Chapter 180
Chapter 180: This Is the Arrest Warrant—Resist and You’ll Be Shot
“No, no, no—you’ve misunderstood me.”
Lang Yin Feng’s eyes burned so hot they’d gone red at the rims.
“What I mean is this: the reason Chong Ming, the Commander-in-Chief, suddenly has a cub and a mate… it has to be tied to how he wants Jiang Tea Tea treated.”
“Don’t forget—the higher a beastfolk’s ability rank, the harder it is for them to reproduce. And the rumors say Chong Ming’s rank is even higher than what the official files show.”
Lang Luo Feng nodded so fast she nearly rattled. “Possible. Very possible. He values her more than you and I can imagine. Sending a patrol cruiser to circle Barley Star—on the surface it’s an outer patrol, but really it’s the Commander-in-Chief pushing us.”
“Pushing us to treat Jiang Tea Tea well. To give her love. Not let her suffer.” Lang Yin Feng’s voice rose with every word, excitement tightening his throat. “And it’s also a warning—reminding us how much he values a mutant 3S-rank plant-type healer like her.”
Jiang Tea Tea couldn’t possibly be Chong Ming’s mate.
With a physique like his, if she were his mate… she wouldn’t survive his “enthusiasm” in bed. She wouldn’t be enough for him.
His mate had to be a dragon-clan female. The only question was what color.
Lang Yin Feng felt like he’d brushed the edge of the truth. His blood went hot. “There are only a handful of people in the entire empire who can soothe his abilities. And almost no one who can comb through his mental sea.”
“But Jiang Tea Tea can calm his ability turbulence and smooth his mental sea. Of course he protects her. Of course he values her.”
“And if she has the Commander-in-Chief behind her, then it’s the same as the Commander-in-Chief standing behind us.” He grabbed Lang Luo Feng’s wrist as if sealing a deal. “Luo Feng—he’s our backer.”
“Redo the guest list for the family banquet. Invite every client on our roster. Every one.”
“And when you invite them, make it clear: our daughter is the 3S-rank mutant plant-type healer the Commander-in-Chief values—Jiang Tea Tea.”
“Tell them we’ll select ten to twenty lucky people. Our daughter will comb their mental power and raise their ability rank by one to three levels.”
“And this needs to happen fast. No delays. The family banquet is in four days.” He didn’t even pause to breathe. “Transfer another sum to Xin Wei—have her take Jiang Tea Tea shopping for gowns and jewelry.”
Lang Luo Feng answered at once, nearly tripping over herself. “Yes. I’ll go right now.”
Lang Yin Feng buzzed with exhilaration. He could already see it—people lining up to curry favor, smiling until their faces hurt, begging him for a chance to be chosen.
The White Wolf Clan was about to dominate the entire Zhen Lin Empire and become famous across the M31 Star System. And he would be the clan’s most outstanding clan chief—the greatest king in their history.
Upstairs, Jiang Tea Tea returned to her room. She contacted the Barley Star garrison to assign tasks, then reached out to the captain of the space patrol cruiser.
Sui Xuan Chu and the other six received the plan too. They were stunned—then awed. Their idol really did spoil Sister Tea to an absurd degree.
They clung to Sister Tea like their lives depended on it, riding her straight to the top.
Sui Xuan Chu, meanwhile, couldn’t stop simmering inside. His uncle’s favoritism had practically slid right past him. The man had never given Sui Xuan Chu authority over the garrison, but he’d handed it to Sui Xuan Chu’s roommate.
Fine. Love didn’t disappear. It just transferred. He wasn’t his uncle’s beloved nephew anymore.
Over the next few days, Lang Yin Feng and Lang Luo Feng’s communicators were flooded. Everyone who’d heard their “daughter” was Jiang Tea Tea wanted her to calm their ability backlash and comb their mental power.
There were far more people than they’d dared imagine.
And they were shameless about it. They started selling invitations—each one priced anywhere from fifty thousand to one hundred and fifty thousand star credits.
For ordinary people, that meant one to three years of work. For the wealthy, it was one lavish meal, or a single gemstone hanging from a finger.
If a meal’s worth of money could get you into Jiang Tea Tea’s “lucky” group and raise your ability rank, it was like buying ten to fifty extra years of life.
The rich didn’t hesitate. They tried to buy up every invitation and bring their entire families.
Lang Yin Feng was so busy calculating how to sell more invitations and squeeze more bodies into the banquet that he barely cared the Hope Institute’s power system in the mountains still hadn’t been restored. He wasn’t worried at all. Instead, he gave every researcher inside a paid vacation—an extra month’s salary—and sent them away to travel and “relax.”
What he didn’t know was that the moment those researchers left Barley Star and stepped onto their ships, they were automatically locked onto. The garrison quietly seized every last one.
The garrison interrogated them for a full day and night, then mapped out everything inside the Hope Institute.
They surrounded the institute. The troops launched a full-scale operation to rescue the hostages and test subjects.
Meanwhile, the space patrol cruiser had already arrived outside Barley Star and begun a constant 360-degree patrol—no blind spots—ensuring not even a fly could escape.
Barley Star’s civilian flight authority received orders from above: add flights. Add more routes from major star systems and planets across the Zhen Lin Empire into Barley Star.
They even opened space-jump flights for other nations. In just four days, the “tourists” pouring into Barley Star weren’t only from the Zhen Lin Empire—they were from other countries across the M31 Star System too.
Ship after ship arrived, and the soldiers aboard the outer patrol vessels nearly burst with glee.
Military merit. All of it—military merit.
Jiang Tea Tea wasn’t idle during those four days either. She took Cheng Xiao Ting, Huang Da Zhuang, Sui Xuan Chu, and the other four along with Lang Xin Yi, Lang Xin Wei, and Lang Xin An on a nonstop shopping spree across Barley Star.
The three siblings had never been so happy in their lives. Whenever they ran out of money, they went to their dad and mom with straight faces and asked for more.
Their parents were drunk on joy. Every time the kids asked, they transferred money. In four days, they transferred well over a hundred million star credits.
Four days later at noon, the family banquet began exactly as scheduled.
On the lawn in front of the clan chief’s home in the White Wolf Clan settlement, flowers overflowed, drinks were stacked high, and food lined the tables.
The guests—male and female, even pure humans—were dressed in varying degrees of dignified elegance and shameless flamboyance. Everything about them spoke without words: their clothes, their accessories, the glitter on their hands.
Lang Yin Feng and Lang Luo Feng, the hosts, weren’t wearing their finest outfits or their most expensive gemstones. They didn’t need to. They were the brightest people in the crowd—smiling the widest, standing the proudest.
On the third floor by the window, Jiang Tea Tea stood with the seven. They hadn’t changed into formalwear. Instead, they wore loose, practical training uniforms made for fighting.
They looked down at the lawn.
“I never knew one family could have this many relatives, friends, and business partners,” someone muttered. “Lang Yin Feng and Lang Luo Feng are insane.”
“Over ten thousand people showed up. Only three thousand have permission to enter. The rest are staying at the Lang family hotel and mountain resort.”
“Sister Tea,” someone asked, “you arranged everything over at the hotel and resort, right?”
Jiang Tea Tea gnawed on a nutrient fruit. She’d been here almost a week. A full week without Chong Ming’s psychic-force soothing, and without his dragon blood.
She was hungry. Restless. Irritated.
She wanted to finish this and go find that Old Loach.
“Sister Tea…” Huang Da Zhuang called again when he saw her stare out blankly.
Jiang Tea Tea snapped back. “Handled. Twenty minutes ago. Everyone at the hotel is already secured.”
“Now it’s just the three thousand on the lawn, Lang Luo Feng and Lang Yin Feng, and the White Wolf Clan members. Take them down, and we can leave.”
Lang Yin Feng and Lang Luo Feng weren’t good people. Once they were arrested, their clan members would be investigated as suspects too.
Cheng Xiao Ting blurted, “Leave? Why leave? After we arrest them, come to my place. My mom and dad already had rooms cleaned up. They’re waiting for us.”
“Not just his place—mine too—”
“Mine too—”
“Shh.” Sui Xuan Chu cut them off. “Look. They’re starting their performance.”
On the main stage, Lang Luo Feng and Lang Yin Feng walked up arm in arm, smug and satisfied. Lang Yin Feng cleared his throat into the loudspeaker.
The sound blasted outward, amplified until all three thousand guests went quiet. Wineglasses and plates stilled as everyone turned toward the stage.
Lang Yin Feng’s vanity had never been fed so richly. His heart pounded. When he spoke, his voice came out deep and booming.
“Dear friends and family, business partners—thank you for honoring me with your presence at my family banquet.”
“The reason for today’s banquet is simple. I want to introduce my daughter—my one and only pure human daughter—beloved and valued by Chong Ming, the Commander-in-Chief; the Zhen Lin Empire’s only mutant 3S-rank plant-type healer—Jiang Tea Tea.”
Applause erupted. People clapped hard, eyes bright with anticipation, excitement rippling through the crowd at the chance to see the legendary Jiang Tea Tea.
Lang Yin Feng’s grin widened. He didn’t bother with roundabout words. He lifted his head toward the third-floor window.
“Tea Tea, come down. Let your uncles, brothers, aunts, sisters—everyone—meet you.”
Thousands of gazes followed his, turning toward Jiang Tea Tea.
She finished her nutrient fruit in two bites and glanced at Sui Xuan Chu and the others.
“All right,” she said. “Time to work.”
She planted a hand on the windowsill and vaulted out.
A collective hiss rose from the crowd as she dropped.
She landed cleanly.
Applause surged again.
Sui Xuan Chu and the other six followed, dropping from the window and fanning out behind her—like bodyguards, like guards, like loyal lackeys.
Off to the side, Cheng Mian and Mo Jing Chun stood in a corner without a drink in hand, watching their wolf cub and his classmates.
They looked unbelievably cool.
Under the crowd’s gaze and applause, Jiang Tea Tea strode toward the stage with her seven behind her.
Lang Yin Feng and Lang Luo Feng’s smiles twitched when they saw her still dressed in a training uniform. After spending all that money, she still hadn’t put on a gown?
They shot a furious look at Lang Xin Yi and the other siblings, then forced their smiles back into place, warmth piled onto their faces. Together, they opened their arms to her.
Jiang Tea Tea stopped two steps away.
With her free hand, she reached into her storage button and pulled out a sheet of paper.
An arrest warrant.
She held it up. Her voice rang crisp and clear across the lawn.
“Lang Luo Feng. Lang Yin Feng. And everyone present—you’re suspected of illegally constructing a research institute, trafficking in persons, and conducting human experiments.”
“You carried out genetic selection and embryo implantation, illegally stripped others of their abilities and implanted them into different bodies, altered genetic profiles without consent, and stole other people’s cub embryos. These are your charges.”
“This is your arrest warrant. Cooperate fully. If you resist—shoot to kill.”