Chapter 23
Chapter 23: You Kick Me, I Hit You. Mutual Damage, Who’s Afraid?
Chong Ming had not expected her to be that strong or that fast. He was yanked forward and ended up blocking in front of her before he could even react.
His reaction came almost right after. In the blink of an eye, he broke free from Jiang Tea Tea’s grip, leaving her exposed once more to the mutant tiger’s fierce pounce: “No, Schoolmate Jiang Tea Tea, the mutant tiger actually likes you more.”
Jiang Tea Tea wanted to push Chong Ming back in front again, but there was no time. The mutant tiger had already come crashing down. At the last moment, she bent backward, her soft waist almost level with the ground.
The mutant tiger that had leaped at her overshot and leaped right over her, landing on the far side.
Three gunshots sounded: bang, bang, bang. The mutant tiger’s head was blasted open and blood sprayed everywhere.
Jiang Tea Tea pushed off the ground with one hand and flipped back onto her feet. She lifted a leg and kicked straight at Chong Ming.
Chong Ming turned his body to the side and dodged, the hem of his clothes lifting slightly: “Schoolmate Jiang Tea Tea, nice moves. What kind of ability did you awaken?”
Jiang Tea Tea’s kick hit empty air. She steadied herself, turned, and faced Chong Ming: “No matter how good my moves are, I still can’t compare to Your Highness Chong Ming’s sneak attacks.”
As a big tree spirit who could eat anything, she had not even started thinking about eating this shiny golden dragon yet, and he had already begun testing her.
[Good, very good. Messing with me is like kicking an iron plate.]
Chong Ming’s face did not flush and his breathing did not change. His low voice sounded completely justified: “I was worried the mutant tiger would hurt you, so I pushed you to help you dodge. How is that a sneak attack?”
Jiang Tea Tea snorted coldly and mocked him: “Your Highness Chong Ming is so good at twisting words. Do your subordinates know that?”
Chong Ming was even better at making people mad than Jiang Tea Tea. He turned his head and asked his attendant guards: “Deputy Officer Ai, Major Ma, do you know that I twist words?”
Deputy Officer Ai and Da Ma Zi, who had been called out by name, answered in perfect unison: “Does Your Highness twist words? No, we don’t know anything about that.”
This pure human girl with no abilities was openly going against His Highness. She was so brave, so cool, so aggressive. In their eyes, she was number one in the entire M31 Star System.
If the situation were not so serious, they would have cheered for her, sung for her, clapped for her, and even run headfirst into a wall for her.
Jiang Tea Tea was so angry at them that she actually laughed: “Your Highness Chong Ming, to test me you use many to bully the few, is that it?”
Chong Ming’s golden eyes blinked: “Test you? Schoolmate Jiang Tea Tea, what guilty thing have you done to make you think I would…”
He had not even finished the last word before his eyes caught Jiang Tea Tea’s movement. This time, her kick was not aimed at Chong Ming but at Deputy Officer Ai and Da Ma Zi. Her leg shot out faster than lightning, slamming into them with full force.
Deputy Officer Ai, Da Ma Zi, and the others were all kicked right on target. Still holding their weapons, their bodies were launched forward. The protective half-circle they had formed fell apart like a crumbling wall.
Chong Ming and Jiang Tea Tea were both exposed to attacks from tea hornets, level seven mutant rats, and a mutated cheetah.
Chong Ming spoke in a helpless tone: “Schoolmate Jiang Tea Tea, on the battlefield, harming the enemy a thousand while harming yourself eight hundred is a very bad deal.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s lips curled up high: “When the difference in power is this big, mutual damage is also a kind of victory. Besides, you played the petty villain first by pushing me, so don’t blame me for not acting like a gentleman.”
Chong Ming looked at her like he was teasing a cat. His golden eyes were full of interest in Jiang Tea Tea: “If I apologize to you now, is it still in time?”
Jiang Tea Tea shifted her body and dodged the attack of a mutated cheetah, luring the cheetah to pounce at Chong Ming instead: “Too late. I’m a very petty person.”
The mutated cheetah weighed a thousand jin. Its body was covered in spotted patterns. It missed Jiang Tea Tea and lunged at Chong Ming with an angry roar.
Chong Ming did not show the slightest fear as the cheetah pounced at him. He spun in a full turn and kicked hard into the cheetah’s body.
The massive cheetah was kicked away as if it weighed nothing and flew back toward Jiang Tea Tea. Jiang Tea Tea twisted and dodged again. The cheetah smashed into the spot where she had been standing and crushed three level seven mutant rats to death.
“Wow, His Highness is so handsome!”
No one knew which student sighed like that first, but the other students followed and screamed in worship.
“His Highness’s legs are longer than my life! Ahhh, I want to be kicked by His Highness too. His Highness is too handsome!”
“Yeah, yeah, His Highness is so cool. One kick killed a level four mutated cheetah and three level seven mutant rats!”
Jiang Tea Tea swept her gaze over and caught the boys and girls who were talking. Every one of them was looking at Chong Ming with excited, worshipful eyes, completely lost in their crush.
Jiang Tea Tea smiled. This big golden dragon was bad to the bone, but these boys and girls were all blinded by his looks. None of them could see his real nature at all.
“Woof woof woof… Sister Tea, help… Sister Tea…”
Just as Jiang Tea Tea lifted her foot to stomp a mutant rat that wanted to attack her, a sharp and urgent cry for help came from Huang Da Zhuang’s direction.
Jiang Tea Tea stepped over the mutant rats’ corpses and spun around to look. Huang Da Zhuang, who had overestimated himself and tried to attack a mutant tiger, had his leg clamped in the tiger’s jaws. He had turned into a dog body with a human head and was calling to her for help.
“Annoying.” Jiang Tea Tea cursed under her breath and sprinted straight toward Huang Da Zhuang.
Deputy Officer Ai raised his gun and aimed at the mutant tiger, ready to fire and rescue them, but Chong Ming pressed his hand down on the gun barrel and stopped him.
Deputy Officer Ai looked at him in shock: “Your Highness…”
The corner of Chong Ming’s mouth lifted into a slight smile: “Someone who can land a kick on several of you at once will not lose to a level five mutant tiger. That tiger is not her match. You’re not its match either.”
“After we go back today, your training will double, so next time you won’t look so bad when she kicks you.”
Deputy Officer Ai and Da Ma Zi could only stare: “…”
[Great, just great. This little human girl hides her strength and keeps a low profile, and we’re the ones who suffer.]
[Normal training already feels like it will kill us. Double training and we’ll have no lives left.]
Jiang Tea Tea stomped a few more mutant rats to death on her way and rushed to Huang Da Zhuang’s side. She was just raising her leg, ready to kick the mutant tiger.
A deafening crack of thunder exploded. A bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky and struck the mutant tiger that was biting Huang Da Zhuang’s leg.
The mutant tiger was hit squarely by the lightning. Its fur caught fire. Its jaws slackened, and it collapsed on the ground with a painful groan.
Jiang Tea Tea took the chance to pull up Huang Da Zhuang, who had turned back into human form and was limping. She looked at Sui Xuan Chu, who was walking toward them: “Double S-level lightning affinity. That lightning just now was from you?”
“The lightning was from me.” Sui Xuan Chu’s blue-black Combat Department training suit was splattered with blood. He looked Jiang Tea Tea up and down: “I really didn’t see it before, roommate. You’re pretty low-key. You even went against Commander in Chief Chong Ming.”
Jiang Tea Tea spoke unhappily: “He made a move on me first. I had no choice but to fight back. Tell me, isn’t there something wrong with him?”
Sui Xuan Chu snorted a laugh: “All lords are a bit crazy. You’ll get used to it.”
Jiang Tea Tea was not pleased: “I can’t get used to it at all. I just want to get even.”
Sui Xuan Chu’s eyes lit up: “You still want to fight him?”
Jiang Tea Tea shot back: “He’s allowed to almost get me bitten by a mutant tiger, but I’m not allowed to hit him?”
Sui Xuan Chu’s eyes rolled. He pointed at Huang Da Zhuang: “How about we use him as bait? You and I work together from inside and outside, and we give the Commander in Chief of the Three Armies and Prince Regent a good beating.”
Huang Da Zhuang: “…”
Jiang Tea Tea looked surprised: “You have a grudge against him?”
Sui Xuan Chu bared his big white teeth, smiling like a villain: “I don’t have a grudge against him. It’s just that he once said, no matter when or where, as long as a student from the Military Academies can get close enough to him and land a kick on him, they can enter any one of the Empire’s thirty top army corps.”
“With such a huge temptation and such a once-in-a-lifetime chance, as a student of the Military Academies, how can you not be tempted?”
Jiang Tea Tea was not moved so much as she blurted out: “He’s way too arrogant.”
Sui Xuan Chu corrected her: “He’s not arrogant. He has the right to be like that. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have become Commander in Chief of the Three Armies or be able to scare the neighboring planets into behaving.”
“Besides, with aberrant beasts and mutated insects invading the Academy, if he gave the order, those bodyguards around him, each one could be worth a hundred people. With the high-tech weapons in their hands, they would have cleared out these aberrant beasts and mutated insects long ago.”
“The fact that he hasn’t ordered his bodyguards to fully fight back means he wants to use this chance to watch the Royal Military Academies’ real response ability and see our true strength as students.”
Jiang Tea Tea let out a long “Wow”: “Roommate, I have to say, your brain really works well. He really is just sitting on the mountain watching the tigers fight!”
Sui Xuan Chu looked like everything had turned out exactly as he expected: “So, roommate, are you coming with me to beat him up or not?”
Jiang Tea Tea gave a creepy little smile and spat out one word: “Do.”