Chapter 154
Chapter 154: If You Hesitate, You Suffer
Asais heard him and immediately smiled as she reminded him: “Imperial Elder Brother, you have to tell your subordinate bugs that blowing up the Zhenlin Empire Crown Prince and the Variant Plant-type Ability Level S healer Jiang Tea Tea who are studying at the Royal Military Imperial Academies is not enough. They also need to make things harder for Chong Ming and cause him some more trouble.”
Blowing up one academy is still blowing it up. Blowing up two is still blowing them up. Blowing up ten is even better.
He had bugs as subordinates and insectoid operatives with weapons. Why not blow up a few more academies?
The universities on the Zhenlin Empire’s capital planet were seen as the ceiling by the common citizens on the other planets of the empire. They were proud if they could test into a capital planet university.
Blowing up a few more academies and killing more people would not damage the foundation of the Zhenlin Empire, but it would make the people there sad and grieving, which was also good.
Of course, the main goal was to let that old dragon Chong Ming know that the anger and humiliation suffered here by the Insectoid Race Crown Princess Heir and the Imperial Prince had to be washed away with lives.
Aceras opened his brand new light-brain wrist terminal and, right in front of Asais, contacted his subordinate bugs on his private line. He gave the order to blow up ten universities on the capital planet of the Zhenlin Empire.
After he sent the order, he looked at Asais and reminded her: “Asais, you can give the order to open the wormhole space jump now.”
Asais narrowed her green eyes: “No rush, Imperial Elder Brother.”
Aceras paused: “If we don’t open the wormhole space jump, we can’t fly out of the Zhenlin Empire’s star territory within three days. Once we blow up their academies, it will be very easy for Chong Ming to intercept us, and we won’t be able to get away.”
They had just left the capital planet of the Zhenlin Empire and entered space. They were still within Chong Ming’s surveillance range. The earlier they opened the wormhole space jump and returned to the Insectoid Race’s star territory, the earlier they would be safe.
Asais spoke with confidence: “We are already in space. If something happens at his academies, what does that have to do with me?”
“He wants to intercept us, but we have to allow him to intercept us. Don’t worry, I already contacted your fiancée, High General Atuya. The weapons teleportation gate has already opened.
“If Chong Ming dares to intercept us, our warship, together with the Insectoid Race armory, will give him an indiscriminate attack…”
Aceras cut her off: “We are in his star system. If we go head to head with him here, even if we open the armory, we still can’t outgun him. He will blow us up instead.”
Asais was still full of confidence: “He won’t…”
Facing her confidence, Aceras spoke firmly: “He will. Our Insectoid Race has coveted this star system for many years. We have fought wars for hundreds, even thousands of years. The Zhenlin Empire has lost hundreds of millions of people, and we have lost hundreds of millions of bugs, yet we still have not taken this star system.
“Do you think that after we blow up ten of his academies, causing at least hundreds of thousands of deaths, he will let us go?”
Asais hesitated for a moment: “We are the Insectoid Race Crown Princess Heir and the Imperial Prince. If he blows us up, that is equal to declaring war on the Insectoid Race.”
“Our two nations finally managed to get peace. Small fights and small troubles are fine, but if a full scale war starts again, I don’t think he wants to see that either.”
Aceras asked her: “You think so. You say you think so. But do you really think he is afraid of starting a war with our Insectoid Race?”
Asais went silent at his question.
Even while he hated Chong Ming, Aceras stayed clear headed: “Asais, I will ask you one last time. Do you want to open the wormhole space jump or not?
“If you open it and let me leave the Zhenlin Empire’s star system within ten minutes, I will let my bugs blow up his academies.
“If you don’t open it, my bugs will not go bomb his academies. I don’t want to die. I want to live.”
Bombing the academies was easy. Sacrificing a few dozen bugs would be enough to reach their goal.
But after the goal was reached, if the wormhole space jump was not opened, he definitely would not be able to leave. He would be captured by Chong Ming as a prisoner, tortured by him, maybe even killed.
He did not want to die, not even a little. He wanted to return to the Insectoid Race and marry his fiancée.
Asais stepped back: “Let me think a bit more…”
Aceras opened his light-brain wrist terminal again and sent a new order to the bugs he had buried on the capital planet of the Zhenlin Empire, telling them to pause their actions.
On the capital planet of the Zhenlin Empire, the bugs who had already prepared themselves to die received the order from His Highness Aceras and all stopped and hid.
“Commander in Chief, we have already found the traces of the bugs Aceras buried on the capital planet. Here is their distribution map. There are thirty six of them.”
Cai Xi Chao cast the video onto the screen in front of Chong Ming. In the video was a signal coverage map. On the map there were thirty six moving red dots and the tracks of their lives.
“In the past five minutes, all thirty six bugs received an order to blow themselves up to destroy ten of our capital planet’s universities.
“But… just as they started to move, within less than three minutes, the operation was canceled. They went back to where they were.”
Chong Ming looked at the coverage map in front of him: “Have you already notified the Security Bureau, the Special Affairs Bureau, and the Confidential Units?”
“We have already notified them. The Security Bureau, Special Affairs Bureau, and Confidential Units have all sent people to surround them and make sure nothing goes wrong.”
As Cai Xi Chao spoke, she tapped the virtual keyboard. On the video coverage map in front of them, aside from the red dots that represented the bugs, green dots appeared.
Each cluster of ten to twenty green dots covered one red dot, surrounding each bug.
Chong Ming nodded: “Tell them to try their best to take them alive. If they can’t catch them alive, drag the corpses back.”
Cai Xi Chao answered: “Yes, Commander in Chief.”
Chong Ming nodded: “Go.”
Cai Xi Chao left his office.
Chong Ming pressed the internal line: “Secretary Wen, notify Space Patrol Annihilation-class Warship No. 3 to cancel its invisibility. Tell them to release ten space bodyguard ships to escort Asais and Imperial Prince Aceras.”
Secretary Wen answered: “Yes, Commander in Chief.”
Asais thought for a long time. In order to vent her anger, she was willing to open the wormhole space jump in exchange for bombing ten universities in the Zhenlin Empire.
She was just about to tell her Imperial Elder Brother Aceras when her ship’s captain spoke up: “Your Highness, Crown Princess Heir, the captain of the Zhenlin Empire Space Patrol Annihilation-class Warship No. 3 requests to speak with you.”
Asais looked over. On the giant screen that monitored space in front of her, the Zhenlin Empire Space Patrol Annihilation-class Warship No. 3 appeared.
She frowned: “What is going on? How did they suddenly appear around us?”
The captain’s face was serious: “Your Highness, they were here all along. They were just invisible, so our monitoring system did not detect them.”
Asais snapped: “Our monitoring system is the most advanced monitoring system. And you are telling me it could not detect them?”
The captain spoke with guilt: “I am sorry, Your Highness…”
Asais was so angry her chest was heaving and her scalp felt numb: “What is the use of sorry? We only saw them after they canceled their invisibility. That means if they had blown me up, I would not even know who did it before I died.”
She had still underestimated Chong Ming.
He had parked an invisible annihilation-class warship around her.
Aceras walked to her side: “Asais, now you know how cunning a dragon Chong Ming is, right?”
Asais turned her head to look at him: “Tell me, do you think he knows we were planning to bomb his academies?”
Aceras’s heart skipped a beat. He was silent for a long time: “Maybe he knows. Maybe he doesn’t.”
Asais took a deep breath, almost unable to hold back her anger.
The ship’s captain reminded her: “Crown Princess Heir, Your Highness, the captain of Zhenlin Empire Space Patrol Annihilation-class Warship No. 3 is asking again to speak with you. Do you want to connect?”
They were still in someone else’s territory. How could she not answer?
Asais ground her teeth: “Connect!”
The captain connected the call.
The captain of Annihilation-class Warship No. 3, dressed in a uniform and wearing a military cap, appeared on the giant screen of Asais’s ship and gave her a casual salute.
“Hello, Your Highness Asais. I am the captain of the Zhenlin Empire Space Patrol Annihilation-class Warship No. 3. Under orders from our Commander in Chief, His Highness Chong Ming, I am here to escort you through space and send you back to the Insectoid Race.
“From now on, one of our annihilation-class warships and ten space bodyguard ships will give you full escort. We will make sure that in our Zhenlin Empire star territory, you pass through without obstruction and safely reach the Insectoid Race.”
Asais almost ground her teeth to dust: “Thank you for your hard work. Please also help me thank your Commander in Chief.”
The captain of Annihilation-class Warship No. 3 said: “I will certainly pass on Your Highness Asais’s words to the Commander in Chief. To escort you is not hard work. It is our honor.
“From here on, we will be your escort. If you have any requests or need any supplies, you can contact me. Goodbye!”
The image of the captain disappeared from the giant screen.
Right after that, on the giant screen in front of Asais, bodyguard ships flew out from Annihilation-class Warship No. 3 one after another.
Ten bodyguard ships came out. Two flew in front of Asais’s ship, three on the left side, three on the right side, and two above. Annihilation-class Warship No. 3 stayed behind Asais’s ship, pressing down on the rear.
Asais could not hold back her anger anymore. She slammed her fist onto the command table: “That bastard, Chong Ming is such a petty villain, such a bastard!”
Aceras said coolly: “I already told you. Chong Ming was born on the battlefield and grew up on the battlefield. He has seen more blood and killed more bugs than we can count. He is crazier and more bloodthirsty than our Insectoid Race.
“To deal with him, you have to be fast, ruthless, accurate, and steady. If not…”
Asais turned, her green eyes sharp on him, and cut him off: “Stop acting wise after the fact. Tell the bugs you buried on the Zhenlin capital planet to blow up ten of their academies for me.”
Aceras frowned: “You are crazy. Look at the situation now. And you still want to bomb them?”
Madness flashed in Asais’s green eyes: “I am not crazy. It is exactly because of this situation that I want you to blow them up. We are under his bodyguard warships. He will never expect us to still do this now.”
Aceras paused. He felt she had a point, and his heart loosened just a bit. At that moment, his light-brain wrist terminal vibrated.
He lowered his head and opened the light-brain wrist terminal. A video popped up. He tapped it. His pupils shrank, and after a long moment he only managed to say two words: “Too late.”
Asais did not understand: “Too late for what? Only a few minutes have passed. How is that too late, Imperial Elder Brother? Are you just unwilling to sacrifice your subordinates?”
Aceras lifted his head to look at Asais: “I already told you. Open the wormhole space jump first, then sacrifice a few dozen bugs to blow up Chong Ming’s ten academies. You refused.
“You thought that in his star territory he would not dare to touch you. You hesitated. You were blindly confident.
“And now look. The thirty six bugs I spent so much effort and used so many tricks to plant did nothing at all. Chong Ming wiped them all out. He even sent me a video to show off about it.”