Chapter 103 – I’m Just Here to Deliver Goods
No, no, no—how could that be possible?
Lu Zheng immediately dismissed the thought.
He felt he knew Yi Ning fairly well.
Although she was a member of an evil organization, Yi Ning seemed to harbor an inexplicable aversion to targeting ordinary people.
Even during her university days, when she could be described as doing all kinds of mischief across heaven and earth, a look into her records revealed that all her antics had always been directed at her school’s teachers and classmates.
She never targeted people uninvolved with the affairs between heroes and evil organization members.
Even after graduating and joining an evil organization, moving to D-City, the only harm she had ever posed to ordinary folks was from her evil plots that never actually succeeded.
Her inventions had only ever been used on Lu Zheng—
...and herself.
So Lu Zheng really couldn’t imagine any reason why Yi Ning would cooperate with someone from the Freedom Alliance to do something so heinous.
For money?
Honestly—
If she wanted to make money, Yi Ning had a hundred better, easier ways to earn more.
For example, selling patents for her evil inventions.
Like that Super Invincible Separator she used to save Ye Qin.
There would be a ton of companies scrambling to purchase that patent.
It would be profitable and legal.
Why not go that route?
While Lu Zheng was spiraling through this storm of speculation from the few words he had lip-read, the two people chatting at the door finally moved.
The man who drove the truck reached into his pocket, seemingly to retrieve something.
Lu Zheng immediately focused, zooming in on the man's hand going into the pocket, trying to see what he would take out.
Money?
The goods?
Or perhaps...
Lu Zheng placed both hands on the desk, the tension in his muscles straining his clothes to their limit.
What the man pulled from his pocket was—
A ballpoint pen?
The man on screen pulled out a pen and wrote something on the notepad with a clipboard he had carried out of the truck, then handed both the pad and pen to Yi Ning.
Yi Ning took the ballpoint pen and also wrote something on the pad before handing the pen back.
The man returned the pen to his pocket, glanced at the pad, tore off a piece of paper, and handed it to Yi Ning.
Why did this action look so familiar?
Lu Zheng's expression turned subtly awkward.
A melodious ringtone chimed out.
It was the hottest song at the moment, sung by the currently trending idol-hero Flying Magical Girl.
It was also Lu Zheng’s ringtone.
He pressed pause and pulled out his phone to check the screen.
It was Miss Qiu Yu calling.
“Hello.”
“I’ve identified the man in the photo you sent.”
“Go ahead,” Lu Zheng said weakly, covering his face.
Combining what he just saw in the footage, he had already guessed the man’s true identity.
“His name is Fan Ming. He’s a delivery worker from Zhengchun Department Store. Yi Ning often buys materials from their store.”
I knew it!
Lu Zheng pressed his hand harder over his face.
“We also found out that Yi Ning placed an order with them this morning. Items included cobblestones, turf, timber—things like that. Fan Ming was just the delivery guy.”
“No idea what she needs those things for,” Qiu Yu muttered softly.
What did she need them for?
Lu Zheng sighed.
He immediately recalled the massive Japanese-style courtyard hot spring he saw that afternoon.
What else could she be using them for?
On the other end of the line, Qiu Yu continued while glancing at her documents.
“He delivered the goods to Yi Ning at 9 a.m., helped carry the items into the base, then left. He spent the rest of the day making deliveries elsewhere. Honestly, I don’t see any connection between him and the Freedom Alliance guy.”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Lu Zheng waved his hand on his side and cut her off.
“You don’t need more details?”
“No.”
Lu Zheng let out a long sigh.
“It was a misjudgment on my part.”
“I was checking the footage from in front of Yi Ning’s door, saw a stranger appear, and sent you the info too hastily.”
“Sent me the info just because a stranger showed up at Yi Ning’s door...” Qiu Yu elongated her tone.
“I thought no one usually showed up there, so I got flustered and sent it as soon as I saw someone.”
Lu Zheng didn’t seem to catch the implication in Qiu Yu’s tone.
He gave a brief explanation, then hurried to end the call.
“Anyway, I’ll keep reviewing Yi Ning’s surveillance footage. I’ll send you any new intel I find.”
Then, without waiting for a reply, he hung up.
He put his phone back in his pocket, his expression subtly twisted.
So awkward.
Lu Zheng took a deep breath.
It was clearly something that could have been figured out just by watching a bit more, yet he rushed to send the photo to Qiu Yu without even basic confirmation.
He had worked in the border region as a hero for two years—why was he now acting like a total rookie?
He tapped his forehead lightly with a fist.
Too much peace had dulled his mind.
Lu Zheng sighed, resumed normal playback, and refocused on the surveillance footage.
On screen, Yi Ning took the receipt Fan Ming handed her, glanced at it, and stuffed it into her pocket before turning back into the base.
A moment later, Yi Ning returned with a robot—
The very one that had slandered him viciously before being bisected in Lu Zheng’s fury.
Yi Ning brought the robot to the back of the truck, kicked it once, then stood at a distance with arms crossed, watching the robot slowly unload the goods and carry them into the base.
Once everything was inside, Fan Ming waved goodbye to Yi Ning, said nothing more, and drove off.
Yi Ning watched him leave, then returned to the base with the robot.
The footage returned once more to the static view of her front gate.
Lu Zheng hit fast-forward again, continuing his monotonous surveillance review.
Until a figure riding a shared bicycle appeared in the center of the screen.