Chapter 22

Chapter 22: I Shoved Wife Into a Mutant Tiger’s Mouth—Tell Me, Isn’t That Impressive?

Jiang Tea Tea immediately gave a thumbs-up, face dead serious. “As expected of you, Commander-in-Chief and Prince Regent. Truly serving the country and the people. Turning everything into a resource. Impressive. Really impressive.”

Chong Ming tilted his head slightly, studying her. His gaze slid from her eyes to her face. “Cadet Jiang Tea Tea, your praise sounds… forced. May I ask why?”

It wasn’t only the words. It was her—the way she stood near him without flinching, as if his pressure didn’t exist.

Jiang Tea Tea didn’t even blink. “You’re overthinking. I’m just wondering if you deliberately lured all these aberrant beasts and mutant insects here to assess the Royal Military Academy’s response.”

Huang Da Zhuang’s soul tried to leave his body.

From this moment on, he decided it: besides Chong Ming, he had another idol.

Sister Tea.

She stood there and stabbed straight at Chong Ming without fear. It was so cool it made his heart race.

Lin Feng Feng and Lu Ling Er stared at Jiang Tea Tea like she’d grown horns. And bizarrely, they started to feel like getting slapped and scolded earlier hadn’t even been a loss.

Chong Ming’s lips curved faintly. “No.”

Jiang Tea Tea nodded as if she’d expected that. “Then someone wants you dead.”

Chong Ming lifted an eyebrow. “Thank you for the reminder. I’ll look into it.”

He was so calm it was infuriating, as if everything was already in his hands. Which meant the cadets fighting outside definitely weren’t in any real danger of dying.

Jiang Tea Tea grabbed Huang Da Zhuang by the collar and hauled him forward. “Huang Big Dog. Didn’t you say you wanted to protect your male idol and fight aberrant beasts?”

“Now’s your chance. Go.”

Huang Da Zhuang stared at her like she’d lost her mind. “Sister Tea, didn’t you say I’d drag people down and wouldn’t even be enough to fill an aberrant beast’s teeth?”

Jiang Tea Tea looked at him for a long moment, like she was deciding whether to crack his skull open just to see what was sloshing inside. “That was then. This is now. Go.”

He swallowed. “For real?”

“For real.”

Chong Ming spoke as if validating a lesson plan. “Cadet Huang Big Dog. Your Sister Tea wants you to go bite aberrant beasts and mutant insects. Show me what you can do. It may help you earn a place in an excellent legion in the future.”

Huang Da Zhuang’s eyes went wide with sudden enlightenment. A heartbeat later, he shifted.

His body stretched and thickened, fur flashing into existence—he became a yellow dog, muscular and solid, about 1.5 meters tall when standing upright, with short, dense fur and a chest built like a battering ram.

He threw his head back. “Aowoo!”

Then, tail hanging and teeth bared, he charged straight at the biggest target on the field: a mutant tiger that weighed several tons.

Jiang Tea Tea’s face twisted. “He’s a dog, not a wolf. Dogs bark.”

But apparently Huang Da Zhuang’s brain wasn’t just missing a screw—he’d picked the worst possible target.

There were mutant foxes. Mutant leopards. Mutant rats. Even tea king hornets in the sky. All smaller, all easier. He ignored them and went for the giant tiger like it was a personal challenge.

“Sister Tea,” Lu Ling Er whispered, tugging Jiang Tea Tea’s sleeve. She didn’t dare call her by name anymore and instead copied Huang Da Zhuang. “Lin Feng Feng and I… our abilities are low. Should we go too? Should we… perform?”

Jiang Tea Tea flashed her teeth in a grin. “If you’re not afraid of getting hurt—and not afraid of dying—go.”

Lu Ling Er shuddered and glanced toward her male idol.

Just then, Chong Ming’s gaze swept over without intention.

Lu Ling Er’s heart slammed into her ribs. She looked away so fast it hurt, but that single glance lit something reckless in her chest. “I’m not afraid of getting hurt. I’m not afraid of dying. I’ll go kill aberrant beasts too!”

Jiang Tea Tea stepped aside. “After you.”

Lu Ling Er was a female beastfolk—deer form—with a C-rank jumping ability. When she shifted, she dropped to four hooves and stood under a meter tall.

She launched herself into the chaos. Bounce—spring—stomp. She aimed straight for the Level 7 mutant rats.

Her timing was unnervingly precise. Every landing crushed something. One mutant rat popped under her hooves, blood and intestines splattering the stone.

Lin Feng Feng couldn’t sit still anymore either. The C-rank wind user dashed out and planted herself just outside Chong Ming’s protection ring. She raised her hands and pulled her wind ability into a roaring gust.

The tea king hornets trying to force their way forward were caught by the wind and beaten back, wings flailing uselessly. The gust pinned them in place, countering their flight and stopping them from closing in.

With three low-ability or no-ability cadets charging first—and with the empire’s male idol watching nearby—other lower-ranked cadets got swept up in the momentum and ran in too.

Abilities flared. Clubs swung. Shouts and roars filled the air. Mutant tigers, mutant foxes, Level 7 mutant rats—everything became prey to the students’ fury.

Chong Ming’s voice cut through the noise, calm as ever. “Cadet Jiang Tea Tea. You aren’t going out to hunt aberrant beasts?”

Inside the ring, only he and Jiang Tea Tea remained—plus the escort guards.

Jiang Tea Tea didn’t look at him. Her gaze stayed fixed on the battlefield, on the torn-open corpses and the blood and the bodies. She swallowed once, then again, throat moving with hungry intensity.

“I’m a delicate pure human with no awakened abilities,” she said. “I’m not stupid. Why would I run out there and hand myself to an aberrant beast for free?”

So much meat. So much organic fertilizer.

If she could bury all those aberrant beast corpses beneath her roots… the thought made her mouth water.

Chong Ming nodded, as if approving her logic. “You’re right. When someone without abilities faces an aberrant beast, they should find a safe place and hide.”

Jiang Tea Tea answered without shame, “Exactly. And I’m hiding in the safest place.”

In other words—behind him.

Chong Ming’s mouth twitched. “Thank you for your confidence.”

Jiang Tea Tea waved a hand. “Don’t mention it. If I get hurt or die next to you, the one who loses face is you—Commander-in-Chief and Prince Regent—not me.”

Chong Ming’s eyes narrowed slightly, amused. “Is that so?”

“Yes,” Jiang Tea Tea said, utterly sincere.

She was already planning it: when this mess ended and everyone started cleanup, she would help “dispose” of the aberrant beasts…and quietly eat them all.

Chong Ming watched her too closely, watched the predatory gleam in her eyes. He didn’t believe for a second that she truly had no abilities.

So he tested her.

Out of her line of sight, he made a subtle gesture.

The escort guards shifted. Their protective formation opened—just a sliver, just enough.

A mutant tiger let out a thunderous roar.

“Careful, Cadet Jiang Tea Tea,” Chong Ming said, and shoved her toward the gap. “Don’t get pounced.”

Jiang Tea Tea stumbled into the opening. Before she could react, a mutant tiger bared its fangs and sprang—straight for her throat.

Her eyes narrowed.

In one fluid motion, she reached back, grabbed Chong Ming, and yanked him into her space like a shield, tucking herself behind him.

“You be careful too, Your Highness,” she said brightly, pressing into his back. “Mutant tigers like you!”