Chapter 95
Chapter 95: Without the Dragon Hatchlings’ Dad’s Psychic-Force Soothing, the Cubs Stopped Growing
Lu Ling Er looked up at Jiang Tea Tea. Tears clung to her lashes, and snot glistened at her nose. “Jiang Tea Tea… how did you become so cruel?”
Jiang Tea Tea felt nothing. She’d never been a good person to begin with. If she were, she wouldn’t have become a demon.
She smiled at Lu Ling Er and gestured behind her.
Half of Lu Ling Er’s ten-person team had already been eliminated—five people, including Lu Ling Er herself.
The other five were running for their lives.
Jiang Tea Tea and Cheng Lin Yue didn’t lift a finger. They simply watched as Sui Xuan Chu and the other five guys chased down the exhausted runners.
Six healthy, well-fed, fully charged fighters against five cadets who were dehydrated and drained.
The result was obvious.
In less than ten minutes, the five went down one by one—throats cut, eliminated.
The eliminated cadets crowded around Lu Ling Er, snapping and cursing.
“This is all your fault!”
“We told you field training has no friends!”
“You kept insisting Jiang Tea Tea was your friend!”
“Now look at us—we all got our throats cut!”
“Did you forget how you bullied her back then? You still thought she’d forgive you and team up? Keep dreaming!”
“We got stuck on your team and now we’re doomed!”
“Now we’re eliminated—our personal scores and squad score won’t even crack the top million!”
“We told you they were enemies! Killing them was ninety thousand points! You insisted on teaming with them, so we lost the points and still died!”
“You’re a burden!”
Lu Ling Er kept apologizing, eyes red and frantic, taking every insult like she deserved it.
Jiang Tea Tea raised her voice toward Huang Da Zhuang. “Huang Big Dog, you chose to chew bones instead of eating meat, and now you blame me for it?”
Huang Da Zhuang understood immediately—she was mocking the people blaming Lu Ling Er. He lifted his voice right back. “Yeah! I can’t chew the bone, and you ate the meat. Should I blame you, or should I blame my own teeth for being too weak to chew bone?”
Jiang Tea Tea made an exaggerated sound of realization. “Oh, so you do know your teeth are weak. You chose the bone anyway, and you still can’t chew it.”
Huang Da Zhuang nodded solemnly. “Of course I know. I just want to blame you anyway. I want to push all the fault onto you, stand on the moral high ground, and criticize you.”
Jiang Tea Tea nodded as if delivering a verdict. “So you’re a coward. You can’t play fair.”
“I’m a coward. I can’t play fair,” Huang Da Zhuang agreed. “But I won’t admit it.”
He spread his hands. “My teeth are weak. I can’t chew bone. I won’t admit that either. I’ll just blame you.”
Jiang Tea Tea clicked her tongue. “Then I won’t play with you anymore.”
Huang Da Zhuang nodded. “I won’t play with you anymore either.”
The eight or nine cadets who’d been cursing Lu Ling Er went bright red. Their faces burned with embarrassment, and they finally fell silent.
Lu Ling Er, somehow, stared at Jiang Tea Tea with worship in her eyes—like she’d been stunned by how “cool” Jiang Tea Tea had become.
In Lu Ling Er’s twisted mind, it looked like Jiang Tea Tea had killed her—and then defended her from being blamed.
How kind, she thought. How badass.
Jiang Tea Tea, blissfully unaware of the delusion, waved at Sui Xuan Chu and the others.
The eight of them regrouped, drank coconut juice, ate sea pineapple, and held a quick meeting.
They chose this spot as their base.
Shade. Fruit. Seafood.
They’d camp here and wait for prey to come to them.
An instructor team member couldn’t help chiming in. “You’re so capable. Why not hunt more? Farm more points?”
“More points, more eliminations—that’s a beautiful record. With that record, while other students spend summer and winter break lazing around, you can go train in a legion. By graduation, you’ll be experienced soldiers, ready to go straight to the front lines and rack up military merit for promotions.”
The eight of them looked at each other, then looked back at the instructor like he’d lost his mind.
Someone answered flatly, “The desert hits sixty degrees. You want us to go hunting? No.”
Another said, “The sand burns our feet. The sun roasts our skin. We’re staying here.”
A third added, “We eat, drink, rest, and wait. This is perfect.”
“And you should know,” Jiang Tea Tea said, eyes half-lidded, “we’re not the only ones who will think of the ocean and the water source. Other people will come.”
She tilted her chin slightly. “We’re holding the best position. Starting today, cadets will come to us every day.”
They were right.
They had endless seafood. Endless coconuts. Endless sea pineapples.
They ate, drank, and rested.
And as exhausted cadets trickled in—dehydrated, drained, abilities nearly empty—Jiang Tea Tea’s squad killed them all.
Sometimes it wasn’t that the other cadets were weak. They were simply spent.
And her squad was fed, rested, and waiting.
It turned into scavenging—harvesting points with brutal efficiency. No one escaped.
The instructor teams stationed with them were practically on vacation. They had food. They had water. They had cadets standing guard. And they got to watch throat-cutting up close.
Jiang Tea Tea’s month passed comfortably, too.
She fought rarely. Most days, she just ate.
At night, she rooted herself into the sand to drink nutrients. Then she stretched roots into the sea and fed off fish like fertilizer.
She also drank a bottle of Chong Ming’s dragon blood, absorbed the energy of heaven and earth, and refined her magic power until it stabilized at thirty percent.
The problem was the cubs.
For ten days after she drank the dragon blood, the cubs grew lively.
After that, they went quiet again.
She checked with magic sight. Nothing seemed wrong.
But even after a full month, the cubs hadn’t grown.
They were still thin little wriggles—like tiny worms, eels, or loaches.
At last, the instructor team announced the end.
“Congratulations. You’ve won first place in both personal and squad rankings.”
“You have gained the Commander-in-Chief’s attention. He will personally come to pick you up and return you to Capital Planet.”
Huang Da Zhuang, Cheng Xiao Ting, Yan Yu, Cheng Lin Yue, and the others erupted into loud, gleeful hysteria.
“Dad! Mom! Beast God! We made it!”
“My idol is picking us up in person!”
“I’m going to give my male idol so many dragon hatchlings!”
“Holy shit, am I dreaming? I’m just a first-year cadet! I don’t even have abilities! And the Commander-in-Chief is picking me up himself!”
“Our ancestors’ graves must be on fire!”
“I’m going to take a photo with Chong Ming and brag to my mom and dad!”
“Quick, pinch me!”
“I’ll pinch you!”
“Ah! That hurts, you psycho!”
Jiang Tea Tea stared at them, speechless.
They’d all lost their minds.
She truly did not understand what was worth worshiping about that Old Loach.
Sui Xuan Chu elbowed her lightly. “My uncle’s charm is huge, huh?”
Jiang Tea Tea’s mouth twitched. “Sure. Huge enough to make you feel invisible.”
Sui Xuan Chu shot her a look. “Can we talk without stabbing each other?”
“I’m just honest,” Jiang Tea Tea said. “And hey—congratulations. You’re about to gain a bunch of bargain-bin aunts.”
Sui Xuan Chu laughed. “Bargain-bin aunts? Who? Where? Don’t worry. My uncle won’t fall for any of them.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s mouth moved faster than her brain. “Right. He won’t fall for anyone. But you know he’s looking for a female, don’t you?”
Sui Xuan Chu’s curiosity flared. “My uncle is looking for a female? How do you know? Tell me.”
Jiang Tea Tea regretted it instantly.
She shoved the truth away and fed him vague scraps instead, then ended lazily, “I don’t know. I just know he keeps watching me like he’s searching for someone.”
Sui Xuan Chu slapped his thigh. “I know what this is!”
“The female he’s searching for must have taken advantage of him during his heat, when he wasn’t prepared. He wants to find her and kill her.”
Jiang Tea Tea blinked. “Your uncle is that brutal?”
Sui Xuan Chu looked at her like she’d asked whether the sun was hot. “If he wasn’t brutal, how would he manage the imperial family and the empire?”
Jiang Tea Tea had assumed Old Loach was searching for her because he couldn’t forget her.
Now she realized he might be searching for her to skin her.
To take her life.
Sui Xuan Chu kept going, casual but absolute. “I’m telling you—so many gorgeous, noble, cold, cute, strong females, even males, have offered themselves to my uncle.”
“Their endings are always miserable.”
Huang Da Zhuang darted over and joined the conversation. “Your uncle is that popular? He’s super handsome?”
Sui Xuan Chu hesitated, then nodded. “He’s extremely handsome. Extremely rich. He owns private planets. Officials see him as the ultimate dream match.”
Huang Da Zhuang whistled. “No wonder even males like him. He’s too excellent.”
Sui Xuan Chu nodded hard. “Compared to him, I’m basically trash—”
Cheng Xiao Ting’s voice cut in, loud and excited. “The Commander-in-Chief’s ship is here! Look!”
Everyone looked up.
A massive battleship hung above them, overwhelming and majestic.
The eliminated cadets below watched with envy, jealousy burning in their eyes. They could only look on as the people who’d killed them were picked up by their idol.
Jiang Tea Tea’s squad had been the clear number one in points, so Chong Ming’s ship came for them first.
A staircase extended from the battleship like a bridge between worlds—like a literal ladder of status.
The eight of them lined up, climbed, and entered the ship.
Guards with guns stood on both sides, tall and strong beastfolk with rigid expressions.
Chong Ming wore a crisp black uniform and a military cap. He stood just inside the hatch, waiting.
Huang Da Zhuang and Cheng Xiao Ting were so excited their steps tangled. They looked like they’d forgotten how to walk.
Jiang Tea Tea and Sui Xuan Chu exchanged a glance and led the group forward.
Chong Ming extended his hand to Jiang Tea Tea. “Welcome. Congratulations, Classmate Jiang Tea Tea, on taking first in personal ranking and leading your squad to first place.”
Jiang Tea Tea didn’t want to touch him.
But in front of so many people, she couldn’t publicly embarrass the Commander-in-Chief.
She forced her hand out and reached for his. “Sure. Tha—”
Before she could finish, a terrifying surge of mental power poured through their contact and wrapped around her entire body.
Pain twisted hard in her belly.
She yanked her hand back and clutched her stomach, eyes flashing sharp as knives as she stared at Chong Ming.
“Chong Ming,” she snapped, “are you attacking me with devouring ability?”