Chapter 201
Chapter 201: Trying to Kidnap Jiang Tea Tea When You Can’t Even Find Her
“Exactly,” someone snapped. “Sister Tea is our classmate. She’s our comrade. We can’t leave her behind.”
“Let’s find Camp 59’s leader,” another said. “Make them report it up the chain. We have to find Sister Tea and leave together.”
Cheng Lin Yue stayed silent, but her gaze kept flicking to Sui Xuan Chu, urging him to do something—say something.
Sui Xuan Chu couldn’t exactly announce that his roommate was currently with his uncle. He definitely couldn’t say his uncle was Zhen Lin Empire’s commander-in-chief and prince regent—and that he was the crown prince.
So he forced a smile and raised his hands. “Everyone, calm down. Calm down.”
Then he hurriedly blocked Huang Da Zhuang, Cheng Xiao Ting, and the rest. “I’ll go ask. You stay here and wait.”
Huang Da Zhuang frowned. “Ask who? Where?”
“I’ll ask the commander-in-chief’s Adjutant AI,” Sui Xuan Chu said quickly.
Huang Da Zhuang’s suspicion deepened. “You have his contact?”
“No.”
“Then how are you going to ask anything?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Sui Xuan Chu said. “Just watch.”
And watching was exactly what they did.
What Huang Da Zhuang never expected was that Sui Xuan Chu’s “just watch” meant walking up to the ship’s surveillance system, cupping his hands around his mouth, and bellowing at the cameras like a lunatic.
“Adjutant AI! Adjutant AI! I’m from Camp 59—Unit ID 59310! I need to ask you something! If you can hear me, please respond! Please respond!”
He repeated it.
Once.
Twice.
Eight times.
On the eighth shout, the surveillance speakers crackled—and a calm voice answered, “Unit ID 59310. State your request.”
Huang Da Zhuang, Cheng Xiao Ting, and the others nearly bulged their eyes out of their skulls.
That worked?
That unbelievably blunt method actually worked?
Sui Xuan Chu stared up at the camera. “Adjutant AI, we’re about to leave the warship with Camp 59 personnel, but our teammate Jiang Tea Tea is missing. We want to know where she is—and whether she’s leaving with us.”
“Please wait,” Adjutant AI replied. “I will check.”
Sui Xuan Chu exhaled in relief. “Okay. Thank you.”
About two minutes later, the speakers crackled again.
“Unit ID 59310,” Adjutant AI said, “I have verified the record. Your teammate Jiang Tea Tea is currently assisting the warship’s medical department in addressing ability turbulence. She cannot depart with you at this time or return to Camp 59.”
“You do not need to worry. She is being personally retained by Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming. Her personal safety is under the commander-in-chief’s protection.”
Sui Xuan Chu straightened and saluted the camera. “Understood. Thank you, Adjutant AI.”
“You’re welcome,” Adjutant AI replied. “I wish you all a smooth mission.”
Sui Xuan Chu turned back to the others. “There. Feel better? Your Sister Tea—my roommate—is safe.”
Huang Da Zhuang and the others nodded rapidly. “We’re relieved, we’re relieved. As long as she’s okay, we’re okay.”
“Come on,” someone said. “Let’s go back with Camp 59. We still have patrol tomorrow. We need to keep a deadlock on the Insect Clan.”
“Right,” another added. “I checked the net earlier. Two more incidents popped up online—Insect Clan citizens causing trouble at the space weapons exhibition. They got kicked out, but still.”
Insect Clan troublemakers had once again stirred up chaos at the space weapons exhibition. Other visitors posted footage online, and the M31 Star System’s Starnet erupted.
Insect Clan’s official accounts were practically being torn apart by the public. Yet the accounts acted like dead shells—no statements, no replies, no bans. Just cold silence.
Far away in Insect Clan territory, Crown Princess Asais received message after message from Atuya, urging her to petition the queen to rein in their citizens.
Asais wanted to salvage Insect Clan’s reputation in the M31 Star System. But she had petitioned the queen twice already, and both times the reply had been the same:
Maintain your nature. Maintain your bloodlust.
In other words, there was no need to change how Insect Clan was seen. They were violent by nature. Take that away and they wouldn’t be Insect Clan anymore—they’d just be bugs.
Asais relayed the queen’s stance to Atuya. Agris overheard and agreed without hesitation. He told Atuya, “We Insect Clan are the strongest race in the M31 Star System. We don’t need to curry favor with anyone.”
“Insect Clan citizens went to the exhibition, voiced a few opinions, someone disagreed and threw hands. They fought back, got misunderstood, got deported. That’s not their fault—it’s other people’s fault.”
“Atuya, you and Crown Princess Asais don’t need to care what others think. Don’t care about their judgment. Just be yourselves.”
Atuya stared at him, her whole body going taut. “There are too many bugs. The system is unbalanced. There are problems inside. We need reform.”
“Not because of other people’s opinions. Not to weaken our blood. But so Insect Clan can go farther. So we can develop steadily.”
“This isn’t centuries ago, where you win by brute numbers. Now it’s about quality. Technology. Strategy—”
Agris cut her off and pulled her into his arms. “You and Asais are too tense.”
“Look at the entire M31 Star System. Thousands of nations. Countless planets. Uncountable races. Who breeds like we do? Who throws their lives away like we do?”
“Our tech isn’t behind either. We’re still among the best in the system. If we fight any race, we can blanket them with full firepower.”
“What you and Asais should be thinking about isn’t reform.” Agris’s voice sharpened. “It’s how to get Jiang Tea Tea to Insect Clan. How to raise our ability levels, take more power, seize more voice.”
“We’re leaders. Leaders stand above and drive the bugs below to fight and die. We don’t need to be on the front line ourselves. We don’t need to waste time thinking about reform.”
Atuya’s eyes widened. Shock—and something unfamiliar—flickered deep inside them, like she was seeing him for the first time.
Agris didn’t notice. He tightened his arm around her. “Jiang Tea Tea is patrol staff for this space weapons exhibition. Honestly, kidnapping her would be easy.”
“We find an excuse, call her into our exhibition zone, detain her. Then have someone imitate her shape and walk out under the cameras. Even if Chong Ming suspects us, he won’t have evidence.”
He smiled like it was a clever trick. “Atuya, isn’t that method simple? Isn’t it easy? Isn’t it useful?”
Atuya stepped out of his embrace. “Your Highness… I won’t consider doing that.”
Agris’s expression dropped, all warmth vanishing. “Why?”
Atuya kept her voice steady. “We came to the exhibition to sell weapons and secure multi-nation cooperation.”
“Jiang Tea Tea is the only mutated 3S-rank healer in the galaxy. She’s Zhen Lin Empire’s treasure. You’re underestimating their security—and you’re underestimating Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming.”
Agris frowned. “Who’s underestimating him? I’m not. My method can get us away without him ever noticing.”
Atuya shook her head. “No. The moment Jiang Tea Tea disappears, Chong Ming will know.”
“You’re underestimating her importance. And you’re underestimating how much he values her.”
“You…” Atuya’s voice sharpened, contained anger cutting through it. “You’re carrying Insect Clan’s arrogance in your bones. You think we’re the strongest and everyone must step aside. You don’t understand that the M31 Star System has changed.”
Agris stared at her, stunned that she would speak to him like this.
She loved him. She wanted to register marriage with him. She’d always yielded, never once disobeyed.
Now she wasn’t just disobeying—she was calling him arrogant.
He was arrogant? He was the Eldest Prince of Insect Clan. What was wrong with being arrogant?
Atuya saw his silence and softened her tone. “I’m sorry, Your Highness. I can’t agree to your request to kidnap Jiang Tea Tea.”
“You rest. I’ll go check the exhibition orders. If you need anything, contact me.”
She turned and left.
The instant the door shut, Agris kicked a sofa hard enough to shove it sideways.
Atuya didn’t agree with him. She refused to help him.
Did she think that meant he wouldn’t find another way? That he couldn’t get Jiang Tea Tea without her?
The more she blocked him, the more he had to prove it. Show her that anything he wanted, he could take.
Agris tapped open his lightbrain and issued a ruthless order to his subordinates: no matter the cost, lure Zhen Lin Empire’s Unit ID 59311 into Insect Clan’s space weapons exhibition.
His subordinates moved at top speed… and promptly ran into a problem.
They couldn’t find Jiang Tea Tea.
Not just her. They couldn’t find anyone with a unit number starting with 59.
They didn’t dare report it. They kept searching.
On the second day, they finally spotted patrol staff with unit numbers starting with 59.
They looked for 59311.
They found 59310. 59312. 59313.
But not 59311.
59311 was like a ghost. Vanished into thin air.
They searched for days, failed, and finally crawled back to Agris with the news.
Agris’s rage detonated.
“Find her,” he snarled. “Turn Ri Pan Star upside down if you have to. Find her.”
“If you don’t, don’t come back. Dig yourselves a pit, cut off your heads, and bury yourselves in it.”
Less than a week later, the crater where Jiang Tea Tea was refining her fire had stretched to nearly a hundred meters long.
The green flame orb at the bottom turned blue.
Then white.
The flame orb grew enormous—like a star suspended in the earth. White patterns flowed across it in layered ripples like water.
From the outside, it looked almost transparent. Yet nothing inside could be seen.
Chong Ming, aside from handling state affairs, spent every remaining moment outside that crater.
Four more days passed.
White flame began to darken.
Zhong Li He, who came by daily, arrived just in time to see it and nearly screamed. “Chong Ming! Chong Ming! It’s black—it’s turning black!”
Chong Ming shot over from the distance.
Then, without warning, the black-and-white flames in the crater surged upward.
Zhong Li He jolted, grabbed Chong Ming’s arm, and dragged him back. “Move! The flame orb’s going to lose control!”
Chong Ming flung his arm away. “I can endure the heat. You go—”
Boom.
Before he could finish, the massive black-and-white flame orb detonated inside the crater like a bomb.
Countless fragments of fire sprayed outward like a storm of sparks.
Dry straw ignited instantly.
With a thunderous whoosh, the entire field caught fire.