Chapter 76
Chapter 76: Mark Throats With a Blade—Now You Can Brawl Legally
Hong Xiang Luan’s red eyes widened. He yanked his hand back like it had been burned.
“Jiang Tea Tea,” he hissed, “you’re disgusting. You actually called Legion Commander Ye?”
The Red Dragon Squad stared, stunned.
They only wanted to teach them a lesson. This powerless pure human didn’t even follow the script.
Sui Xuan Chu and the others stepped forward at once, blocking Jiang Tea Tea and hurling it back.
“Why can’t we call Legion Commander Ye?”
“You said we got our score because he opened a backdoor for us. Fine. He’s on this ship. Bring him out and confront us face-to-face. That’s fair.”
“Exactly. Face-to-face. Let everyone see who’s trash and who’s strong. Let everyone see what kind of coward gets jealous and spreads rumors.”
Hong Xiang Luan snarled, still trying to force the accusation.
“If you didn’t use a backdoor, then why did Legion Commander Ye call only Jiang Tea Tea—a powerless pure human—into his command room?”
“I’m telling you,” he shouted, “my Red Dragon Clan aren’t cowards. Call him. I’m not afraid. I’ll expose you!”
Clap. Clap. Clap.
A few loud claps rang out.
Then Ye Ying’s voice thundered from the doorway, full of energy and menace.
“Come, come, come. Little red dragon baby. Tell me—exactly how did Jiang Tea Tea walk through my backdoor?”
The crowd parted instinctively.
Ye Ying strode in wearing a dark green combat uniform and boots, cap low, shoulders broad. His presence pressed like a mountain.
Jiang Tea Tea’s squad lined up neatly and, in perfect unspoken unity, flipped Hong Xiang Luan off.
Ye Ying stopped in front of Hong Xiang Luan.
“Speak,” Ye Ying barked.
Hong Xiang Luan trembled. “Reporting, Legion Commander Ye,” he forced out, “I request to view the replay of Jiang Tea Tea and Sui Xuan Chu’s squad performance—how they achieved their score.”
Ye Ying planted his hands on his hips. “You’re not qualified to view it.”
Hong Xiang Luan’s pupils tightened. “If you won’t show me, then I refuse to accept it.”
Ye Ying snorted, contempt sharp as a blade.
“So you’re weak, and you think weakness is a justification. So you slander people. You spread rumors.”
“Fine.”
His voice dropped like a guillotine.
“Effective immediately, all your scores are void. You are expelled from the 30-School Military Academy Championship field training. I will notify the Royal Military Academy principal to send a ship to pick you up.”
Hong Xiang Luan panicked, whatever sense he had left snapping.
“Legion Commander Ye,” he blurted, “you don’t have the right to kick me out!”
“It’s you—if you weren’t their backing, why would you meet her alone?”
“Why did you meet her alone? What kind of dirty transaction—”
Bang.
Ye Ying punched him so hard he went down like a sack.
Then Ye Ying stepped on his face and ground his boot down without mercy.
“First,” Ye Ying said coldly, “I did not meet her alone. Our meeting was recorded. Commander-in-Chief was informed. We spoke in a space with more than ten people present.”
“Second, if you and everyone here were more outstanding, I would meet each of you too.”
“Third, there is no dirty transaction. I met her because she is too outstanding.”
He lifted his gaze, sweeping the crowd with sharp amusement.
“Not just me. The other twenty-nine legion commanders want her too. All of us are determined to get her.”
“As her chief instructor, I wanted to take advantage of proximity and reserve her early—so she joins my legion after she graduates.”
Hong Xiang Luan tried to struggle.
It didn’t matter. With Ye Ying pinning him, his 2S-rank lightning might as well not exist.
Ye Ying addressed the crowd, voice light and arrogant.
“Dear classmates, do you not understand what this 30-School Joint Military Academy Championship field training is for?”
“Or are you pretending you don’t?”
People nodded quickly.
“We know, Legion Commander Ye,” someone said. “The championship is to pick outstanding seedlings and reserve them for legions.”
Ye Ying laughed and lifted his boot off Hong Xiang Luan’s face.
“Oh. So you do know.”
“Then listen carefully.”
“Effective immediately: Red Dragon Squad, ten people.”
“Hong Xiang Luan is expelled from the championship.”
“The remaining nine each lose twenty points. The squad loses twenty points total.”
“If anyone objects, feel free to email a complaint to the Military Department’s official mailbox.”
He turned slightly, voice turning colder.
“And Hong Xiang Luan—every wrong action has consequences. If you break the law, the law punishes you.”
“Jiang Tea Tea and I reserve the right to pursue you legally for slander.”
Hong Xiang Luan lay on the floor like ash, fists clenched, regret poisoning his chest.
One of them had stolen the Combat Department chief position from him.
The other had called Legion Commander Ye and turned the accusation into a disaster.
Ye Ying tilted his head, looking at Jiang Tea Tea.
“Jiang Tea Tea,” he said, satisfied, “just keep being excellent. Someone will always protect you.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s mouth curved. “Thanks.”
Ye Ying nodded once, then strode out—and activated the ship-wide broadcast.
“Dear classmates, little darlings: in ten minutes, we will enter Planet M31_1137, the Round Two competition site. Prepare yourselves. Follow me.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s squad flipped Hong Xiang Luan off again for good measure and followed Ye Ying out.
The rest of the cadets quickly gathered their squads and moved too. Only the remaining Red Dragon Squad members stayed behind.
They approached Hong Xiang Luan, awkward and apologetic.
“Captain… sorry. It’s not that we don’t want to help you. We got points deducted too. We’re not like you—you’re dragon clan, you’re noble. We don’t want to be expelled.”
“Captain, we told you,” someone said, pained, “their score gap wasn’t normal. They must have real ability. You shouldn’t have provoked them. You didn’t believe us, and now…”
“Shut up,” Hong Xiang Luan snapped, eyes bloodshot. “If you’re leaving, then leave. Stop talking.”
Someone muttered, “Even without this championship, you’ll still join a legion. Your family can—”
Hong Xiang Luan glared. “Mind your own business.”
He was right. The Red Dragon Clan had power. Even if he couldn’t enter the top thirty legions, he could still enter a regional legion or another unit. He didn’t need their pity.
Planet M31_1137 was a plains world. The highest mountains were only around a thousand meters. Flowering plants dominated the landscape—an endless ocean of blossoms.
The climate was spring year-round. The sky was an unreal blue. The grass was a vivid green. Hills rolled in brilliant color.
It was also a paradise for herbivores below Level 4.
At the ship hatch, Jiang Tea Tea looked down and felt her scalp prickle.
She turned to Ye Ying. “Legion Commander Ye… you probably won’t believe me, but I’m allergic to pollen. Can we land somewhere with more grass?”
Flowers were plant reproductive organs. Rolling around in them felt like rolling around in someone else’s bedroom. She’d rather die.
Ye Ying broke into a wide grin.
“Jiang Tea Tea. Classmate. You think because you said ‘change the landing point,’ we’ll change the landing point?” He chuckled. “Why don’t you be chief instructor instead?”
Jiang Tea Tea forced a dry laugh. “All right. I’ll jump.”
Ye Ying nodded. “Good.”
“This landing point,” he added proudly, “is one I fought the other twenty-nine legion commanders for. Get down there.”
Jiang Tea Tea wanted to cry.
She strapped on her parachute, turned to her squad, and waved them forward. “Come on. Jump.”
The others grinned. “Sure. Jump.”
Jiang Tea Tea and Xin Yi jumped first.
From over two thousand meters up, the flower sea below looked like a painting—dazzling, unreal.
As they dropped, they realized the scale was wrong.
Each flower was the size of a palm. Each flowering tree looked like a giant umbrella.
Dodging them was impossible.
Fortunately, Jiang Tea Tea didn’t crash into a canopy. Near the ground, she cut her parachute loose, planted her feet on thick flower branches, and hopped down—holding her breath so the fragrance wouldn’t flood her nose and pollen wouldn’t fill her lungs.
This landing wasn’t like the first one, terrifying and lethal.
Everyone had parachutes. Everyone landed cleanly.
Within half an hour, more than seventy thousand Royal Military Academy cadets had jumped.
Sui Xuan Chu tore off a massive flower and rolled it between his fingers.
“Classmates,” he said slowly, “teammates… doesn’t this feel wrong?”
Huang Da Zhuang blinked. “What feels wrong?”
Sui Xuan Chu frowned. “Round One’s jump was terrifying. The instructor group acted like they wanted us to withdraw.”
“This time, they drop us into a beautiful place, give us parachutes, and everyone lands safely… and the instructor group hasn’t said a word.”
“Does that feel right to you?”
The others exchanged looks.
He wasn’t wrong. It was creepy how smooth it was.
It felt like the instructor group was brewing something huge.
Sui Xuan Chu turned to Jiang Tea Tea. Her nose was covered, and she looked like she’d rather stare at the sky than at the flowers.
“Sister Tea,” he asked, “what do you think?”
“Find a place to hide,” Jiang Tea Tea said without hesitation. “Respond to change by not changing.”
Sui Xuan Chu looked around. “Hide where? Everything we can see is flower trees.”
The trees were thick—arm-thick at minimum, often thigh-thick. Taller than all of them. The hills were full of them. There wasn’t a clear hiding spot anywhere.
Jiang Tea Tea paused. “Wait.”
She sprang up onto a canopy, scanned the area, then dropped back down.
“Come,” she said. “I’ll take you to a hiding place.”
They followed without hesitation.
Jiang Tea Tea grabbed three masks from Cheng Lin Yue, layered them over her nose and mouth, and led the squad through the forest of blossoms.
Along the way, they passed students admiring flowers, picking flowers, laughing—no crisis awareness at all.
There were also smarter ones who noticed Jiang Tea Tea’s urgency and tried to trail behind, hoping to ride her coattails.
Jiang Tea Tea didn’t want extra baggage.
She sliced her hand through the air and sped up, sprinting under the flowering trees until she shook them off.
About fifteen minutes later, she led the squad to a massive flowering tree growing out of a cliff wall. She dug at the earth and pried open a concealed hole.
The squad lit up and scrambled inside.
They’d barely settled before the instructor group’s broadcast thundered again.
“Dear classmates, little darlings: Round Two of the 30-School Military Academy Championship officially begins now, lasting one month.”
“During this month, use the red imprint blade in your hands to leave a fresh red mark on the neck of other cadets.”
“Keep yourself safe until the final day, and you win.”
“Scoring rules: mark one cadet’s neck, plus ten points.”
“Special attention: you may only mark other cadets’ necks. You may not mark cadets from your own academy.”
“If you mistakenly kill your own academy’s cadet, you will be deemed withdrawn and eliminated.”
“Classmates, fight hard and chase the joy of hunting and robbing students from other schools!”