Chapter 76: The Evil Process Advances Relentlessly
Yi Ning let out a couple of self-mocking chuckles and turned to look at Lu Zheng still soaking in the water.
“Let’s resume the business we left unfinished earlier.”
Though three of the four cameras she had prepared were now smashed, this loss was still within Yi Ning’s expectations.
The money spent on those cameras wasn’t even enough to rebuild a base.
And the cameras were only meant as a means to keep Lu Zheng stuck in the hot spring. One was more than enough.
She grinned, her face brimming with mischief.
“What are you up to now?”
That smile instantly put Lu Zheng on high alert.
He still vividly remembered that the last time Yi Ning wore this kind of smile was right before she whipped out those four cameras.
Naturally, Yi Ning wasn’t at all bothered by his wariness.
If anything, the more on guard Lu Zheng became, the more excited she felt.
She loved seeing that mix of indignation, helplessness, and resignation in his eyes.
“Of course, something fun~”
So she smiled sweetly and spoke in deliberately vague tones, clearly trying to tease him.
And it worked well.
Lu Zheng’s expression turned even more wary.
After being around Yi Ning for this long, he knew her character well.
Like now—when she wore that sunny smile while saying “it’s something fun”—it was always a smiling tiger routine.
He doubted anything that came next would be as “fun” as she claimed.
Especially considering all the shady stunts she’d already pulled...
“Forget it.”
Lu Zheng shrank deeper into the water, moving toward the center of the hot spring to keep some distance between them.
Even though he knew that with Yi Ning’s tricks, this kind of distance was no more than a minor stroll for her, maintaining some visible space at least gave him a shred of mental comfort.
After all, the disintegrating swim trunks and the cameras had taught him a lesson—paid with blood.
This woman was not just mischievous; she was downright evil.
Better keep his distance—he didn’t want to get blindsided again.
Yi Ning stood on the shore with her hands behind her back, leaning forward slightly, watching Lu Zheng move to the hot spring’s center without making a move.
Only when Lu Zheng settled there did she speak again with a beaming smile:
“A little advice from Professor Alien—please don’t get too close to the center of the hot spring.”
Her tone was light and airy, lacking any real conviction.
Naturally, Lu Zheng wasn’t about to listen so easily.
But due to his understanding of her and his own wariness, he still asked:
“Why not go near the center?”
“Hehehe~”
Yi Ning didn’t answer directly—just gave a mysterious smile.
She pulled a remote from her pocket and pressed a button.
A small screen for playing a PowerPoint presentation rose from beneath the floor.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
“But time is short, so let’s move on to the next phase.”
The small screen began displaying the presentation.
“Quiz time~”
Yi Ning pulled a pair of glasses from her pocket and put them on, then took out a metal pointer, extending it with a snap and tapping it on the screen.
“Can anyone tell me what the most important thing is when taking a bath?”
The screen showing the live stream chat began to boil with activity.
Though Yi Ning remained outside the camera’s field of view, plenty of bullet comments joined the quiz enthusiastically.
All sorts of answers—funny or not, absurd or plausible—scrolled rapidly across the screen.
But since Yi Ning couldn’t see any of them from her position, she simply ignored them, gazing straight at Lu Zheng in the hot spring center.
No.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t see and therefore ignored them.
It was that she never intended to care from the start—hence, she hadn’t even stood where the bullet comments would be visible.
Yi Ning’s target had always been Lu Zheng alone.
The chat was just collateral from the trap meant to restrain him.
“……”
Yet the other “protagonist” of this scenario didn’t seem eager to play along—just calmly sat in the hot spring, watching Yi Ning lecture about her evil plan.
Given how scummy the Hero’s Imprisonment Stream.AVI incident had been, Lu Zheng’s willingness to cooperate had nosedived.
She’d push the script forward anyway.
So he might as well do nothing.
“Alright then~”
Yi Ning shrugged and tapped the screen with her pointer, continuing on her own.
“It’s the temperature.”
“Water temperature.”
She pressed a button hidden on the pointer to move to the next slide.
“As everyone knows, when we bathe, fluctuations in water temperature for various reasons can really ruin the experience.”
“But that’s no longer a problem!”
“Because I’ve invented a brand-new evil gadget!”
Yi Ning raised her hands in excitement and declared.
Then she pushed her glasses up her nose bridge and pointed her pointer toward where Lu Zheng sat.
“Now I’ll tell you why you shouldn’t stay in the center of the hot spring!”
As her voice fell, loud mechanical rumbling echoed around, and the floor beneath Lu Zheng began to shift.
Something was clearly about to rise from below.
He pushed himself away from that spot and moved to a relatively safe area, watching the center of the hot spring.
The surface of the water didn’t even ripple—it was as if nothing had happened underneath.
And the floor movement didn’t disturb the water at all.
Aside from the ripples caused by Lu Zheng’s movement, the water remained perfectly still.
Once the central platform’s shift finished, the mechanical noise stopped, revealing a rectangular hollow.
Thanks to his superhuman eyesight, Lu Zheng could clearly see a spacious chamber below the water’s surface.
The water above that space completely defied physics—flowing over it as if an invisible barrier was holding it up.
His curiosity stirred.
He swam over and carefully stuck a foot into the hollow.
There was no invisible wall—his foot dipped straight into open air.
“Don’t ignore Professor Alien’s warm reminders~”
Maybe to suit the vibe of those glasses, Yi Ning had casually promoted herself from Doctor to Professor.
She pulled out her remote again and pressed another button.
The rumbling returned—and this time, the entire center of the hot spring began to shake.
The previously mirror-like water surface now rippled intensely.
Being nearest to the center, Lu Zheng had the clearest view.
He saw clearly: something was about to rise from the hollow.