Chapter 210
Chapter 210: Love Is Real, Fighting Is Real, I Won’t Hold On If I Let Go
Atuya was shocked. She stared at Chong Ming for a long time before she reminded him: “Commander in Chief Chong Ming, I am a member of the insect clan. I am a High General of the Insectoid Race.”
Chong Ming asked her back: “I know you are a clan member of the Insectoid Race. What does that have to do with me inviting you to my Zhenlin Empire?”
Atuya slowly pulled back her shocked look and said: “You want an Insectoid clan member to be your Empire’s High General, to guard a space station on the border of a star system for you. That is like handing me the key to a star system gateway. Are you not afraid I will turn against you?”
He would be giving her great power. As long as she was willing, his star systems and planets could be invaded. Common citizens could be killed. She could easily turn him into a sinner condemned for all ages.
Chong Ming was calm and confident: “Why should I be afraid? I am not afraid of any order or decision I give. I will not regret them.”
He looked at her and asked: “So, are you willing to come to my Zhenlin Empire and become my High General?”
Atuya looked at him and firmly refused without a trace of hesitation: “Commander in Chief Chong Ming, thank you for your kindness, and thank you for valuing me so much.”
She added, word by word: “I am a High General of the Insectoid Race. I am a clan member of the insect people.”
Even if she broke off the engagement with Aceras, even if she would be pushed to the edge by the Queen, disliked by the Queen, and disliked by all other insects, she still did not want to betray her own nation.
Even if Commander in Chief Chong Ming was the best leader, even if he would not make her fight against the insects, she still would not come over to be his High General.
Chong Ming understood what she meant, but he still asked: “You are a High General of the Insectoid Race, a clan member of the insect people. That is your answer for now. I can give you time to think. Three months, or half a year, how about that?”
Atuya refused: “Commander in Chief Chong Ming, thank you for your trust and appreciation. There is no need to give me time. I will not think about it. No matter life or death, I will stay in the Insectoid Race.”
Chong Ming both appreciated her and spoke honestly: “All right, I respect your choice.”
She had the bearing of a full general. She had a beautiful record and real strength as a warrior.
If he could not poach her, then he would respect her choice.
Atuya saluted him and said: “Thank you. About Miss Jiang Tea Tea…”
Chong Ming finished the words she had not yet said: “Miss Jiang Tea Tea likes you very much. She asked me not to argue with Aceras over this and to let you off this time.”
From the moment Atuya took all the blame for Aceras kidnapping Jiang Tea Tea, she had already thought about coming to see Commander in Chief Chong Ming to accept insults, condemnation, scolding, and to pay huge compensation.
She never expected that Commander in Chief Chong Ming would instead invite her to the Zhenlin Empire. Even after she refused, he did not make things hard for her. He did not hold back his appreciation of her.
Now he was also willing to let go of Aceras kidnapping Jiang Tea Tea.
She suddenly felt that it was no wonder the Zhenlin Empire had become strong, prosperous, and thriving.
“Thank you, Commander in Chief Chong Ming.” Atuya thanked him sincerely. She took out a rare piece of ore from her space knob storage device and placed it on the table in front of him, then stepped back two steps: “His Highness Aceras kidnapped Miss Jiang Tea Tea and frightened her. That is his fault and my fault.”
“Miss Jiang Tea Tea does not hold it against us. I am very grateful. This rare ore is not worth much money. Please help me pass it on to Miss Jiang Tea Tea. Also please tell her that I owe her two favors. If she ever needs me, I will definitely repay her.”
Chong Ming glanced at the ore in front of him. It weighed more than ten jin. After cutting and polishing, it would be worth quite a lot.
He looked at Atuya and asked: “You have Miss Jiang Tea Tea’s contact. You can tell her your thanks yourself and tell her you want to repay her.”
Atuya kept her tone polite and distant as she said: “Miss Jiang Tea Tea has already done me a favor. I cannot push my luck and ask for more.”
Chong Ming laughed softly: “All right, I will pass it on for you. Secretary Wen, please see High General Atuya out.”
Secretary Wen came in, walked to Atuya, and said politely: “High General Atuya, please.”
Atuya saluted Chong Ming once more, then stepped back two steps, turned around, and left with Secretary Wen.
As soon as she stepped out, Zhong Li He appeared in front of Chong Ming: “Commander in Chief Chong Ming, are you serious or not? You even tried to poach Atuya?”
Chong Ming took out a cup of nutrient fruit juice and casually handed it to Zhong Li He: “I was serious. It is a pity. She has no sense of belonging to the Zhenlin Empire. She knows that after breaking off the engagement, the Insectoid Race Queen will look down on her, yet she has no complaints.”
Zhong Li He took a sip of the nutrient fruit juice. His teeth almost ached from the sour taste, but for the sake of his image, he forced himself to swallow it. Then he questioned: “Do you truly admire her, or are you just liking her because of Jiang Tea Tea, loving everything connected to the one you love?”
Chong Ming’s smile did not fade. He took out another cup of nutrient fruit juice for himself and drank: “I really do admire her. I admire her combat style, her military ability, her own personal strength. Most importantly, she has a quality the Insectoid Race lacks.”
“Someone like her is too good for the Insectoid Race. Aceras also does not deserve her.”
“I clearly know she is not likely to betray her nation and come here to be my High General, but I still wanted to try. What if I succeeded?”
Zhong Li He suddenly understood: “So you just wanted to try.”
Chong Ming walked to the window and looked at the sky outside through the glass: “I say it was just a try, but I still had hope.”
“Talent has to be fought over. It has to be grabbed. Especially those who are capable, loyal to the nation, have their own ideas, and will not bend on principle. They are even more rare.”
Zhong Li He stood beside him and asked: “The six people by Jiang Tea Tea’s side?”
Chong Ming glanced at him: “There are seven by her side.”
Zhong Li He replied: “Your eldest nephew does not count.”
Chong Ming said calmly: “Before my eldest nephew inherits the imperial throne, he also needs to create some achievements. Only then can he keep others in line.”
Zhong Li He looked at him and said: “You mean Jiang Tea Tea and the six around her, plus your eldest nephew, all seven of them have to show off in the Zhenlin Empire and build a great career?”
Chong Ming smiled: “That is what I am thinking. That is how I will train them. Whether they can really shine and make achievements depends on their own ability.”
“The Zhenlin Empire has vast star systems and many planets. The minds of the young are flexible. We need to give them more chances.”
“Innovation, strength, and fairness are what can stir young people’s love for their country. Young people are the hope of the Empire, the future of the Empire.”
He added lightly: “I am 150 years old. Our youngling will be born in a few months. I really want to stay home and raise the youngling. I do not want to work.”
Zhong Li He: “!!!!”
What did he mean? What did he mean?
They were talking just fine. Why did he suddenly start showing off in his face?
He was bullying him for not having anyone to date, for not having a partner, for not having a youngling.
Zhong Li He glared at him angrily: “I do not want to talk to you now. Goodbye.”
Chong Ming did not call out to him right away. He waited until Zhong Li He had walked several steps. Then he slowly called him: “Chief Executive Commander Zhong, I remember you came in person to this space weapons expo not only to sell weapons, but also to discuss strategic cooperation and business between our two nations.”
“It just so happens I have time today. The two of us can first discuss things. Later we can let the people below us work out the details. That way, we will both save a lot of time. What do you say?”
Zhong Li He had already stopped walking. When Chong Ming finished speaking, he rushed back at lightning speed and sat down across from his desk: “Come, let us discuss.”
Chong Ming walked over, sat across from him, and as soon as he sat down, he entered work mode. His whole person became serious.
Jiang Tea Tea piloted Deputy Officer Ai’s flying device into the space weapons expo area, found Sui Xuan Chu and the others, and landed.
When Sui Xuan Chu and the other seven people had not yet seen who it was, they still thought it was someone sent by Commander in Chief Chong Ming, piloting a flying device straight down.
When they saw her push the door open and step out, they rushed over at once and surrounded her. Everyone talked over each other.
“Sister Tea, you are amazing. You were caught by the Insectoid Race and you came back in such a short time. Did you get hurt? Did you go on a killing spree?”
“Sister Tea, which bug with no eyes grabbed you? Was it Atuya? Let me tell you, Atuya is His Highness Aceras’s fiancee. The two of them are birds of a feather. None of them are any good.”
“Sister Tea, where did you come from? This flying device looks low key but not simple. It looks safe, and it looks very expensive.”
Sui Xuan Chu: “…”
This flying device was indeed very expensive. It belonged to Deputy Officer Ai.
His roommate had come back on his uncle’s ship.
It really was just like her. Atuya and Aceras could not keep her.
Jiang Tea Tea answered them: “I am not hurt. The matter is already solved. We should go back to doing what we are supposed to do. Later, Commander in Chief Chong Ming will have people calculate the credit that belongs to us.”
“Just like the last time we took the mission at the White Wolf Tribe. After we caught all the bad guys and settled everything, they counted up the merits and then rewarded us.”
Cheng Xiao Ting, Huang Da Zhuang, and the others cheered: “Yeah yeah yeah, I told you. When those little villains came knocking on our door, were they not just sending us third class merit and fourth class merit?”
“We must hug Sister Tea’s thigh tight. She is our golden connection to the heavens.”
“Long live Sister Tea, long long live.”
Jiang Tea Tea looked at how exaggerated they were acting and urged them to go patrol. Even though it was almost time to get off work, they still split into two groups, kept patrolling, and continued helping the regular tourists.
When the exhibition area finally closed, they went back to the 59th Encampment and were warmly welcomed by the others there.
Xia Wei Yi made a special exception for the 59th Encampment. She let them skip nutrient injections and nutrient solution and set up a bonfire barbecue instead.
The meat came from twenty people of one squad of the 59th Encampment. They found a mountain estate where they were allowed to hunt beasts. They hunted some and bought some.
There was wild boar, wild deer, wild roe deer, domestic sheep, cattle, rabbits, chicken, duck, and also fresh fruits and vegetables bought at high prices from the plantations of common citizens on Ri Pan Star.
In the big open ground in the middle of the encampment, they lit a wood fire and set up grills. All kinds of meat that had been skinned and plucked were cut into thin slices or long strips, marinated, and then placed on the grill.
Soon, the meat began to sizzle, and the smell of roasting meat spread out. After a minute or two, someone had already wrapped the meat in leaves and started eating.
After ten minutes, the whole encampment of three to five hundred people was filled with the smell of meat. Everyone was eating, and the place was lively and noisy.
They ate barbecue for a full two hours. Only when everyone was holding their full bellies did they clean up and go back to their barracks to rest.
After Jiang Tea Tea washed up, she took the chance to cultivate. As she was cultivating, several threads of karmic merit light suddenly floated over from all directions and drilled into her body.
She froze for quite a while, until all the karmic merit lights that floated in were absorbed by her body and turned into her cultivation level.
Then she came back to her senses, full of doubt. She had not made any donations recently. How could she suddenly have karmic merit?
Karmic merit came from accumulating virtue and doing good deeds, doing kind acts, and also from others sincerely believing in you.
She had received several threads of karmic merit light today. Was it because she did not hold things against Atuya, and Atuya felt grateful to her? No, that could not be it. Gratitude was not the same as faith. This small matter did not really count as some great good deed.
Jiang Tea Tea thought left and right, up and down, but she still could not figure anything out. Because of that, she stopped cultivating. She tossed and turned all night and did not sleep.
As a demon, even if she did not sleep all night, it did not affect her the next day. She was still full of energy, leading Huang Da Zhuang and the others to continue patrolling.
The Zhenlin Empire space weapons expo had only nine days left until the end. Luckily, the exhibition only allowed one hundred thousand visitors into the area each day. The exhibition area was big, so it did not look crowded. But groups of three to five or seven to eight people could still be seen walking around.
Tourists took pictures of the weapons of each nation. They also took pictures of Jiang Tea Tea and the others, who were inspection personnel, and posted them online and in their friend circles.
Jiang Tea Tea and her team wore sunglasses and had face paint on. Being photographed and posted online did not bother them at all.
In this calm but busy way, they passed the last nine days. The Zhenlin Empire space weapons expo came to a perfect end and closed.
After their work ended, the eight of them washed the paint off their faces, changed into their own clothes, boarded Chong Ming’s warship, and returned to the capital planet with him.
Chief Executive Commander Zhong Li He of the Western Kingdom also went back with Chong Ming. The two ships lifted their invisibility at the space expo at the same time and took off together, breaking through Ri Pan Star’s atmosphere.
“Why?”
Aceras pressed his hand against the glass of his ship. He watched the two ships speeding off into deep space and asked Atuya through clenched teeth: “Why, Atuya? It is one thing that you did not help me. But you cut off my signal, took my light brain wrist terminal, asked the healers to inject me with supernatural abilities softener, locked me up on this ship, would not let me leave, and would not let me go after Jiang Tea Tea.”
“I am your fiancé. You are my fiancee. Even if you will not stand with me, you cannot treat me like this.”
Atuya was wearing a sharp, neat uniform and a military cap. Facing Aceras’s hysterical questions and accusations, she answered calmly: “I did it for the greater good of the Insectoid Race. Your Highness, you are too hot tempered and impulsive.”
“Commander in Chief Chong Ming is taking Miss Jiang Tea Tea away. Chief Executive Commander Zhong Li He of the Western Kingdom is going back with him to discuss close cooperation between their two nations. At a time like this, my Insectoid Race must not act rashly or stir up trouble.”
“I had them inject you with supernatural abilities softener and lock you in the ship. I cut off the signal of your light brain wrist terminal and took it away. When we return to the Insectoid Race, I will ask the Queen, Her Majesty, for punishment.”
“Pa!”
Aceras suddenly turned and rushed to Atuya, raising his hand and slapping her hard across the face: “You are bold. You are a fool. You deserve to die!”
Atuya’s face was knocked to the side. Her military cap tilted slightly. She raised her eyelids, reached up, took off her cap and set it aside. Then she said calmly and respectfully: “If one slap is not enough to vent your anger, you can hit me again. Keep hitting me until you calm down. Hit me until you feel better.”