Chapter 96
Chapter 96: You’re in Love with My Uncle and Got Close to Me on Purpose—Shameless
The moment Jiang Tea Tea’s accusation hit the air, the others surged toward her on instinct.
Cheng Lin Yue moved fastest. She reached Jiang Tea Tea first, grabbed her arm, and pulled her back two steps, panic flooding her voice. “Sister Tea! Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
Chong Ming’s mental power was terrifying. If even a fraction of it became an attack, Sister Tea would be crushed.
And Sister Tea was pregnant. In Cheng Lin Yue’s mind, she was a fragile pure human.
How could she stand against someone like Chong Ming?
If the cubs in her belly were hit by mental power from the wrong dragon clan, they could be damaged—born slow, unable to awaken abilities, unable to grow.
Sui Xuan Chu and the other five males snapped into formation, moving as one to block the space between Jiang Tea Tea and Chong Ming.
Just like in the field training.
Protect the weakest in the back.
Jiang Tea Tea’s cramps eased the moment she put distance between herself and Chong Ming.
Since the instant his battleship appeared, she’d been suppressing every trace of herself to protect the cubs, hiding their existence.
Now she drew on her magic power and layered protection over her body and belly—one barrier after another until she felt solidly sealed.
Only then did she answer Cheng Lin Yue, voice steadier. “I’m fine. It’s better now. Don’t worry.”
Cheng Lin Yue was visibly terrified, yet she still stood in front of Jiang Tea Tea, facing her own idol head-on.
“Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming,” Cheng Lin Yue said, voice shaking but firm, “your official ability rank is 10S.”
“My teammate Jiang Tea Tea looks strong, but she awakened her ability late. She’s delicate. She doesn’t have much offensive power.”
“If you attack her with mental power above 10S rank, you could easily injure her. That kind of damage could be irreversible.”
“She’s lived this long and made it this far—it hasn’t been easy for her.”
Cheng Lin Yue swallowed hard. “If you’re dissatisfied with her, please don’t target her. You can target me instead. I can take it.”
Who said Little Bunny was timid?
Little Bunny was brave as hell.
For the cubs’ sake, she was even willing to face Chong Ming—Old Loach himself.
Cheng Xiao Ting stared in disbelief.
Sister Tea could twist someone’s head off barehanded, and Cheng Lin Yue was out here telling Chong Ming she was weak and helpless?
Sui Xuan Chu spoke next, voice careful but direct. “Commander-in-Chief, your mental power level is higher than anyone here.”
“My roommate is young. She can’t withstand your mental power attack.”
“If you want to know our strength, you don’t need to test us. Just ask. We’ll tell you.”
Sui Xuan Chu trusted his uncle not to casually attack people—but his uncle wanted to train Jiang Tea Tea as a Commander-in-Chief candidate.
He couldn’t guarantee his uncle wouldn’t pressure her to sharpen her reflexes.
Huang Da Zhuang’s brain worked differently. He blurted out, “Commander-in-Chief, Sister Tea earned first place for real! Don’t doubt her, don’t attack her, don’t test her!”
“Our squad’s most useless person is me! I got eighth place because I rode Sister Tea’s coattails and everyone else’s coattails!”
“If you want to punish someone, punish me! Deduct my points! Don’t blame Sister Tea!”
Ju Que and the others piled on, voices overlapping. “Yes, Commander-in-Chief! Sister Tea is the real deal!”
“We’re the useless teammates who picked up points behind her. We played small tricks, but we never broke the rules.”
“Every point we earned was within the rules. Please don’t make things hard for our teammate.”
“If there’s a problem, we’ll face it together!”
Chong Ming slowly withdrew his extended hand and clasped it behind his back.
His golden eyes swept calmly over the wall of people blocking him.
“First,” he said, “I commend your pure friendship and squad unity. You have my highest praise.”
He paused, then looked past them to Jiang Tea Tea. “Second—Classmate Jiang Tea Tea, I think you’ve misunderstood.”
“You are immune to my pressure.”
“And by the same logic,” he continued evenly, “if I attacked you with mental power alone, you would still be immune.”
“The only way it would harm you is if I materialized my abilities—if I struck you with lightning, burned you with fire. Then you would be seriously injured, affected, or killed.”
Sui Xuan Chu and the others twisted around to stare at Jiang Tea Tea like they’d heard a cosmic joke.
Immune?
Sister Tea was immune to their idol’s pressure?
So… Sister Tea would never go weak-kneed in front of him?
Jiang Tea Tea, meanwhile, could clearly feel the cubs.
After that burst of mental power, they were so lively it was ridiculous—more active than they’d been for the entire month on Hot Sand Star.
She met Chong Ming’s gaze. “So you didn’t attack me with devouring ability.”
“You just released mental pressure at me.”
Chong Ming answered plainly, “Yes. Like every other time we’ve met. I wanted to confirm again, with stronger pressure, whether you were still immune.”
Jiang Tea Tea understood now.
The cubs had been starving for their dad’s psychic-force soothing. They’d been feeding on her magic power in her belly, weak and listless.
Chong Ming’s mental pressure, aimed at her, wasn’t harmful to the cubs.
It was soothing.
It was food.
The moment they tasted it, they went wild with excitement, thrashing hard enough to twist pain through her belly.
Sui Xuan Chu stared between Jiang Tea Tea and his uncle, stunned.
Had she been meeting his uncle behind his back?
Huang Da Zhuang and the others looked equally shocked. From Chong Ming’s words, it sounded like Jiang Tea Tea and Chong Ming met often—many times.
Where was the “share blessings and share hardships” spirit in that?
Why did Sister Tea meet the idol without telling them?
Chong Ming watched Jiang Tea Tea’s silence and continued, voice thoughtful. “However, based on your reaction, it seems my previous pressure may have been too low.”
“That led me to mistakenly believe you were completely immune.”
“This time, I increased the pressure aimed at you by several times. You reacted. Your reaction was significant.”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “So I must reassess you.”
Meaning: he’d adjust her training plan.
To become Commander-in-Chief, endurance, mental power, abilities, and physical strength all had to surpass beastfolk and insect clan elites.
Only overwhelming power earned soldiers’ obedience.
Jiang Tea Tea let out a short laugh. “I thought the pressure you used on me before was your full mental power.”
“Turns out you were holding back.”
She lifted her chin. “Just now I wasn’t prepared. Later, when you have time, release your full ability pressure at me. Let me feel it.”
Chong Ming’s eyes tightened. “If I release my full pressure targeted only at you, you could die—”
Jiang Tea Tea cut him off, cold and fearless. “If I die, that means I’m not capable enough. What are you worrying about?”
She didn’t say the real reason.
The cubs needed their dad’s psychic-force soothing. If she could get one full dose all at once, she’d rather do that than risk more weird problems later.
Chong Ming’s brow lifted slightly. “Fine. After we pick up the other two squads, we’ll try it together.”
He turned. “Adjutant Ai. Take them to rest. Two hours later, bring them to the training field.”
Adjutant Ai answered promptly and led Jiang Tea Tea’s group away from the hatch toward the rest quarters.
Inside, each of them received their own room.
Jiang Tea Tea entered hers and immediately called up her magic power to block any surveillance that might exist.
Then she went into the bathroom.
While washing up, she used her magic sight to check the cubs.
Lively.
Far too lively.
They’d tasted their dad’s pressure and acted like they’d swallowed some divine tonic.
Ungrateful little brats.
She’d worked herself to the bone cultivating magic power to feed them. She’d rooted into soil and sea for nutrients.
They’d been hungry and listless like starving bugs.
But the moment their dad offered a little pressure, they were practically throwing a party.
Jiang Tea Tea got annoyed and smacked her belly twice.
The cubs immediately went quiet, curling together like they’d been caught.
After washing up, Jiang Tea Tea changed into a clean Royal Military Academy Pacification Department uniform.
She stepped out of the bathroom just as someone knocked.
She opened the door.
Sui Xuan Chu slipped inside like a thief. “Close it. Close it. Don’t let people see me coming here.”
Jiang Tea Tea stared at him. “You don’t have secrets in front of your uncle. If people see, they see. Your uncle sees, he sees. What’s the big deal?”
Sui Xuan Chu made a disgusted sound. “You don’t get it. You still have to pretend. Your public persona matters.”
Jiang Tea Tea closed the door and dropped onto the small sofa in the sitting area, one leg thrown casually over the coffee table like she owned the place. “Talk. What do you want?”
Sui Xuan Chu sat across from her and stared at her like he was interrogating her.
A long moment passed.
Finally he said, “Roommate. Tell me the truth. Are you secretly in love with my uncle—”
Jiang Tea Tea choked on her own saliva and started coughing so hard it hurt.
Sui Xuan Chu’s eyes went bright with certainty. “Roommate, you really are in love with him!”
“You got close to me on purpose!”
“You helped me farm points, showed off your crazy abilities and stamina—so you could get close to my uncle and catch his attention!”
“You want him to fall for you, marry you, and make you my aunt!”