Chapter 21: That Exotic Beast Is Coming for You. If You Don’t Step Up, Are We Just Cannon Fodder?
There were Mutant Beasts underground too?
Jiang Tea Tea’s words hit like a muffled thunderclap. Other than Chong Ming, every single person snapped their heads downwards. Where? Where exactly?
Chong Ming’s gaze landed on the back of her head. His voice was low and flat. “Classmate Jiang Tea Tea, what kind of Mutant Beast is underground?”
Jiang Tea Tea pulled Big Yellow Strong to her side to ensure safety before answering, eyes never leaving the ground. “Insects. Mutant Insects.”
[Ugh.] Even though she was already a Ten Thousand Year Great Demon, at the end of the day, her original form was a tree. And trees hated bugs.
And it wasn’t just one or two bugs down there. It was countless. A whole writhing mass of them trying to break through the ground.
Big Yellow Strong’s legs turned to jelly. If she hadn’t been holding him up, he would’ve dropped to his knees and worshipped her right there. She dared to speak to his Idol Male God like that? With no tremor in her voice at all?
Bang! Bang! Bang! A series of gunshots rang out. Several Level 7 Mutant Rats had their heads blown off—brains burst, limbs twitching, blood pooling.
Students being chased by the Mutant Rats had completely forgotten they were Supernatural Ability users. No abilities, just endless screaming and running.
Security guards and S Rank and above students were in brutal fights with massive Mutant Beasts like Mutant Leopards, Mutant Tigers, and Mutant Foxes, yet still had to spare energy to rescue their panicking Classmates from being bitten.
There were too many Mutant Rats. They were everywhere. The heat-sensing alarms had gone silent. No one knew how many more Mutant Beasts had flooded the school.
Principal Wu and the rest of the school authorities joined the fight, hunting down the Mutant Rats and protecting the students. Wind users swept rats away, Ice users froze them solid, then shattered them with blunt weapons.
Frozen rats smashed to pieces, fragments scattered across the ground, a grotesque display of survival.
Students who had escaped from the Combat Department Building, still uselessly screaming without using a shred of Supernatural Ability, were rounded up and shielded by the Principal’s team.
“They’re here.” Jiang Tea Tea grabbed the flailing Lu Ling’er and Lin Feng Feng, dragging them close. “The Mutant Insects are breaking through.”
Right as her voice dropped, crack—a sharp snap. The hard stone tiles on the ground split in two.
One tile split. Then two. Then three, four, five. A cascade of rupturing stone. Countless tiles fractured as if the entire foundation was crumbling.
From beneath the tiles, insects shoved their way up. One after another. The ground became unstable beneath their feet, too many to hold firm even with the crowd of students and staff.
Suddenly, a tile was flung open. A Tea King Bee the size of a fist shot into the air.
Its belly was pale, back and wings black—a mutated variant of the Vespa mandarinia. These creatures laid eggs and grew underground. When mature, they burst forth and devoured everything in sight. Wherever they flew, they left nothing but devastation.
Bang! The first Tea King Bee was blasted out of the sky by a bullet. But then came the second. Then the third. Then the fourth. An endless swarm.
Even if every bullet hit its mark, there were too few shooters. Not enough to stop the flood of Tea King Bees swarming up.
“Jiang Tea Tea, I’m scared.” Lu Ling’er clung to her arm. “My Mother said if you get stung by a Tea King Bee, you’ll die! My Jumping Ability is useless here. What should I do? Will I die here?”
“I’m scared too.” Lin Feng Feng huddled close, her voice trembling with sobs. “You were right, Jiang Tea Tea. My C Rank Wind based Ability is nothing but a fan—it has zero attack power.”
“Am I gonna die from getting swiped by a Tea King Bee or a Mutant Rat? Boohoo, I don’t wanna die yet! I haven’t even caught my Idol Male God yet!”
“Shut it.” Jiang Tea Tea’s head throbbed from all the noise. She yanked her arm and snapped, voice sharp and merciless, “Use those pig brains of yours for once. You’re standing this close to the Commander of the Three Armies and the Prince Regent, Chong Ming, Your Highness. You think he’d let you die?”
Clinging to a golden thigh like his and still worried about dying? What kind of decorations are these people carrying on their necks—actual brains or fluff?
Lu Ling’er and Lin Feng Feng, along with Big Yellow Strong: “!!!”
Oh right! They were in the protective circle of their Idol Male God. Like he’d let anything happen to them! What were they panicking for?
Chong Ming’s golden eyes deepened. He looked down at Jiang Tea Tea, who barely reached his chin, all fierce and unbothered.
He probed again for any trace of his Dragon scent on her. Nothing. Not even a whiff of Supernatural Ability. She really did trust him. She wasn’t scared—just pure, unfiltered faith.
“Holy hell,” Big Yellow Strong suddenly shouted, “Sister Tea! The Tea King Bees are flying right at us, swarming like we’re their buffet!”
Jiang Tea Tea’s voice floated in, dark and cool: “It’s not just the Tea King Bees. Every Mutant Beast around here is stampeding straight toward us.”
“If there wasn’t someone holding them off, hacking them down, those Mutant Beasts and Mutant Insects would’ve already reached us for a full-on slaughter!”
Whether it was a hulking Mutant Beast or a tiny Tea King Bee, every one of them was laser-focused on charging their way.
Several Mutant Tigers, each weighing tons, battered and bloody, still dragged their mangled bodies toward them like they were possessed.
But this area’s defenses were tight. Anything that came close either got a headshot or was torn apart by Supernatural Abilities. Not one made it through.
Every student near Chong Ming was under elite guard—an impenetrable fortress. Completely safe.
Big Yellow Strong, running on zero brain cells, blurted out, “What do we have over here that all the Mutant Beasts and Insects are stampeding toward us?”
Jiang Tea Tea gave him a side-eye like he was a complete moron and spat out, “Big Yellow Dog, you’re a Canine Beastman, not a pig. Use that mutt brain of yours—who do you think they’re after?”
Big Yellow Strong froze like a stunned idiot. “They’re not… after you, are they?”
Jiang Tea Tea slapped her forehead, feeling like giving up on life. “You absolute idiot…”
“They’re after me,” Chong Ming’s voice cut in low and smooth, radiating power. He easily overrode Jiang Tea Tea’s scolding. “Classmate Big Yellow Dog.”
Big Yellow Strong: “!!!!”
He’s not Big Yellow Dog! He’s Big Yellow Strong!
Even the Idol Male God was calling him by the same dumb nickname as Sister Tea?!
Jiang Tea Tea didn’t miss a beat. She snapped at Chong Ming, “You know they’re gunning for your life. So why aren’t you doing something about it already?”
Chong Ming’s gaze locked onto her black eyes. Calm, collected, he said, “No rush. The country dumps massive budgets on the Royal Military Academy every year. A full-scale Exotic Beast invasion like this? Once in a century.”
“Perfect chance to test the school’s reaction capabilities, the staff’s skill level, and the students’ individual strength and team combat ability.”
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation