Chapter 71
Chapter 71: A Month of Malnutrition Made the Cub’s Mother Crave the Cub’s Father’s Blood
“Fine, fine, fine. I can’t afford to offend you, but I can afford to hide from you,” Jiang Tea Tea said brightly. “I’ve already deleted your contact. We’re not friends anymore.”
She did it, too—clean and decisive. She deleted the contact ID of the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Armed Forces, the Prince Regent, the official communication number countless people begged for and could never obtain.
Then she looked at him like she’d just taken out the trash.
“And I’m not planning to be your successor,” she added. “So don’t get all sentimental and decide you’re going to ‘train me’ as your successor.”
“If you really think I’m a rare talent…” She smiled. “Transfer me a billion credits first, and let me see what kind of ‘strength’ you’re working with.”
Chong Ming remembered her story: odd jobs, no money, sponsorship to a children’s home, an account that was basically empty. He didn’t transfer a cent.
For now, he decided to treat her as harmless. If she had secrets, they weren’t dangerous.
He spoke evenly, like he was giving a briefing.
“The Empire’s soldier welfare system is professionalized. Even the most ordinary unit—once you add benefits—earns more than the average citizen’s annual income.”
“After discharge, depending on years served, you can choose your employment freely, and you’ll receive a generous severance payout.”
“If you’re disabled, the Empire provides a job. If you die in service, the Empire supports your parents, your mate, and your child.”
He paused, gaze steady.
“Same principle. The higher your rank, the higher your benefits. If you become Commander-in-Chief, the country covers your food, clothing, housing, and transport. You’ll also receive an annual income that won’t be less than eight digits.”
“Of course,” he added, “if your dream is to become an excellent soothing therapist, that’s fine too. While you’re undergoing Commander-in-Chief training, I can arrange the best soothing therapists in the Empire to teach you one-on-one. Or ten-on-one.”
“And if you have other dreams, name them. I want my successor to set foot in many fields—and to be top-tier in all of them.”
His brow lifted slightly. “So. Consider it?”
Other people’s empty promises were just pie—maybe sprinkled with sesame seeds, maybe a few scallions.
Old Loach’s pie came stuffed with every kind of meat you could imagine. If there was a filling in the universe, he could pack it in.
Jiang Tea Tea, a great demon with far too much life experience, wasn’t about to be fooled.
“Thank you for your kindness,” she said politely. “I won’t consider it. I’m very satisfied with growing at my own pace and walking my own path.”
“You don’t need—”
Chong Ming’s voice dipped, suddenly slow and heavy. “Speak properly. Don’t get sarcastic.”
Jiang Tea Tea froze.
“…Huh?”
Was she imagining it, or did he sound fatherly?
Like he was talking to her the way he talked to his big nephew?
If he was sick, he should take medicine. If he didn’t have medicine, he could go slam his head into a wall.
Lecturing her—an ancient great demon older than his entire lifespan—was insane.
She reeled in her makeshift fishing rod, grabbed her stool, and didn’t even look at him. She climbed onto the snowfield flyer and drove off.
Chong Ming got blasted with exhaust. He didn’t flinch. He brushed at the air like he was dusting off lint, then lifted his rod again.
It annoyed him, in a way he couldn’t quite name.
He never got skunked.
This time, he’d gotten nothing. Not a single fish. Even the bait on the hook was still intact—untouched, unchanged. Was the deep sea empty? Or were all the fish asleep? Full? She hadn’t even chummed the water.
He swapped bait, sat in the swirling snow, and kept fishing in the darkness.
Half an hour passed.
Nothing.
He packed the rod away, slid the box back into his storage button, picked up the stool, and returned to the warship.
He spoke to the adjutant AI.
“Compile all footage of Jiang Tea Tea entering the Primeval Forest. Make it a separate file.”
“I’m sending you two photos. Give them to Li Ao. Have him disembark and go to the Primeval Forest to locate those two plants.”
The adjutant AI received the images—sharp and clear. One plant had leaves large enough to use as a blanket; the other had small, delicate leaves. The only similarity was their vivid green.
Chong Ming paused, then added, “Recheck everything after the Jiang family’s real daughter returned—Jiang Tea Tea’s entire activity trail. Try to identify the people she came into contact with and the things she experienced.”
“And compile all female profiles in this championship—both instructors and cadets. Especially females with dual abilities. Mark them.”
“Yes, Commander-in-Chief,” the adjutant AI answered.
Chong Ming hesitated. He hadn’t planned to say this—but the memory of thirty empty minutes tugged at his temper.
“One more thing. Have the Northwind Battalion drive some fish toward the elimination withdrawal point. Under that thick ice, there isn’t a single fish. Don’t let the cadets who withdrew get starved to death.”
“Yes, Commander-in-Chief.”
Meanwhile, Jiang Tea Tea didn’t go back to the lodging at all.
She drove her snowfield flyer farther away, deeper into the endless glacier. The flyer glided over the ice like it was perfectly level. After about half an hour, she stopped, opened the door, and stayed seated.
She slipped off her shoes.
Bare feet pressed onto the ice.
If anyone saw it, they’d think she was self-harming. In reality, she was using her feet as cover so no one would see what she was doing. Her branch sank through the thick ice like a spear, pushing into the sea below, searching for fish—feeding, absorbing nutrients like fertilizer.
The heavy snow didn’t stop until dawn.
She devoured an entire krill swarm. Then a school of deep-sea jadeglass fish.
By the time she finally pulled back, she was stuffed, her whole body warm—especially her lower abdomen, where it felt like a ball of fire had settled.
In bitter polar cold, tens of degrees below zero, she felt comfortable all over. Comfort made her mood bright, and she drove the snowfield flyer back toward the lodging at an unhurried pace.
When she arrived, she found the other eliminated cadets clustered outside, wandering aimlessly like ghosts.
She hit the horn and drove straight through.
They scattered in a panic.
When she climbed off the flyer, they swarmed her, blocking her path.
“Do you know you almost hit us? You didn’t even apologize and you just want to walk away?”
“So this is the quality of a cadet from the Royal Military Academy? I’m embarrassed for your school.”
“Exactly. You did it on purpose, didn’t you? Don’t think we’ll tolerate you just because you’re with… that squad.”
Jiang Tea Tea had eaten her fill. She was in a good mood. She didn’t bother arguing with idiots.
She ignored them and stepped forward.
At that moment, the lodging door swung open.
Sui Xuan Chu stepped out first, the other seven right behind him, and immediately squared off against the eliminated cadets.
“Who asked you to tolerate her?” Sui Xuan Chu’s voice rang out. “If you’ve got the guts, go ahead and try her. I want to see if you can take her.”
“One, two, three of you—up at dawn instead of sleeping, not looking for food, just wandering back and forth in front of our door.”
“We already told you not to loiter here. You act like you can’t hear.”
“What, you want a fight?” Sui Xuan Chu grinned. “Come on. We’re not scared. All of you at once. Whoever begs first is a grandson.”
The eliminated cadets didn’t dare fight.
They’d convinced themselves Sui Xuan Chu was the Crown Prince in disguise. If they attacked him, they’d ruin their own prospects. They definitely weren’t going to use abilities.
They scrambled to explain.
“Misunderstanding, misunderstanding. We were just joking with her.”
“Yeah, yeah. We came by a few times because we wanted to ask if you wanted to go find food together. Nothing else.”
“If you don’t want to go with us, fine. We’ll go ourselves. We’re leaving, we’re leaving—don’t block the way.”
They backed off, retreating far too slowly, glancing at Sui Xuan Chu again and again like moths circling a flame.
Jiang Tea Tea raised her voice, making sure they heard.
“Roommate, is this how it works these days? Flatter someone, suck up hard enough, and you get a backdoor?”
Sui Xuan Chu understood exactly what she meant. He glanced at the retreating cadets and answered loudly, like he was giving a lecture.
“Dream on. The Empire has an enormous Information Department, with a dedicated surveillance system for government officials and their direct-line relatives.”
“When someone’s bank account and assets reach a certain threshold, the surveillance system automatically pushes an alert to the Ministry of Justice.”
“The Ministry of Justice receives it and investigates. If they find income that doesn’t match legitimate salary, it’s a crime.”
“And the Empire’s evaluation standards for public officials are brutally strict. So-called ‘backdoors’ basically don’t exist.”
“Unless that backdoor is opened by Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming,” he added pointedly, “because if anyone else opens it—even the Crown Prince—and Chong Ming finds out, the Crown Prince will go down with them.”
He finished with a scornful snort.
“And I think some people are just stupid. The second they see someone from a dragon clan, they assume it must be the Crown Prince. They don’t even consider that maybe… the person is just excellent enough to afford an eight-person double room.”
The eliminated cadets stared blankly.
What?
So they’d misunderstood?
He wasn’t the Crown Prince?
It made a twisted kind of sense. The Gold Dragon Clan only had two left: Chong Ming and the Crown Prince. If Sui Xuan Chu really was the Crown Prince, exposing his identity so casually would put his safety at risk. Chong Ming would never allow it.
So… it was all their own imagination.
After that, fewer and fewer eliminated cadets wandered near their door. They had no transport, only their legs, and no food. They had to spend their time searching for something to eat.
Jiang Tea Tea’s squad got their peace back.
But aside from Jiang Tea Tea, everyone else stayed busy—training abilities, reviewing lessons, handling administrative work, studying treatment.
Only Jiang Tea Tea ate and slept. Slept and ate.
She devoured all the meat in Sui Xuan Chu’s storage button. Then she devoured the hundreds of pounds of nutrient fruit in her own.
Most nights, she woke starving at midnight, crept out to hunt for food, and came back with a little extra for the others.
If the others hadn’t seen how healthy she looked—rosy complexion, strong body—they would’ve suspected she was terminally ill and bingeing before death.
Half a month passed in a blink. Round Two was approaching.
Jiang Tea Tea finally started to panic.
Her magic power—what little she had left—was disappearing. She’d started at about twenty percent. Now she was down to eighteen.
She didn’t understand it. She’d eaten so much—stuffed herself until her stomach hurt. Where the hell did it all go?
Her magic power didn’t rise. It kept slipping, inch by inch, toward nothing.
If this continued, by the time the championship ended, she’d have no magic power left at all.
And without magic power, she couldn’t maintain a human form.
She’d turn back into a tea tree.
No. Absolutely not.
She was the only demon in the tea tree clan who’d ever cultivated a human body. There was no way she was getting knocked back into her original form.
Dragon blood.
Right. Dragon blood would replenish her.
She quietly dragged Sui Xuan Chu to a place where no one could overhear.
“Roommate,” she said, low and urgent, “I need you to do me a favor.”
Sui Xuan Chu frowned. “What kind of favor requires secret meetings?”
“Send a message to your uncle,” she whispered. “Tell him I agree to be trained as his Commander-in-Chief successor… but I have conditions.”
Sui Xuan Chu stared at her like she’d grown a second head.
“Roommate, if I remember correctly, half a month ago you’d rather die than accept successor training.”
Jiang Tea Tea gave him a dry laugh. “Didn’t you say it’s an opportunity? He thinks highly of me. That doesn’t mean I’ll pass his assessment.”
Sui Xuan Chu narrowed his eyes, studying her. “No. You’re wrong. Tomorrow is Round Two. You choose today to agree? I need a reason.”
She spread her hands, smile thin and cold. “If I say there’s no reason… do you believe me?”
“No,” Sui Xuan Chu said seriously.
Jiang Tea Tea sighed, then looked him dead in the eye.
“Fine. I’ll tell you the truth. I’m craving his blood.”
Sui Xuan Chu’s eyes bulged, wide as bells.
He lunged forward, hooked an arm around her shoulders, and forced her down, hunching like a thief whispering in the dark.
“You’re craving his blood? Roommate, you’re not lacking basic Empire knowledge or interstellar common sense.”
“You’re sick. Seriously sick.”
He swallowed, then rushed on.
“I’m telling you the truth. My uncle’s official profile is half real, half fake. He’s not just dual-ability. He’s worse. He’s stronger than dual-ability.”
“And his ability rank isn’t just the 10S the official profile claims. It’s higher. Which means his blood is a massive tonic.”
“You drank one cup before and didn’t show any abnormality. That doesn’t mean you digested it.”
“It might still be inside you—hidden—waiting for a day to erupt.”
“And now you want him to bleed another cup for you… aren’t you afraid you won’t be able to digest the energy and you’ll explode from the inside out?”