Chapter 187
Chapter 187: Who Was Flirting With Who, and Who Felt Pleased? Who Knows. Anyway, They Just Fight Insect Clan
Chong Ming’s gaze softened instantly. “I understand.”
He understood?
Understood what?
She wanted his blood. She craved his flesh. In her head, she could practically taste how delicious he’d be buried under her roots.
Jiang Tea Tea gave a careless sound. “Good. Then do your job, handle your politics, and stop calling me for no reason.”
Chong Ming kept his voice low. “About Phoenix Clan in the Tian Feng Star System and Da Xi Nation—what else do you want to ask?”
Jiang Tea Tea’s eyes rolled. She sat up straighter. “Chong Ming, in the M31 Star System, which species lives the longest?”
Chong Ming’s golden eyes went deep. “Longevity is tied to abilities. The higher the rank, the better it’s soothed, the less it flares up, and the smoother the mental sea is—the longer you live.”
“If we’re talking average lifespan by species, it’s the Xi Ling Republic’s Turtle Clan. In human form, their average lifespan is over five hundred. In beast form, it’s over a thousand years.”
Turtle Clan. Dragon Clan. Phoenix Clan. Tiger Clan.
Only Vermilion Bird Clan was missing.
There was Peacock too. Zhong Li He’s escort officer—Kong Que—was probably a Peacock.
So the M31 Star System was basically stuffed with everything from her old world. They just didn’t call them demons or divine beasts here. They called them beastfolk.
Then what exactly was Beast God, the being they worshiped? A creator? A god who came from somewhere else?
Jiang Tea Tea leaned forward, eyes shining. “Is there a Vermilion Bird Clan?”
Chong Ming nodded. “Not only Vermilion Bird Clan. There’s also White Tiger Clan.”
Oh. The four great divine beasts were all here.
If she could eat one, her magic power would recover. If she ate all four together…
Jiang Tea Tea swallowed again, hard. “Do you have information? Let me take a look?”
Chong Ming narrowed his eyes. “Whose information do you want?”
For food. For fertilizer. For her magic power.
Jiang Tea Tea went flexible and shamelessly sweet. “I originally wanted to understand you better, so I was going to ask for your full file. But we’re too familiar. Your nephew is my roommate. I can ask him later.”
“Then… I’m curious about the other races. You’re the head of the Zhen Lin Empire. Your files must be complete. Send me a copy?”
Chong Ming leaned back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other. His fingers interlaced as he stared at her through the screen, silent.
Jiang Tea Tea stared back and had the absurd thought that he was tempting her on purpose. Like he was saying, come bite my neck, chew my flesh, drink my blood.
But they were separated by several star systems. Even with a space jump ship, it would take hours. Without it, days.
She couldn’t eat him, couldn’t drink him. She sighed and lied with a straight face. “I want the files because at the Space Weapons Exhibition, our work shift is only six hours. We can’t waste the rest of the day. I want to study ability classifications across the major races and compare mental power levels.”
“You know this. Commander-in-Chief’s assessment is just a side quest for me. My real passion is being a healer.”
“And the first requirement for a healer is knowing basic information about different races. Don’t you agree, Your Highness?”
Chong Ming watched her patch together excuses and smiled faintly. “Jiang Tea Tea, your lying still needs work.”
“If you get me files, I’ll read them. If you don’t, I can scroll Starnet myself later. It’s the same.”
He said it calmly, like he knew exactly what she’d do.
Chong Ming exhaled once. “It’s late. Go to sleep. Get on the bed. Don’t sit on the floor.”
Jiang Tea Tea bared her teeth in a grin. “I like sitting on the floor.”
“I thought you liked sleeping in my bed,” Chong Ming said, tone meaningful.
Jiang Tea Tea fired back immediately. “I like sleeping in your bed because the room has your psychic force soothing.”
Chong Ming nodded. “I understand. I’ll have someone compile a set of information on the major races in the M31 Star System and send it to you. Good night. Sleep early. Bye.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s goal was achieved. She waved. “Bye. Good night.”
The Lightbrain connection cut.
Jiang Tea Tea didn’t bother looking anything up. She pulled out a blanket from her Storage Button and threw it over herself, covering her legs and feet.
Under the blanket, her legs turned into roots. They stabbed into the ground and drilled downward fast, spreading wider, absorbing nutrients from the earth to feed her.
Then she formed seals and cultivated, drawing in the thin traces of energy in the air, steadily raising her magic power.
Chong Ming sat in his office chair, staring at the projection he’d left running. In it, Jiang Tea Tea lay on the floor under a blanket, no pillow, eyes closed, like she was already in deep sleep.
With the blanket covering her, he couldn’t see her belly, her legs, or her body. Only her face.
After a long moment, he shut the projection off and replied to Zhong Li He: “Stop thinking about poaching people every day. You can’t take anyone from Bodyguard Unit ID 59311. Stop obsessing.”
Zhong Li He replied instantly: “Where there’s a will, there’s a way. As long as I swing my hammer well, there’s no corner I can’t dig.”
“You didn’t see it. That little girl in your Bodyguard Unit ID 59311—I stared until my eyes went straight.”
“What does that mean? It means she adores me.”
“For someone who adores me, I only need to swing my hammer a little, and I can lure her back to Da Xi Nation.”
“Of course, if you’re scared, just tell me. If you make me happy, I won’t lure her away.”
Chong Ming replied: “Lieutenant General Kong Que called Secretary Wen an hour ago. Guess what he said?”
Zhong Li He: “????”
Kong Que called Secretary Wen? Why go through the secretary when he could contact Chong Ming directly?
Chong Ming: “Lieutenant General Kong Que said my Chief Executive’s ability is flaring up, his mental sea is unstable, and it’s pretty serious. He asked Secretary Wen to relay that, if possible, Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming should lend the Zhen Lin Empire’s only 3S-tier mutant plant-type healer—Jiang Tea Tea—to soothe our Chief Executive’s mental power and calm the flare-ups.”
Zhong Li He’s sapphire eyes flashed with anger. He turned and shouted, “Kong Que! Get over here.”
Kong Que, in another room, closed what he was working on and came out. “What is it, Chief Executive?”
Zhong Li He projected the messages. “Explain this. You went over my head to contact Chong Ming?”
Kong Que scanned the conversation. Their Chief Executive had been provoking and trying to poach people. Chong Ming’s response was just a clean counterpunch.
Zhong Li He looked up at him. “Well? What do you have to say?”
Kong Que crouched in front of him, meeting his gaze. “Chief Executive, we came to the Zhen Lin Empire’s Space Weapons Exhibition for three reasons. First, to sell space weapons. Second, to negotiate deep cooperation with Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming. Third, to let the Zhen Lin Empire’s 3S-tier mutant plant-type healer soothe your abilities and stabilize your mental power so you stop suffering flare-ups.”
“But you keep provoking Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming. Yes, you have a life-and-death bond from living together, but you still can’t see his Deputy General without trying to poach her, and you can’t see his bodyguard unit’s little girl without trying to poach her.”
“This habit of trying to dig at his corners all day—if you succeed, people hate you. If you fail, people despise you. Can’t you settle down?”
“Kong… Que…” Zhong Li He pressed a hand to his forehead. “Whose lieutenant general are you? You’re my traveling adjutant now. You listen to me.”
Kong Que grabbed his hand. “Chief Executive. Be serious.”
Zhong Li He stared at the hand being held. “You want to rebel?”
Kong Que answered evenly, “I wouldn’t dare.”
“Good,” Zhong Li He said. “Next time, don’t contact Chong Ming behind my back.”
“Yes, Chief Executive.”
Zhong Li He tugged him down to sit beside him. “Tell me—Bodyguard Unit ID 59311, that little girl. If she adores me and I show her my charm, can I lure her away?”
Kong Que gave a helpless smile and stood up.
Zhong Li He frowned. “Where are you going now?”
Kong Que said, “Subordinate will go ask Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming for you whether you can lure away 59311.”
Zhong Li He: “…”
He’d really rebelled.
Before dawn the next morning, the camp woke up for warm-ups and training.
Jiang Tea Tea and the others were among them, jogging, loosening up, practicing their abilities.
The Space Weapons Exhibition opened at 8:00. Today was day one. To avoid any mistakes, all five hundred thousand security and maintenance staff had to reach their patrol points by 7:30.
Patrol teams were organized in pairs or groups of four, six, eight, or ten.
Everyone wore the same gear: full face paint, scanning sunglasses, blast helmet, shared comm earpiece, combat uniform, combat boots, anesthetic gun, live-ammo gun, telescoping stun baton, and protective gloves.
Male or female, in that gear, everyone looked sharp and intimidating.
Jiang Tea Tea’s group of eight, along with several other squads, patrolled the junction between Da Xi Nation, the Zhen Lin Empire, and the Insect Clan zones, spanning roughly two to ten kilometers.
Leaders from participating countries, heads of defense groups, engineers, and guides with badges arrived one after another.
At 8:00 sharp, the main gate opened. Tour vehicles rolled in, carrying ordinary citizens, one after another.
Buyers and representatives from countries purchasing weapons were brought in as well, in batches.
As time passed, more vehicles entered. More people filled the exhibition.
Jiang Tea Tea’s patrol unit rotated in groups of four: two walking, two driving.
The weather was in the twenties, neither cold nor hot. Their combat uniforms regulated temperature, so even with the gear, no one overheated.
Sometimes, visiting citizens from across the M31 Star System quietly took photos with patrol staff.
Jiang Tea Tea, Cheng Lin Yue, Zhang Ting Zhou, and Huang Da Zhuang were one four-person team. With high ponytails, combat uniforms, and batons in hand, Jiang Tea Tea and Cheng Lin Yue drew the most attention from young women.
People followed two or three steps behind them, taking selfies or filming.
Then they posted to Starnet: “Ran into a black-haired, black-eyed patrol girl from the Zhen Lin Empire’s Space Weapons Exhibition. Full face paint, insane figure, huge presence, and eyes so cold they could cut. A pure human little sister.”
“She’s so cool. So fierce. I like her so much, but I don’t dare go up and ask. Her presence is so strong I feel like she could snap my neck in the next second!”
In a grid of photos, the center clip was a five-second motion shot of Jiang Tea Tea tapping her stun baton into her palm while walking. When she noticed someone filming, she turned and glanced over—eyes sharp and dangerous.
People who hadn’t even visited the exhibition saw it and flooded the comments.
“They weren’t lying. She’s insanely cool.”
“That pressure hits like a wave. It really looks like her baton could smash someone’s neck in the next second.”
“Look at her gear—she’s from Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming’s bodyguard unit. Beast God above, that’s a terrifying one.”
“Anyone who can enter that unit has monstrous ability and physique.”
“Even without guns, their combat strength is ridiculous. One versus ten, one versus fifty—it doesn’t matter.”
“A pure human female in that unit? You can imagine how strong she is.”
“My brother tried the selection decades ago and got dropped in prelims. He was a 3S-rank male beastfolk. Think about that.”
“Chong Ming’s bodyguard unit is the peak among all Zhen Lin Empire forces. I heard they rotate every few years.”
“After one rotation, you can go anywhere and start as a major.”
“Lieutenant colonel or senior colonel is basically the baseline. Insane.”
“I have to make my son study and work hard. His goal has to be getting into Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming’s bodyguard unit.”
Jiang Tea Tea had no idea she was going viral. She and Huang Da Zhuang were walking ahead of their patrol vehicle when they spotted three scorpion Insect Clan members with long stingers blocking two beastfolk women.
Jiang Tea Tea glanced at Huang Da Zhuang. Together they strode forward in combat boots. She snapped her telescoping stun baton open and stepped between the scorpions and the two women.
“What happened?” she asked. “Do you need help?”
The two beastfolk women looked at her like she’d descended from the sky. “Those three Insect Clan members want us to go with them. We refused, so they blocked us and wouldn’t let us leave. They even threatened us, saying they’ve memorized our faces. If we don’t go with them, they’ll kidnap us to Insect Clan.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s gaze shifted to the three scorpions. “Did you threaten them like that?”
The scorpions grinned. “We didn’t threaten them. We just wanted to make friends and exchange contacts. Who knew they’d panic like little mice?”
“Our Insect Clan is friendly with every country in the M31 Star System. They’re hostile toward us and making things up. Officer, don’t listen to their nonsense. Females like to use their gender—half the time they don’t speak a single truth.”
The two women flushed with anger. “You disgusting insects! You threatened us and won’t admit it, and now you’re lying. Shameless!”
One scorpion snorted. “Who’s shameless? You’re shameless. Wearing your skirts so short, showing your legs, not even tucking your tails away—aren’t you just trying to lure us over for our contact info?”
“Exactly. Stop pretending. You beastfolk women are never honest, unlike our Insect Clan women—”
Clang.
Jiang Tea Tea’s baton smashed into the scorpion’s mouth, cutting him off. Three teeth flew out. Blood poured down his chin.
The two women shrieked and clung to each other. Huang Da Zhuang moved to shield them and ushered them back.
The scorpion who’d been hit covered his mouth, eyes bulging. “You Zhen Lin Empire soldier brat—don’t you want to live? You dare hit me? Do you know who I am?”
The other two scorpions echoed, furious. “Yeah! Who gave you the guts to hit an Insect Clan member?”
“Apologize. Kneel and apologize, or don’t blame us for being rude.”
Jiang Tea Tea extended the baton to full length and held it steady. “Don’t bother telling me who you are. If you have backing, call them over. I’ll beat them too.”
The three scorpions snarled and rushed her, whipping their tail stingers at her. “A little girl and you dare be arrogant? You even want to beat our backers? You don’t know your place. We’ll teach you a lesson today!”