Chapter 198
Chapter 198: Stepping on a Dragon’s Back and Riding It—Cool Beyond Words
“That fireball wasn’t your phoenix clan flame orb,” Chong Ming snapped, and blink-shifted toward his room.
Zhong Li He jabbed a finger at his own eyes as he chased. “Chong Ming, you can doubt my character, but you can’t doubt my eyes.”
“That fireball that came out of your door was flame orb. I get it—you kidnapped our phoenix clan female and you won’t admit it—hey, where’d he go?”
Kong Que started to answer, “He went to that room—”
Boom!
Chong Ming tried to blink-shift into the room and got slammed back by an invisible barrier, crashing into the ship’s wall with a brutal bang.
Kong Que moved instantly, stepping in front of Zhong Li He. Power gathered through his body, his eyes sharp with alert defense as he stared at the room that had repelled Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming.
Chong Ming shoved off the dented wall and surged forward again.
A wave of heat blasted outward.
The damaged door lifted into the air, then vaporized and corroded into ash, leaving only drifting sparks.
Inside, red flames shot up to the ceiling.
The ship’s alarm system shrieked: “Alert! Alert! The ship is being corroded by fire. Evacuate within three minutes—Alert! Alert—”
Zhong Li He grabbed Kong Que’s arm, furious and thrilled at the same time. “Flame orb glow. That’s flame orb glow! Proof! Chong Ming still says he didn’t kidnap our phoenix clan female. This is outrageous!”
“Don’t get excited. Look again,” Kong Que warned, gripping Zhong Li He’s hand hard, afraid he’d charge in and get himself killed.
Chong Ming tried again—and again, the barrier stopped him at the threshold. No matter how many strikes he slammed into it, he couldn’t break through. And the shrieking alarm meant he couldn’t sacrifice the whole ship.
He pounded the barrier and barked, “All personnel, evacuate within two minutes—”
“Chong Ming, don’t worry. The fire is contained. It won’t burn the whole ship.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s voice came from inside, cutting over his order.
“Have them keep flying normally. Find an open, empty place.”
Chong Ming’s evacuation order flipped instantly. “All personnel, do not evacuate. Captain, fly into the Meng Ke Great Prairie no-man zone.”
The captain answered at once, “Yes, Commander-in-Chief.”
People across the ship had gone tense when the alarm started. But the moment they heard “no evacuation,” they steadied. They stayed at their posts and carried on.
Inside the room, the red flames grew hotter and brighter.
The alarm screamed even more sharply.
Chong Ming trusted Jiang Tea Tea. He forced the ship alarm off and asked, voice tight, “Jiang Tea Tea, are you hurt?”
“I’m not hurt.” Her voice came out steady, but the heat in it was unmistakable. “The room’s just small. It’s hot. I can handle it.”
“Don’t force your way in. You can’t get in.”
To keep the phoenix divine fire from burning through the ship, she’d activated her innate defense barrier and boxed the fire into this small room so it couldn’t spread.
And she regretted it so badly.
If she’d known refining divine fire with her magic power would turn this fierce this fast, she would’ve chosen a huge space, not a cramped room.
Chong Ming’s worry eased—just a little. “Good. I won’t force it. If you need anything, call me.”
“I know.”
Zhong Li He froze. “Wait—what?”
Inside was Jiang Tea Tea?
The mutant plant healer?
Then how was there phoenix clan flame orb glow in her room?
Outside, Chong Ming didn’t move. Lightning crackled in his palm.
Inside, Jiang Tea Tea was being baked by red flames so hard she nearly lost control and showed her tree-trunk form. The cubs in her belly were restless too.
She called out, “Chong Ming, are we at an open place yet? How much longer?”
Chong Ming asked the captain, then answered, “At most three minutes. You—”
“Three minutes,” Jiang Tea Tea cut in. “Fine. I can endure.”
Chong Ming asked again, “Do you need water to dampen it?”
“No,” Jiang Tea Tea said. “Just make the ship faster.”
“Alright.”
The captain had already pushed the ship to maximum speed. His display screamed warnings—extreme heat, structural strain, the risk of explosion.
But the Commander-in-Chief’s orders were absolute. If he said the ship was fine, then it was fine.
Three minutes could be long or short, depending on who you were.
For Chong Ming and Jiang Tea Tea, it was endless.
For Zhong Li He, it was over in a heartbeat.
“Jiang Tea Tea,” Chong Ming said. “We’ve reached the Meng Ke Great Prairie no-man zone. Are you coming out?”
“Open the hatch,” Jiang Tea Tea replied. “I’m going out.”
“Okay. The hatch is open.”
The moment he spoke, a wave of heat blasted down the corridor.
Then Jiang Tea Tea burst out—wrapped head to toe in red fire—sprinting for the hatch.
Chong Ming chased after her.
He couldn’t get close. The flames pouring off her were too scorching.
Zhong Li He’s eyes nearly popped out. “Kong Que, I’m not seeing things, right? Jiang Tea Tea is wrapped in flame orb and she’s fine—she can even run?”
Kong Que swallowed and forced the words out. “Chief Executive… do you want to go down and look?”
“Yes!” Zhong Li He snapped. “Hurry!”
He sprinted after Chong Ming, and Kong Que stayed at his side, ready to shield him if anything went wrong.
Jiang Tea Tea ran past the guards. The heat hit them like a roasting oven. Anyone without headgear had their hair catch.
Sparks that jumped off her flames struck floors, walls, uniforms—burning holes or starting small fires. Guards had to slap themselves out while also fighting the spreading damage. Maintenance crews poured in.
The warship hovered around two thousand meters above the steppe. Looking down, you could still see clouds.
Jiang Tea Tea reached the hatch. The wind tore at her high ponytail, whipping strands loose.
She was about to leap out when a dragon’s roar thundered behind her.
She jolted and turned inside the flames.
Chong Ming had already shifted into a golden dragon and surged past her into the open sky.
Jiang Tea Tea grinned, stepped aside, and jumped from the ship—landing squarely on the big golden dragon’s back as he swept past.
The big golden dragon carried her and dove.
Zhong Li He stared, stunned. Standing at the hatch and looking down, it took him a long time to find his voice. “Kong Que… don’t beastfolk have a rule? Unless it’s life or death, only a mate, parents, or cub can sit on your back. Right? Right?”
Kong Que hesitated. “Yes, Chief Executive. But Miss Jiang Tea Tea is special. If she were Da Xi Nation’s healer and it was life or death, would you let her step on your back?”
Zhong Li He answered instantly. “If she were our healer, forget stepping on my back—she could ride on my head.”
The galaxy’s only 3S mutant plant healer. Blink shift. Fighting skill. And she was cute on top of that.
Any one of those would’ve been enough to make him cherish her like treasure. If she belonged to Da Xi Nation, he’d lock her in his arms so no one else could covet her.
Kong Que said simply, “Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming thinks the same. So Miss Jiang Tea Tea can step on his back.”
Zhong Li He whirled on him. “Are you coming down with me to look?”
“Of course.”
As he spoke, Kong Que shifted into beast form—a huge flying peacock, feathers interwoven in green, bronze-purple, black, deep blue, and pale blue, dazzling in the light.
He flew out, hovered, and called back, urging Zhong Li He to hurry.
A moment ago, Zhong Li He had been lecturing about backs.
Now he forgot everything and jumped onto Kong Que’s back without hesitation.
Above the prairie, Chong Ming’s dragon roar rolled like thunder—deafening, crushing, absolute.
People lounging inside the ship crowded the windows to watch. The Commander-in-Chief’s beast form stretched over two hundred meters, nearly three hundred.
He dove through blue sky and white clouds. Just seeing his dragon form made blood and soul shake with awe. Without the ship’s barrier, half the crew would’ve shifted into beast form and bowed under his dominance.
Jiang Tea Tea tried hard to control the flames so they burned around her without singeing Chong Ming’s flowing mane.
He was handsome in human form. In beast form, he was power made visible. Under the sun, his golden scales flashed so brightly it hurt to look.
If she didn’t have to control the refining flames, she would’ve ridden him properly.
This divine fire ruined everything.
When they were about ten meters above the ground, Jiang Tea Tea jumped straight off the big golden dragon’s back and dove headfirst.
Boom!
The earth cratered. Grass and dirt blasted up. Red flames surged, scorching. You couldn’t see what was inside the fire at all.
Chong Ming landed at the crater’s edge and shifted back into human form. Heat lifted his golden hair as he leaned forward, desperate to see into the flames.
He couldn’t.
The fire spiraled like a vortex, layer after layer, roaring as if it wanted to devour her—and the earth itself.
Zhong Li He jumped off Kong Que and landed beside Chong Ming, nearly getting roasted. He hurried to counterfire with fire, still cursing, “Chong Ming, are you trying to die? Step back! Phoenix clan fire can burn through dragon scales!”
Chong Ming didn’t move. He didn’t blink.
“The one burning in that fire is my person,” he said, voice rough and unshaking. “Even if my scales burn through, I’m staying here with her!”