Chapter 51: Paying Rent Is Only Natural When Renting a Place
Rigil felt a sudden chill on his back.
Perhaps sensing that her gaze had been too conspicuous, Yi Ning retracted her eyes.
“Alright, seeing how sincere you are, I’ll temporarily forgive you.”
However, in her mind, she was still calculating how to capture Rigil alive so she could secure an endless supply of materials.
“Thank you so very much.”
Rigil rubbed his hands together excitedly.
He observed Yi Ning’s expression. After confirming that she seemed to be in a good mood, he opened his mouth, intending to bring up another request.
“And also…”
Before he could finish, Yi Ning raised her hand to signal him to stop.
She sensed that something was off.
Yi Ning took out her phone and checked the time.
10:40 A.M.
She was a bit surprised, lifted her head to scan her surroundings, but did not spot her target.
Strange. She remembered Lu Zheng had told her that the Hero Association had started monitoring all ability usage across the city. Based on past habits, Lu Zheng should’ve arrived by now.
But where was that guy?
Still, it was just as well that he hadn’t come.
Yi Ning cast a malicious glance at Rigil opposite her.
If Lu Zheng had shown up, she would’ve had to consider their friendly relationship and work with him to send that unfortunate fool to prison.
Now that she was alone, it was actually more convenient to capture this treasure trove.
Yi Ning put her phone back in her pocket.
“Seeing as you brought such a nice gift, I’ll give you a heads-up: the Hero Association has been monitoring all special ability activations across D-City. If you don’t want to end up in the slammer, I suggest you run—fast.”
She grinned wickedly at Rigil, showing no intention of helping him.
Hearing her warning, Rigil immediately recalled this situation.
Having been thoroughly toyed with by Yi Ning earlier, he’d been so enraged he momentarily forgot about that detail.
He had almost caused a major incident.
“Then… would Dr. Alien be willing to let me hide in your base temporarily?”
Rigil nodded gratefully at Yi Ning and pointed toward her base’s door as he asked.
After all, the Hero Association in D-City had never been able to do anything about Dr. Alien. So why not just hide here?
And he could use the opportunity to have a detailed conversation with Dr. Alien—maybe even persuade her to join the Freedom Alliance.
“No.”
Yi Ning smiled and shook her head.
What a joke. She had woken up early and meticulously set up traps inside the base just for that damned Pixel Mask—how could she let this guy enjoy them first?
Besides, her treasure trove theory hadn’t yet been tested or verified, so its feasibility wasn’t high. She wasn’t that invested in this guy.
If he got caught, so be it—she’d just consider the experiment a failure.
“In any case, bon voyage.”
Yi Ning stepped back inside the base, waved at Rigil, and grabbed the door handle, preparing to shut it.
“Wait!”
Seeing this, Rigil rushed forward to try again, hoping to persuade Yi Ning to let him in.
Unfortunately, before he could take more than a few steps, an invisible barrier appeared in his path, slamming him to a halt.
Rigil’s vision went black, with occasional flashes of white light.
He staggered backward several steps, a metallic taste of blood flooding his nose and mouth.
Touching his nose, he felt blood gushing out, the bridge bent to one side—like a condiment shop had exploded, unleashing salt, sourness, and spice all at once.
“Haha~”
Seeing this, Yi Ning couldn’t help it—she accidentally burst out laughing.
Still, considering the victim was standing right there, she tried to restrain her laughter and gave him a heads-up.
“If you manage to get out of this alive, come find me after 11 a.m. tomorrow. I’ll prepare some red tea for you.”
Of course, there’d also be tools for erasing your personality—and your forever home.
Yi Ning shut the door, leaving Rigil standing there alone in a daze.
“This… this bastard…”
Realizing that Dr. Alien truly had no intention of helping him, the rage Rigil had barely suppressed due to her strength and the potential benefits reignited in his eyes.
His plan to introduce Dr. Alien to the Freedom Alliance’s leader began to waver.
But then he thought of the gift he had already delivered and the rewards he could reap if Dr. Alien did join the Freedom Alliance. Rigil took a deep breath and swallowed his fury.
Endure!
Endure now, and unleash it later.
Vengeance has its time.
He angrily kicked the protective barrier of Dr. Alien’s Evil Laboratory to vent his emotions.
But to his surprise, the moment his foot made contact, a powerful force instantly rebounded onto him.
The barrier didn’t tolerate his nasty temper.
“Aaaoooowww—”
Rigil clutched his fractured foot with both hands, wailing as he hopped on his other foot.
Once he gradually got used to the pain, he reached into his pocket and fused with another type of metal he carried.
After a while, he finally finished repairing his crooked nose and broken foot. With eyes full of resentment, he stared at Dr. Alien’s Evil Laboratory, picked up the shared bike he’d ridden here on, and wobbled away.
Good thing he hadn’t returned it yet.
……
“Hahahaha!”
Inside Dr. Alien’s Evil Laboratory, Yi Ning was in stitches watching the surveillance footage from outside.
Sitting in her chair, she pointed at the clown on screen, laughing so hard she cried.
She had known that, based on that unlucky bastard’s personality, he’d never obediently leave. So she had cranked up the reflective setting of the protective barrier in advance—just to enjoy this very moment.
And sure enough, the guy hopping around clutching his foot provided her a top-tier comedy show.
“Aiya~”
Yi Ning wiped away her tears and caught her breath.
She stared at Rigil on screen, whose body was slowly beginning self-repair, with a meaningful expression.
Based on his demonstrated abilities, he must’ve used some self-repairing material again.
What could it be?
Memory Clay? Berman Metal?
Looked like this guy had quite a few good things on him.
Yi Ning licked her lips, her eyes glinting greedily as she stared at the pocket where Rigil kept his fusion materials.
This guy might very well end up staying long-term in her Evil Laboratory. So wouldn’t it be reasonable to collect some rent in advance?