Chapter 263
Chapter 263: What? Someone’s Sending the Cubs’ Dad a Woman to Share the Cubs’ Mom with Old Loach
As a great demon, under Chong Ming’s perfectly serious invitation, Jiang Tea Tea’s face turned bright red. She stammered, “Y-you… you have no shame!”
What kind of person watched that in the morning and even invited someone else to watch together? Even as a great demon, she wasn’t this savage.
Chong Ming looked at her without blushing or panting. “Pursuing mate, pleasing mate, serving mate—that’s not shameless. That’s nature.”
“As a male, if you don’t serve mate well, that’s your fault. If you know you’re wrong, you correct it and work hard to do better.”
“If mate is happy, the family is harmonious, the mood is good, everything else goes smoother. You act with no worries.”
Jiang Tea Tea got so mad at his shameless logic that she laughed. She’d thought demons were already morally bankrupt and never took the normal road, aside from obeying the laws of heaven and earth.
She hadn’t expected the beastfolk world of M31 star system to be even wilder—more like demons than demons, more reckless than any crooked path.
Chong Ming shifted the lightbrain panel toward himself again, took out a transparent earbud, and offered it to her. “Learn together, and after we learn, we discuss?”
Jiang Tea Tea’s face burned. “Who the hell wants to learn with you and discuss?”
She ground her teeth and spat one word. “Get lost!”
Seeing her face, Chong Ming’s throat bobbed. He smiled suddenly and leaned closer. “Jiang Tea Tea, why are you blushing?”
Jiang Tea Tea exploded. “Who’s blushing? Why don’t you say the flyer is small and you won’t turn on the AC, so I’m hot?”
Chong Ming drew out an “oh.” “So you’re hot, not hot because I invited you to learn and discuss. Good. That’s a relief.”
Relief my ass.
That bastard Old Loach was doing it on purpose, wasn’t he?
Jiang Tea Tea glared. “Back up.”
Chong Ming didn’t back up. Instead, he reached out and touched her cheek. “Jiang Tea Tea, not only are you blushing—your face is burning too.”
The touch made Jiang Tea Tea shiver. She twisted hard, rose, and knelt on the seat. She grabbed both of his big golden horns. “You want to fight?”
Dragon horns were even more private than a dragon’s back. Unless it was on the battlefield to rescue a comrade, only a mate could touch a dragon’s horns. It was an invitation.
Chong Ming set the panel aside, grabbed her waist, and pulled her hard. While she looked ready to snap his horns, he dragged her onto his lap, sitting her astride him.
He lifted his head to look at her, gaze deep and blazing, not hiding his desire or possessiveness. “Today’s work is scheduled full. With this little time on the road, fighting you won’t be satisfying.”
“Tonight. After work is done and I’m off-duty, you’re welcome to come fight me. However you want to fight, I’ll cooperate.”
Jiang Tea Tea couldn’t tell if he was filthy or if she was thinking too much.
Why did it feel like his head was full of trash?
He was driving at high speed and never hitting the brakes.
No—was he possessed?
Jiang Tea Tea kept wrenching his horns, shaking them. “Chong, who’s fighting you? Who’s fighting you tonight? You’re insane. Take your claw off my waist.”
Chong Ming’s head rocked left and right, but his hand on her waist didn’t loosen. It tightened. He spoke in a low voice, and somehow the words came out pitiful. “You’re the one who said you wanted to fight. I’m just telling you the time.”
“And it’s not my claw grabbing your waist. You grabbed my horns first and invited me. That’s why I touched you.”
Jiang Tea Tea exploded. “Who invited you? I was trying to break your horns!”
Chong Ming’s golden eyes lit up. “Oh. In the dragon clan, when a female grabs a male’s horns and tries to wrench them, that’s an invitation.”
“You’re inviting me, Classmate Jiang Tea Tea—”
Jiang Tea Tea’s hand jerked like she’d been scalded. She released his horns instantly, then clamped her hand around his throat and shoved him back into the seat, fury and killing intent flaring. “I’m not inviting you. I’m trying to strangle you.”
Chong Ming leaned back obediently, still gripping her waist like it was nothing. “All right. Strangle me, then. I won’t fight back.”
Jiang Tea Tea stared at him.
Was he sick?
Did he think endless retreat would make her date him, marry him?
Chong Ming even lifted his jaw and stretched his neck, either to make it easier or just to annoy her more, offering himself up—
“Knock, knock, knock!”
Right when Jiang Tea Tea was squeezing hard, someone knocked on the flyer door.
Chong Ming patted her waist lightly and spoke with indulgent warmth. “We’re at the infected isolation zone. Save your strength for tonight when you strangle me. I won’t fight back.”
Jiang Tea Tea was both furious and stifled. She had to release his throat, but she raked her nails across his neck, leaving a bloody scratch.
Chong Ming acted like he didn’t feel pain. He lifted a syringe and jabbed it into his own neck, pushing in the medicine.
Seeing the familiar way he stabbed himself, Jiang Tea Tea couldn’t help asking, “What are you doing now?”
After pushing in the medicine, Chong Ming pulled the needle out and answered, “You triggered my rut. I’m injecting something to suppress it.”
Jiang Tea Tea froze. Was she some precious aphrodisiac?
She hadn’t done anything, and his rut got triggered?
He was way too easy to trigger.
Tch. Pure slander. Complete slander.
Chong Ming opened the flyer door from the inside and stepped out first. He straightened his uniform and knocked on the top of the flyer, signaling Jiang Tea Tea to come out.
Jiang Tea Tea took a deep breath and told herself not to argue with an Old Loach. He wasn’t worth it.
With her mental defenses set, she stepped out of the flyer. She wore military department combat fatigues. If she walked behind Chong Ming, she’d look like his guard—but she walked beside him. Her presence didn’t lose to his at all. If anything, she looked even more arrogant.
She went with him to inspect the infected isolation zone.
The infected now, whether male, female, or pure human, had no healthy bodies left. Their flesh was rotten, and there wasn’t a single patch of good skin anywhere.
They had no reason left. They roared at each other, screamed, tore, bit. When they were starving, they ate rotten flesh, killed their own kind, and had no dignity at all.
Some infected families applied to come say goodbye. When they saw their loved ones stripped of all dignity and reason, they cried and signed guardianship agreements allowing them to be hunted and burned.
Other families had thought they could help their family regain some reason and say farewell. Seeing that sight, they gave up.
They feared their child would regain reason and see their body rotting, with no good skin left, then collapse in despair. Better to hunt and burn them like this, so at least they wouldn’t suffer anymore.
Chong Ming gave three days as a buffer. More than twenty thousand infected families used only one day to sign every voluntary waiver of treatment and consent-to-hunt-and-burn document.
He even met them and apologized in person. He signed compensation for each infected family—three years of base salary on capital planet—and granted infected direct-line relatives three years of free treatment for any illness, free mental power grooming, and free access.
All compensation was officially announced on the website and made known to the public of Zhen Lin Empire. People across all other planets in M31 star system learned it too, sparking heated discussion.
“Super virus infection is basically a natural disaster. With commander-in-chief compensating like this, I’ve got nothing to say. I want to see who has the nerve to blame him and say he governed badly.”
“People here won’t blame him. The ones blaming him are outsiders who can’t stand Zhen Lin Empire doing well.”
“Anyone with a brain knows. Two thousand years ago, Da Xi Nation couldn’t do anything about this kind of virus. Two thousand years later, it’s been improved to be even more vicious. It can’t be cured. Some people won’t condemn the ones who improved it or spread it, but instead harass commander-in-chief. That’s rotten to the core.”
“Exactly. Good thing commander-in-chief has absolute authority. Otherwise his citizens might get misled into blaming him.”
“Yup. Some people have no brains. They just follow the crowd.”
“Base salary on capital planet is 8910 a month. Three years of base salary is over 300,000 star credits. And infected direct-line relatives get three years of free treatment at medical institutes. That means each family’s compensation is worth over a million star credits.”
“Over twenty thousand infected. Each person has at least three direct-line relatives. That’s a massive expense.”
“Yeah. All I can say is commander-in-chief is generous. Much better than our emperor and heir.”
“Bro, your IP is hidden, but I suspect we’re from the same planet. Our old emperor poured national funds into foreign planets for his romantic mess and his illegitimate kids. It’s disgusting.”
“Hahaha, you mean Tian Qiong Planet’s old emperor, right? I remember your current emperor punished him to shut everyone up—chemical castration, yeah? Yeah?”
“Yes. The old emperor was too wild. By incomplete statistics, he had over 170 lovers and over 200 illegitimate children. He transferred national funds out, totaling trillions.”
“The current emperor is the empress’s son, the legitimate heir. The first thing he did after taking power was chemically castrate the old emperor, imprison him, and pass laws refusing to recognize any illegitimate child or provide them any financial support. Only then did the imperial family salvage a bit of dignity.”
“Tian Qiong Planet’s imperial family compared to Zhen Lin Empire’s imperial family is like heaven and earth—one stinks to high hell, one smells sweet.”
“Hey, don’t say that. I heard Tian Qiong Planet’s current emperor’s eldest daughter is twenty this year, a very beautiful and outstanding female. Rumor says the emperor wants cooperation with Zhen Lin Empire and is considering marrying his eldest daughter to commander-in-chief Chong Ming.”
“What? Tian Qiong Planet’s emperor wants to marry his daughter to our commander-in-chief? You people derailed this thread so hard.”
“I’m telling you, no way. Our Chong Ming already has a cub and a mate. Our country is one-male-one-female. We’re not like Tian Qiong Planet, where you can do two-males-one-female or two-females-one-male. Stop trying to cling to us!”
“I can confirm. I’m from Tian Qiong Planet. We’re not clinging. Our emperor really has that idea. Who told your commander-in-chief to claim he has a mate and a cub, but nobody’s seen them?”
“If nobody’s seen them and you send a female over, why not send money too? We’ll say we’re broke too.”
“Females are meant to be cherished, not sold and gifted. No wonder your old emperor was so promiscuous—you don’t respect females.”
“Talking to you is pointless. Look how far you’ve derailed the thread.”
Online discussions spiraled everywhere. Not everyone was focused on the super virus infected situation in Zhen Lin Empire.
Three days passed in a blink. For the hunting, burning, and cleanup of over twenty thousand infected, Jiang Tea Tea and Zhong Li He did most of the work.
Phoenix fire could burn away all unclean things and prevent any contamination from spreading.
Zhong Li He handled the burning. Jiang Tea Tea controlled the flames. Together they burned every infected to ash and scorched the areas they’d stayed in.
After that, the cleaning departments did deep cleaning. Once cleaned, the places entered a static empty period while relevant personnel collected data.
Every inhabited planet of Zhen Lin Empire underwent global scans and inspections. All illegal labs were shut down, and those involved were sentenced under the highest penalties.
All registered labs, whether national, private, or school-level, were re-audited. Every person in charge, project, and material was reviewed again. If contraband or untraceable materials were found, they investigated until the end.
More than one hundred thousand yellow dragons, whether cubs, eggs, adults, or elders, were split into five groups and exiled to different fringe star planets of Zhen Lin Empire. Their honor and wealth were stripped.
Special laws stated that for five hundred years, their cubs could not apply to any schools in Zhen Lin Empire’s inner systems. They could only live and study on their assigned planets and were forbidden to leave.
The yellow dragon clan hated their former clan chief’s family to death for carving their names into the pillar of shame. Morning, noon, and night, they spit on it and threw stones, venting their hatred.
Zhong Li He and Kong Que also proposed a return schedule to Da Xi Nation—on the day Jiang Tea Tea’s school started. Four days left.
Jiang Tea Tea had agreed to groom their mental power and soothe the mind sea. With her magic power down to less than two-tenths after helping Jin Lin, she stayed on her mountain three out of four days, transforming into tree form to absorb essence and cultivate.
After three days of emergency cultivation, her magic power didn’t move—still under two-tenths. Wanting a little more, she went straight to the military department, to Chong Ming’s office, stood before his desk, and declared boldly, “Chong Ming, let me bite your neck!”
Her flyer and her person both had military department clearance, so she could enter freely—even straight through the huge window into Chong Ming’s office.
Chong Ming lifted his gaze from the projection and looked at Jiang Tea Tea. “Come here. Bite.”
Jiang Tea Tea walked around his desk toward him.
Chong Ming slid his chair back a little and held out his hand.
Jiang Tea Tea ignored his hand and stood before his legs. She bent down to bite, but his hand moved, scooped, and pulled her onto his lap.
He tilted his head. “Go on. Bite.”
Jiang Tea Tea hadn’t expected to end up on his lap, but once he pulled her there, she didn’t refuse. She opened her mouth and bit into his neck.
One of Chong Ming’s hands gripped her waist, the other supported the back of her neck. He lifted his eyes, gaze sharp, and looked at the projection. “Cong Yan, Emperor, if you come to Zhen Lin Empire to visit and study, I welcome you. But if you want to send your daughter, Princess Cong Bei, Your Highness, to my Zhen Lin Empire imperial family, then forget it.”
“This is my mate. She’s carrying my cub. Our relationship is good. I won’t change your Tian Qiong Planet marriage laws for your daughter—not one-male-two-female or one-female-two-male!”