Chapter 81
Chapter 81: The Cub’s Distress Cry Was Detected by the Cub’s Father
Jiang Tea Tea’s body moved on instinct. She tried to dodge the sudden punch—but the little magic power she’d forced out had only just eased the pain in her waist, and that brief relief threw off her timing.
She failed.
Jiang Yi Cheng’s fist slammed into her belly with brutal force.
Her face went paper white. A cramping, blade-like agony ripped through her. She couldn’t endure it—her knees buckled. She dropped heavily, kneeling and folding forward, one hand clamped over her stomach, the other pressed to the ground as she frantically drew on the rich “fertilizer” of the land around her to feed herself.
High above, on the command ship, Chong Ming had been sitting with his eyes closed, resting.
He snapped them open.
In one sharp motion, he rose from the command chair. “Minister Cai. Cancel the ship’s cloaking. Open the external circulation detection system.”
Cai Xi Chao answered instantly, crisp and steady. “Yes, commander-in-chief.”
Adjutant ai looked up, alarmed. “Commander-in-chief, what happened?”
The ship’s external system came online. Chong Ming poured his mental power outward, his expression dark as a storm. “A cub’s scent.”
“A dragon clan cub’s distress. Uneasy. Dangerous.”
Adjutant ai’s voice cracked. “M31_1137 star has no intelligent life capable of converting into humanoid form. How could there be a dragon clan cub?”
After what happened on the primitive tropical planet—when an insect clan incident had forced everyone to tighten security—they’d surveyed M31_1137 star again and again. They had confirmed it: no higher intelligence, no humanoid-convertible life.
So where had a dragon clan cub come from?
Chong Ming felt it—felt the cub’s fear, the sharp edge of danger, the unmistakable sense that someone was hurting it.
His heartbeat sped up for reasons he didn’t want to name.
“Minister Cai,” he said, voice like steel, “scan M31_1137 planet. Identify which dragon clan the cub belongs to. Find the one carrying the cub and bring them to me.”
Then he added, “Recon battalion—come down with me.”
Across the planet, scattered among thirty military academies and thirty legions, dragon clan beastfolk began reacting at the same time.
“What is that? A cub’s scent? No—something’s wrong. That pressure…”
“Do you smell it? Do you feel it? That’s cub scent. And it’s mixed with pressure.”
Every dragon clan member on M31_1137 planet—every color, every faction—caught the scent. Along with it came a heavy, suffocating pressure that made their instincts scream.
“I feel it. That pressure’s insane. Doesn’t feel like an ordinary cub…”
“It feels like… like the pressure of the golden dragon imperial clan. Did something happen to the crown prince?”
“This is a competition, not a death match. We can hit, we can curse, we can kick—but we can’t kill. That’s against the rules.”
“Exactly. There are over two hundred thousand instructors down there, plus thirty command ships overhead, including Chong Ming the commander-in-chief’s overall commander ship. Twenty-four-hour surveillance. How could they allow the crown prince to be beaten to the edge of death?”
“Cadets won’t take lives. Instructor group won’t take lives either. Could it be insect clan? Are insect clan hunting the crown prince? Did the crown prince get overwhelmed and release a distress pressure to call for help?”
“That shouldn’t be possible. Chong Ming is right above us. If insect clan showed up, he’d detect it instantly.”
“So if it isn’t the crown prince… then who has that kind of pressure? Chong Ming?”
“Is it Chong Ming releasing pressure? But why would he do that—and why would only dragon clan sense it?”
“No, no—this isn’t a pressure display. It’s a cub’s distress signal. A cry for help. A scent calling to dragon clan.”
“That kind of scent… only dragon clan beastfolk can sense it—”
“Bullshit! This is a wilderness training competition. Where would a cub come from? What dragon clan mate would come out here pregnant instead of staying home, protected? Who would let them out?”
“It’s fading. The scent’s fading. The cub’s distress scent is getting weak.”
“It’s gone. Can you feel it? It’s gone.”
And as the scent vanished, the planet itself began to shift.
“Wait—every flowering tree is dead. Before, it was just fallen blossoms, yellowing leaves. Yesterday the leaves turned green again. Now everything’s dead? All of it turned to dry sticks?”
“Look! The mountains’ flower trees are withering. Other plants are dying too. Insects are crawling out of the ground. Wild beasts are running like they’ve lost their minds.”
“Is there going to be an earthquake? I heard animals act weird before earthquakes.”
“Shut up, idiot. It’s the interstellar era—quakes can be predicted. Something underground is scaring the insects and beasts. That’s why they’re fleeing.”
“Should we run? If whatever’s underground likes insects and beasts… it might like us too.”
“Right! Strictly speaking, we’re beastfolk too. We’re still ‘beasts.’ What if it gets hungry and eats us?”
On the ground, Jiang Yi Cheng stared down at Jiang Tea Tea, watching her kneel in pain, cold sweat shining on her skin. Satisfaction curled in his chest.
He couldn’t stop himself from gloating. “Jiang Tea Tea. Aren’t you capable? Didn’t you pretend you had no abilities? Look at you now—under an ability dispersant, you’re pathetic.”
Jiang Tea Tea lifted her head from her kneeling posture, eyes sharp despite the pain. “Pathetic or not—if you collude with insect clan and kill me, do you think you can get away?”
Jiang Yi Cheng’s pupils tightened. “What nonsense are you talking? Who colluded with insect clan? Not me.”
“I’m just following the competition rules in round two. I erase you, I get points. If you can’t take it and you die by accident, what does that have to do with me?”
Jiang Tea Tea’s mouth twisted into a smile. “Oh. So you’ve already planned your escape route. You’ll claim you ‘forced me to forfeit’ by slitting my throat, then kill me for real, and wash your hands clean.”
She clicked her tongue, eyes bright with contempt. “My dear brother. Should I call you stupid or just brain-dead? You think you colluded with insect clan flawlessly—no leaks, no witnesses?”
“You’re too naive. Chong Ming already captured the insect clan’s eldest prince. The insect clan you brought out of Royal Military Academy—how many days do you think they can hide?”
On the tropical primeval planet, insect clan had already been wiped out. Chong Ming—the Old Loach—wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
This planet would’ve been swept and reswept. Checked and rechecked. Not a single insect clan should’ve been able to slip in early.
Which meant the masked “beastfolk” around Jiang Yi Cheng—those males with faint beast traits—were insect clan in disguise. Royal Military Academy cadets who’d come down with him from the beginning and never exposed themselves.
And that meant something else too.
Jiang Yi Cheng hadn’t “started” colluding today. He’d been in bed with them for a long time—just to save his parents and sister, and to kill her.
The Zhen Lin Empire and insect clan were mortal enemies. Chong Ming was the one who wrote and enforced the law. Other crimes might get you exiled, stripped of freedom.
Colluding with insect clan?
That was a straight road to death.
Jiang Yi Cheng didn’t believe her. “Stop trying to scare me. The insect race eldest prince is wise and mighty. His abilities are terrifying. His beast form is powerful. How could he be captured so easily—”
“Enough.”
A tall masked insect clan member moved, stopping Jiang Yi Cheng’s leg as he tried to lash out again.
He stepped forward and crouched in front of Jiang Tea Tea.
The mask shifted, and for a heartbeat she saw it—those compound eyes, wet and obscene, like something pulled from rot.
He stared at her, voice low and amused. “Little female. Tell me—how do you know our insect clan’s eldest prince was caught by Chong Ming?”
Jiang Tea Tea met his gaze without flinching. Her eyes were clear as ice. “Little bug. Put away your illusion hypnosis. It doesn’t work on me.”
The insect clan member’s hand flashed out and clamped her jaw, forcing her chin up. He laughed softly. “Little female, you’re the first one to slip out of my hypnosis. I admire you.”
“I like you,” he murmured, fingers tightening. “I won’t kill you.”
“Now be good. Tell me how you know the insect race eldest prince was caught by Chong Ming. And that red-black dragon boy beside you—Is he the crown prince?”