Chapter 114
Chapter 114: Cub Distress Signals Everywhere—Are You Scared Yet, Old Loach?
Jiang Tea Tea raised a thumb at Cheng Lin Yue, grinning. “Exactly.”
“If Chong Ming wants to find me that badly, I’ll give him enough to find until he’s sick of it.”
As the months passed, the cubs had grown more and more obedient. With Jiang Tea Tea’s magic power masking them and the uniform’s roomy cut, her belly didn’t show at all.
But she couldn’t ignore Chong Ming.
If he truly discovered her and set his sights on her, she couldn’t protect the cubs with her current strength.
What if Old Loach snatched the cubs she’d struggled to carry and then sent her to a lab—dissected her like a specimen, ripped apart her structure?
She couldn’t allow it.
Cheng Lin Yue slapped a makeup case down onto the table and patted it confidently. “Sister Tea, I brought the Disguise Department toolkit. I can make myself look like you.”
Jiang Tea Tea beamed. “Good. Let’s do it.”
Cheng Lin Yue nodded hard. “Yes!”
Two conspirators with no conscience and too much initiative—once they decided, they moved fast.
First, they removed all the jammers and scramblers from the room.
Then they called hotel service and ordered a full day’s worth of food.
When the attendant arrived and saw both of them inside the treehouse, it created the simplest, strongest witness.
They ate a little.
Then they went to the bedroom.
Cheng Lin Yue started working. Three months of Disguise Department training hadn’t been for nothing.
Tools. Molded skin. Face models. Layers.
In under fifteen minutes, she looked eighty to ninety percent like Jiang Tea Tea.
When Cheng Lin Yue let the long fake hair fall, the two of them standing side by side could’ve passed as twins.
To leave no trace, Jiang Tea Tea removed her lightbrain and her storage button. She carried no electronic devices at all.
Then, together with Cheng Lin Yue, she activated invisibility and stepped out of the bedroom.
At the door, Cheng Lin Yue opened it and struck a pose like she was admiring the view.
Jiang Tea Tea slipped through the doorway while invisible.
She drew on magic power and used shrink the earth to an inch, blink shifting fifty kilometers away.
She paused.
Blink shifted again.
A hundred kilometers away.
Hidden in the shadows, she spoke to the cubs inside her belly. Whether they understood or not, she needed them to hear her intent.
The cubs didn’t disappoint. As she spoke, they thrashed in response like they were answering her—like they understood.
Jiang Tea Tea withdrew her magic power masking.
Instantly, the Dragon Clan cub distress scent erupted from her body—dense, pure, and unmistakable.
In less than a minute, Dragon Clan members smelled it.
People who were working stopped working. People who were resting stopped resting. People who were lying down sat bolt upright.
Some ran outside to search. Some went on Starnet and started posting.
“I’m a Flower Dragon Clan member, currently living in Gan Community,” one person wrote. “I just smelled a Dragon Clan cub distress signal. Seriously—whose pregnant Dragon Clan female is wandering around instead of staying at home like a treasure? What is she doing?”
Someone replied quickly, “Gan Community? I smelled it too. I thought it was my imagination. I’m in Liu Lin District.”
“Liu Lin District is two or three hundred kilometers from Gan Community. Can a cub distress scent drift that far?”
“Aren’t you clearly not Dragon Clan?” someone mocked. “According to records, a cub distress signal can drift more than a thousand kilometers.”
“Long ago, before Dragon Clan bloodlines got diluted so badly, when a cub was in danger inside the mother’s body, the bloodline resonance could alert every Dragon Clan member.”
“It doesn’t happen much now because purebloods got mixed. No resonance.”
“But drifting five hundred to a thousand kilometers is normal.”
“Exactly. And the purer your Dragon Clan bloodline and the higher your ability rank, the farther you can smell a cub distress signal. Take Chong Ming, the Commander-in-Chief, for example—if he’s at the Military Department, at his rank he should smell it from at least a thousand, maybe fifteen hundred kilometers away.”
“Wait, wait—what the hell? How many cubs are in danger? I’m fifteen hundred kilometers from Gan Community, on Ming Nan Road, and I smelled a cub distress signal too.”
“And I’m not high rank. I’m only S-rank. If it was only in Gan Community, I shouldn’t be able to smell it.”
“Oh no. Are you saying someone on the Capital Planet is harming pregnant Dragon Clan females, forcing multiple cubs to scream for help?”
“That’s way too likely. Call the police. Now. This doesn’t feel like just one cub.”
“I already did. The Police Bureaus across the regions are mobilizing. Dragon Clan police officers are being deployed, and Dragon Clan members are being temporarily recruited as auxiliary officers to search for the cubs and the mothers.”
One place. Two places. Three. Four.
Within twenty minutes, the distress scent appeared in multiple locations—separated by two to five hundred kilometers.
Starnet exploded.
The Police Bureaus mobilized.
And in the Military Department, Chong Ming received the report.
After hearing Adjutant Ai and Secretary Wen deliver their updates, Chong Ming began issuing orders. “Have the Military Department’s Dragon Clan members drop their current—”
He stopped mid-sentence.
Because the Dragon Clan cub distress scent hit him so hard it felt like it slammed straight into his forehead.
Chong Ming rose from his chair in one sharp motion, crossed the office, flung open the window, and poured his mental power outward to locate the signal’s precise source.
Two hundred kilometers away, Jiang Tea Tea patted her belly and murmured, pleased, “Good work, cubs. When we get back, I’ll reward you with nutrient fruit.”
The cubs wriggled like they were cheering.
Jiang Tea Tea gathered her magic power again. The distress scent vanished instantly.
Then she used shrink the earth to an inch and blink shifted again and again, returning to the mountain Treehouse Hotel in a flash.
From the moment she left to the moment she returned, less than two hours had passed.
Cheng Lin Yue nearly jumped out of her skin when Jiang Tea Tea appeared in the bedroom.
She grabbed her chest and demanded, “Sister Tea—are you back? Were you seen?”
Jiang Tea Tea tied her hair into a high ponytail, then tugged it loose so it spilled around her shoulders. “My invisibility is excellent. No one saw me.”
Cheng Lin Yue let out a long breath, visibly relieved. “Good. Thank god. I saw on Starnet that a bunch of places had Dragon Clan cub distress signals. I thought something happened to you.”
Jiang Tea Tea smiled and patted her. “I know what I’m doing. Take off your disguise and destroy the face mold. Then we’re going out.”
Cheng Lin Yue blinked. “Going out? Where?”
Jiang Tea Tea pointed down at the floor. “Right here. Around this Treehouse Hotel. We’ll soak in the hot springs, pick wild fruit. Tomorrow morning we go back to school. My treat.”
Cheng Lin Yue broke into a bright grin. “Yes! But should we call Sui Xuan Chu, Cheng Xiao Ting, Huang Da Zhuang, and the other six?”
“More people means more witnesses. If Chong Ming still suspects you later, they can all testify for you. What do you think?”
Jiang Tea Tea’s mouth curved. “You’re right.”
“Go take off the disguise and destroy the face mold. I’ll message them now.”
Cheng Lin Yue threw her a thumbs-up and started undoing the face mold.
Jiang Tea Tea opened her comms and got an immediate response.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
Huang Da Zhuang explained breathlessly, “Sister Tea, you don’t go online so you don’t know. The Capital Planet had cub distress signals in seven or eight different areas. Dragon Clan members were mobilized, and because Sui Xuan Chu is Dragon Clan, he got temporarily pulled out to sense the cub scent and search.”
Jiang Tea Tea gave an “oh” like she hadn’t caused it herself. “Then let him work. Are you five free?”
“If you are, come over. I’ll book rooms early. Hot springs, dinner, rest. Then we go back to school tomorrow.”
Cheng Xiao Ting replied instantly. “Sister Tea, we’re free. We’re coming right now. Wait for us.”
“Waiting,” Jiang Tea Tea sent back, sweet as poison.
After her last message, she called the treehouse line and booked three more treehouses and reserved two hot spring pools.
In a good mood, she logged onto Starnet while waiting for Cheng Lin Yue to finish destroying the disguise materials.
The trending page practically slammed into her face.
“Shocking: Dragon Clan cub in danger emits powerful distress signal—poor cub isn’t even born yet and already suffering!”
“Breaking: Eight regions, each two hundred to five hundred kilometers apart, have detected Dragon Clan cub distress signals!”
“Explosive: Why so many cub distress signals at once? Did Insect Clan spies invade our Capital Planet and start mass hunting pregnant Dragon Clan females, forcing cubs to scream for help?”
“Breaking: Military Department personnel mobilized. The Dragon Clan cubs can be saved!”
“Breaking: Chong Ming ordered—at any cost, protect the Dragon Clan cubs and their mothers!”
Beneath the trends, netizens from the M31 Star System and surrounding countries reposted and mocked.
“Didn’t they say the Zhen Lin Empire’s Capital Planet defense is impenetrable? So what’s this?”
“So many Dragon Clan cubs threatened. Guess the Zhen Lin Empire isn’t all that.”
Someone else sneered, “Chong Ming, that Big Golden Dragon, is still holding our Insect Clan’s eldest prince and won’t release him. Maybe the Beast God punished him and now Dragon Clan cubs are being hunted.”
A reply fired back, “Insects are hilarious. You call it ‘holding’ your eldest prince? Your eldest prince flew his warship into someone else’s star system. What did you think would happen?”
“You won’t spend money. You won’t trade. You won’t ransom your eldest prince back. And you’re still whining?”
“I bet it’s your insects causing this—sneaking in to rescue the eldest prince.”
“No matter who did it, I just hope the Dragon Clan cubs and their mothers are safe.”
“But honestly…the distress signals this time are huge and dense. And the pressure is intense.”
“Yeah. It feels like royal dominance.”
“Honestly, the aura feels like a king.”
“If the crown prince weren’t just barely of age, and if Chong Ming—Commander-in-Chief, one hundred and fifty years old—had publicly announced a girlfriend, a fiancée, or a princess consort, I’d almost suspect it was either the crown prince or Chong Ming who has cubs out there.”
“I can’t believe you have the guts to even think that.”
“Why not? I’m Dragon Clan. We’re born to submit to bloodline pressure. If the Golden Dragon imperial clan releases royal pressure, I drop to my knees.”
“So… is it possible someone really is pregnant with the crown prince’s cub? Or the Commander-in-Chief’s?”
Jiang Tea Tea’s eyelid twitched when she saw that.
She casually reposted one of the “searching for cubs” trends and added a comment:
“Protecting Dragon Clan cubs is everyone’s responsibility. Under Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming’s leadership, I hope they find the cubs quickly, eliminate the danger, and ensure a safe birth.”
Her Starnet account was verified as a 3S-grade mutant plant-type healer. When she reposted and commented, it shot onto the trending page too, dragging more Zhen Lin Empire citizens into the discussion.
They reposted and praised the sentiment, prayed for the cubs, and—naturally—asked her when she’d open a mental power healing clinic.
Chong Ming’s deployed teams returned with no results. No mother. No cub.
The distress signals faded until they vanished.
Chong Ming returned to his office, sat down, and checked Jiang Tea Tea’s movements over the last three days.
After leaving the Military Department, she’d gone to a mountain Treehouse Hotel and stayed there.
She rarely went online, and yet today she’d logged into Starnet, reposted, and commented.
He read her words.
They were perfectly ordinary.
And yet somehow, between the lines, he saw schadenfreude—and a little smug satisfaction.
Chong Ming tapped his fingers on the desk.
On his real-time monitor feed, Jiang Tea Tea lay sprawled on a sofa with one leg over the other, a basket of nutrient fruit on her belly, chewing like a happy little rodent.
He called her.
No answer.
He called again.
No answer.
It wasn’t until Cheng Lin Yue emerged from the bedroom and said, “Sister Tea, your lightbrain screen is lit—are you getting a call?” that Jiang Tea Tea finally noticed.
Jiang Tea Tea froze mid-bite. Her hand slackened, leaving the fruit stuck between her teeth. She shoved it into her mouth, peeled back her sleeve, and saw Chong Ming’s call.
Old Loach.
Jiang Tea Tea chewed fast, swallowed, and told Cheng Lin Yue, “It’s Chong Ming, the Commander-in-Chief.”
Cheng Lin Yue sucked in a sharp breath. “My idol—my male idol—is calling you. Should I… avoid this?”
Jiang Tea Tea waved her off. “Avoid what? Sit.”
Cheng Lin Yue sat stiffly at the side like a statue. “Then I won’t move.”
Jiang Tea Tea almost laughed.
When Cheng Lin Yue helped her scheme against Chong Ming, she hadn’t been scared at all. Now the man called once and she looked ready to faint. A double-standard rabbit—but at least one with a sealed mouth.
After the third missed call, Chong Ming didn’t call again. A moment later, Jiang Tea Tea called him.
He deliberately waited four seconds before accepting.
His low voice carried through the video. “Jiang Tea Tea, classmate. I need you to come to the Military Department right now. There are some things I need to ask you.”
Jiang Tea Tea reached into the fruit basket, picked up another nutrient fruit, and rolled it between her fingers instead of biting it. She looked at him calmly. “If you have something to ask, ask. If I know, I’ll tell you.”
Chong Ming narrowed his golden eyes. A sharp gleam flashed as he set a classic trap, his voice deceptively smooth.
“Are you sure you want me to say it in front of your classmate?”
“I found the female who spent the night with me at First Hotel.”