Chapter 21: What kind of hero would come before an evil plan is even carried out?
Inside the box was none other than Ye Qin, who had been missing for a long time.
She was curled up and stuffed inside the box, with wires of various colors embedded throughout her body.
Lu Zheng carefully took Ye Qin out of the box and laid her flat on the bench.
Embedded in Ye Qin’s chest was a digital display screen that kept counting down.
“Ye Qin! Ye Qin!”
Lu Zheng furrowed his brow and gently patted Ye Qin’s shoulder, but unfortunately got no response.
Could it be...
He swallowed hard, turned his head to the side, and carefully moved it close to Ye Qin’s nose and mouth.
A faint airflow brushed his face.
Thankfully, she was still breathing.
Lu Zheng let out a sigh of relief and checked Ye Qin’s carotid pulse.
The carotid pulse was also normal.
Only then did Lu Zheng raise his head and look toward Miss Qiu Yu, who was standing by the suitcase holding a note.
“Ye Qin is okay for now. What’s that in your hand?”
He walked over to Miss Qiu Yu’s side, leaned his head over, and looked at the note.
It was a ransom letter composed of words cut out from a newspaper.
“I have already planted a bomb on your friend. If you don’t want her to die, then let Deputy Director Qiu Yu of the D-City Hero Association bring Joseph Yaheng, Pence Vito, and Liu Yao to this location. Once I pick them up, I’ll naturally disarm the bomb on your friend. As for the time limit, I suggest you just take a look at the countdown on the bomb.”
The entire ransom letter gave off a very casual vibe. Not only were the names typed out on a typewriter, cut out, and pasted onto the letter, but there was also a printed screenshot of a location from a phone map pasted at the bottom.
“(Expletive).”
Miss Qiu Yu furrowed her brows tightly, cursed under her breath, and almost crushed the letter in her right hand.
She took a deep breath to calm her emotions, then turned to look at Lu Zheng.
“How much time is left?”
Lu Zheng looked at the countdown on Ye Qin’s chest: “About seven and a half hours.”
Then he checked the current time: “It’ll explode at around 5 PM at the latest.”
“Try using your ability to see if you can disarm the bomb on Ye Qin. I’ll report this to the higher-ups.”
Miss Qiu Yu walked deeper into the Hero Association.
As she passed the table, she slammed the note down with a loud “bang,” almost tearing it apart.
“Sigh—”
Lu Zheng sighed, walked over to Ye Qin, took out a die, and determined the task he had to complete now—
To return Ye Qin to her original state.
But the ability he received surprised him greatly.
This ability wasn’t completely unrelated to disarming the bomb on Ye Qin—but it was, frankly, not related at all.
It was short-distance spatial teleportation.
Could it mean he was supposed to teleport the bomb out of Ye Qin’s body?
But how was he supposed to know where the bomb was inside her?
Lu Zheng massaged his temples.
He couldn’t exactly take her to the hospital now for a CT or ultrasound, could he?
Would that even detect something like a bomb?
Lu Zheng looked a little grim.
Calm down, Lu Zheng.
Calm down!
His abilities had never given him something useless for completing a mission!
So, this ability must also be a kind of clue.
Reverse the thinking—don’t wonder why he was given this ability, but instead think about what this ability could do to help disarm the bomb on Ye Qin.
Lu Zheng clasped his hands behind his back and began pacing in front of the bench where Ye Qin lay.
The most straightforward use of spatial teleportation was, of course, travel.
If looked at from that angle, perhaps it was suggesting he should go somewhere to restore Ye Qin to her original state?
Lu Zheng sensed his current ability.
The teleportation range was a maximum diameter of twenty kilometers and couldn’t be used consecutively.
Even if he started now and kept teleporting with Ye Qin non-stop, he could only reach a few nearby cities at most.
Although he could teleport objects directly, Lu Zheng didn’t know the exact location of the bomb, and judging by the chaotic wires embedded in Ye Qin, the other party probably hadn’t simply planted a bomb in her abdomen—they might have turned Ye Qin herself into a bomb!
This was a common tactic used by evil organizations.
Transforming innocent civilians or loved ones into human bombs or monsters to inflict both psychological and physical damage on heroes.
Evil organizations...
Lu Zheng’s mind conjured up the image of Yi Ning making a mischievous peace sign beside her face.
Lu Zheng pulled out his phone’s map and searched for the location of Dr. Alien’s evil research base.
The straight-line distance from the Hero Association was just within twenty kilometers.
No way?
Lu Zheng could hardly believe his guess.
But thinking back to all of Dr. Alien’s past inventions, it didn’t seem impossible.
Plus, she was a legitimate graduate of Evil University—modifying someone into a human bomb should be well within her expertise.
Even if she couldn’t disarm it, she could at least give professional advice.
No matter how he thought about it, it seemed like the perfect choice.
Unfortunately, there was one huge obstacle standing in the way of Lu Zheng seeking Dr. Alien’s help to save Ye Qin.
After all, Dr. Alien was still an evil scientist intent on conquering D-City, and she stood on the opposite side from Lu Zheng and his group. Why would she help a hero, her enemy?
Even if she was willing, what if she demanded something outrageous like ruling D-City in return?
These weren’t entirely impossible scenarios.
Thinking about all that made Lu Zheng feel a bit dizzy.
But it was still the most effective solution he could think of.
Might as well try.
Combining the intelligence he had previously gathered on Dr. Alien, Lu Zheng finally made up his mind.
Seek help from a professional!
He looked at Miss Qiu Yu, who was still in contact with the higher-ups, hesitated for a moment, and decided not to disturb her. Instead, he took a piece of paper and left her a note.
Lu Zheng placed the note in a conspicuous spot, checked Ye Qin’s condition again to make sure there was no immediate danger, then put on his helmet and set the coordinates for Dr. Alien’s evil research base, intending to teleport there directly.
But recalling Yi Ning’s previous reactions to him barging into her base unannounced, he adjusted the coordinates and teleported to the gate of Dr. Alien’s evil research base instead.
After all, he was here to ask for help—it was better to lower his posture a bit.
“Ding-dong~”
Lu Zheng rang the doorbell.
Moments later, Yi Ning’s voice came from inside.
“I’m not buying anything, okay?”
Her usual response to salespeople.
Yi Ning opened the door and saw her arch-nemesis standing outside with a pixel-screen helmet, looking visibly surprised.
This guy came way too early?
“Pixel Mask? What are you doing here? I haven’t even started executing my evil plan yet. You’re way too early.”
Yi Ning rubbed her chin with her hand, thought for a moment, and rephrased it with what she felt was a more accurate expression.
“To be precise, I’m still preparing for my evil plan. There’s still a small part of today’s Evil Wondrous Invention that I haven’t finished assembling.”
“Before it’s time, I won’t spoil anything about my plan. So scram.”
She waved her hand at Lu Zheng and slammed the door shut, leaving him turned away at the doorstep.