Chapter 29
Chapter 29: The Little Brat’s Dad Says There Is No Money For Food, So I Will Support You. Eat, Eat All You Want
Deputy Officer Ai gave a military salute and answered at once: “Yes, Your Highness.”
Yang Jie Jun could not handle the shock of such a heavy punishment. His eyes rolled back, his legs twitched, and he fainted on the spot.
Jiang Yi Zhu stopped crying. Her eyes were bloodshot, full of regret and despair. It was too late to change anything. Chong Ming’s bodyguards took out electro-shackles, locked up her hands and feet, and carried her and Yang Jie Jun away like they were two little chickens.
Chong Ming turned his head and called: “Headmaster Wu.”
The headmaster of the Royal Military Academy answered at once: “Yes, Your Highness, I am here.”
Chong Ming swept his golden eyes over all the students who had stood up around him. His deep voice carried unquestionable authority as he said: “Have someone count all the brave students of the academy who killed aberrant beasts and mutated insects. Anyone who hunted down more than five will get an extra 20 credits. If their grades are excellent, after graduation they will be given priority recommendation to one of the thirty top army corps.”
Headmaster Wu’s face lit up with joy. He answered loudly: “Yes, Your Highness.”
The students present were also overjoyed, especially those who had really killed more than five aberrant beasts and mutated insects. It felt like celebrating the birthday of the Beast God. Their brows were full of smiles, and their eyes were full of worship for Commander in Chief Chong Ming. In their hearts, they all wanted to study harder, work harder, surpass him, and become someone like him.
Chong Ming followed his original schedule. He spent an hour inspecting and visiting the different departments and research laboratories of the Royal Military Academy.
By the time he sat in his flying device and left the Royal Military Academy, Jiang Tea Tea’s physical examination report had already appeared in his hands.
Pure human. Female. Eighteen years old. No awakened supernatural abilities. No supernatural ability fluctuations in the body. Malnourished. Physical ability just barely passing, B grade.
Chong Ming stared at the single-page report on Jiang Tea Tea for a full three minutes. Then he lifted his eyes to look at Deputy Officer Ai in the co-pilot seat and asked: “Deputy Officer Ai, was Jiang Tea Tea’s full-body examination report sent over by Elder Jin?”
Deputy Officer Ai turned slightly and answered respectfully: “Yes, Your Highness. Elder Jin personally did Jiang Tea Tea’s full-body examination, and he checked and sent the report to me himself.”
Chong Ming put the report on his legs and took out something from his space button: the light green twig he had picked up from the bed at the First Hotel. It was still as tender as before, a bit longer than his middle finger. The two small green leaves on the twig were curled up even tighter now.
He stared at the twig. He could not believe that a human girl with no awakened supernatural abilities, no ability fluctuations at all, could ignore his oppressive aura like it was nothing and fight well enough to knock down any one of his bodyguards.
After a moment, Chong Ming put the twig back into the space button and said: “Deputy Officer Ai, draft a three-month Supremacy Tournament for the thirty military academies and the Imperial Academies. All students in these thirty military academies, whether they have supernatural abilities or not, are not allowed to refuse to take part for any reason.”
He continued calmly: “The difficulty of the Supremacy Tournament grounds will match the selection grounds used by the thirty top army corps. Everything will follow the strictest elimination system used for picking soldiers.”
“Also, notify the commanders of the thirty top army corps. Each army corps must send 2,000 to 3,500 drill instructors to train and hunt during the tournament.”
“At the same time, tell the commanders that this Supremacy Tournament is not only a training and contest for students from the thirty military academies. It is also an assessment for them.”
Deputy Officer Ai answered: “Yes, Your Highness.”
Chong Ming’s golden eyes flashed slightly as he added: “Also, tell Yan Lan Shen of the Security Department to personally go in disguise with a team to investigate at the Royal Military Academy.”
Deputy Officer Ai felt his scalp tighten and his heart skip a beat. He asked: “What do you want Minister Yan to investigate at the Royal Military Academy?”
Chong Ming lifted his eyelids a little. His eyes were icy cold as he explained: “From laying eggs to hatching, then growing strong enough to break through hard stone slabs, Tea Hornets need 2 to 5 years. If someone prepared and sped them up ahead of time, that is another matter.”
“Jiang Yi Zhu used a lure for aberrant beasts. That lure draws all kinds of aberrant beasts, not Tea Hornets. But those Tea Hornets just happened to break out of the ground not far from my feet.”
“Clearly, those Tea Hornets were not planted to target me. They were planted to target the Crown Prince. Because they could never confirm who the Crown Prince is, they kept searching. Today they only borrowed Jiang Yi Zhu’s hand to test and try to find the Crown Prince.”
Deputy Officer Ai felt the hair on his neck stand up, and his heart gave another hard thump. He said quickly: “Yes. I will send a coded message to Minister Yan right away.”
The fact that the Crown Prince was studying at the Royal Military Academy was SSSS top-tier encrypted information. Very few people knew about it.
No one had expected that someone would still sense it. If anyone killed or kidnapped the Crown Prince, it would shake the Empire to its roots.
Plants hated sharp, stinging smells most of all, especially the strange medicinal smells of high-tech drugs. None of those smelled as good as manure.
After using her spiritual power to tamper with the data from the machines checking her body, Jiang Tea Tea happily received all kinds of nutrition-boosting medicines and a healing pod full of healing fluid.
She could not swallow all the medicine in one go, and she definitely did not want to step into the healing pod. So she packed up all the medicines and came up with excuses to refuse getting into the pod.
Huang Da Zhuang and Sui Xuan Chu both went through detailed checkups. Then one soaked in dark, murky healing fluid, and the other soaked in yellowish healing fluid.
Their heads faced the viewing window of the pods. They looked just like two corpses stuffed in glass jars filled with formalin. It was creepy and strange.
Jiang Tea Tea could not bear to look at them. She took out a book on half-beastman and beastman comfort theory, started reading it to pass the time, and waited for them to finish soaking.
They soaked for a full three hours. When they came out, most of their wounds were about seventy to eighty percent healed. Once they put their school uniforms back on, they looked full of energy again.
On the way to the school cafeteria, Sui Xuan Chu kept touching his head and mourning: “I kept my hair for seventeen years, and now it is just gone like that?”
His long hair had used to reach his waist. Now, after he had struck himself with lightning, it looked like a dog had chewed it. He could only tie it into a small stubby ponytail, and even the two small fleshy horns on his forehead were a little scorched.
Huang Da Zhuang tried to comfort him and said: “Hair can grow back. You are handsome. No matter how you look, you are still handsome. Right, Sister Tea?”
Jiang Tea Tea answered with a lazy “Oh” and said: “Right. But, which one of you is going to lend me some money for food today?”
For the sake of karmic merit, she had donated all the money she tricked out of Mu Mei Xi and the others. She did not have a single coin. Yesterday, Lu Ling’er had treated her to one meal. Today she had no money to eat.
If she had known earlier, she would not have come with them. If she skipped lunch, she could sneak out after school in the afternoon, find a part-time job, or go to the wide, wild primeval forest in the back mountains outside the school and eat all kinds of fresh organic fertilizer.
Sui Xuan Chu instantly forgot to feel sad about his hair. He waved his hand generously and said: “Roommate, what is this talk about borrowing money? Considering we fought Commander in Chief Chong Ming together today, I will treat you. You can eat whatever you want, as long as it is under ten thousand star credits.”
Jiang Tea Tea blinked and asked: “Did your uncle only give you five thousand star credits a month? You are going to spend ten thousand star credits on just one meal for me? Are you sure you are not just putting on a show?”
Sui Xuan Chu raised an eyebrow and explained: “My uncle does give me only five thousand star credits of pocket money every month. But he also puts three hundred thousand on my meal card every month.”
Huang Da Zhuang’s jaw dropped. He shouted: “Top Student Xuan Chu, I really could not tell. You are actually a rich dragon.”
Sui Xuan Chu pretended to be modest and said: “It is nothing, it is nothing. It is mainly because I am not an adult yet. I am still growing, so I eat a lot.”
Jiang Tea Tea urged them: “What are you still waiting for? Hurry up and go to the cafeteria.”
Huang Da Zhuang and Sui Xuan Chu quickened their pace and ran with Jiang Tea Tea toward the same school cafeteria they had eaten at yesterday.
When Jiang Tea Tea went to get food, she found that yesterday had been self-service, but today the head chef and all the kitchen staff had come out and were standing there. Every one of them was smiling kindly at her, like human traffickers eyeing a target.
One of them spoke up with a kind smile: “Classmate Jiang Tea Tea, did you not use a basin yesterday to hold your food? Why are you using a plate today?”
Another chimed in: “Go ahead and use a basin. Eat as much as you want. Our kitchen freezer has all kinds of meat stored by the ton. No matter what you eat, there will be enough.”
A third person nodded quickly: “Yes, yes, yes. An 18-year-old young lady like you is still growing. It is fine to eat more. Even if you get chubby, it is just baby fat. It looks cute.”
Jiang Tea Tea pulled her hand back from the serving counter and lifted the plate that only had one piece of steak on it. She looked at the head chef and the other staff and said honestly: “I do not have enough money today. I cannot eat basin after basin.”
The head chef slapped his palm on the counter and said: “It is fine if you do not have enough money. Just eat. You do not have to pay.”
Eat free food, with no need to pay? Was this the kind of pie that fell from the sky right onto her head?
[Hard for a demon like her to believe, okay!]
Jiang Tea Tea’s eyes grew a little wary as she asked: “If I do not need to pay, can I at least know why?”
The head chef turned around and picked up a notice board. On the board was a photo of Jiang Tea Tea, along with her grade and department.
Jiang Tea Tea’s wariness turned into confusion. She asked: “This is…?”
The head chef tapped on the notice board and announced in a loud voice: “Our Commander in Chief of the Three Armies, who is also the Prince of the Blood and regent, His Highness Chong Ming, said that any student who can get into the Royal Military Academy is a Heaven’s favored child with a boundless future.”
“He said you cannot go hungry just because you have no money for food. So he has specially named you. Even if you have no money to eat, it does not matter. He will support you.”