Chapter 239

Chapter 239: The Innocent Little White Flower That Eats People Whole Hypnotized You All

“I wasn’t scratched,” Jiang Tea Tea said, lifting her hand. “She only peeled off a layer of skin. It didn’t even bleed. You’re overreacting.”

The mark was faint, nothing more than a shallow scrape.

Chong Ming stared at it.

Then, slowly, he reached out and took her hand.

His thumb rubbed over the nail mark, gentle and infuriating at the same time.

Jiang Tea Tea froze.

What was this “reserve rations tonic dragon” doing, rubbing her hand like that? Was he testing how tender her skin was—deciding the best way to eat her?

“Chong Ming—” She tried to pull away.

He tightened his grip. His voice went rough. “Jiang Tea Tea. I know you’re strong. I know you heal fast.”

His gaze burned, hotter than the flames on her staff. “I’m worried about you.”

“Not your cubs. You.”

Jiang Tea Tea looked at him, and her heart slipped two beats out of rhythm.

She broke eye contact first. She pried his hand off hers and forced herself steady. “I know. But I’m fine.”

“And don’t put too much stock in what Reboot said. She’s cunning.”

Chong Ming couldn’t convince her to be examined.

And he couldn’t force her.

He exhaled, barely audible. “Fine. If you refuse an exam, then you’re staying by my side for a while. If anything happens, I can handle it.”

Jiang Tea Tea blinked. Understanding hit her in the worst possible way. “So you’re afraid I’ll get infected and cause a disaster, and no one else will be able to restrain me—so you keep pushing the exam?”

Chong Ming’s patience snapped. “Are you made of wood?”

Jiang Tea Tea’s blood went cold.

Wood?

Did he mean…

Did he know?

Was he saying she was a tree?

When did she expose herself?

Was he about to chop her into firewood?

She hurried after him, trying to sound normal, forcing cheer into her voice. “Hey, hey, Chong Ming. I’m not wood. I’m smarter than wood. Did you misunderstand something?”

Chong Ming didn’t even look at her. “Is that so?”

“Yes!” Jiang Tea Tea nodded so hard her neck almost snapped. “Yes. Definitely. I’m not wood. Absolutely not.”

His voice was colder. His aura was colder.

Jiang Tea Tea’s stomach sank.

She followed him with her heart climbing into her throat—off the rescue ship and back into the Military Department lab.

There, she finally saw Reboot.

Reboot sat in a huge shockproof, crack-resistant one-way glass chamber.

The flame ring still circled her neck, shimmering with firelight.

Someone had dressed her in a pretty princess dress.

She sat on a chair swinging her legs, eyes big and round, looking pure and harmless—like an innocent little white flower with no thorns.

Jiang Tea Tea stared through the glass for a long time.

Then she turned to Chong Ming. “I want to see every staff member who had contact with her.”

Chong Ming lifted a hand. In moments, everyone who had dealt with Reboot from yesterday to now was summoned—eleven people in total, including Cheng Yuan and Cheng Lin Yue.

Jiang Tea Tea pointed at the chamber. “You’ve been drawing her blood, running tests, handling her. Tell me your assessment.”

“Your impressions.”

“And your proposed treatment measures.”

Nine of them spoke at once, voices layered with certainty and sympathy.

“Aside from the virus load—thousands and thousands of times higher than normal zombies—there’s nothing wrong with her.”

“Her blood is red. Her flesh is normal. She’s like an ordinary female.”

“She’s weak. She speaks softly. She’s afraid of pain. Her veins are small. She has no threat value at all.”

“She’s cooperative. If her virus levels weren’t abnormal, you couldn’t tell she was infected at all.”

“The flame ring hurt her skin. She bled. When I offered her medicine, she comforted me and said she wasn’t in pain and it was fine even without treatment.”

“Those illegal researchers are monsters. They turned a good little girl into this.”

Jiang Tea Tea’s brow tightened with each word.

Her gaze flicked to the only two who hadn’t spoken—Cheng Lin Yue and Cheng Yuan.

She said their names directly. “Cheng Lin Yue. Cheng Yuan. What do you think?”

The two exchanged a look.

Cheng Lin Yue spoke first, voice firm. “Strong. Extremely strong.”

Cheng Yuan followed, eyes cold. “She carries at least three super-viruses. Inside her body they’ve formed a stable triangular balance—levels tens of thousands of times higher than ordinary zombies.”

“Those viruses can spread through saliva, blood, and sex.”

He let that hang for a beat. “She looks harmless. In reality, she is the most dangerous infected we’ve seen.”

“As for her ‘cooperation’… I don’t believe it’s obedience.”

“I believe it’s manipulation. She’s lulling us into lowering our guard, positioning herself as a victim rather than a threat.”

The nine researchers erupted, offended.

“Healer Cheng Yuan, you’re a healer, not a professional researcher. You can’t assume the worst of a victim.”

“Reboot is a victim, not a threat. With that many viruses in her body, she still keeps her mind. That means she’s suffered more pain than you imagine.”

“We are legal researchers, not illegal ones. We can’t treat her like a dangerous specimen.”

“We should focus on clearing the viruses and returning her to normal—rather than labeling her a threat and hurting her again.”

“And Healer Jiang Tea Tea—your flame ring is the problem. It’s harming her.”

“Commander-in-Chief, I formally request that Healer Jiang Tea Tea remove the flame ring. She’s a victim, not a criminal. You can’t treat her like a prisoner. It’s degrading.”

Chong Ming listened without interruption.

He didn’t defend the nine researchers.

He didn’t rebuke Cheng Yuan.

He simply watched.

Then, when the voices finally died down, he looked at Jiang Tea Tea. “What do you say?”

Jiang Tea Tea didn’t look at him. “Not yet. I’m not done questioning them.”

Chong Ming’s gaze swept the nine researchers like frost. “Then keep asking.”

Jiang Tea Tea turned to Cheng Yuan. “Before you entered her lab, did you take anything? Inject anything?”

Cheng Yuan’s eyes flashed. “You—”

Jiang Tea Tea cut him off, voice crisp. “Answer. What did you take? What did you inject?”

Cheng Yuan reached into his storage button and pulled out a syringe. “We injected a clarity shot I developed.”

“This shot allows resistance against a 5S-rank hypnosis ability.”

Jiang Tea Tea took the syringe from his hand and handed it to Chong Ming.

“Chong Ming,” she said evenly, “it seems Reboot isn’t just carrying super-viruses. She’s also awakened hypnosis ability.”

“And she’s already used it.”

She looked straight at the nine researchers. “She hypnotized your subordinates and flipped nine researchers to her side.”