Chapter 71
Chapter 71: Over a month of malnutrition makes Little Brat’s mom crave Little Brat’s dad’s blood
Jiang Tea Tea said very quickly: “Fine, fine, fine, I cannot afford to offend you, but I can avoid you. I have already deleted your contact. We are not friends anymore.”
With a clean, neat tap, Jiang Tea Tea deleted the contact number of the Zhen Lin Empire’s commander in chief of the Three Armies, His Royal Highness the prince regent, the number others longed for and could not get. At the same time, her gesture clearly showed how little she cared.
She added without any respect: “And besides, I never planned to be your successor, so do not flatter yourself by training me as your successor. If you really think I am some genius worth grooming, transfer ten billion to me first and let me see your strength.”
Thinking of how poor she was, working part time, and still having to support the orphanage network, with not even a single coin left in her account, Chong Ming did not transfer her any money to show off his strength. He decided, for now, to pretend she had no secrets or that any secrets she had were harmless.
He opened his mouth and said to her: “In the Empire, the welfare system for soldiers is fully professional. Even the most ordinary branch of service, once you add up all the benefits, has an income higher than the average annual income of common citizens.”
“After you are discharged, depending on how many years you have served, you can freely choose where you want to work, and you will also receive a generous severance payment.”
“If you are injured and disabled, the Empire guarantees you a job. If you die in battle, the Empire will take care of your parents, partner, and children.”
“Likewise, the higher your rank in the army corps, the better your benefits. If you become commander in chief of the Three Armies, the nation will cover all your food, clothing, housing, and travel, and your extra yearly income will not be less than eight digits.”
“Of course, your dream is to become an excellent soothing specialist. That is fine. While you are going through the training for commander in chief of the Three Armies, I can invite the best soothing specialists in the entire Empire to come teach you one on one, or even ten on one.”
“If you have any other dreams, you can also bring them up. I hope my successor can be involved in every industry and be top tier in all of them. How about it, think about it?”
When other people drew big pies, it was just one pie at most, with some sesame seeds and chopped green onions sprinkled on top.
But when this old loach Chong Ming drew a big pie, not only did it have sesame seeds and green onions, it was stuffed with all kinds of chicken, duck, fish, and meat. There was no filling you could think of that he could not cram into it.
As a well informed great demon, how could Jiang Tea Tea be fooled by his big pie. She said politely: “Thank you for your kindness, but I will pass. I am very satisfied with growing on my own and walking my own path right now.”
She had just started to say “You do not…” when Chong Ming’s low voice softened as he said: “Speak properly. Do not use that strange, mocking tone.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s voice cut off at once: “???”
[No way, she had to be imagining it.]
[Why did she hear the tone of a nagging dad in his words?]
[Was he treating her like his eldest nephew?]
[If he was sick he should take medicine, and if there was no medicine he should go hit a wall.]
[And he was actually lecturing her, a dignified great demon whose leftover years were older than him. Live long enough and you really could see all kinds of ridiculous things.]
Jiang Tea Tea reeled in her twig fishing rod, grabbed her small stool, completely ignored Chong Ming, and went straight onto the snow flying device. She started it up and flew away.
Chong Ming was left standing there in a cloud of exhaust from the flying device. Acting as if nothing had happened, he reached out to brush at the empty air and then picked up his fishing rod.
He even found it odd. He had never once in his life come back empty handed, yet this time he had gone fishing and caught nothing.
Even the bait on the hook was still hanging there untouched. Was it that there were no fish left in the deep sea, or that the fish were all asleep or full? He had not seen Jiang Tea Tea throw in any bait at all either.
He changed to a different bait and, under the pouring snow in the darkness, kept on fishing. Half an hour later, he still had not caught a single fish.
He reeled in the rod, put it back in the box, then put the box back into his space knob storage device. Carrying the stool he had been sitting on, he returned to the warship and said to Deputy Officer Ai: “Take all of classmate Jiang Tea Tea’s video footage in the primeval forest and put it together in a separate file for me.”
“I will forward you two photos. Show them to Li Ao and have him leave the ship and go down into the primeval forest to find these two kinds of plants.”
On his light brain wrist terminal, Deputy Officer Ai received the two images sent by his own commander. The pictures were very clear. In one, the leaves were so big they could be used as a blanket. In the other, the leaves were small and delicate. The only thing they had in common was that both were a bright emerald green.
After speaking, Chong Ming paused and looked at Deputy Officer Ai: “Have people check again all of classmate Jiang Tea Tea’s life tracks after the Jiang family’s real young lady came home. It would be best if you could also find the people she came into contact with and the things she has gone through.”
“And also sort out the information on all the women in this Supremacy Tournament, whether they are in the drill instructor group or the military academy student group. Especially mark out those who have dual abilities.”
Deputy Officer Ai answered at once: “Yes, Commander in Chief.”
“One last thing.” Chong Ming had not planned to say this, but when he remembered how he had gone half an hour without catching a single fish, he added: “Have the people from North Wind Battalion drive some fish under the ice toward the elimination surrender zone. There are no fish at all under the thick ice over there. Do not let the military academy students who have quit or been eliminated starve to death.”
Deputy Officer Ai replied again: “Yes, Commander in Chief.”
Jiang Tea Tea did not go back to the dorm right away. She drove the snow flying device farther and farther away from the lodging area.
Endless glaciers stretched in all directions, and the flying device skimmed smoothly over the flat ice. After about half an hour, she stopped, opened the door, stayed seated inside, took off her shoes, and pressed her bare feet against the ice.
If anyone saw her, they would think she was torturing herself. In fact, she was using her feet as cover to let her branches pierce through the thick glacier and reach into the sea, searching for fish to eat and absorb as nutrients and fertilizer.
The snow, as light as willow catkins and goose feathers, did not stop until daylight. By then Jiang Tea Tea had wiped out a whole swarm of krill and a school of deep sea blue clear fish. She was stuffed full and felt warm all over, especially in her lower belly, as if a ball of fire were burning there. In this icy extreme north, dozens of degrees below zero, her whole body felt comfortable.
With her body feeling good, her mood also brightened. She drove the snow flying device back toward the lodging area at a leisurely pace. When she arrived, she saw that the other military academy students who had quit or been eliminated were all wandering around near their dorm.
She pressed the horn on the snow flying device and barreled straight toward them. The students loitering there were so frightened they all dodged to the sides.
After she got off the snow flying device, the students who had quit or been eliminated surrounded her and would not let her leave, shouting: “Do you know you almost ran into us just now? You are trying to walk away without even an apology?”
“The quality of students from the Royal Military Academy is like this? I am embarrassed for your Royal Military Academy.”
“Yeah, yeah, you did it on purpose just now, right. I am telling you, do not think that just because you are in the same squad as that… person, we will tolerate you.”
[The demon had just had a full meal and was in a good mood, so she could not be bothered to argue with idiots.]
Jiang Tea Tea ignored their words and lifted her foot to leave. At that moment, the door of the dorm opened and Sui Xuan Chu led the other seven out, confronting the eliminated students head on.
Sui Xuan Chu said in a loud voice: “Who told you to tolerate her? If you have the guts, go ahead and fight her. I want to see if you can beat her.”
“One by one, the lot of you do not sleep in the middle of the early morning and do not go find food. You just wander back and forth in front of other people’s door. We already told you not to loiter in front of our room, but you act like you cannot hear.”
“What, you want to fight? Come on then, we are not afraid of you. If you have the guts, come all at once. Whoever begs for mercy is the grandson.”
There was no way the students who had quit or been eliminated would fight them. In their hearts they were sure Sui Xuan Chu was the crown prince in disguise. In order to leave a good impression on the crown prince, they definitely would not use their abilities.
They hurried to explain: “Misunderstanding, misunderstanding. We were just teasing her and also wanted to ask if you wanted to go look for food together.”
“Yes, yes, we keep walking back and forth mainly because we want to go find food with you, nothing else.”
“If you do not want to go with us, then never mind, we will go by ourselves. Let’s go, let’s go, hurry up, do not block the way here.”
Each of them had a scale in their hearts. They absolutely could not offend the crown prince. They had to bend and stretch when needed and flatter just right if they wanted any back doors to open for them.
Seeing them walk away very slowly and keep sneaking glances at Sui Xuan Chu, Jiang Tea Tea raised her voice and asked him: “Roommate, so these days if you fawn over people and flatter them on purpose, you get a back door to walk through?”
Sui Xuan Chu understood what she meant. He glanced at the eliminated students and replied in a loud voice: “Dream on. The Empire has hundreds of billions of people, a huge information system, and monitoring systems aimed at government public officials and their immediate family members.”
“When the amount of money in their bank accounts or the property under their names reaches a certain level, the surveillance and monitoring system will automatically push a report to the judicial department.”
“Once the judicial department receives the push from the monitoring system, it will order an investigation. If it is found that they have high income that does not match their normal salary, then it is a crime.”
“Also, the Empire’s examination of public officials is extremely strict. So called back doors basically do not exist.”
“Unless that back door is opened by Commander in Chief Chong Ming himself. Otherwise, even if the crown prince opens it, once Commander in Chief Chong Ming finds out, the crown prince will suffer as well.”
“And also, I think some people are just stupid. As soon as they see someone is dragon clan, they imagine he might be the crown prince. They never think that maybe he is just excellent enough to afford an eight person double mortal world suite.”
The eliminated students stared: “???”
[What did that mean?]
[Had they misunderstood?]
[He was not the crown prince in disguise?]
It was normal for them not to think deeply. After all, they were the ones who had chosen to quit or had been eliminated in the first round, so there was something a bit wrong with their heads.
Big Dog Huang, Cheng Xiao Ting, and the other six also joined in, mocking openly and secretly. They did not want these people buzzing around like flies at the crack of dawn at the door of their dorm.
“Of course. People who quit or got eliminated right at the start of the Supremacy Tournament would not know how good our squad members’ results are. We have already done enough to let us finish the first round early and just wait for the second round.”
“But Sui Xuan Chu, I actually hope you are the crown prince in disguise. That way we are in the same squad, and we can have a natural advantage and get benefits first.”
Sui Xuan Chu laughed loudly and said: “No, no, no. If I were the crown prince, I would also be afraid of being beaten up by your beloved idols. How would I dare expose my identity so casually? If my identity were exposed, would that not be the same as openly telling everyone that the Empire’s confidentiality and monitoring system is trash?”
Jiang Tea Tea nodded in agreement, thinking the Empire’s confidentiality monitoring system really was trash, and said: “Makes sense, that is exactly how it is. Come on, let’s go in and catch up on some sleep.”
Sui Xuan Chu answered: “Got it!”
The eight of them went into the dorm together, leaving the group of eliminated students standing there staring at one another in shock, unable to believe that these eight people were so outstanding they could finish the first round of the Supremacy Tournament early and now rest here while waiting for the second round.
Some of them actually listened to what Jiang Tea Tea and the others had said and started to believe that Sui Xuan Chu was not the crown prince and that they had been wrong.
After all, the golden dragon clan only had Commander in Chief Chong Ming and the crown prince left. If Sui Xuan Chu really were the crown prince and exposed his identity so casually, his safety could not be guaranteed, and Commander in Chief Chong Ming would never allow such a thing.
So they had misunderstood. They were the ones who were overthinking things and had imagined it themselves, putting the crown prince’s hat on Sui Xuan Chu.
Once the eliminated students came to this understanding, in the days that followed very few of them wandered around the door of Jiang Tea Tea and her squad’s dorm.
They had no transportation and only their two legs. They also had no food. They could only spend more of their time searching for something to eat.
Jiang Tea Tea’s squad finally had some peace and quiet. But except for Jiang Tea Tea, everyone else seemed busy, either training their abilities, reviewing lessons, handling government affairs, or studying healing.
Only Jiang Tea Tea spent her days eating and sleeping and sleeping and eating. She finished all the meat in Sui Xuan Chu’s space knob storage device and then polished off several hundred jin of nutrient fruit from her own space knob.
Most of the time she woke up hungry in the middle of the night, got up to go hunting for food, and brought some back for them on the way.
If Sui Xuan Chu and the others had not seen with their own eyes that she was healthy and looked good, they would have suspected that she was terminally ill and was binge eating and drinking before she died.
Like this, half a month passed in the blink of an eye. The second round of the Supremacy Tournament was getting close, and Jiang Tea Tea felt that something was wrong. She had originally only had twenty percent of her spiritual power left. Now she only had eighteen percent.
She had no idea where all that food she had eaten had gone. Her spiritual power had not increased at all. Instead, it was still dropping.
If this went on, by the time the Supremacy Tournament ended, her spiritual power would be gone. Without spiritual power, she would no longer be able to maintain human form and would turn back into a tea tree.
[No, no, no. She was the only tea tree in her clan who had cultivated into a human form. There was no way she was going back to her original form.]
[Dragon blood. Right, she needed to replenish herself with dragon blood.]
Jiang Tea Tea quietly pulled Sui Xuan Chu over to a place where no one else was around and said in a low voice: “Roommate, I need to trouble you with something.”
Sui Xuan Chu did not understand and asked: “What is so mysterious?”
Jiang Tea Tea lowered her voice and said: “Send a message to your uncle and tell him I agree to be trained as his successor as commander in chief of the Three Armies, but I have conditions.”
Sui Xuan Chu said curiously: “Roommate, if I remember right, half a month ago you swore you would rather die than accept training as his successor.”
Jiang Tea Tea let out a dry laugh: “Was it not you who said this is an opportunity? Even if he likes me, it does not mean I can pass his assessment.”
Sui Xuan Chu narrowed his eyes and studied her: “No, roommate, something is off. The second round of the Supremacy Tournament starts tomorrow, and today you suddenly want to agree to him. I need to know the reason.”
Jiang Tea Tea gave him a smile that did not reach her eyes and asked: “If I say there is no reason, would you believe me?”
Sui Xuan Chu shook his head seriously: “I do not believe you.”
Jiang Tea Tea spread her hands, sounding very honest: “Fine, I will tell you. I am craving his blood.”
Sui Xuan Chu’s eyes suddenly widened like copper bells. He grabbed Jiang Tea Tea by the shoulders, bent her at the waist, and whispered like a thief: “You are craving his blood? Roommate, I think it is not that you lack common sense about the Empire and the interstellar age. You are sick. Terminally sick.”
“To tell you the truth, the information about my uncle in the imperial authorities’ records is only half true. He is not a dual ability user. He is a billion times stronger than a normal dual ability user.”
“His ability level is also not just 10S like the imperial records say. It is a billion times higher. That means his blood is an incredible tonic. The last time you drank a cup of his blood and did not show any symptoms, it does not mean you actually digested his blood.”
“It is very likely that the energy in his fresh blood is still stored inside your body, waiting for a day to explode. Now you want his blood again and want him to pour you another cup. Are you not afraid that if you cannot digest the energy in his blood you will explode and die?”