53 Die, Pixel Mask!
“Huh?”
Yi Ning froze upon hearing Lu Zheng’s declaration.
Her hand stiffened, and the chopsticks fell from her grasp.
Luckily, Lu Zheng reacted in time, catching the chopsticks and handing them back to her.
“Thanks.”
Yi Ning took the chopsticks, feeling like she couldn’t trust her own ears.
“You’re saying… you’re going to crack down on evil right now?”
She asked with a glimmer of hope, wishing Lu Zheng would deny it.
But reality delivered the final blow.
“That’s right.”
Those two icy words spilled from Lu Zheng’s mouth.
Despite the sweltering heat, Yi Ning broke into a cold sweat, her hands and feet turning clammy.
How could a mouth at thirty-seven degrees say something so chilling?
The villains hadn’t even begun their evil schemes, and the hero already wanted to crack down?
What kind of world was this? It was filled with oppression against villains—just how were villains supposed to live to your satisfaction? When would they finally rise up?
So, Yi Ning made what she believed was the most righteous decision—
“No way!”
She pressed down the chopsticks on her rice bowl with her left hand, while her right hand straightened into a flat palm in a halting gesture.
“My brilliant evil invention isn’t done yet, you can’t go in.”
Yi Ning blurted out a random excuse.
“Oh? Really?”
Lu Zheng crossed his arms, tilted his body slightly, and leaned down, bringing his face closer to hers, full of suspicion.
“Of course it’s true!”
Yi Ning nodded frantically—this girl could lie without even blinking.
Unfortunately for her, Lu Zheng’s suspicion wasn’t baseless.
He clearly remembered seeing Yi Ning’s “evil invention” yesterday, covered in white cloth at her base.
Judging by its outline under the cloth, it had at least been structurally completed.
Given how quickly Yi Ning usually built her inventions, even if she had slacked off all afternoon yesterday, it should be done by now.
And knowing her lazy nature, she wouldn’t let an unused evil invention go to waste—she probably hadn’t even changed her evil plan.
So, the truth could only be one thing!
In the name of his grandfather, Lu Zheng was certain Yi Ning had completed the invention for today’s evil plan!
Without hesitation, Lu Zheng exposed Yi Ning’s lie.
“Guh~”
Yi Ning clutched her chest as if struck, staggering back a few steps.
Seizing the chance, Lu Zheng hurried a few steps closer to the door.
“Damn it!”
Seeing Lu Zheng about to reach the door, Yi Ning shouted angrily.
“Die, Pixel Mask!”
She turned, placed her bowl and chopsticks on the ground, then lunged at Lu Zheng just as he was about to enter, tackling him and pinning him beneath her.
“I won’t let you in!”
Straddling Lu Zheng, Yi Ning grabbed his collar with both hands and shook him furiously.
“I haven’t started any evil activity yet, so you can’t go in. Otherwise, I’ll accuse you of unlawful entry on ISN! I’ll unleash a media storm and socially destroy you!”
“Face the wrath of the superior gender! I’m gonna kill kill kill kill kill kill! Watch me unleash my murder frenzy fury death blow!”
Faced with Yi Ning’s tantrum as she sat on top of him, flailing and yelling, Lu Zheng could only barely manage to restrain her. He grabbed both her wrists with his left hand and lifted her off with his right.
If she kept wriggling in that spot, he’d be raising a flag in excitement.
“Settle down!”
Lu Zheng stood behind her, holding her hands behind her head.
“I haven’t done anything evil yet, so you’re not allowed to enter!”
Yi Ning squirmed, trying to break free from Lu Zheng’s grip.
Though her body was restrained, her spirit longed for freedom.
She would rise from beneath this five-finger mountain!
Seeing Yi Ning on the verge of escaping, Lu Zheng had no choice but to use his other hand to pin her down harder.
“Are you serious?”
Lu Zheng was exasperated.
Hadn’t he entered before when she hadn’t started any evil plan?
“Of course I’m serious!”
Yi Ning struggled under his grip, squeezing a finger out between Lu Zheng’s to flip him the bird—her way of showing she’d never surrender.
She had gone through great pains today, thoroughly remodeling the lab interior for her evil scheme.
There was no way she’d let Lu Zheng bypass her setup and sneak in ahead of time.
“In any case, you’re not going in!”
Yi Ning twisted her neck around and stuck out her pink little tongue, yelling petulantly.
“Otherwise, I’ll expose you online! You degenerate, you’re getting the death penalty, the death penalty!”
“I warned you! You scum! Scum!”
Taking the opportunity to stick out her tongue, she also spat on Lu Zheng’s face.
Lu Zheng wiped the spit off his face, scowling.
If she’d resisted with force or threats, he might have subdued her with a show of strength. But Yi Ning was acting like a bratty kid, squatting and throwing a tantrum, and he really didn’t know how to deal with her.
“Alright then.”
Lu Zheng let go of her hands.
“Huh?”
Yi Ning hadn’t expected him to give up so easily.
She remained squatting, arms over her head, neck twisted, tongue out, staring at Lu Zheng.
“Yay!”
But quickly, she jumped up in joy.
Hands on her hips, she strutted in circles in front of Lu Zheng like a victorious hen.
“Hmph hmph~ This is the power of the superior gender!”
Yi Ning proudly puffed out her completely flat chest, leaning her face close to Lu Zheng’s to flaunt.
“Regretting it now? Regretting not accepting the great Kami Dr. Alien’s gift and becoming a cute, lovely girl?”
She twisted her head to a ninety-degree angle.
“I just wanted to see that expression! That look of jealousy and helplessness!”
Watching Yi Ning’s smug, strutting antics, Lu Zheng’s expression remained blank.
He let out a cold snort and dropped his trump card.
“Since you won’t let me sabotage your evil plan before it starts, I’ll change tactics.”
Lu Zheng straightened his wrinkled shirt collar, messed up from Yi Ning tugging at him.
“The Hero Association detected a special ability signal from your location. As this is a period of ability prohibition, please cooperate with the investigation!”
“Hmph~”
He curled his lips into a smirk, pointing at the lab entrance.
“That includes the interior of your base, of course.”