Chapter 111: A Good Day Starts with Sleep
The next day.
Yawning, Yi Ning walked out of the laboratory.
Due to a sudden inspiration the previous day, she had practically pulled an all-nighter in the lab.
“Ha—”
She yawned again.
Reflexive tears instantly welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision.
Yi Ning squinted tightly and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her fingers, trying to wake herself up as much as possible.
But unfortunately, even with her tired eyes wide open, everything in her vision looked like it had practiced shadow clone jutsu, duplicating and blurring into multiple images.
“Have I gotten weaker because this body is now a girl’s?”
Yi Ning stretched her sore shoulders and sat down on the nearby sofa.
She had once been able to stay in the lab for 24 hours straight without batting an eye. Now she could barely handle a dozen hours?
“Yawn—”
Yi Ning wiped her eyes again, then raised her interlocked hands above her head and gave a big stretch.
She even thought she heard her bones cracking—maybe it was just her imagination.
“Sigh~ I wonder what time it is now. Can I still squeeze in a bit of rest before work?”
Yawning as she spoke, Yi Ning fumbled in her pocket for her phone and checked the time.
07:47
Still some time before work.
Might as well nap a little~
Her yawning body clearly wasn’t in any shape to keep working.
She tilted her head slightly, thinking if there was anything important left to do.
After a few seconds, she set an alarm, tossed her phone onto the sofa, and nodded to herself.
Yeah.
Nothing urgent. Time to rest.
She flopped over onto the sofa, grabbed a cushion, rubbed her face into it, and closed her eyes.
Gradually, her consciousness began to sink.
Just as Yi Ning was about to fall completely into sleep, a piercing ringtone yanked her right back to the surface.
“Wah!”
Thud!
Every hair on her body stood on end—she practically leapt off the sofa and then stumbled down face-first onto the floor.
“Oof~”
A pale hand reached out from under the coffee table, grabbing it tightly as she shakily pulled herself out from the gap between the sofa and table.
“What the heck was that?”
The pain brought her somewhat back to her senses.
She rubbed her waist and looked toward the source of the awful noise.
As her brain gradually rebooted, the ringtone became familiar.
It was the opening theme of a recent hit anime.
Though she hadn’t even watched episode one due to work and other reasons, she had set it as her ringtone.
Someone was calling.
Who the heck was disturbing her peace this early?
Yi Ning lightly pounded her sore back, picked up her phone, and glanced at the screen.
Lu Zheng.
She rolled her eyes and pursed her lips.
Without even answering, Yi Ning could guess his purpose.
One hundred percent it was about that Rigil or Ridall guy.
What a dream-ruining pest.
“Ha—”
Yi Ning yawned again, covered her mouth with one hand, and pressed the volume key on the phone with the other before tossing it aside.
Not answering.
No way was she going to listen to Lu Zheng’s long-winded, roundabout attempts to probe her.
The D-City Hero Association owed her a big favor now—she had no interest in improving their goodwill any further.
Too much brainpower, hurts the ears, and no pay.
Sure, the Hero Association offered bounties for intel or help in capturing wanted criminals, but those were low, and the claim process was a hassle. How could that compare to the rewards provided by her boss’s father?
Huge sums, paid the same day, and most importantly—completely hers, no need to report anything to superiors.
With that money, her grand plan could take a huge step forward.
“Hehehe~”
Thus, with visions of her successful future swirling in her head, Yi Ning drifted off again.
Elsewhere—
Lu Zheng stood outside Yi Ning’s home, phone in hand, listening to “The number you are calling is unavailable…” message.
He glanced at the time and scratched his head awkwardly.
Almost 8 o’clock and Yi Ning was still asleep?
But on second thought—
Yi Ning usually started work at 9, and with her teleportation machine commute, she didn’t need much travel time. Wanting a bit more sleep was normal.
Even he liked to snooze a bit on days off.
But what now?
Lu Zheng looked down at the bag in his left hand.
Since he had kind of tricked Yi Ning into giving him the lead that helped arrest Rigil, he felt a bit guilty.
And since they had moved ahead with the arrest without solid proof, they might need Yi Ning as a witness if any issues arose.
So he’d brought breakfast to use as a conversation opener.
Of course, he also brought gifts to apologize and curry favor.
Unfortunately—plans couldn’t keep up with reality.
Yi Ning was sleeping in.
Lu Zheng tilted his head, looked at the breakfast in his hand, and pulled out a 20-sided die from his pocket.
Let’s see if he could get a power that kept food warm.
He turned his head and tossed the die into his blind spot, then smoothly caught it mid-air with two fingers.
“1D20=20, nice luck.”
He placed the die in front of him. The side facing him bore a large 20.
Although his ability had nothing to do with the die—hey, it was free to believe a little.
He pocketed the die again and closed his eyes to sense the ability this time.
Snap!
Lu Zheng opened his eyes and snapped his fingers.
The air before him distorted, forming a portal.
This time, he’d gained a storage space with adjustable time flow inside.
Maybe a bit overkill, but still—very fitting.
He placed the breakfast into the storage space and snapped his fingers again to close the portal.
If only he could use this kind of luck for something important.
Thinking back to the random power he got during Rigil’s arrest, he couldn’t help but sigh.
It wasn’t useless, but if he had a choice, he’d prefer something more practical.
The violent takedown last night had busted a wall in the hotel, and after processing Rigil’s arrest papers, he had to work overtime to write a reimbursement request. By the time everything was done, the sky was already pale with morning light.
“Sigh~”
Lu Zheng shook his head, trying to shake off his gloom.
Better to think about what to do next.
Miss Qiu Yu wasn’t a complete tyrant—she wouldn’t have him work right after an all-nighter.
Lu Zheng looked at the hallway window and rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the soreness from sitting all night.
It was already 8 a.m.
Summer sunlight streamed through the window, brightly lighting the corridor. Reflected off the walls, it made Lu Zheng squint.
He shielded his eyes for a second, considered his options—
Then decisively entered the elevator and pressed the button for the underground parking lot.
No way was he dealing with morning rush hour on foot.
Now that he had no superpower, ordinary-human Lu Zheng had no fast way to reach Yi Ning’s base.
If he didn’t get moving, she’d probably beat him there.