Chapter 112
Chapter 112: Whose Cub’s Mom Is This Alpha and This Crazy? Is She Trying to Die?
Chong Ming’s voice dropped cold through the comm.
“How strong is the distress signal? How far did it spread?”
His mental power surged outward as he tried to sense it himself, but the Military Department was simply too far from the Royal Military Academy. He couldn’t catch even a trace.
Jin Lao answered respectfully. “The instruments show the cub distress signal spread to about three hundred kilometers. It’s fading now.”
Chong Ming’s tone turned decisive. “Find an excuse. Give every female at the Royal Military Academy a full physical exam. Check carefully.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Jin Lao replied immediately.
Before Chong Ming ended the call, he added, “Don’t alarm anyone. If you find anything, report to me.”
“Yes, Commander-in-Chief.”
The comm disconnected.
Chong Ming pushed his mental power outward again, searching.
Nothing.
He opened Sui Xuan Chu’s contact and called him.
Sui Xuan Chu saw his uncle’s incoming call and nearly leapt out of his skin. He hurried to find his headset, shoved it into his ear, and answered with stiff respect and obvious fear.
“Uncle… what is it?”
Chong Ming went straight to the point. “You’re at the Royal Military Academy. Did you smell a Dragon Clan cub’s distress signal?”
“No!” Sui Xuan Chu answered instantly.
Chong Ming’s voice turned icy. “No? Jin Lao captured it with instruments. You didn’t smell anything?”
Sui Xuan Chu panicked and explained at speed. “Uncle, I’m in the academy treatment room right now. The doors and windows are sealed. It blocks outside scents completely. Only the air circulation system is running.”
The Royal Military Academy’s treatment rooms were sealed to a high standard. Once the doors and windows were shut, noise and scent from outside were cut off completely.
Chong Ming’s brows knitted. “Why are you in a treatment room? Are you injured?”
“No injuries,” Sui Xuan Chu said truthfully. “The school gave us a half day plus three full days off. My roommate wanted us to have a better break, so she called us all here and stabilized our ability backlash and soothed our mind seas.”
“She also checked Huang Da Zhuang’s body—unblocked his mind sea a bit—to see if he could awaken an ability.”
Chong Ming went quiet for a beat. “So Jiang Tea Tea left after checking you?”
“Yes. She told us to stay here for ten minutes. Jin Lao is coming to check our bodies next.”
Chong Ming pressed again. “Did she show any unusual signs when she left?”
Sui Xuan Chu thought hard. “Nothing major. Just that her face was pale from ability consumption.”
Chong Ming’s questions narrowed. “Did she touch her belly? Anything like that?”
Sui Xuan Chu didn’t even pause. “No. She wiped sweat off her forehead, put a hand on her waist, and bent forward a little.”
Chong Ming’s voice clipped. “Fine. I understand. Goodbye.”
The call cut off.
Sui Xuan Chu stared at his comm like it had bitten him.
Why was his uncle so concerned about his roommate?
That wasn’t normal.
Cheng Xiao Ting, Cheng Lin Yue, and the others stared at him.
“Your uncle called you?” someone demanded. “What—did he want to freeload and not pay Sister Tea her treatment fee?”
“Or did something happen on the way to his place, so he called to ask?”
Sui Xuan Chu snapped back immediately, glaring. “What the hell are you thinking? My uncle’s old, sure, but he’s never lacked money. There’s no way he’d skip a fee.”
“And Sister Tea is so damn alpha when she fights—if anyone tries to stop her, the one who gets hurt is the other guy, not her.”
Cheng Lin Yue looked genuinely shaken. “Then if it’s not that, and not that… Jiang Tea Tea already went to see your uncle. Why would your uncle call you just to ask about her?”
Jiang Tea Tea better not be in trouble.
There was more than one cub in that belly.
Seriously—what trash dragon was irresponsible enough to leave her like that?
If she ever found out who it was, she swore she’d take a needle and ruin that dragon for life.
Sui Xuan Chu pointed at all six of them. “All of you—stop looking at me like I’m a criminal.”
“Sister Tea is your Sister Tea, and she’s also my roommate. You’re all planning to cling to her and ride her straight into the sky. I am too. Why would I kill her?”
He wanted her to be well more than anyone. He wanted her to become his Commander-in-Chief and help him guard the Zhen Lin Empire.
Huang Da Zhuang, half-dizzy with the hope that something inside him had changed, didn’t let him dodge. “Stop going in circles. Answer us.”
Sui Xuan Chu grunted. “My uncle called because a Dragon Clan cub distress signal appeared at the Royal Military Academy—”
“What?!” Cheng Lin Yue shrieked, leaping up.
Sui Xuan Chu nearly jumped out of his skin. “Little Bunny, what are you doing? Trying to scare me to death?”
Cheng Lin Yue forced herself to breathe. “Sorry. Keep talking. Why would our academy have a Dragon Clan cub distress signal?”
Sui Xuan Chu shook his head. “I don’t know. From what my uncle said, the distress signal at the academy seems identical to the one that appeared at the 30-school military academy championship.”
“He called me because back at the championship, I was running to help Sister Tea and didn’t smell anything. This time I’m stuck in the treatment room and still didn’t smell anything, so I answered honestly.”
Cheng Lin Yue stepped closer, voice tight. “Then why did your uncle ask whether Sister Tea acted strange after she treated us?”
Sui Xuan Chu’s call had been through his headset. They hadn’t heard his uncle’s voice—but they’d heard every word Sui Xuan Chu had said.
Sui Xuan Chu didn’t think deeply. He just said it.
“Maybe… he suspects Sister Tea is the one pregnant with a Dragon Clan cub.”
Cheng Lin Yue’s heart slammed into her ribs.
She was already trying to form words—trying to think how to convince Sui Xuan Chu to talk his uncle out of that suspicion—when Huang Da Zhuang beat her to it.
“Sui Xuan Chu, is your uncle sick in the head? Who does he suspect? He suspects Sister Tea?”
“With how she jumps around, trains like a lunatic, hits us like we’re flies, gets up before chickens, sleeps later than dogs, eats better than pigs, studies more than oxen—she’s pregnant too? What is she, the Beast God’s daughter? Some unstoppable chosen one?”
Cheng Lin Yue’s eyes lit up. She nodded so hard it looked like her head might fall off. “Yes, yes. Sui Xuan Chu, you should send our study schedule to your uncle.”
“With how dense this schedule is, the fact that we’re still alive proves our lives are tough. But a pregnant female? No way she survives three months of this kind of training and studying.”
Cheng Xiao Ting nodded fiercely beside her. “Exactly. Don’t forget our schedule isn’t just daily twenty-five kilometers. It also includes ability control and attack training, mech training, weight training, anti-gravity training, cold-weapon drills—everything!”
“Sister Tea is a pure human female. She’s not a Dragon Clan beastfolk female. She’s not born with their body advantages.”
“Even if, hypothetically, she had a cub… and even if that cub were a Dragon Clan cub… with our training plan, do you think the cub would still be alive?”
Sui Xuan Chu went very still.
Right.
This training plan was drafted by his uncle.
His uncle knew exactly how brutal the intensity was.
So why would his uncle still suspect Jiang Tea Tea?
Unless…
Unless Jiang Tea Tea’s joke—that someone had actually slept with his uncle—was true?
Maybe his uncle wasn’t hunting for “who’s pregnant.”
Maybe he was hunting for “who knows who slept with me.”
And Jiang Tea Tea knew.
So he was staring at her, trying to use her as bait to find the culprit.
Sui Xuan Chu felt like he’d brushed against a terrifying truth.
“I’m going out to see if I can sense the cub’s scent,” he said quickly. “You all get Jin Lao to check your bodies.”
Then he bolted, running so fast Huang Da Zhuang didn’t even get the chance to open his mouth.
The remaining five exchanged looks.
“Should we go too?”
“Yes. It’s rare we get a holiday. Let’s see which female is brave enough to hide all this time—first at the championship, and now at school.”
“I’m curious too. If the same cub distress scent appeared at the championship and again at school, then who’s the mother?”
“Go, go, go—move!”
Huang Da Zhuang, Cheng Xiao Ting, and the others rushed out.
Cheng Lin Yue stayed behind. She opened her lightbrain and typed quickly, sending Jiang Tea Tea a warning and asking if she was okay.
Jiang Tea Tea set her flyer to auto-pilot and checked the message when her lightbrain vibrated.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry,” she replied. “When I see Sui Xuan Chu’s uncle, I’ll ask properly.”
Cheng Lin Yue was smart. Her message didn’t mention “you’re pregnant with a dragon hatchling” even once. She only repeated the details of Sui Xuan Chu’s call.
That meant even if Chong Ming checked Jiang Tea Tea’s comm logs, nothing would be obvious.
Relieved by the reply, Cheng Lin Yue answered, “Okay. I’m going outside to see what Sui Xuan Chu and the others find. If anything changes, I’ll message you.”
“Okay,” Jiang Tea Tea replied.
Outside, voices carried through the air.
“The cub distress scent is fading. It’s like it’s over here… but also like it’s by the main gate.”
“No, no. We’re in the wrong place. It’s inside. There’s nothing here.”
“I smell it here. Why don’t you blow your nose and try again?”
“That kind of oppressive distress scent has nothing to do with my nose! Stop getting in my way!”
Cheng Lin Yue had barely started to relax—comforted that Jiang Tea Tea had already left the academy—when Jin Lao called out to her.
“Cheng Lin Yue. Come help me. We’re doing a full physical exam for every female in the academy. You’re first.”
Cheng Lin Yue ran over and answered obediently, then asked while she stood in the scanning machine, “Teacher, why are we suddenly doing full physicals for all females?”
The scanner swept over her. Her basic condition appeared in the readouts instantly.
Jin Lao glanced at her report. “Your mental power increased. Two-S-rank and a half.”
Cheng Lin Yue’s face lit up. “Really? Let me see!”
Jin Lao handed her the report, then asked casually, “Where’s Jiang Tea Tea?”
Cheng Lin Yue studied her report while answering. “She went to see Sui Xuan Chu’s uncle. His uncle offered a ten-million fee to soothe his mind sea.”
Jin Lao grunted. “Then it’s fine. Your exam is done. Now go help the other healers. We’re checking every female in the academy.”
Cheng Lin Yue looked up, yanked out of her excitement. “Teacher… why are we doing this?”
Jin Lao didn’t hide it. “Ten minutes ago, the academy detected a Dragon Clan cub distress signal.”
“I reported it to Chong Ming, the Commander-in-Chief. His proposal was to run exams on every female and find the one pregnant with a Dragon Clan cub—so we can protect both mother and cub.”
He leaned closer, voice stern. “This is confidential. Don’t spread it. Just do the exams. If you find the cub’s mom during screening, don’t make a scene. Call me.”
Cheng Lin Yue’s grip tightened around her report. She nodded hard. “Understood, Teacher.”
Jin Lao left that exam room to her and went to another room to receive cadets.
Before anyone else arrived, Cheng Lin Yue stepped into a camera blind spot and messaged Jiang Tea Tea immediately.
“Sister Tea—Chong Ming ordered our teachers to do full physical exams on every female in the academy. The goal is to find the mom pregnant with a Dragon Clan cub!”