Chapter 200
Chapter 200: Comforting Him Just Got Me Force-Fed Their PDA
Zhong Li He went completely blank.
What the hell?
The Jiang Tea Tea inside the flame orb… was actually Chong Ming’s mate?
What kind of mate, pregnant with his cub, would be this vicious—charging in with a stick, murder in her eyes, and picking a fight the second she showed up?
Fine. Fine. No wonder he’d talked about swinging a hammer to pry someone away. Chong Ming had been furious, but also absolutely confident.
How could anyone pry her away?
That was his mate, carrying his cub. Even if you swung the hammer until it snapped, you still wouldn’t dig her out.
Still… this old dragon had no shame. Instead of finding someone his age, he’d gone after a girl more than a hundred years younger. Shameless. An old dragon chewing on tender grass, with no dignity at all.
Zhong Li He took a breath, steadied himself, then reached out and patted Chong Ming’s shoulder. “You’re thinking too dark. No matter who it is, their first instinct is to seek advantage and avoid harm.”
“Jiang Tea Tea’s in the flame orb. She hasn’t shouted, and she hasn’t called for help. That means she can handle it herself. Don’t worry so much.”
The moment the words left his mouth, he froze.
They sounded familiar. Like something Chong Ming had said earlier, back when he’d been arrogantly confident.
Ah… so this was what it did to you. Love. Having a mate. One second you were talking yourself down, telling yourself to trust them. The next you were on edge, heart in your throat, unable to calm down.
Zhong Li He decided right then: he was never falling in love. Never finding a mate. He’d devote his entire life to Da Xi Nation—make it prosper, make it flourish, make it the strongest empire in the M31 Star System.
Chong Ming didn’t speak. His eyes stayed fixed on the deep crater ahead. The green flame orb at the bottom grew larger, rounder, and hotter by the minute.
The heat rippled out in waves. It singed Chong Ming’s hair. It should have burned skin. Yet he stood there as if he couldn’t feel a thing at all.
Zhong Li He couldn’t soothe him with words anymore, but he truly couldn’t stand watching this. He conjured his own flame orb into a shielding barrier, grabbed Chong Ming’s arm, and forced him back—then stepped in front of him, blocking his line of sight.
When Chong Ming moved to destroy the shield again, Zhong Li He snapped his hand out and clamped down on Chong Ming’s wrist. His sapphire-blue eyes locked onto Chong Ming’s. “Chong Ming. Pessimism and fear aren’t your style.”
“You’re standing here imagining Jiang Tea Tea being burned alive—imagining her forgetting you, dying with your cub. But that’s just the horror story in your own head.”
“When the time comes and she returns safe and sound, cub in her belly and all… are you really going to show her how you tore yourself apart? How wrecked and pathetic you made yourself look?”
Chong Ming’s hand stilled. Slowly, he turned his head toward Zhong Li He. “Zhong Li He.”
Zhong Li He bristled at being addressed so seriously. “What?”
“Move your hand.”
That was it?
Zhong Li He stared. Was this man seriously ill?
Still, he lifted his hand away.
Chong Ming drew his arm back. Then, unexpectedly, he said, “Thanks.”
Zhong Li He made a strangled sound and waved it off. “Don’t mention it. We’ve survived life and death together. And besides—unfortunately—I’m stuck with a friend like you.”
Chong Ming’s mouth tugged up. “Yeah. Being stuck with a friend like you… I don’t want it either. But what can I do? I can’t throw you away, and I can’t kill you.”
The venom was back. He was mocking again, cutting Zhong Li He down with that effortless, infuriating sarcasm.
Which meant the comfort had worked. He was fine.
Thank the heavens. Thank the earth. Thank the Beast God.
Zhong Li He glared at him. “So next you—”
Chong Ming met his gaze and finished it for him. “Wait.”
Zhong Li He’s voice brightened. “That’s more like it. According to our family’s ancient records, when my senior ancestor was burned, it took ten full days for the flames to go from red to green.”
“Jiang Tea Tea’s been in there less than half an hour, and it’s already green. At this rate, three to five days at most, and she’ll go from green to blue, then white, then black.”
Chong Ming inclined his head. “Hopefully.”
“Not hopefully.” Zhong Li He spoke like he was swearing an oath. “Definitely.”
Chong Ming didn’t argue. He stepped back, pressed a finger to the invisibility headset in his ear, and began issuing orders.
The entire Meng Ke Great Prairie No-Man Zone was immediately classified as a forbidden area. Satellites would monitor it twenty-four hours a day. Drones would patrol nonstop. Soldiers would guard the perimeter. Not a single large living creature would be allowed to approach.
Zhong Li He watched him deploy his forces, then drifted back to stand beside Kong Que. He lifted a thumb. “You were right. Jiang Tea Tea really is his mate. I actually misread it.”
Kong Que reached out, caught Zhong Li He’s thumb, and pushed his hand down. “It’s not that you misread anything. It’s that whenever you’re in front of Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming, your IQ goes offline and you stop thinking.”
Zhong Li He snapped, “How could I lose my IQ in front of him? Kong Que, I’ve noticed you’ve learned to insult me without even swearing.”
Kong Que held a respectful posture and spoke with utter disrespect. “I wouldn’t dare insult you. I’m only speaking from the heart. Chief Executive… that’s simply how you are.”
Zhong Li He’s lowered hand curled into a fist. He raised it and waved it in front of Kong Que’s face. “Say that one more time and I’ll introduce my fist to your face. Believe it or not?”
Kong Que didn’t flinch. “I believe you. I believe anything you say, Chief Executive.”
He paused, then added casually, “Oh, right. Earlier, when you and Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming were fighting, I paid Miss Jiang Tea Tea one hundred thousand star credits. She helped calm my ability turbulence a bit. Smoothed my mental sea a little.”
Zhong Li He’s fist stopped midair. “She calmed your ability turbulence and smoothed your mental sea? How do you feel?”
“It was brief,” Kong Que said, “but the effect was better than the healers Da Xi Nation assigns to me.”
Zhong Li He’s eyes lit up. “Seriously? That’s fantastic. When Jiang Tea Tea comes out of the flame orb, even if I have to grovel, I’ll find a way to get her to smooth your mental sea properly.”
“Your ability level can’t stay stuck at eight or nine. I think level fifteen isn’t even a problem.”
Kong Que went silent for a beat. “Executive… think about yourself.”
Zhong Li He waved him off. “Me? I’m a one-hundred-and-fifty-year-old bird. Why would I think about myself? Another thirty or fifty years and I’ll retire. Whether my ability level rises or not doesn’t matter.”
“When I retire, I’ll buy a ship and roam the stars as a free bounty hunter. With my current ability level, I’m more than strong enough.”
“You’re different. You’re still young. Today you’re a lieutenant general. Tomorrow you’ll be a general. After that you’ll be a marshal. Then one day you’ll take my seat.”
He clapped Kong Que on the shoulder. “Little male, I’m counting on you.”
Kong Que replied flatly, “Chief Executive, I’m not much younger than you. You don’t need to pretend we’re separated by centuries.”
Zhong Li He grinned. “Same thing. Same thing.”
Kong Que stared. In what universe were they the same?
The difference had never been huge. But coming out of Zhong Li He’s mouth, it sounded like they were separated by hundreds of years.
After roughly ten minutes of meticulous deployment—and five more minutes of double-checking every detail—Chong Ming returned to the edge of the crater.
The pit had grown deeper, wider, and broader than it had been twenty minutes earlier. The green flame orb at the bottom had become even rounder, burning brighter. Every blade of grass around the rim had been baked dry.
Thankfully, it had only dried into brittle straw. Nothing had ignited. Otherwise, the vast Meng Ke Steppe would have turned into a sea of fire.
Ten kilometers out, Chong Ming stationed fire-ability users and water-element ability users from his fleet, ready to contain any outbreak—fighting fire with fire, suppressing flame, making sure the steppe wouldn’t be devoured.
Inside the massive sphere of fire, Jiang Tea Tea’s legs had already transformed into roots, plunging deep into the soil. The heat whipped her black hair into the air until it flared and stood straight.
Before her hovered her natal branch. One hand formed seals, the other guided the flames, refining them into her branch.
The branch was only a little thicker than her thumb, a little over a meter long. First it was wrapped in red flames—then, after the red, the green fire took over.
The green flames burned continuously, tempering the branch. Jiang Tea Tea could feel the scorching power of it. The cubs in her belly could feel it too.
From the earth, her roots fed her water and nutrients without pause, supporting her as she continued refining the Phoenix Clan’s divine fire within the green flame orb.
Once she refined that divine fire into her true body—the tree itself—it would become a weapon. A weapon carrying divine flame.
And the cubs were surprisingly well-behaved. Even sensing the heat, they didn’t kick or thrash. They didn’t seem afraid at all.
Outside, Zhong Li He edged up beside Chong Ming again, staring into the burning crater. “The pit’s getting deeper and wider. The flame orb’s getting rounder and rounder.”
He leaned closer, voice dropping as if it were confidential. “Chong Ming, for the sake of our friendship… tell me. How capable is your mate, Jiang Tea Tea?”
Chong Ming let out a long, quiet sigh. “That’s a good question.”
He glanced sideways at Zhong Li He. “If I tell you I don’t know how capable she is… would you believe me?”
Zhong Li He’s mouth twitched. “No.”
“It’s the truth,” Chong Ming said.
Zhong Li He hesitated, then frowned harder. “That’s your mate in the pit. Your mate, carrying your cub. And you’re telling me you don’t know her?”
“That’s not your style. That’s not your personality. If you wanted to, you could have her entire history on your desk in a day—no, in two hours.”
“And now you’re telling me you don’t know her. You don’t even know how strong she is, and you already have cubs together.” Zhong Li He’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t tell me the two of you had a one-night fling and she ended up pregnant.”
Zhong Li He—unfortunately—hit the mark.
Chong Ming neither denied nor admitted it. His thin lips pressed shut.
Zhong Li He stared at him for a heartbeat, then gave a slow, exaggerated thumbs-up. “Impressive. Respect.”
“I always thought the ‘one-night stand and she runs off pregnant’ thing was just a literary cliché. Something only young idiots did.” He shook his head. “Never thought you, of all people, could pull it off.”
“Fine, fine. You say you don’t know her, you don’t know her limits. I believe you. I really do.”
Chong Ming grunted, as if confirming a report. “One night, and there was a cub.”
Zhong Li He froze.
Why did that sound like bragging?
Or worse—like he was deliberately shoving it in Zhong Li He’s face?
On the battleship, Sui Xuan Chu and the others hadn’t been able to wait for Jiang Tea Tea. Camp 59’s three to five hundred personnel were being transported back to base, and they were being sent along.
Huang Da Zhuang and Cheng Xiao Ting looked sick with worry.
“Why isn’t Sister Tea coming back with us?” Huang Da Zhuang demanded. “Why is she staying on the commander-in-chief’s ship?”
“Yeah,” Cheng Xiao Ting said, voice tight. “The alarm went off earlier, told everyone to evacuate—then the commander-in-chief canceled the evacuation. After that we heard a dragon roar. We saw his dragon form.”
“And we saw that huge flame orb.”
“The giant red flame orb rolled across the commander-in-chief’s body and smashed into the ground.” Huang Da Zhuang’s face went pale. “You think something happened?”
“I think something happened,” Cheng Xiao Ting said grimly. “And I think it happened to Sister Tea.”
“No.” Huang Da Zhuang clenched his jaw. “We’re going up to Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming’s warship. We’re leaving with her. If she doesn’t come, we don’t go.”