Chapter 74: Flustered
“Oh? Not pretending to be deaf and mute anymore?”
“You were sulking in the corner earlier like a slug that couldn’t hide inside a ripe mango crate.”
Watching Lu Zheng soak in the water, his pixel screen continuously flashing annoyed emoticons, Yi Ning’s lips curved into an even more graceful arc.
Now that’s more like it.
This was exactly what she wanted to see.
It’d be far too boring to do a one-woman show.
Since she finally had a chance to stir up trouble in public, it would be such a waste not to properly mess with Lu Zheng.
Still, since they were friends, Yi Ning considerately didn’t pursue the previous topic and covered up the fact that Lu Zheng suffered from mild chuunibyou.
She was such a great person.
She felt quite pleased with herself.
“Isn’t this just what you wanted?”
Lu Zheng’s pixel screen displayed a cold-faced emoticon.
He sighed, rose slightly from the hot spring, and pointed at Yi Ning, revealing his tight chest muscles and the elegant lines of muscle along his arms.
“If I don’t speak, I can’t thoroughly defeat you.”
As Lu Zheng exposed his upper body, bullet comments began to flood the screen with strange commentary.
「Not to brag, but those muscles? One punch, and I’d have him on his knees begging me not to die.」
「I’m not into dudes, but those muscles, slurp—」
Seeing the scrolling comments, Lu Zheng’s cold emoticon on the screen began to flicker.
He was barely holding it together.
Even though Yi Ning had set up a comedic tone from the beginning, this was still supposed to be a serious anti-evil operation. Didn’t these people feel even a hint of tension?
Unlike Lu Zheng, Yi Ning didn’t care much about the bullet comments.
Once Lu Zheng started responding, she hadn’t even glanced at the screen that showed the stream and chat.
To her, those were merely tools to trap Lu Zheng, and her focus had always been singular.
“Hoho, now let me see—achoo!”
Before she could finish her line, Yi Ning let out a huge sneeze.
Her soaked clothes were continually draining her body heat, and coupled with the lower temperature she’d set on the hot spring’s central air, her body was starting to shiver uncontrollably.
“Ugh…”
Yi Ning frowned and reached into her lab coat to wiggle her limbs, trying to separate the wet clothes from her skin and reduce further heat loss.
Seeing this, Lu Zheng cautiously offered a suggestion.
“Hey, why don’t you go change into dry clothes first?”
“How thoughtful of you.”
Yi Ning pulled out her damp hands and wiped them on her pants.
But she still didn’t accept Lu Zheng’s suggestion.
“What if you run off while I’m gone?”
She was still worried about that.
Facing her concern, Lu Zheng’s pixel screen showed a helpless emoticon.
“There’s so many people watching.”
He pointed at the screen filled with bullet comments.
“I don’t have some weird fetish for exposing my greatness to the public.”
“Ha! Greatness? Is it even longer than my pinky? Enoki mushroom!”
Yi Ning let out a scornful laugh and held up her pinky at him.
But after mocking him, she agreed with his suggestion.
“You’re not entirely wrong.”
“Then I’ll go change. You stay put. Once I’m back, we’ll continue.”
With that, she headed to the changing room.
She made sure to stay out of the camera’s range, muttering as she walked, “Soaking wet—so annoying.”
Meanwhile, Lu Zheng moved to the edge of the spring, smiling as he watched her walk off.
“Don’t worry, I definitely won’t do anything rash.”
…Yeah, right!
As soon as Yi Ning disappeared into the changing room, Lu Zheng’s pixel screen displayed a smug grin.
True, he couldn’t leave the hot spring—but who said he couldn’t do anything while staying inside?
He scanned the area, checking the positions of the cameras around him.
Basically, Yi Ning was just using those cameras to record him and upload it online.
If he could destroy the cameras, the crisis would be resolved.
But clearly, Yi Ning had anticipated this—within reach, there was nothing he could use to destroy the cameras, and they were placed far from the hot spring’s edge.
But who said he had to do it himself?
Lu Zheng looked over at the robot that had greeted him earlier at the reception.
Wasn’t that something he could use?
He waved at the robot.
“Hey! Uh… robot!”
After thinking a moment and not knowing what to call it, he just went with a generic term.
“How may I assist you?”
As expected, the robot responded.
Its eyes flashed as it moved to Lu Zheng’s side.
How to make use of this guy?
Lu Zheng started pondering.
After all, this robot was made by Yi Ning—he couldn’t directly ask it to fetch something to smash the cameras.
Wait!
A lightbulb flashed on his pixel screen.
He looked at the robot and said, “I’ve been soaking for a while and I’m feeling really parched. Could you get me two bottles of water?”
The robot looked at Lu Zheng, eyes flashing a few times.
“Understood.”
It turned and left.
Less than a minute later, it returned holding a tray with two cups.
Lu Zheng picked up the cups, displaying a confused emoticon.
“Empty?”
He turned the cups over and checked thoroughly, ultimately arriving at that conclusion.
Why bring him two empty cups?
Could Yi Ning’s robots really be that unintelligent?
Lu Zheng sighed and turned his attention back to the cameras.
Oh well.
They’d still work for smashing cameras.
He tossed the cup in his hand a few times, then aimed at the nearest camera.
Just as he was about to throw it, the robot beside him spoke again.
“Dr. Alien has not used this hot spring yet. You are the first guest. If you were hoping to savor the sweet, soft bathwater of a beautiful girl, then I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed.”
Lu Zheng lost it.
His hand twitched, and the cup flew off course, hitting the ground near the camera.
But he didn’t care about that anymore.
“Which of your damn sensors told you I wanted to drink Dr. Alien’s bathwater?!”
This outrageous slander was the real emergency.
They were still live—if he didn’t clarify, he’d face immediate social death.
“Don’t taint my pure thoughts with your filthy imagination.”
In response to his fury, the robot’s eyes flickered and it let out a mocking sound:
“Heh! Flustered.”