Chapter 63: Abandon the Title of Hero
“So you got sent back just like that?”
“Uh… yeah.”
“By air?”
“By air.”
Inside the Hero Association, Lu Zheng sat at his desk, his face full of awkwardness.
Because he had flown straight into the Hero Association’s protective barrier, the building had instantly gone into lockdown. Only when Ye Qin ran out and saw him lying in the crater on the ground did the Hero Association resume normal operations.
Now, Lu Zheng was being “interrogated” by both Miss Qiu Yu and Ye Qin over the incident.
“Unbelievable.”
Miss Qiu Yu rubbed her temples.
She never would have imagined that the first real activation of her carefully set-up protection array would be triggered by one of their own.
Thinking back to the crater in the courtyard she saw after stepping outside, Miss Qiu Yu felt utterly embarrassed.
This was supposed to be their top ace?
Helmet left behind at the villain’s base, car still parked outside the villain’s door, and even the dice got lost midair…
“Give up the title of ace. Go back to Hero University and relearn everything.”
Miss Qiu Yu patted Lu Zheng on the shoulder, walked past him, and returned to her desk to resume her unfinished work.
There were so many things to criticize that she couldn’t even get angry anymore.
And with the temporary ban on ability usage just issued, her workload had skyrocketed.
Just handling the numerous applications for ability usage was already overwhelming.
She had spent the entire morning stamping approvals at her desk. Even with Ye Qin occasionally helping to review the applications, a tall stack of unfinished documents still piled up on her side.
“Sigh~”
Miss Qiu Yu sighed and picked up another file from the stack labeled “Pending.”
She looked down.
It was a request from a construction team seeking to use earth-type magic for their project.
Miss Qiu Yu flipped through the file, checked the team's credentials and other necessary documents, and after confirming everything was in order, signed her approval and stamped the document.
There was still a lot of work left—no time for rest.
Seeing the exhausted Miss Qiu Yu buried in paperwork, Lu Zheng felt it was inappropriate to just laze around.
He walked over to her and reached toward the stack of pending files, wanting to help.
Smack!
Miss Qiu Yu lightly swatted his hand away, pulled out another document herself, and continued working.
“You just got back—go rest for a bit.”
Although her emotional side longed to work together closely with Lu Zheng, her rationality hadn’t evaporated. She forcibly suppressed her emotional impulses and made the sensible decision.
She knew that if her “love-brain” took over, things could get really messy.
Especially with the current situation being far from optimistic—a reckless individual was still wandering around D-City. To capture him before any civilians were harmed, she needed to remain as rational as possible.
Thus, Miss Qiu Yu chose to send Lu Zheng away.
“Go order some delivery. Don’t forget to include mine and Ye Qin’s. We’ll have lunch together.”
She gave the instruction without even looking up.
“Uh…”
Lu Zheng looked a bit awkward.
He had already eaten lunch at Yi Ning’s place and couldn’t very well sit down for a second full meal with them.
“What’s wrong?”
Sensing Lu Zheng’s hesitation, Miss Qiu Yu looked up.
“I already ate.”
Lu Zheng explained.
“At Yi Ning’s place.”
To avoid any misunderstandings or confusion, he decided to go ahead and explain everything that had happened after arriving at Yi Ning’s base.
“You little…”
After hearing the full explanation, Miss Qiu Yu’s expression grew complicated.
She felt all sorts of mixed emotions.
These two were supposed to be arch-nemeses, yet their relationship was advancing so quickly it made her—his childhood friend—feel a little jealous.
They’d only been “friends” for two days and had already shared no fewer than two meals together.
And if you included Lu Zheng’s earlier exchanges with Dr. Alien during his villain-busting time…
It wouldn’t be a stretch to say they spent all day together!
With that much time, if either had feelings for the other, they probably would’ve done everything they “should” and “shouldn’t” by now!
In Miss Qiu Yu’s mind, the metaphorical hat on her head was spinning rapidly through all colors.
Her vinegar jar of jealousy had been smashed wide open by a rock, spilling rich, sour liquid everywhere, soaking her from head to toe in the stench of envy.
“So annoying!”
Miss Qiu Yu’s expression soured.
Yet she couldn’t bring herself to show any extreme anger.
Because there was something even more pressing—
“What’s with Dr. Alien saying not to worry about that Freedom Alliance guy anymore?”
The question burst out of Miss Qiu Yu almost instinctively.
In the face of such weighty intel, everything else had to take a back seat.
“Sorry, I’m not sure either.”
Unfortunately, Lu Zheng couldn’t provide any more helpful information.
That intel had only been casually dropped by Yi Ning when trying to stop him from entering her base—she hadn’t gone on to explain it further.
“Could she have made it up?”
Ye Qin, who had been quietly eavesdropping, offered a guess.
“Based on what Lu Zheng said, it sounds like Yi Ning might’ve just said that as an excuse to stop him. It could totally be a spur-of-the-moment lie, right?”
She took a pessimistic view of the intel’s credibility.
“I don’t think she made it up.”
Lu Zheng shook his head, disagreeing with Ye Qin.
Although Yi Ning was often unpredictable and could lie without batting an eye, she rarely made things up when it came to serious matters.
“But if it is true, then where did Yi Ning get that information from? D-City is our turf, right? Are you telling me our intel gathering is worse than hers?”
Ye Qin’s question had merit.
“Forget it.”
In the end, it was Miss Qiu Yu who brought the discussion to a close.
“Let’s shelve this for now. Lu Zheng, you’re going back to Dr. Alien’s place this afternoon, right? Try to find out more subtly.”
Later that afternoon.
Perhaps due to the morning’s lightning-quick crackdown having properly scared off some would-be troublemakers, the Hero Association didn’t receive a single special ability usage alert for the rest of the day.
Until that familiar time arrived.
“Woooooo—”
A piercing alarm once again echoed through the Hero Association.
Miss Qiu Yu snapped her fingers, and a semi-transparent map appeared in midair.
Judging from the red dot’s location and timestamp, it was Dr. Alien again.
Miss Qiu Yu turned back to her mountain of paperwork.
Even with two assistants, the document pile hadn’t shrunk at all.
“Get to work.”
She didn’t even lift her head.