Chapter 240

Chapter 240: Their Cubs’ Dad Was So Charming Even the Zombie Tried to Seduce Him

Chong Ming took the syringe Jiang Tea Tea handed him. The liquid inside was filled to the brim.

No label. No instructions. No official serial number or certification mark—nothing.

He turned it in his fingers without speaking.

The moment Jiang Tea Tea claimed they’d been infected by hypnosis, the nine researchers looked as if she’d slapped them across the face.

“Healer Jiang, it’s true you’re the galaxy’s only mutated 3S-rank healer. But everyone in the Military Department lab is competent. No dead weight. Only real skill. Saying we were controlled by hypnosis is slander!”

“That’s right, Commander-in-Chief. Every word we said and every test we performed on Reboot was responsible and accountable. Healer Jiang is accusing us out of nowhere—we refuse to accept it!”

“Reboot was an innocent person dragged onto the operating table by illegal researchers. Our job is to help her recover as much as possible—help her shed the identity of a super-virus infected and live like a normal person.”

“Healer Cheng Yuan is right. The virus on Reboot spreads through saliva, blood, and mating.”

“As long as we avoid those routes during treatment, we’ll be fine.”

“So she isn’t the biggest or most dangerous infected. She’s an innocent infected waiting for us to save her.”

“And she doesn’t have hypnosis ability. She only carries three viruses—nothing else!”

“Reboot is the victim. We can’t look at victims through prejudice. We have to do everything possible to help her recover quickly.”

Jiang Tea Tea watched the nine of them with the corner of her mouth curled. Every sentence revolved around Reboot. Every word insisted she was innocent.

That hypnosis-control ability of hers… interesting.

Chong Ming handed the syringe to Cheng Yuan without acknowledging the researchers. “Healer Cheng, that clarity shot of yours—the one that can resist 5S-rank hypnosis control—are the data and extraction methods mature?”

Cheng Yuan accepted the syringe and answered respectfully, “Reporting to Your Highness, the data are mature. If Your Highness needs it, I can provide the dataset for free, so Your Highness can mass-produce it.”

Chong Ming liked smart people—and he did business cleanly. “Secretary Wen will contact you. The patent fees due to you will be paid in full once testing passes and production begins.”

Cheng Yuan looked stunned. “Thank you, Your Highness!”

Chong Ming nodded. “No need. Tell me this—if someone is already under hypnosis control, will the clarity shot still work?”

“It won’t,” Cheng Yuan admitted.

Chong Ming turned to Jiang Tea Tea. “How do you plan to wake them?”

Jiang Tea Tea flipped her wrist and unhooked the flame staff ring. The ring unfolded into a staff about 1.2 meters long. She shoved it toward Chong Ming and spat out a single word.

“Hit.”

The nine researchers, ignored to the bone, exchanged glances. None of them believed they were under hypnosis, yet they were about to be beaten?

They immediately protested. “Commander-in-Chief—”

Before they could get another word out, Chong Ming reached for the staff.

The flame staff snapped to life like a creature with a temper. It knocked his hand with a sharp crack, then instantly recoiled into a ring and clasped itself back around Jiang Tea Tea’s wrist, playing dead.

Jiang Tea Tea blinked. She hadn’t expected her staff to have that much personality.

She stepped forward and checked Chong Ming’s hand. The skin had been broken, blood already seeping out.

She gathered her magic power and brushed her fingers over the wound. The burn-like injury vanished cleanly, as if it had never been there.

Chong Ming’s golden eyes darkened. “Your staff doesn’t like me. I can’t use it. You hit them.”

Jiang Tea Tea let go of his hand. “I don’t want to hit people either. Let it hit them itself.”

She lifted her chin. “Flame staff, hit them.”

The moment her words fell, the flame staff—still clasped around her wrist—switched from “dead” to “violent.” It shot forward and slammed toward the nine researchers’ foreheads.

It moved too fast to dodge. They jerked back, but all they felt was a sudden burst of heat and pain.

One by one, each researcher who took a hit swayed, head buzzing, stars bursting behind their eyes. Their bodies went soft and unsteady.

About thirty seconds later, their eyes cleared.

They blinked, looked around, spotted Chong Ming, and immediately straightened. In unison, they saluted. “Greetings, Commander-in-Chief!”

Jiang Tea Tea noticed Chong Ming looking at her. She tapped her own temple with a finger, signaling that they were awake now.

Chong Ming shifted his gaze back to the nine researchers. “Any insights from examining Reboot, the infected?”

The nine researchers froze, then answered stiffly, “Reporting to Commander-in-Chief, we only just arrived. We haven’t conducted any examination yet.”

“Please give us some time. After we finish examining the infected, we’ll submit a complete data report.”

They had been controlled by Reboot’s hypnosis ability. Now that the control had been lifted, they forgot everything they’d done after making contact with her. Their memories snapped back to the moment before they’d ever approached Reboot at all.

Chong Ming gave them orders. “She still needs observation. Go to the other labs. Each of you will examine one living dead zombie.”

“Yes!” The nine researchers withdrew and left the lab.

Chong Ming turned back to Cheng Yuan. “Healer Cheng, how long does the clarity shot last? How many doses do you have right now?”

Cheng Yuan answered, “Reporting to Your Highness, seven days. I only have eighteen doses on hand.”

Chong Ming asked, “If I assign you a lab in the Military Department, how many clarity shots can you produce at the fastest rate?”

Cheng Yuan replied, “Reporting to Your Highness, one day and one night should yield about one hundred fifty to two hundred doses.”

Chong Ming nodded. “Adjutant Ai, take him to the lab. Start by producing one thousand doses for backup.”

Adjutant Ai responded immediately. “Yes. Healer Cheng, this way.”

Cheng Yuan followed Adjutant Ai out. The other attendants and escorts filed out as well.

In the lab, aside from Reboot inside the glass room, only Jiang Tea Tea and Cheng Lin Yue remained—the female who had taken a clarity shot.

Jiang Tea Tea looked at Reboot again and whistled softly. “Chong Ming, that little female grew up.”

Chong Ming stood beside her, eyes on the glass room. “She did.”

Cheng Lin Yue stared, speechless. The super-virus infected hadn’t grown up a little—she’d grown up a lot. She had gone from looking eleven or twelve to looking seventeen or eighteen.

Her height had jumped from roughly 1.2–1.4 meters to around 1.6 meters. Her face had fully matured—pretty, enticing, and faintly dangerous in a way that made your gaze stick.

Jiang Tea Tea glanced sideways at Chong Ming, lips curling. “That glass might as well not exist. She keeps watching your direction, changing her posture on purpose. She even hikes her skirt up to show her thighs.”

Jiang Tea Tea let out a low laugh. “She’s trying to seduce you, Your Highness.”