The two academies' people were shocked by the sight. They'd never thought this captain, this Zhao Chen, would actually lay hands on him. Then again — back on that planet, this was the stone-cold sort who'd crush a bug in his bare hand.
The boy writhed in pain, struggling to break free, but the hand pinning his head might have weighed 1,000 pounds; thrash as he would, he couldn't shake it. Zhao Chen stared down at him, cold. He'd known all along there'd be arrogant little tyrants among these students — most of all among the Heaven's Glory lot, born with silver keys in their mouths. What he hadn't expected was to walk over the moment he arrived and hear this one cursing at his crewwoman.
My women — and you dare curse them?
"You… you… let go of me… Don't… don't think just because you saved us, I… I won't dare— I'm a Count's son!" Even now the boy blustered, overbearing.
Zhao Chen let go and stood. Only then could the boy catch his breath; at once he moved to rise, hand lifting to berate this insolent lout. The next second, his head met the floor again — this time Zhao Chen simply planted a foot on his skull.
"A Count's what? I didn't catch that." Zhao Chen lifted the foot away.
"You bastard… I'll—"
"A Count's… what? My ears aren't working — say it again." Another stomp; the foot withdrew.
"I'm not finished with y—"
"—Son? What's that, you're my grandson? I've got no grandson like you. Don't go claiming family that isn't yours." Zhao Chen stamped down once more.
The two academies' people were dumbfounded — Zhao Chen stomped, released, stomped again, letting up each time only to bring his foot back down. By the end the boy didn't dare lift his head at all. And with that terrible, savage edge on Zhao Chen's face — perhaps the killing intent still hanging thick on him after all the hive-race slaughter — none of them dared come near; for a moment they even forgot to step in and break it up.
Zhao Wan'er, Su Lan, and the rest were stunned by the sheer dominance of the man before them, slow to react. Zhao Wan'er found that, seeing her big brother again after all this, he seemed to have grown even more dazzlingly charismatic.
"Stop… stop… don't… don't stomp me anymore… I… I was… wr-wrong…" the boy begged in terror, looking up at the man as though at something worse than the bugs.
Zhao Chen's cold, grim gaze held the student, whose whole face he'd already ground into a bloody ruin. "This is my ship. If I hear one more word out of you that I don't like, I won't mind turning this ship around and throwing you out to feed the bugs."
"Yes… yes… I was wrong…" The boy begged on and on. This man was terrifying.
Just then Instructor Qin came hurrying over, bleary-eyed — plainly she'd been asleep. Through the past days of fighting she hadn't closed her eyes once; clearly she was worn to the bone.
"What… what's going on here?" She looked at the savagery in Zhao Chen's face, then at the unrecognizable student on the floor.
"Sister Qin, don't mind him. He brought it on himself." Chu Xuan came over, regarding the boy on the floor with disdain. There were two kinds of people she hated most: those who threw their status around to bully and do wrong, and those who mistreated a warship's crew. Unluckily for him, this student was both at once. To Chu Xuan, the beast-folk crewwomen aboard Zhao Chen's ship were dutiful, honorable soldiers, every one.
"But this one holds a Count's rank… I worry it'll make trouble for Zhao Chen down the line…" Instructor Qin looked at him with concern; she loathed students like this too — beaten, so be it — what she feared was the fallout landing on Zhao Chen. It caught Zhao Chen a little off guard, and his impression of this Instructor Qin turned rather favorable.
"A Count? Is a Count bigger than our Chu family?" Chu Xuan said with a light laugh.
"The Chu family…" Instructor Qin froze, then stared hard at Chu Xuan — a moment ago the girl had called her Sister Qin…
"You're Chu Xuan — of the Chu family!" Instructor Qin cried out. The words carried across the whole hangar, and the two academies' people jumped: they'd never dreamed the famous eldest daughter of the Chu family was aboard this ship, taking part in their rescue.
"So Sister Qin didn't recognize me after all." Chu Xuan took her hand fondly.
Instructor Qin laughed and held up a hand to measure the air. "The last time I saw you was 10 years ago — you were only this tall. 10 years gone, and here you are, a grown young lady. I truly didn't know you."
"Zhao Chen, you probably don't realize," Chu Xuan said, introducing them, "Instructor Qin is the daughter of Dean Qin of your Northstar Academy. By rights I ought to call her 'Auntie Qin' — but back when I did, she'd sulk and say I was making her sound old."
Zhao Chen looked at Instructor Qin, mildly surprised: this elegant, striking teacher was Dean Qin's daughter?
"Dean Qin buried himself in research all through his younger years — a child of his old age, you might say," Chu Xuan explained, catching Zhao Chen's puzzlement.
So that was it.
"One moment, Instructor Qin — I have a little something here I haven't finished with." Zhao Chen greeted her with a smile first, then turned to the student still sprawled on the floor. The instant the boy felt that gaze, he trembled head to foot, terrified another kick was coming.
"I don't allow filth on my ship's floor. This disgusting blood of yours — and everything else — lick it all clean. If I see so much as a single drop left, you know what'll happen." Zhao Chen's voice was cold.
Thanks to the beating, a spread of the boy's blood already stained the floor, along with the spit he'd hawked earlier. The student was aghast — lick it clean? Where would that leave the face of a Count's son? But remembering how unreasonable and how terrifying this man was, he could only say yes, over and over, and begin licking up his own blood, bit by bit. With the wounds on his face, though, for every bit he licked, more would drip down — as if it could never be finished.
Seeing Zhao Chen humiliate the Heaven's Glory student like this, Instructor Qin felt a flicker of worry — but seeing the calm on Chu Xuan's face beside her, she eased inwardly. By the look of it, Chu Xuan was backing Zhao Chen; and if so, a mere Count was indeed nothing to fear.
"Listen well. On this ship, my word is law. Anyone who dares defy my orders — never mind their rank. Even if the King of Heaven himself came down, he'd crawl on this floor for me! And if anyone dares say a word to humiliate you, cut out his tongue." Zhao Chen looked at the crewwoman who'd hesitated earlier, his face set.
The words landed like a scolding — yet a warmth spread through the beast-folk crewwoman's chest. This was the Commander taking their side, the side of beast-folk crewwomen like her, ready even to offend nobles for their sake.
"Yes!" She drew herself up straight and answered.
Zhao Chen's cold gaze swept across the two academies' people in the hangar. Not one of them dared say a word.