would become a crazy fan, with not one whit of the level-headedness so-called intelligent bio-entities should have. Ling Lan once again confirmed that this Little Four was definitely a factory reject.

Ling Lan even suspected that Little Four had only been able to appear in the primitive Earth of her previous life because the person who had created Little Four had not been able to accept this flawed product. Based on the 'out of sight, out of mind' mantra, had that person thrown Little Four into a primitive dimension for him to live and die as fate decreed?

Ling Lan felt that this hypothesis was very reasonable — when Little Four sensed Ling Lan's thoughts, he was sent spiralling into a tantrum. He vehemently objected to this preposterous theory, insisting that he, Little Four, was a special intelligence entity that was truly one of a kind among the celestial and mortal realm. He hoped that Ling Lan would properly cherish him, this omnipotent follower ...

Of course, Ling Lan had already gotten used to this behaviour of Little Four's — when she was younger, she would still end up resorting to 'domestic violence' out of sheer aggravation, but now, she had become extremely indifferent to it, calm and unruffled in the face of it. Ling Lan felt that Little Four deserved a lot of credit for her slackface-fu being so strong; without his antics day after day, year after year, helping her to train up her heart and tolerance, she would not have been able to maintain it so well.

Just like this, under Little Four's raging frenzy, Ling Lan hefted Luo Lang over her shoulder. As she left, she did not forget to stomp mightily several times over Shi Mingyi's body. Ling Lan was not purely venting her rage — these few stomps carried her unique Qi-Jin. It could be said that without some peerless expert's help in driving out this energy from the other's body, even if Shi Mingyi's shattered bones were treated and healed, he would not be able to stand up again.

When Ling Lan left Shi Mingyi's room, Little Four subsided from his initial frenzied state into extreme calmness. Eyes bright, he asked, "Boss, can I act now?"

They had planned things this way from the start — after they had rescued Luo Lang, all the surveillance equipment within Tianji's headquarters, along with the exclusive mainframe belonging to Tianji headquarters, would be open game for Little Four. He could play with them however he liked — though of course, the condition being that whatever he did would not be traced back to the New Cadet Regiment ...

"Yup, and don't forget to find out who were those involved in Luo Lang's kidnapping." Ling Lan's lips quirked up slightly, her eyes endlessly cold, "Luo Lang's abduction never happened. You know what to do."

"Kill them all?" Little Four was thrilled by these words — Ling Lan had always forbidden him from acting overtly in the virtual world; he had actually felt very constrained. Mind you, his greatest talents laid in the virtual world, where he could determine whether everyone lived or died ...

"No, there's no need for that. Those scum are not worthy for my Little Four to commit this crime. You only need to crush their spiritual selves and that'll do ..." Ling Lan said to Little Four within the mindspace as she stroked his head tenderly, though the words she spouted were exceedingly vicious. Little Four might not understand yet, but at times, living was a fate worse than death!

"Got it, Boss, leave it to me ..." Little Four cast down these words and then went off to complete his task and 'kill' some people.

Ling Lan stared at the spot in the mindspace where Little Four had disappeared. Her emotions were a complicated jumble ... she did not know whether this decision of hers was too cruel. After all, destroying another's spiritual self was equal to turning the other into an idiot. Shi Mingyi's brain-space had been crushed by her, so it was confirmed that he would be a handicapped idiot when he woke up again. She did not regret this, even thinking that leaving him with his life was already a mercy. However, those other people she had set Little Four after were only accomplices. Other than participating in Luo Lang's abduction, they had not done too many bad things ...

At this time, Ling Lan could feel Luo Lang's body on her shoulder becoming hotter and hotter, and that trace of compassion and hesitance in her heart vanished. Indeed, those people might have only been accomplices, but if not for them, would Shi Mingyi alone have been able to capture Luo Lang? If Luo Lang was destroyed by this ...

At this thought, Ling Lan could not stop herself from slamming a fist into a wall. Her hidden energy flowed from her hand into the wall, spreading out into the surrounding area, creating countless cracks inside the wall. As Ling Lan's strength was released in an extremely skilful manner, there was not a trace of the internal damage on the surface of the wall.

The coldness in Ling Lan's eyes grew thicker; she decided she would be true to her heart. She could not bear the outcome of losing Luo Lang, and so could not find it within herself to forgive those people. Therefore, they needed to pay the price for this current situation.

Those who harmed her brothers, she would make them pay the price in blood. If not, how could she face those comrades of hers who trusted her and loved her? For this reason, even if her hands became stained with blood and sin, she was willing to sully them.

********

Right then, in the initially quiet monitoring room of Tianji headquarters, a shocked cry rang out suddenly, "What happened? Why is my screen here black?"

The staff on-duty within headquarters discovered the strange state of his monitoring channel, and instantly leapt up in shock.

"Me too over here. The screen's black too!" Another monitor shouted as well.

"I can't see anything here now either!" The monitoring room was instantly in a state of panic.

"Don't panic, check the mainframe system immediately," ordered the on-duty leader calmly.

Following this order, everyone in the room began to move. They all attempted their own methods to try and connect with the mainframe system, but found to their dismay that nothing worked. They just could not contact the mainframe system — it was as if the mainframe had been sealed off.

"Leader, I have no response here!" One team member shouted out, his face drenched with sweat.

"Me too, over here, there's no way in!" Another team member lowered his hands in frustration. No matter how many times he tried to connect to the mainframe, the signals he sent were like rocks sinking into the ocean.

"Not good, it's a hacker attack. Cut all connections with the mainframe. Activate the secondary A.I. system." The leader seemed to come to some conclusion, his face paling drastically. He hurriedly instructed his team members to cut off all headquarters' terminal connections with the mainframe which had been invaded. After that, he would be able to activate the secondary A.I. to take over all the surveillance systems and safety measures within headquarters.

"Yes, Leader!" The leader's orders rallied the team members' spirits. It was true that they had not run out of options yet — they still had the backup secondary A.I. system. As long as they could hold out for the duration of time needed for it to activate, they would be able to guarantee that Tianji headquarters remained properly safeguarded.

However, after they had manually cut off the mainframe's electrical supply and activated the secondary A.I., they found that the situation remained unchanged. All of the equipment were still in a frozen state, unable to be used ...

"Leader, what now?" One of the team members looked to be younger than the rest, and he actually began to sob uncontrollably. If any great incident occurred while their systems were incapacitated, the consequences of failure would be too much for all of them to bear.

"Relying on us alone will not be enough. Quickly, go gather all the hacker members in the clan and get them to come here to the monitoring room ..." At this time, the team leader could no longer remain calm. Sweat poured from his forehead, dripping off it like rain.T/C: *fans myself* Ling Lan here makes me want to swoon. Why you playin' the role of the ML, Ling Lan? Why?! Meanwhile, poor Luo Lang has been delegated to the role of damsel in distress ... <>T/C: A play on the term 'kung-fu'. Though that's not precisely what the author used, I think it works well in capturing the playful tone here.