Chapter 51
Chapter 51: Caught a Whole Nest of Legion Commanders and Elites—Burn Them, Shock Them!
“Hey—hey—hey!”
Jiang Tea Tea said it three times in a row, then turned with the others to stare at Huang Da Zhuang. “Huang Big Dog… I really didn’t expect this. You actually know how to play. That idea is nasty.”
Infiltrate the enemy, become the enemy, sweet-talk people into acting as cannon fodder, then sweep up the leftovers from behind. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Sui Xuan Chu nodded so hard it looked like his neck might snap. “Yes, yes, yes! Huang Da Zhuang, you’re amazing. We’re doing it your way. Anyone who disagrees—I’ll punch them.”
Cheng Xiao Ting raised his hand. “Agreed. If it weren’t inappropriate, I’d take off my shoes and lift my feet too.”
Cheng Lin Yue, Yan Yu, and the others had no objections. Unanimous approval.
Huang Da Zhuang hadn’t expected his half-impulse idea to get instant support. He scratched the back of his head, shy. “If everyone likes it, then I’m relieved.”
“But I’ll say this first. I’m Sister Tea’s little fanboy—her lackey. When we split teams, I’m with her.”
Jiang Tea Tea waved it off with a grin. “Small thing. Come on. Huang Big Dog, Cheng Big Wolf—perk up your dog ears and wolf ears and listen. Where are the nearest cadets and instructors right now?”
Huang Da Zhuang and Cheng Xiao Ting moved immediately. The moment she finished speaking, both of them dropped to the ground and went still, ears straining.
Jiang Tea Tea was a great demon. If she used her magic power, her vision could stretch farther, her hearing could sharpen, her senses could sweep the forest.
But she didn’t.
She was doing all of this on behalf of the fake heiress. She needed teamwork; everyone had to use their strengths. Give people room to shine, make them feel valued—that was what lasted.
After listening, Huang Da Zhuang and Cheng Xiao Ting climbed back to their feet.
“No instructor teams or cadets within three kilometers,” Huang Da Zhuang reported.
Jiang Tea Tea thought for a moment. “Then we change into instructor uniforms and rest. We strike tomorrow morning. Agreed?”
No point grinding themselves down for nothing. It was only Day One of Round One. Better to conserve energy.
They put on the instructor uniforms they’d taken as spoils. They swapped to instructor lightbrains and instructor storage buttons too, making their disguise complete.
From the storage buttons, they pulled out face paint and smeared it across their skin in harsh stripes, covering their original complexions until only their eyes showed.
Then the eight of them found three thick trees—so wide several people couldn’t wrap their arms around them—climbed up, sprayed bug repellent, and stretched out along the branches to sleep.
The overhead lighting was harsh. Jiang Tea Tea plucked a broad leaf and draped it over her face.
On the surveillance feed, Chong Ming watched them settle in.
“Adjutant AI,” he said, “pull the lighting.”
“Yes, Commander-in-Chief.”
The hanging lights were withdrawn. The Primeval Forest across a thousand miles sank into darkness again, leaving only moonlight filtering through heavy leaves, scattering mottled glimmers.
Jiang Tea Tea had been sleeping with her head tilted up. Now she rolled onto her side, removed the leaf, relaxed her body, and quietly absorbed fertilizer from the air.
Out in the jungle, each of the thirty Legion Commanders led ten people. With their lightbrain coordinates locked only on one another, they hunted through the darkness—pursuit, slaughter, points.
At dawn of the second day, before the sun rose, fog thickened through the forest and visibility dropped.
Cheng Lin Yue’s startled cry dragged Jiang Tea Tea out of sleep.
“Sister Tea! Sui Xuan Chu! Huang Da Zhuang! Wake up! Look at the lightbrain—thirty Legion Commanders and three hundred elites!”
Jiang Tea Tea and the others sat up and opened the tracking display.
She didn’t know whether to laugh or curse.
Out of 330 elites—including the thirty Legion Commanders—only 298 remained.
“What the hell?” someone breathed. “Besides us, someone else is farming Legion Commanders and elites too?”
“It was only one night! 330 down to 298. Thirty-two wiped. If this keeps going, we won’t even need to lift a finger—others will finish the job for us!”
“No way. We can’t let others farm them. We do it.”
“If we wipe out the thirty Legion Commanders and their three hundred elites, we’ll be the cadets who draw the most attention from the Commander-in-Chief.”
Jiang Tea Tea watched them light up, eyes glued to the display, and said quietly, “If you want to farm Legion Commanders, then go find cadets and instructor teams and get them to do the work.”
Four voices answered at once. “Got it!”
Once decided, they moved.
Breakfast was nutrient fluid—two bags each, gulped down.
Jiang Tea Tea pretended to drink hers, then dumped it when no one was watching. She couldn’t get a single sip down.
The eight split into two groups and rode land skimmers—one group to hunt instructors, one group to hunt cadets.
With Sui Xuan Chu leading the cadet-hunting group, they ground through five days of relentless searching. They finally found a five-person squad from the National Aerospace Defense Military Academy, took them out, swapped into their uniforms, and then tricked four teams—sixty-eight cadets—from the National Academy of Stellar Defense Sciences into joining a “hunt” for Legion Commanders.
With Jiang Tea Tea leading the instructor-hunting group, she used her silver tongue to rope in ninety-seven instructors from the Third Legion, the Eighteenth Legion, and the Twelfth Legion.
Meanwhile, the thirty Legion Commanders were still fighting each other. Even when one wasn’t eliminated, one or two of their people went down.
And because they had no coordinates for the Wipe Out the Other Twenty-Nine Military Academies Squad, they blundered through the tropical rainforest—teeming with aberrant beasts and venomous insects—like headless flies.
They got farmed by other Legion Commanders.
They got farmed by cadets and instructors.
And worst of all, when attacked, they weren’t allowed to fight back. Not even in self-defense.
All they could do was dodge and run.
These were veteran powerhouses—men who rarely tasted humiliation. Aside from their rookie days, or the occasional brutal drill under the Commander-in-Chief, they almost never looked weak.
But now they were being chased like dogs.
Eventually, the humiliation became unbearable. Legion Commanders who ran into each other started calling ceasefires. They stopped farming each other and formed a united front.
Find the eight.
Kill the eight.
Save their dignity.
They didn’t expect Jiang Tea Tea and Sui Xuan Chu to arrive at the perfect time—with cadets and instructors in tow—and trap a whole cluster of them.
Thirty-two people were surrounded, including four Legion Commanders from the Eighteenth Legion, the Twenty-Ninth Legion, the First Legion, and the Third Legion.
Ye Ying had just finished shaking hands with the other three Legion Commanders when the ambush snapped shut. He laughed in fury.
“Well, isn’t this rare,” he said, looking around. “Cadets and instructor teams joining forces to surround and intercept us?”
Another commander’s expression turned bitter. “Yeah. What a reversal. Instructors from the First Legion, the Eighteenth Legion, and the Third Legion… surrounding Legion Commanders.”
Jiang Tea Tea lowered her voice and roughened it into something masculine. Then she fanned the flames right in Ye Ying’s face.
“Legion Commanders, don’t blame us. Farming you is fifty points. Farming an instructor is ten.”
“We’re all here for the championship. We thought about it and decided you’re the better harvest.”
“And the best part?” She spread her hands. “You can only take hits. You can’t strike back. The moment you do, you’re dead—game over!”
Her shout lit the crowd like spilled fuel.
The instructors began yelling too, half righteous and half bloodthirsty.
“Legion Commander, you’re Third Legion! I’m Third Legion too! Just let me farm you—my points are glory for our legion!”
“Right! Eagle Bro, don’t let outsiders farm you and take the points! Let us do it—keep the benefits in the family!”
Ye Ying and the Third Legion commander snapped at their own instructors like they’d lost their minds.
“You little rabbit cubs!” Ye Ying roared. “Instead of farming other Legion Commanders, you come for us and still talk big? Telling us to surrender? You’re asking to get beaten!”
“Yeah,” the other commander snarled. “Even if we get eliminated today, we’ll still beat their teeth loose and teach them a lesson. Charge!”
The two Legion Commanders moved as if to rush forward with their elites.
Jiang Tea Tea stepped back and barked, “They’re not charging to fight us—they’re trying to run! Surround them! Intercept them!”
“Use your abilities!”
“Burn them! Shock them! Strike them with lightning!”