Chapter 48
Chapter 48: The Cub’s Dad Knows How to Spoil People—He Provides Lighting So the Cub’s Mom Can Beat People
Sui Xuan Chu and the others were battered half to death—aching, trembling, barely breathing.
But the moment they heard “catch the instructor, kill the instructor, farm points,” they revived like someone injected adrenaline straight into their veins.
Huang Da Zhuang and Cheng Xiao Ting shifted into beast form and let out ear-splitting howls as they pounced on the falling Wolf.
One pinned his legs. One pinned his belly. Teeth sank in—one bite at his leg, another at his chest.
Wolf had already been whipped and kicked by Jiang Tea Tea. His reactions lagged, his ability sputtering like it had been briefly drained. He hit the ground dazed, and before he could react, he was pinned and bitten, shaking from pain.
Cheng Lin Yue threw out medical restraints designed for ability-using beastfolk. Zhang Ting Zhou and Sui Xuan Chu helped bind Wolf’s hands and feet.
Ju Que and Yan Yu both clenched their fists and took turns punching Wolf’s face left and right, like they were collecting interest.
—
Ye Ying slapped a hand over his eyes. “I refuse to believe this.”
Wolf—who’d already flipped once—had managed to flip again.
The other twenty-nine Legion Commanders cackled over the feed, mocking Ye Ying mercilessly.
“Old Ye, your subordinate is adorable. He knows exactly where he fell and goes right back to it.”
“First time is practice, second time is skill. Tie him once, tie him again—now you’re old friends.”
“Ye, your subordinate is a treasure. Unlike mine—my people get surrounded and only lose some skin. I tried to feed them to the rookies for points and the rookies didn’t even want them.”
“Jealous,” someone admitted bluntly. “Legion Commander Ye trained one outstanding squad and we’re all dying of envy.”
Ye Ying ground his teeth so hard they creaked. If he could crawl into the screen, he’d tear them all apart—then roast Wolf for good measure.
But he forced himself to calm down.
He was First Legion Commander. He had dignity.
As long as he got those seedlings into his legion in the end, every laugh now would turn into envy later.
—
Hu Ban Lan finished killing a mutant giant alligator and returned, eyes bright with interest as he looked at Jiang Tea Tea.
“That little girl is impressive,” he said, not bothering to hide his admiration.
Jiang Tea Tea stood with one foot on an alligator’s skull and met his eyes, faint moonlight in her gaze. “You’re not bad either, little kitty. One minute and you killed an alligator.”
To a great demon like her, even a striped tiger beastfolk was just a little kitty.
Hu Ban Lan laughed. “Little kitty. Haven’t heard that in years. Little girl, you’re brave.”
Jiang Tea Tea rubbed her eyes. “Thanks. I’ll try to take you down in a minute too, so you can keep that instructor company.”
Hu Ban Lan’s grin widened. “Then I’ll try to take you down in thirty seconds so you can reunite with your teammates.”
Jiang Tea Tea smiled back. “Sure. Let’s see who’s faster.”
She attacked first.
The branch in her hand snapped out like a whip toward Hu Ban Lan’s face.
—
“Adjutant Ai,” Chong Ming ordered, “activate artificial lighting.”
“Over Jiang Tea Tea’s area. Cover a thousand kilometers in every direction.”
“Yes, Commander-in-Chief.”
An artificial mini-sun rose from the invisible super warship and climbed into the sky, hanging above three thousand meters. Light poured down.
The Primeval Forest, once lit only by faint moonlight, turned bright as day. Instructors and cadets blinked against the sudden glare, shadows shrinking under the harsh white wash.
Hu Ban Lan faced Jiang Tea Tea’s attack with calm confidence. He didn’t move his feet. He didn’t even activate lightning summoning.
He simply reached out and grabbed the branch with his bare hand.
The branch was roughly 1.3 meters long. He held one end; Jiang Tea Tea held the other.
Jiang Tea Tea’s lips curled. She yanked hard.
Hu Ban Lan’s confidence shattered. He hadn’t expected her strength to be that terrifying. The branch tore free and sliced his palm open, blood running down to the bone.
He flipped his hand open under the artificial daylight, staring at the wound in disbelief.
Jiang Tea Tea glanced up at the suddenly bright sky and frowned. “Sui Xuan Chu, what’s this?”
Sui Xuan Chu lowered his head from staring upward. “Probably the highest commander in this competition—Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming—ordered lighting. So you can fight. So he can watch.”
Jiang Tea Tea snorted. “In an era this high-tech, I thought his monitoring could see day and night the same.”
“It can,” Sui Xuan Chu said. “For them, there’s no difference. Anything we do—if they want to see it—they can.”
“Lighting it up like this?” He shrugged. “Maybe he wants to see your true strength. Or maybe he wants you to smash the instructor group so he can scold and fire the thirty Legion Commanders.”
The thirty Legion Commanders watching: “????”
Jiang Tea Tea gave a flat little “oh.” “So he’s pretty messed up.”
Sui Xuan Chu paused, then agreed. “Big shots usually are.”
Huang Da Zhuang and the others shot Sui Xuan Chu accusing looks, like he’d just insulted their idol.
As if Sui Xuan Chu wasn’t standing there charred black in nothing but underwear.
—
The other instructors returned after killing their alligators. They formed a loose ring around the battlefield, eyes glinting with interest.
No one moved to save Wolf.
Jiang Tea Tea flicked blood and bits of flesh off her branch, then made a sharp sound with her mouth.
A mutant giant alligator—the one remaining alive and obedient—heard it and went berserk. It whipped its tail toward Hu Ban Lan.
Hu Ban Lan didn’t expect her to command an alligator mid-fight. He staggered aside, then finally triggered lightning summoning.
The sound from Jiang Tea Tea’s mouth didn’t stop.
The alligator lunged again, jaws gaping wide, ignoring the crackling lightning.
Hu Ban Lan fought it head-on, yanking out his iron club. The tip shifted into a blade, and he slashed at the alligator’s open mouth.
Jiang Tea Tea seized the opening. She sprinted in, branch snapping across Hu Ban Lan’s back.
His combat suit—dense and temperature-regulating—split open. Skin and flesh tore.
Hu Ban Lan’s blade caught in the alligator’s jaw. The beast roared and thrashed wildly.
He couldn’t free the blade and nearly got thrown. He released the weapon and slammed lightning down on the alligator again.
Jiang Tea Tea kicked up rotten leaves and dirt, flinging them into his face.
Hu Ban Lan blocked with one hand and summoned lightning with the other—four heavy bolts crashing down toward Jiang Tea Tea.
In the command rooms above, Chong Ming and the Legion Commanders sat up straight, holding their breath. Could she dodge?
Jiang Tea Tea flickered.
She appeared behind one of the watching instructors and kicked him hard in the ass.
The instructor didn’t even realize someone had moved behind him before he was launched forward—straight under the four lightning bolts.
Four 4s strikes slammed into him.
His hair and clothes burned. His body convulsed. He collapsed unconscious.
Huang Da Zhuang and the others screamed like they’d been possessed. “Sister Tea! You’re insane!”
“Sister Tea, v5!”
“Sister Tea, kill them! Let them taste what it feels like to step on our faces!”
Jiang Tea Tea made a quick, dismissive gesture—easy.
Then she kicked the unconscious instructor toward Sui Xuan Chu’s group.
They whooped, binding him together with Wolf.
Hu Ban Lan circled Jiang Tea Tea, eyes sharp with scrutiny and warlust. “Jiang Tea Tea. You’re not a pure human with no ability. You have abilities—blink speed and beast-taming. Your rank is higher than mine. Higher than 4s rank.”
Jiang Tea Tea didn’t even look at him. She answered like she was swatting a fly. “If you’re weak, train more. Don’t make excuses. Admit you’re weak—I won’t slap your face.”