Chapter 75
Chapter 75: You Shameless Bastards—Someone’s Pulling Strings for You
With Ye Ying beside her, Jiang Tea Tea opened the medicine case. Seven tubes lay neatly inside, each one labeled Day 1 through Day 7.
She glanced at them once, then pushed the box—and Ye Ying’s hands—back toward him.
“Thanks,” she said lightly. “I’m not sick.”
“Return these to Chong Ming. And pass along a message for me: if he’s that bored, he should go date. Find a mate. Have a few cubs to play with.”
“And don’t be 150 and still meddling out of pure self-importance.”
Ye Ying watched her with open amusement.
Wild. Arrogant. Untamed. Completely unafraid.
No wonder Commander-in-Chief liked her.
Honestly, Ye Ying liked her too. A neat, obedient soldier was boring. A thorn like this—trained the right way—would be satisfying.
He sighed and slipped seamlessly into the role of a long-suffering, practical dad.
“Kid,” he said earnestly, “Commander-in-Chief is worried about your health. The championship still has two months left.”
“With the way you eat—tens of pounds, hundreds of pounds—if you don’t rein it in, forget Commander-in-Chief. Even I’m worried you’ll get desperate one day and start eating your teammates.”
He tried again, pressing the box into her hands.
“Come on. One tube per day. Seven days and it’ll fix you. I guarantee you’ll become a normal person who can skip meals and still live.”
Jiang Tea Tea didn’t even blink.
Normal?
She wasn’t normal. She was a demon—a demon who could stand in place and turn everything that hit the ground into her fertilizer.
Taking medicine? Did he think she was stupid?
Medicine was poison, three parts out of seven. Who knew if Old Loach was trying to harm her?
She stepped back. “I don’t want it. Bye.”
“Wait.” Ye Ying moved quickly, cutting her off.
Jiang Tea Tea stopped and looked at him, sharp and wary. “What?”
Ye Ying shoved the box into her hands anyway.
“Nothing. Commander-in-Chief ordered me to give it to you. I have to complete the task,” he said, dead serious. “Whether you take it or throw it away has nothing to do with me.”
“I just want the task done. Understand?”
Jiang Tea Tea blinked.
So that was how it worked.
Fine.
She tossed the box into her storage button like she was dropping a rock into the ocean. “Got it. See you.”
“Wait again,” Ye Ying called.
She turned, one eyebrow lifted. “More?”
Ye Ying walked closer, leaned down slightly, and lowered his voice into a conspiratorial whisper.
“Jiang Tea Tea. Classmate.”
“As the chief instructor responsible for your academy—and as the legion commander of the First Legion—I’ve been watching your performance. I’ve taken note.”
“I think you’re extremely trainable.”
“After the championship ends, I’ll apply to Commander-in-Chief and arrange for you to come to the First Legion for special training three to four months every year.”
“In four years, when you graduate, you’ll already have two years of special training experience.”
“Then you can report directly to my legion. I’ll approve you personally. You’ll become an excellent soldier in the First Legion.”
His eyes shone as he spoke, bright and hungry. “Don’t worry. I value talent. I cherish talent. For someone like you, I’ll give everything—everything I know, everything I don’t. I’ll teach it all.”
Jiang Tea Tea stared at him.
What kind of Commander-in-Chief trained what kind of soldiers?
Old Loach was thinking about her. Now his soldier was thinking about her, too?
She took another step back, widening the distance.
“Legion Commander Ye,” she said evenly, “if you want to poach me, you shouldn’t tell me this. You should tell your Commander-in-Chief.”
Ye Ying looked at her like she’d said something ridiculous.
“Tell him? Why would I tell him?”
“It’s your will that matters.” He leaned in, shameless as ever. “If you agree, I can get you into the First Legion even if it takes a knife to the throat.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s gaze flicked. A plan snapped into place.
“All right,” she said. “I agree.”
“As long as you can get me into the First Legion, I’ll go.”
Ye Ying lit up like he’d struck gold. “Really?”
“Really,” Jiang Tea Tea said firmly.
Ye Ying straightened so hard he looked like he’d been promoted on the spot, chest puffed out.
“If you agree, I can definitely bring you into the First Legion.”
Jiang Tea Tea smiled sweetly. “Then I’ll wait for your good news. Bye.”
Ye Ying waved her out like he was sending off a prize. “Go, go.”
Jiang Tea Tea turned and left the command room.
The moment she was gone, Ye Ying connected to the shared channel of the other twenty-nine legion commanders and started bragging like a man possessed.
“Dear little bastards,” he announced cheerfully, “I’m sorry, but I have to share a piece of wonderful news that’s about to break your hearts.”
No one indulged him.
“If it’s wonderful for you and heartbreaking for us, shut your mouth. We don’t want to hear it.”
“Exactly. The moment you open your mouth, it’s never good news. Shut it. If you shut it, we can still be friends. If you don’t, I’ll beat you every time I see you.”
“Night Ye, your First Legion has already dropped to the Thirtieth Legion. And you still have time to brag?”
“There are only two matches left. If you don’t hurry up, that fall from First Legion to Thirtieth Legion is going to be pinned on the Military Department intranet as a public disgrace.”
Ye Ying scowled. “You people have no taste. No appreciation.”
“Besides, life is full of ups and downs. First, second, third, thirtieth—rising and falling gives you little bastards hope. If I stayed first forever, I’m afraid you’d all lose your minds.”
The channel exploded with curses, then went quiet as they dropped out one by one.
Ye Ying stared at the empty channel, furious.
“You think if you leave, you won’t hear my heartbreaking good news? Idiots. You’re naive.”
“I’ll send private messages. You will know: Jiang Tea Tea is going to be my legion’s soldier.”
He didn’t expect it.
The other twenty-nine had predicted his prediction.
They blocked him.
Refused his messages.
Ye Ying cursed until his throat hurt.
Back among the cadets, Huang Da Zhuang leaned in as Jiang Tea Tea returned.
“Sister Tea,” he whispered, “where did you go? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Jiang Tea Tea said, dropping down to sit. “Legion Commander Ye had something to say. We talked.”
The rest of the squad turned toward her instantly, curiosity blazing.
Before anyone could speak, a red dragon cadet nearby drawled in a nasty, sarcastic tone.
“I knew it,” he said loudly. “How could your squad score be so impossibly higher than ours?”
“Turns out you know our chief instructor. You’re walking through the backdoor so openly you don’t even bother hiding it. Eye-opening.”
His squad members piled on at once.
“Exactly. A low-level red-black dragon clan, a powerless pure human, a beastfolk male, and a weak little female—eight people—and you act like the protagonists of the universe.”
“You put on a whole show with a cliff-gap score difference. Tell me there’s no backstage, no favoritism—yeah, I don’t believe it.”
“So that’s how it is these days. With no backing, you’re like us—working hard, fighting like hell—and we still only got two hundred squad points and barely over a hundred personal points.”
Their voices carried, loud enough to draw stares from every direction.
People looked at Jiang Tea Tea’s squad like the rumor might be true.
Sui Xuan Chu snapped up first, face dark. Cheng Xiao Ting rose with him, jaw tight.
“Hong,” Sui Xuan Chu said coldly, “if you’re trash, admit you’re trash. Don’t be sour and spread rumors like it’ll raise your score.”
“Trash is trash,” Cheng Xiao Ting added, spitting. “Thinking you’re not in a trash can doesn’t make you superior.”
Jiang Tea Tea ignored them. She leaned toward Huang Da Zhuang and asked quietly, “Who are they? When did they come over?”
Huang Da Zhuang lowered his voice. “When Legion Commander Ye called you away, they showed up and sat next to us. They didn’t say anything at first, so we ignored them.”
He gestured subtly. “The one with red dragon horns is from the Red Dragon Clan. His name is Hong Xiang Luan. First-year Combat Department. Same ability as Sui Xuan Chu—2S-rank lightning.”
“He’s been competing with Sui Xuan Chu and Cheng Xiao Ting for the Combat Department chief position.”
Jiang Tea Tea nodded once, then spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear.
“Oh,” she said pleasantly, “so you’re Sui Xuan Chu and Cheng Xiao Ting’s defeated opponent.”
Her smile sharpened. “No wonder you reek of failure and came looking for trouble.”
Hong Xiang Luan’s expression snapped.
“What did you just call me?”
He pointed at Jiang Tea Tea, eyes flaring. “Say it again. See if I don’t kill you.”
“Who are you going to kill?” Sui Xuan Chu barked.
He surged forward and slapped Hong Xiang Luan’s pointing hand aside, then smiled brightly like he’d found a new hobby.
“Defeated opponent.”
Hong Xiang Luan’s hand reddened. He clenched his fist and swung at Sui Xuan Chu.
“Sui! You’re 2S-rank lightning, and I’m 2S-rank lightning too. Last time I messed up and fell into your trick, so you became chief. Don’t think I can’t beat you.”
Sui Xuan Chu didn’t dodge. He met the punch with his own.
Their fists collided with a dull, brutal impact.
Neither of them flinched. Neither withdrew. They locked hands and glared, both pretending the pain didn’t exist.
Hong Xiang Luan’s ten-person squad bristled behind him.
Jiang Tea Tea’s squad shifted behind Sui Xuan Chu, ready to explode.
Jiang Tea Tea sighed and cleared her throat.
“Hong,” she said calmly, “I advise you to apologize. Otherwise, we’re going to stop being polite.”
Hong Xiang Luan sneered. “You stop being polite? You?”
“If we weren’t inside a ship, I’d lightning-summon and kill you backdoor trash.”
Jiang Tea Tea nodded slowly. “All right. Refusing the toast and demanding the punishment.”
She raised her voice toward the ship’s surveillance direction.
“Legion Commander Ye!”
“Someone says our squad’s score is tens of thousands higher than everyone else’s, and our individual scores are tens of thousands higher than everyone else’s—because you opened a backdoor for us.”
“So where is this backdoor?” she demanded brightly. “Come out and open it for everyone else too. Otherwise we’ll get beaten up!”