Chapter 36
Chapter 36: He Kicks Anyone He Catches, No Wonder He’s Been Single For 150 Years
Ye Commander hurried to say: “No, Commander in Chief.”
Ye Commander was a rough, straightforward man. Right now he only cared that he, the dignified commander of the First Army Corps, was about to lose face in front of the other twenty-nine army corps. He reacted on instinct, trying to make up for it at once.
He said: “This subordinate is not trying to snatch people for myself. This subordinate firmly believes that among all 106 military academies in the Empire, every student’s first choice is the First Army Corps.”
“If you don’t believe me, you can ask that pure human little girl. She will definitely be willing to come to my First Army Corps, become one of my people, and let me train her however I like!”
Chong Ming’s golden eyes suddenly turned and landed on Ye Commander’s face: “Ye Commander, the Supremacy Tournament has been going for less than fifteen minutes, and you have already handed the First Army Corps banner to someone else. You are not anxious?”
[Ye Commander: What???]
[Come on, eight little fish that slipped through the net only took down one of his drill instructors. That is not even a big deal.]
[Besides, my people have already surrounded those eight fish. Taking them down will be easy.]
Chong Ming said lazily: “Oh, Ye Commander, your First Army Corps is not only weak, its legs are short too.”
His eyes never even moved to the real time surveillance screen in front of him, yet his words matched the picture exactly: “Eleven drill instructors are surrounding from both sides, but not one of them has caught up to those eight fish that slipped through the net. At this rate, those eight are going to reach the Grand Parade Ground in two minutes and wait there for you.”
Ye Commander felt like someone had slapped him across the face. His gaze snapped to the giant screen in front of the Commander in Chief.
He never expected Chong Ming to raise his hand and tap. The real time surveillance feed showing Jiang Tea Tea and her group on the giant screen blinked out and disappeared.
Ye Commander was completely stunned.
Deputy Officer Ai closed the panel of his light brain wrist terminal and said respectfully: “Your Highness, the video of the ‘Beat the Other Twenty Nine Military Academies’ squad beating up and kidnapping the First Army Corps drill instructor has already been shared with the other twenty nine army corps.”
“The Second Army Corps has already raised the First Army Corps banner. Under Ye Commander’s lead, the First Army Corps is now ranked as the thirtieth army corps.”
Ye Commander’s eyes went wide like a cow’s. He could not believe that he had fallen from the First Army Corps down to the thirtieth place. When did that even happen?
Chong Ming nodded, his deep voice full of cold meaning: “Very good. Ye Commander and his soldiers have really made me proud.”
The voices of the other twenty nine corps commanders came through Ye Commander’s shared frequency link, pouring into his earpiece non stop.
“Thank you, Ye Commander, for your generous gift and for handing things over so easily. At last, I, the Second Army Corps who has been coveting the First Army Corps’ spot, have had my wish come true and raised the First Army Corps banner.”
“Don’t worry, Ye Commander. Our First Army Corps will definitely keep the determination to be number one to the end. We will take good care of the First Army Corps banner and become a model for you and the other twenty eight army corps to learn from.”
“Thank you, Ye Commander, for sacrificing the small self for the greater good. Hahaha, I am not the thirtieth corps at the bottom anymore. You have let me finally hold my head high. How about I send you a little heart sign?”
“Hahaha, eight fish slipping through the net, my goodness. Whether it is training our own soldiers or training the academy’s muggle brats, I have never seen eight escape at once.”
“Ye Commander has set a great example and made a new record. Everyone, let’s clap for him and cheer him on so he can keep it up and stay at the bottom forever.”
Crackling applause came through the shared frequency link into Ye Commander’s earpiece. His face turned green then white. He pressed his earpiece and shouted an order to his soldiers: “Attention, everyone. There are eight fish that slipped through the net. They will reach the Grand Parade Ground within one minute. Take them down and blow their heads up.”
A drill instructor’s voice answered in his ear: “Reporting to the Corps Commander. The eight fish that slipped through the net have already reached the Grand Parade Ground and assembled!”
Ye Commander blurted out: “In just fifteen minutes the eight fish reached the Grand Parade Ground, and you did not even try to stop them?”
The drill instructor replied: “Reporting, Corps Commander. According to the rules of the Supremacy Tournament, once any military academy student reaches the designated gathering point, we are not allowed to attack or block them.”
“As a soldier, I must follow orders and obey commands. I cannot act outside of orders to block or attack students who have reached the gathering point.”
“Ha ha ha.” The merciless laughter of the other corps commanders came through Ye Commander’s shared channel. “According to the rules of this Supremacy Tournament, for every attack on military academy students, as long as the student safely reaches the designated gathering point, it counts as ten thousand star credits of military expenses.”
“In other words, under Ye Commander’s soldiers’ attack, eight fish slipped through and reached the designated point. Ye Commander’s corps now owes the rest of us twenty nine corps a total of eighty thousand star credits in military expenses.”
Ye Commander said angrily: “It is only eighty thousand star credits. Split among you twenty nine, it is not that much. Besides, this is just the first round of attacks. We still do not know who will be the final winner.”
The other twenty nine corps commanders answered: “Even a mosquito is still meat. If we divide eighty thousand star credits, that is more than two thousand for each corps.”
“Ye Commander, we do not think it is too little. If you think it is, you are welcome to keep losing until the end and lose your First Army Corps’ entire military budget for next year. The rest of our twenty nine corps will gladly take you and your soldiers in.”
“By the way, Deputy Officer Ai reminded us not to ask the Commander in Chief for every good seedling we see.”
“I just watched the eight fish that Ye Commander is eyeing. They really are good. Their teamwork in a fight is very smooth.”
“If I hadn’t opened their files and seen that they are first year students, I would have thought they were fourth years. They are very seasoned.”
“We have to say, Ye Commander does have a good eye. Those smart fish that slipped through made him lose military funds, and he actually wants to strike first, rope them into his own corps, and slowly torment them.”
“If he were not smart, how could he have been the commander of the First Army Corps before…”
Ye Commander was so angry that he cut off the shared frequency link with a snap. Then he saluted Chong Ming: “Commander in Chief, this subordinate requests to return to his own command ship to direct the battle and win back the First Army Corps banner and its honor.”
The thirty army corps banners represented ranking and could move from place to place. Whoever performed the best would get the banner. The First banner had stayed with the First Army Corps for two years. Now that it had moved away and the others were mocking them, Ye Commander swore to get back his lost pride.
Chong Ming lifted his hand and waved: “Take care on your way back, Ye Commander.”
Ye Commander had not even left yet when the foremost holo projection screen in front of the Commander in Chief changed. It turned into a real time surveillance feed of the Grand Parade Ground at the Royal Military Imperial Academy.
Within less than five kilometers of distance, aside from the eleven drill instructors closing in from the southwest on both sides, there were no drill instructors blocking any direction, including the way to the Grand Parade Ground.
Jiang Tea Tea and the other seven pushed their speed to almost two hundred kilometers per hour. With less than five kilometers to go, they reached the Grand Parade Ground in under two minutes.
Sui Xuan Chu tossed their captured spoils of war in front of the drill instructors on the field, then plopped down on the ground and started panting.
Yan Yu and Cheng Xiao Ting were doing fine. One had Blink Step supernatural abilities, and the other had gale speed abilities. Hitting top speed was nothing hard for them.
Huang Da Zhuang could not keep up as well. In beast form his running speed was less than one hundred kilometers per hour. To catch up with his teammates, he almost ground his dog teeth to pieces. When they reached the Grand Parade Ground, he was still in beast form, lying on the ground with his mouth wide open, tongue out, panting hard.
Zhang Ting Zhou and Cheng Lin Yue had both turned into beast form and were dragged along as they ran. When they reached the field, they were tossed onto the ground and changed back into human form, completely fine.
Jiang Tea Tea pressed a hand to her stomach and breathed slowly. She felt that this body with only twenty percent spiritual power was really not good.
[She cursed that big golden dragon Chong Ming’s ancestors for eighteen generations in her heart. He had kicked her so hard that now running just a few steps made her uncomfortable.]
Cheng Lin Yue saw Jiang Tea Tea sitting on the ground holding her stomach. She rushed over and asked with worry: “Sister Tea, are you alright, does your stomach still hurt?”
The eyes of the other six beastmen all turned to her at once: “What is wrong, Sister Tea, did you run too fast and pull something?”
“A pure human girl with no supernatural abilities, and you still managed to arrive right behind me. I have to say, you are really tough.”
Jiang Tea Tea waved the twig branch in her hand at them: “I am fine. I just got kicked by your heartthrob idol Chong Ming a few days ago and I still have not fully recovered.”
Sui Xuan Chu rolled over on the ground and flipped to sit in front of Jiang Tea Tea: “He kicked you once and you still have not recovered?”
Jiang Tea Tea nodded: “Not completely.”
Sui Xuan Chu clicked his tongue: “He is way too ruthless. No wonder he has been single for one hundred and fifty years and still has not found a woman. He kicks anyone like he is kicking his own soldiers. He has zero pity for girls.”
“Any woman who marries him would have to sleep with her eyes open at night. Otherwise he might kick her to death in her sleep and she would not even know how she died. Serves him right that he cannot find a partner!”