Chapter 270
Chapter 270: What, the little dragon cub was born just like that
Jiang Tea Tea listened in shock: “Cheng Yuan, could the data be wrong?”
She did not feel at all like the cubs were about to be born.
Instead, she felt like they wanted to keep clinging to her belly.
To be careful, to be cautious, Cheng Yuan ran another detailed check on the instruments when Jiang Tea Tea started to doubt them.
After confirming again and again that there was nothing wrong with the instruments, he looked up at Jiang Tea Tea: “There is no problem with the instruments. The younglings in your belly have already reached the birth stage. They might be born today, maybe tomorrow…”
“That sudden cramping pain in your stomach today might have been the younglings giving you an early greeting, telling you to get ready. They might start labor and be born at any time.”
Cheng Lin Yue, who had been listening on the side, said in confusion: “Uncle, dragon clan eggs are usually born after 10 to 15 months. Sister Tea has not even been pregnant for 8 months and 10 days. Have they really reached the maturity stage? It feels wrong to me.”
Cheng Yuan said in a calm voice: “In theory, you are right. But based on Schoolmate Jiang’s situation, we cannot look at it according to theory or tradition.”
“She is pregnant with five, and none of them even have eggshells. They will be born directly as young dragons, without hatching. That already does not match the dragon clan’s history of childbirth.”
“So we cannot judge the younglings in her belly by common sense. We can only go by the check results and what we see.”
Jiang Tea Tea had not expected her little brats to stab her in the back by trying to be born early while she still did not know.
Jiang Tea Tea stared at the instrument’s display screen, looking at the golden little brats who were no longer curled up in a ball: “I understand.”
[If it is like this, should I hurry and find a way to run, find a place to give birth to them?]
Cheng Yuan hesitated and asked: “Schoolmate Jiang, are you really not going to tell the Commander in Chief that you are pregnant with five dragon clan younglings?”
Jiang Tea Tea turned her gaze to him. Her black eyes were deep and quiet, like a pitch-black abyss with no bottom. No emotion could be seen churning inside.
When Cheng Yuan met her eyes, his heart suddenly panicked, as if an overwhelming oppressive aura rushed straight at him. With a hint of anxiousness, he quickly tried to explain: “What I mean is, in the M31 Star System, the Commander in Chief’s character, morals, strength, and methods are among the very best. Everyone can see that.”
“If you tell him about the younglings, he can better protect you and the younglings. I know you are very strong, but personal strength is nothing in front of a nation’s strength.”
“Right now the Commander in Chief has no doubts. He believes the test results we gave him. But if he starts to doubt that we have been hiding something, and he puts his mind to it, then our hiding will not stay hidden.”
“You are carrying five younglings. If it were two, maybe you could hide them. But five, how can you hide five? As long as you stay in the empire, there is no way to hide them.”
“Fine, even if you luckily leave the empire and go to other nations in the M31 Star System, who among the people you meet could make you feel more at ease than the Commander in Chief?”
“Taking another step back, even if you do not go to any nation in the M31 Star System and you wander in the sea of stars instead, you still need supplies to survive in interstellar space. As long as you need supplies, you will leave traces, and the Commander in Chief can find you easily.”
“Fine, let’s say you are lucky again and he cannot find you while you wander in interstellar space. As the younglings grow up day by day with you, how can they not ask where they came from?”
Jiang Tea Tea fell silent.
What Cheng Yuan said sounded reasonable, but for her it was not that simple. Only after her spiritual power returned to its prime stage, and after she finished the contract with the fake young miss, could his ideas become reality for her.
If her spiritual power fully recovered, she could draw a protective barrier and make a small secret realm, a little cave heaven. Inside that little cave heaven, she could adjust the flow of time. One day inside could be a year outside, or one day inside could be ten years outside. She could raise the younglings inside the secret realm and let them cultivate without any problem.
But right now, her spiritual power was only at twenty percent, and the contract with the fake young miss had not been finished yet. All those things he mentioned were just empty plans.
Cheng Lin Yue tugged her uncle’s sleeve and said in a small voice: “Uncle, you also know the Commander in Chief stands at the top of M31. Sister Tea may be the only variant plant-type healing ability user in the whole M31, but compared to him, her status and power in interstellar space are far behind. Their ages are very far apart too.”
“Sister Tea’s worries and fears are very normal. You should not keep persuading her or trying to guide her. Let her decide on her own.”
“Sister Tea, even though my idol and heartthrob is the Commander in Chief, no matter what decision you make, I will support you.”
Sister Tea was her schoolmate, her comrade-in-arms, her good friend, and the best partner she had on her path of learning.
Commander in Chief Chong Ming held the highest power, while Sister Tea did not even know who her birth parents were. Besides herself, she had no one.
As her friend, Cheng Lin Yue could not let her have nothing. At the very least, she had to stand by her side and support every decision she made.
Jiang Tea Tea looked at the two of them for a long time, then stepped down from the diagnostic scanner: “Erase all the data. You two leave first. If Commander in Chief Chong Ming asks you anything, blame it all on me. Tell him to come to me.”
Cheng Yuan nodded. Moving quickly, he pulled out all the data from the diagnostic scanner, then formatted and wiped everything clean, not leaving a single trace.
After that, he packed the entire diagnostic scanner into a space knob storage device. Then he took out a bracelet and handed it to Jiang Tea Tea: “Wear this bracelet close to your skin. It can detect the fluctuation when the younglings are about to be born five minutes in advance and will vibrate and make a sound. Keep it on so you are not caught off guard if labor starts at the academy.”
Jiang Tea Tea took the bracelet and held it in her hand, but she did not put it on her wrist. She just looked at him without saying anything.
Cheng Yuan did not rush her. He casually took out a two-seater flying device that was not very luxurious, and said to Jiang Tea Tea: “This is a flying device I modified myself. Its speed is faster than any flying device currently sold on the market.”
“School starts tomorrow. If you feel any discomfort at the academy, run outside the academy and get in the flying device. The energy it holds can take you thousands of miles away. No flying device will be able to catch up with you, except for fighter craft carriers.”
After speaking, Cheng Yuan put the flying device back into the space knob storage device, then took out another space knob storage device and said to Jiang Tea Tea: “Inside this space knob storage device, there is a modified support-type healing robot.”
“There are also all kinds of signal shielding devices. I am giving them all to you. If you need them, you can take them out and use them directly.”
“Oh, right, besides the modified support-type healing robot, there are also three bodyguard-type robots inside.”
“There are also three light-brain wrist terminals and three identities. Schoolmate Jiang, I hope you will never need to use any of these, but I worry that since you do not trust Commander in Chief Chong Ming, you might end up as passive and helpless as I once was in the research institute.”
Without her, he would not be who he was today. The kindness she showed him, and the care she gave to Cheng Lin Yue, were more than enough for him to disobey the Commander in Chief.
She was carrying five younglings. Not to mention the entire golden dragon imperial clan, even looking at the whole dragon clan, that was something that had never happened before.
She was nervous and uneasy, not trusting anyone. He could understand, because when he lay in the laboratory and was used as a research subject, he had also hoped there would be someone who would save him from the fire and water.
After he left the laboratory, he saw that the person who had studied him had a status in interstellar space as high as the sky, far beyond his reach. It was Jiang Tea Tea who helped him pull that person down and take revenge. That favor was greater than the sky.
Jiang Tea Tea was left holding two space knob storage devices stuffed into her hands. She looked at Cheng Yuan and Cheng Lin Yue and said: “Thank you…”
Cheng Yuan shook his head: “There is no need to be polite. We will leave first.”
Cheng Lin Yue did not forget to remind her: “Sister Tea, if you feel any discomfort, contact me. I will always be your little fangirl.”
Jiang Tea Tea nodded: “Alright…”
Cheng Yuan and Cheng Lin Yue removed all the signal shielding devices in the room. Just like when they came, they left one in front of the other and went downstairs.
Chong Ming was waiting at the corner between the second and third floor, leaning against the railing. His face was serious and calm, and without doing anything special he released a low, heavy pressure.
Inside the three-story wooden house, besides his low-pressure aura, his supernatural abilities and spiritual power also filled the air. It was as if he was telling Jiang Tea Tea that as long as she was inside this house, no matter which room she was in, both she and the younglings in her belly could grow up healthy under the comfort of his supernatural abilities and spiritual power.
Even though Cheng Yuan and Cheng Lin Yue had brought shielding devices for supernatural abilities and spiritual power, their legs almost went weak under this mighty oppressive aura.
They passed on Jiang Tea Tea’s message to him. He did not ask anything, only watched them leave, then went upstairs.
By now, the sky was completely dark. All the lights around the house had been turned on under the control of the robot butler and the human monitoring system.
The wooden house stood on the mountaintop, halfway in the clouds. With the lights shining on it, it looked even more dreamy and unreal.
The wooden top and outer walls shrank back, turning into a huge glass room where one could see out but not in.
Jiang Tea Tea sat on a soft sofa. The clouds were behind her and the stars were in the distance. She watched as Chong Ming walked toward her step by step, sat down beside her, and asked in a low voice: “What were the results of the checkup?”
Jiang Tea Tea looked at him for a long while, then suddenly smiled and answered: “There is nothing wrong. The pain was just the younglings being naughty and tossing around too much. It is within the normal range.”
Chong Ming’s gaze slid from her face down to her stomach. Her belly was not showing at all, and the cushion in front of her blocked his view, so he could not see anything: “If there is nothing wrong, that is good. Do you want to eat dinner?”
Jiang Tea Tea pulled the cushion away and stood up: “No, I am going to wash up and go to sleep.”
“You… you can stay here if you want. If you do not want to stay, you can leave. Just do not make any noise and disturb my sleep.”
Chong Ming tilted his head slightly to look at her: “Alright.”
Their eyes met briefly and then slid past each other. Under his gaze, Jiang Tea Tea went to wash up.
In the cloakroom, clothes, daily wear, and even sleepwear had all been prepared for her. There were sets for spring, summer, autumn, and winter. There were academy training suits and school uniforms, all sorted neatly into their own places.
Jiang Tea Tea went from the bathroom into the cloakroom, changed into pajamas, let her long hair fall down to her waist, and went into the bedroom.
Chong Ming sat in the same place as before, but now there was a light-brain wrist terminal board on his legs and government documents in his hands.
He sat alone, his back straight, his gaze sharp, his whole body giving off a lonely, domineering aura as he handled government affairs.
Jiang Tea Tea rubbed her belly while watching him. This one star system’s nation alone had countless inhabited planets, not to mention all the different races living together, causing endless frictions and conflicts. He had to govern, suppress, intimidate, reward, and defend.
He also had to face the covetous eyes of other nations on other planets, plan the military defenses around the borders of the star system, and deal with all kinds of messy, headache-inducing matters.
Jiang Tea Tea smacked her lips. [For no reason at all, I kind of feel sorry for him. Poor old loach. Someone standing that high up could live in comfort and ease if he were a foolish, corrupt ruler who did whatever he wanted.]
[Too bad… he is a man with a sense of responsibility, who cares about the nation and all the people. He has principles and ability, and he will not allow himself to do anything that wrongs the nation or betrays the citizens.]
Jiang Tea Tea walked over and sat on the soft sofa at his side. Her legs, fair and smooth like white jade, curled up on the sofa. She hugged a cushion over her belly and stared straight at him.
About five minutes later, Chong Ming finished the documents at hand, lifted his eyelids, and looked over at her: “Didn’t you say you were going to sleep right after washing up? Why are you sitting here?”
Jiang Tea Tea answered him: “I had planned to sleep. But after my shower I suddenly felt wide awake and could not sleep. So I came over to ask you, is being the Commander in Chief of the Three Armies like you are now, having endless work every day and never-ending things to worry about?”
Chong Ming thought for a moment: “Yes and no. When you have absolute deterrence, suppressive strength, and the ability to judge people, you have many people under you to do the work.”
“You only need to give orders and then look at the results. Of course, you must be able to choose the best option from many different results, delegate that, and then check what comes back.”
“If the result is not what you want or not the best, you still have to fix it afterward. You also need the ability to deal efficiently with sudden emergencies.”
Jiang Tea Tea let out a sigh: “That sounds really tiring. I am so lazy, and seeing how hardworking you are, I thought it over. I could never reach your level.”
“Stop trying to train me. I really cannot do it. I am fine being a little healing ability user. What do you think?”
Chong Ming looked at her and said very seriously: “You always complete the tasks I give you with level S results. It is not that you cannot do it. You are very capable.”
As a great demon in tree form, living in this world as the Commander in Chief of the Three Armies, with fame shaking interstellar space, all to fulfill a contract with the fake young miss?
[Sigh, I really should not have been greedy for food, greedy for status, or soft-hearted. I should not have signed that contract with her.]
As she regretted the contract with the fake young miss in her heart, the bit of remaining consciousness from the fake young miss inside her woke up.
The fake young miss’s consciousness gave her an idea, telling her to sell her own cubs and let the little brats go struggle on their own so she could gain her freedom.
Jiang Tea Tea was so angry she laughed. As a tree spirit who finally got five dragon cubs, she was supposed to sell them to their own father as draft animals? What kind of idea was that?
Seeing her suddenly laugh with a bit of gritted-teeth feeling, Chong Ming asked: “Did you think of something funny?”
Jiang Tea Tea’s smile faded. She coughed lightly and said: “I did not think of anything funny. I just have a suggestion. Stop training me. Instead, train your eldest nephew. Train your eldest nephew to be like you.”
“If he cannot manage it in 10 years, then 20 years. If not in 20, then 30. If not in 30, then 50. You are still very young, and he is too. You have plenty of time. Let your own family benefit. Do not waste it all on me.”
Chong Ming fell silent for a moment, then gave a short laugh: “If Sui Xuan Chu found out about your arrangement for him, he would definitely jump up and refuse to talk to you.”
Far away in the academy dorm, Sui Xuan Chu had not yet slept or even washed. He was still struggling through government documents.
He sneezed several times in a row.
He felt like his uncle was scolding him, scolding him for doing a bad job, scolding him for being too slow, scolding him for being unable to handle things.
He rubbed his nose, emptied his mind, and imagined that once his roommate’s cub in his belly was born in the future, he would raise his roommate’s cub like his uncle had raised him, train his roommate’s cub, and have the cub work for them.
Jiang Tea Tea said carelessly: “If he does not want to talk to me, then he will not talk to me. It is fine. It is a small matter.”
Chong Ming raised an eyebrow and pushed the documents in front of him toward her: “Here, since you cannot sleep and you are full of energy, help me handle these.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s eyes opened wide at once: “I am the one helping you handle them? That Chong guy, are you pushing your luck?”
Chong Ming smiled and answered: “I am openly and reasonably making use of you.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s refusal was firm as a hammer: “I am not doing it. I am sleepy. I am going to bed.”
After she finished speaking, she threw the cushion away and jumped to her feet, as if afraid she might really end up helping him handle government affairs.
Her sleepwear was a loose top and loose shorts that reached mid-thigh. She was also barefoot. To Chong Ming, the sight was a strong impact.
His gaze swept over her legs without meaning to. Dark waves rolled in his eyes, and scales began to crawl up the back of his hand.
“Jiang Tea Tea,” Chong Ming called to her in a low, hoarse voice.
Jiang Tea Tea stopped and turned around: “What?”
Chong Ming reminded her: “Go change your pajama shorts. Change into long pants.”
Jiang Tea Tea let out a little “ah” and looked down at herself. Loose top, loose shorts, nothing was showing: “I think this is fine. It is nice and cool.”
Chong Ming’s eyes were very deep: “It is very nice. The problem is that my self-control and restraint are not enough. When you sway in front of me like this, it triggers my mating heat cycle.”
[He is sick, right.]
[Just bare feet and exposed legs can trigger his mating heat cycle?]
[If I stand naked in front of him, is he going to eat me alive?]
Jiang Tea Tea glared at him, gave a cold snort, did not change her pajama shorts, and went straight to bed.
Chong Ming was left where he was. He pulled out a mating heat cycle suppression shot and jabbed it into the side of his neck.
After he pulled out the hypodermic syringe, half of the lights in the large bedroom went out. Only the lights on his side stayed on. The area around Jiang Tea Tea’s bed was already in the dark.
Jiang Tea Tea checked her belly once she lay down. After making sure she did not feel anything like what Cheng Yuan had said about going into labor, she relaxed and went to sleep.
As she slept, an uncomfortable feeling came from her belly, followed by a sudden, sharp cramping pain.
She grunted in pain, eyes snapping open. She instinctively covered her belly with her hand and curled up.
“What is wrong?”
Chong Ming moved from the sofa to her side in an instant: “Are you feeling unwell?”
When she went to bed, Jiang Tea Tea had taken off her light-brain wrist terminal, her space knob storage device, and the birth detection bracelet Cheng Yuan had given her, and left them on the bedside table.
Her belly was now cramping with a heavy downward pulling feeling, like she was about to give birth to a dragon cub.
Her heart skipped. Enduring the pain, she said to Chong Ming: “I am fine. The little brats were just tossing around again.”
“Um… are you done with your work? Why have you not washed up and gone to bed yet?”
She wanted him to go wash up, to go into the bathroom, so she could slip away to the mountains and give birth to the dragon cubs.
Before going to sleep, she had clearly checked them. They were now playing a surprise attack on her.
Using his good eyesight, Chong Ming studied her and asked with concern: “Are you really alright?”
Jiang Tea Tea let go of her belly and sat up: “Really, I am fine. Hurry and go wash up and go to bed.”
It was the first time she had so eagerly urged him to wash up and sleep, which made Chong Ming feel a bit spoiled and also that something was not quite normal.
But seeing that her face and expression did not seem wrong, he reached out and touched her forehead: “Are you really alright?”
Jiang Tea Tea urged him again: “I am fine. Hurry and go wash up and go to bed.”
When he touched her forehead, she did not slap his hand away.
Chong Ming’s eyes grew deeper: “Alright, I will go wash now. You sleep first.”
Jiang Tea Tea nodded and lay down again, pulling the quilt over herself.
Chong Ming gave her another look, then stepped back and headed toward the bathroom.
Her belly hurt more and more. Because of the pain, Jiang Tea Tea did not hear him open the bathroom door. She sat up again, ready to use the Shrinking Ground to Inches technique to leave this place. But just as she tried, the cramping pain was joined by a gush of heat flowing out of her body.
She froze, her mind buzzing. It was like all her spiritual power had vanished in that instant. She reached her hand into her shorts.
She pulled out a wet little dragon cub no longer than her two middle fingers and about as thick as her pinky. Its eyes were still closed, its scales had not yet grown in, and its golden body twisted like a loach.
“Jiang Tea Tea, are you really fin…”
The more Chong Ming thought about it, the less sure he felt. He had not actually gone into the bathroom but turned back instead. He did not expect to see her holding a little golden dragon youngling twisting in her hand.
His golden eyes narrowed sharply. The question in his throat cut off, and his voice suddenly changed.
“Jiang Tea Tea, the dragon cub, our dragon cub is born!”