Chapter 24: Gotta Pay Extra
“Massage my feet.”
“Alright.”
“Put my shoes on for me.”
“Coming.”
“Help your master into my workshop.”
“No problem.”
Watching Lu Zheng bustling about and obeying her every command, Yi Ning felt like she was floating on air.
In the height of her smugness, Yi Ning started speaking without thinking.
“Slap yourself in the face so your master can enjoy it!”
“Huh?”
Seeing Lu Zheng’s reaction, Yi Ning finally snapped out of her extreme smugness.
She was just using Pixel Mask’s friend to coerce him—she hadn’t even used her evil inventions to control him yet.
“Never mind.”
Yi Ning waved a hand at Lu Zheng.
“Keep massaging your master.”
“Alright then.”
Since he needed her help, Lu Zheng could only toss aside Yi Ning’s earlier words and continue serving her as she wished.
Only when his patience was completely worn out did he finally speak up: “When are we going to save Ye Qin?”
“Eh? That matter~”
Yi Ning shot a sly glance at Lu Zheng and started beating around the bush.
What a joke—she hadn’t finished enjoying herself yet.
“After you save Ye Qin, I’ll let you order me around however you want.”
Judging from Yi Ning’s attitude, Lu Zheng could more or less guess her thoughts.
He didn’t particularly mind serving Yi Ning, but right now Ye Qin was still lying in the Hero Association, and he had no time to be calm.
Seeing that she couldn’t bluff her way through, Yi Ning secretly rolled her eyes and sighed helplessly.
“Fine, I’ll go with you to the Hero Association and fix her up after work.”
“She’ll explode if we wait until after work!”
Lu Zheng got emotional, and in a moment of carelessness, he squeezed too hard, causing Yi Ning to cry out in pain.
She curled up, slapped his hands away, and cautiously massaged the area he had squeezed.
Yi Ning pulled open the clothing around her shoulder slightly.
It was already red and swollen from Lu Zheng’s grip.
She showed the swollen skin to Lu Zheng and shot him a glare.
“Uh... s-sorry, I got a little emotional,” Lu Zheng put his hands together and bowed slightly. “But we really don’t have much time left. I’m begging you—go help me disarm the bomb in Ye Qin right now. After that, you can order me around however long you want!”
Lu Zheng’s expression was so sincere it even stirred a bit of pity in Yi Ning.
But she had her own inconvenient constraints.
“I’m a professional evil scientist. After work, I can do whatever I want, but during work hours, I must do my job properly. That’s the rule.”
“Can’t you take a leave?”
“I’ve already clocked in. If you’d come a little earlier, I could’ve taken leave.”
Yi Ning pinched the bridge of her nose—she was feeling a little helpless too.
After completing her daily evil quota, she had to report to Ji Ping, and during that time, members of the Evil Council would be monitoring the whole thing.
Usually, slacking off was overlooked. But this time she was planning to go to the Hero Association and save a hero—that was basically throwing dirt in their eyes.
“There’s no way around it? No matter what, we’re talking about a human life here!”
“No way.”
Yi Ning shook her head.
If it were that easy to fool those monitoring her, the countless evil organizations under the Evil Council would’ve descended into chaos already.
And the Evil Council wouldn’t be able to maintain its leadership.
“Can’t we find some kind of loophole?”
Hearing her response, Lu Zheng gripped the back of Yi Ning’s chair tightly, his voice growing anxious. The chair’s back had deep indentations from his grasp.
Yi Ning pondered for a moment: “Mm... there’s no requirement to verbally report today’s evil action. Submitting it in written form should be acceptable.”
Lu Zheng’s eyes lit up.
“You mean you can fake a report document?”
Yi Ning rolled her eyes at him.
Same story again.
If it were that easy to trick the monitors, those chaotic evil organizations would’ve already gone wild.
“I’m on the evil side. I can’t lie on my action records.”
The evil side?
Lu Zheng’s eyes lit up again.
“Then I’ll write it for you?”
He didn’t count as part of the evil side. And he wrote Hero Association mission reports all the time—this was right up his alley.
“Only participants in the evil action can write the report.”
Yi Ning rolled her eyes at him again.
“Then what do we do?”
Lu Zheng felt his head throbbing.
Even their Hero Association’s mission reports weren’t this troublesome.
“How about... I get the Hero Association to issue you a Certificate of Evil Deeds?”
Maybe he was too anxious, but Lu Zheng actually suggested something that sounded completely ridiculous.
However, this ended up jogging a small part of Yi Ning’s memory.
She remembered attending a talk by some successful evil organization leaders in the past. One of the minor bosses had mentioned submitting a Certificate of Evil Deeds issued by the Hero Association as their evil action record—and the Evil Council hadn’t caused any trouble over it.
“Wait here. I’m going to make a call.”
Lu Zheng watched Yi Ning give him a signal and leave the workshop. She returned a few minutes later.
Seeing the grin on her face, Lu Zheng knew—Yi Ning had a plan.
“I asked around. Turns out, a Certificate of Evil Deeds issued by your Hero Association can be used as an evil action record—but it must be stamped with your official seal.”
Hearing this, Lu Zheng felt both joyful and confused.
“Why would the Evil Council recognize something like that?”
“Who knows? Maybe they use it to sniff out which evil groups are colluding with the Hero Association.”
Yi Ning sneered as she voiced a pretty plausible guess. She pointed at Lu Zheng’s nose.
“Let’s make it clear—if I end up unemployed because of this, you’d better take responsibility.”
“Don’t worry. If you really get fired over this, I’ll give you a third of my monthly salary... no, half! You’ll never starve!”
Seeing Yi Ning finally satisfied, Lu Zheng extended his hand: “Then let’s go.”
But to his surprise, Yi Ning didn’t take his hand. Instead, she stepped back and gave him a strange smile.
“You didn’t think being my slave for a few days was enough to make me risk unemployment to help you, did you?”
Yi Ning smirked and raised her right hand, making a money gesture.
“How much do you want?”
Lu Zheng braced himself for a financial hit.
“Money?”
Yi Ning’s expression turned slightly angry.
Did she look like someone who cared about money?
“Which eye of yours saw me lacking cash?”
Only then did Lu Zheng realize—what Yi Ning wanted wasn’t cash.
She wanted that Certificate of Evil Deeds from the Hero Association, stamped and official.
And not just one.
“I’ll give you a week’s worth.”
Lu Zheng made a promise off the cuff.
After all, he wasn’t the one issuing them. So he boldly offered Yi Ning several times the usual amount.
Unfortunately, Yi Ning wasn’t satisfied with that number.
She shook her finger: “Gotta pay extra.”