Chapter 154
Chapter 154: If You Want to Do It, Do It. Don’t Hesitate, or You’ll Be the One Who Suffers
Asais laughed immediately and reminded him, “Imperial Elder Brother, tell your bugs—after they blow up the Royal Military Academy and kill the Zhen Lin Empire’s crown prince and that 3S-grade mutant plant healer, Jiang Tea Tea, you should stir up more trouble for Chong Ming. Make it uglier.”
Bombing one school was bombing. Bombing two was bombing. Bombing ten was even better. If he had bug subordinates with weapons, why not take the opportunity to blow up a few more?
The universities on the Zhen Lin Empire’s capital planet were the ultimate dream for citizens from other planets. Getting into one was a badge of honor.
If more schools went up in flames and more people died, it wouldn’t cripple the Zhen Lin Empire at its root—but it would make them hurt. And that was good enough.
More importantly, she wanted Chong Ming to understand this: the humiliation the insect clan’s crown princess and eldest prince had suffered here would be repaid in blood.
Right in front of Asais, Agris opened his brand-new lightbrain and issued a direct order to the bug subordinate he contacted.
Bomb ten universities on the Zhen Lin Empire’s capital planet.
Afterward, he looked at Asais and prompted her, “Asais. Order the wormhole jump now.”
Asais narrowed her green eyes. “Not yet, Imperial Elder Brother.”
Agris’s voice went cold. “If we don’t open a wormhole jump, we won’t be out of the Zhen Lin Empire star system in three days. And after we bomb their schools, it’ll be easy for Chong Ming to intercept us and keep us from escaping.”
They had only just left the Zhen Lin Empire’s capital planet and entered open space—still well within Chong Ming’s surveillance range. The sooner they jumped and crossed into insect clan territory, the safer they would be.
Asais said with smug confidence, “We’re already in space. If something happens to his schools, what does that have to do with me?”
“If he wants to intercept us, he has to be able to. Don’t worry. I already contacted your fiancée, General Atuya. The weapon transfer gate is open.”
“If Chong Ming dares intercept us, this warship, combined with the insect clan armory, will hit him with indiscriminate—”
Agris cut her off sharply. “We’re in his star system. If we collide head-on, even with the armory open, we can’t outgun him. He’ll blow us up.”
Asais bristled. “He won’t—”
“He will.” Agris’s certainty was ice. “We’ve coveted that star system for ages. We’ve fought for hundreds—thousands—of years. The Zhen Lin Empire lost billions. We lost billions too. And we still couldn’t take it. You think after we bomb ten schools and kill at least hundreds of thousands, he’ll let us walk away?”
Asais hesitated. “We’re the insect clan’s crown princess and eldest prince. If he blows us up, that’s practically declaring war.”
“Our two countries only just achieved peace. A small conflict is one thing, but a full-scale war… he probably doesn’t want that either.”
Agris stared at her. “Think. Do you really believe he’s afraid to go to war with the insect clan?”
Asais fell silent.
Even while he hated Chong Ming, Agris kept a clear head. “Asais. I’ll ask one last time. Are you opening the wormhole jump?”
“If you open it and get me out of the Zhen Lin Empire star system within ten minutes, I’ll have my bugs bomb his schools. If you don’t open it, my bugs won’t bomb anything. I don’t want to die. I want to live.”
Bombing schools was easy. Sacrifice a few dozen bugs and the goal was achieved.
But if they didn’t jump afterward, there was no escape. Chong Ming would catch him, imprison him, torture him—maybe even kill him.
Agris didn’t want to die. Not even a little. He wanted to return to the insect clan and marry his fiancée.
Asais backed down at last. “Let me think…”
Agris opened his lightbrain and sent another order to the bugs he’d planted on the Zhen Lin Empire’s capital planet: stand down.
The bugs who had been preparing to sacrifice themselves received His Highness Agris’s command and immediately halted, slipping back into hiding.
“Commander-in-Chief, we’ve found traces of the bugs Agris planted on the capital planet. Here is their distribution map—thirty-six in total.”
Cai Xi Chao projected a video in front of Chong Ming. It displayed a signal coverage map: thirty-six moving red dots, each marked with a route.
“Five minutes ago, those thirty-six bugs received a message ordering them to suicide-bomb ten universities on our capital planet.”
“But after they started moving, within three minutes the operation was canceled, and they returned to their original locations.”
Chong Ming studied the map. “Did you notify the Security Bureau, the Special Operations Bureau, and the classified units?”
“We already notified the Security Bureau, the Special Operations Bureau, and the classified units. The encirclement teams are in place to ensure nothing goes wrong.”
As Cai Xi Chao spoke, she tapped a virtual keyboard. Green dots appeared on the map, layering over the red ones—ten to twenty green dots per team, each team locking onto a single red dot.
Chong Ming nodded. “Tell them to capture them alive if possible. If not, bring the bodies back.”
“Yes, Commander-in-Chief.”
Chong Ming dipped his chin. “Go.”
Cai Xi Chao left his office.
Chong Ming pressed the intercom. “Secretary Wen, notify Space Patrol Destroyer No. 3. Drop invisibility. Deploy ten space guard ships to escort Crown Princess Asais and Eldest Prince Agris.”
Secretary Wen answered, “Yes, Commander-in-Chief.”
Asais thought for a long time. In the end, for the sake of venting her fury, she decided she was willing to trade a wormhole jump for ten bombed universities in the Zhen Lin Empire.
She was about to tell Imperial Elder Brother Agris when the ship’s captain announced, “Your Highness, Zhen Lin Empire Space Patrol Destroyer No. 3 requests a call!”
Asais looked up. On the main space-monitor, Space Patrol Destroyer No. 3 had appeared out of nowhere.
She frowned. “What’s going on? How did they suddenly show up around us?”
The captain’s face was grave. “Reporting to Your Highness, they were always there. They were under invisibility. Our detection system couldn’t pick them up.”
Asais snapped, “Our detection system is the most advanced there is, and you’re telling me it couldn’t detect them?”
The captain lowered his head. “I’m sorry, Your Highness…”
Asais’s chest rose and fell, her scalp prickling. “Sorry won’t help. If they only show themselves when they want to, then if they’d blown me up, I would’ve died without even knowing who did it.”
She had underestimated Chong Ming.
He’d had an invisible destroyer sitting right beside her.
Agris stepped to her side. “Asais, do you understand now how terrifying Chong Ming is?”
Asais turned to him, jaw tight. “Do you think he knows we were talking about bombing his schools?”
Agris’s heart lurched. He fell silent for a long moment. “Maybe he knows. Maybe he doesn’t.”
Asais drew a deep breath, barely holding her rage in place.
The captain reminded her, “Your Highness, Space Patrol Destroyer No. 3 requests to speak. Do we connect?”
They were still in someone else’s territory. Refusing wasn’t an option.
Asais clenched her teeth. “Connect!”
The call went through.
The captain of Space Patrol Destroyer No. 3 appeared on the main screen, uniform crisp beneath his cap. He gave a casual salute.
“Hello, Your Highness Asais. I am the captain of Zhen Lin Empire Space Patrol Destroyer No. 3. By order of our Commander-in-Chief, His Highness Chong Ming, I am here to escort you safely through space and deliver you back to the insect clan.”
“From this point forward, we will provide full escort coverage with one destroyer and ten space guard ships, ensuring you have clear passage through the Zhen Lin Empire star system and arrive safely in insect clan territory.”
Asais nearly ground her teeth to powder. “Thank you for your trouble. Please convey my thanks to your Commander-in-Chief as well.”
“I will relay Your Highness’s words to the Commander-in-Chief,” the captain said smoothly. “Escorting you is no trouble. It is our honor.”
“From here on, we will accompany you. If you need supplies or have any requests, you may contact me. Goodbye.”
His image vanished.
A heartbeat later, on the screen in front of Asais, space guard ships began launching from Space Patrol Destroyer No. 3.
Ten ships in total: two slid into position ahead of Asais’s warship, three to the left, three to the right, two above. Space Patrol Destroyer No. 3 stayed behind them like a mountain, heavy and unmovable.
Asais couldn’t hold it in anymore. She slammed her fist onto the command table. “Bastard! Chong Ming is a petty bastard!”
Agris’s voice was flat. “I told you. Chong Ming was born on the battlefield and raised on the battlefield. He’s seen blood. He’s killed countless insects. He’s crazier than our insect clan—and more bloodthirsty.”
“To deal with him, you have to be fast, ruthless, precise, and steady. Otherwise—”
Asais cut him off, green eyes sharp as blades. “Don’t lecture me after the fact. Tell your bugs on the capital planet: bomb ten schools.”
Agris frowned. “You’re insane. Look at the situation. You still want to bomb?”
Asais’s eyes glinted with something feral. “I’m not insane. It’s because of this situation that I’m telling you to bomb. Under his escort, he won’t expect us to do it anyway.”
Agris froze. For a moment, her logic tugged at him.
Then his lightbrain vibrated.
He looked down, opened it—and a video popped up. He tapped it, and his pupils constricted.
After a long moment, he spat out two words. “Too late.”
Asais blinked, thrown. “What do you mean, too late? It’s only been a few minutes. How can it be too late, Imperial Elder Brother? You don’t want to sacrifice your subordinates?”
Agris lifted his gaze to her, expression hard. “I told you to open the wormhole jump. Sacrifice a few dozen bugs to bomb ten schools. You refused.”
“You thought that in his star system, he wouldn’t dare do anything to you. You hesitated. You were blindly confident.”
He held up the lightbrain, the video still playing. “Now look. Those thirty-six bugs I planted—with all my effort, all my methods—did nothing at all. Chong Ming wiped them out, and he even posted a video to show off to me.”