Chapter 77: Yi Ning’s Evil Invention of the Day
Lu Zheng floated in the water, brow furrowed, eyes locked on the machine rising from beneath his feet.
The machine ascended rapidly—within seconds, the top of the machine was brushing against his toes.
And at this distance, Lu Zheng could clearly make out its full appearance.
Roughly the size of a household refrigerator, the machine wasn’t particularly large compared to Yi Ning’s previous inventions.
Its design followed Yi Ning’s signature evil invention style: a laser-firing tip, a base that took up two-thirds of the machine’s body, an electronic display screen on the rear, and a numeric keypad below the screen.
As the machine continued to rise, Lu Zheng felt himself being gradually lifted out of the hot spring.
To protect his privacy—and to avoid showing anything inappropriate to the viewers in the live stream—Lu Zheng vacated the center of the hot spring, yielding the spotlight to Yi Ning’s evil creation.
“Boom!”
Just two seconds after he left, a loud noise erupted from the center of the hot spring.
Yi Ning’s evil invention was about to surface.
Lu Zheng turned his head, watching the machine break through the surface and rise from the water.
“This is really…”
His pixel screen displayed a rather complicated emoticon.
Despite the machine’s not-so-large size, its dramatic emergence was surprisingly extravagant.
The once calm water surface suddenly bulged, and amidst a deafening splash, a water column at least three or four meters high surged up from the center.
Fortunately, the base ceiling was high enough, or that huge spray would have hit it for sure.
The massive wave soon collapsed, transforming into fine mist that gently rained down within a two- to three-meter radius.
And from that dazzling water spectacle, Yi Ning’s evil invention rose majestically.
Curved surfaces on the machine channeled spring water downward in graceful streams, and the scattered droplets sparkled under the artificial sky projected on the ceiling.
Without a doubt, such an over-the-top entrance effect was definitely Yi Ning’s doing.
That girl loved this sort of thing.
The wipers on Lu Zheng’s helmet popped out again, clearing the splash from his pixel screen.
Still, he had to admit—it was impressive.
His screen obligingly showed a shocked emoticon.
“Hehehe~”
Ignoring the flood of praise and astonishment from the bullet comments, Yi Ning stood proudly, arms crossed, beaming at the shocked expression on Lu Zheng’s screen.
“Pretty cool, huh?”
She boasted triumphantly.
Before Lu Zheng could react, she pulled out her remote again and pressed a button.
The ceiling’s artificial sky dissolved, returning to its original metallic surface. Then, a spotlight emerged, shining directly onto the machine that had surfaced from the center of the hot spring.
“Allow me to proudly introduce my evil invention—SD-191: the Super Invincible Water Temperature Controller!”
“Just as the name implies, this baby can effortlessly alter the temperature of any liquid!”
Yi Ning raised both hands high, fully embracing her mad scientist persona.
The chat exploded once more.
Everyone was asking—
What exactly was evil about a Super Invincible Water Temperature Controller?
Unfortunately, their curiosity wouldn’t be answered just yet.
Because Yi Ning’s attention was now entirely on Lu Zheng, who had swum back near the invention.
She didn’t care about those viewers from the start.
Lu Zheng circled the machine, knocking and feeling around its surface.
Once he confirmed what he was curious about, he turned to Yi Ning and raised his hand.
“Teacher, I have a question!”
“Speak!”
Yi Ning pointed her pointer at Lu Zheng and adjusted her glasses.
“May I ask, does this machine have any kind of defense or counterattack system installed?”
“Nope.”
Yi Ning shook her head, a little puzzled.
“Why do you ask?”
But Lu Zheng wasn’t as eager to teach as she was.
He didn’t answer her question and instead continued asking his own.
“Teacher, I have a few more questions.”
“Ask away! Teacher loves inquisitive kids!”
Yi Ning once again pointed at him with her little pointer.
“Then, teacher, do you know what happens when you lock a wolf and a sheep in the same room?”
“?”
Yi Ning tilted her head, not quite understanding the point.
What kind of question was that?
Still, she fulfilled her teacherly duty and answered.
“Of course, the wolf eats the sheep.”
Hearing that, Lu Zheng nodded in satisfaction, like he was the one running the class.
Yi Ning puffed out her cheeks in mild protest.
How could he steal her thunder like this?
But she held back her irritation—after all, she was playing the teacher role.
“Any more questions?”
“Yes.”
Lu Zheng nodded.
Yi Ning gently tapped her palm with the pointer.
“Then ask them all—Teacher loves good students who ask lots of questions~”
“Well, since the teacher knows the wolf eats the sheep, then does the teacher also know what happens when a hero and an evil invention are placed in the same hot spring?”
Lu Zheng stroked the machine beside him, revealing his fangs at last.
“Uhh…”
Yi Ning began sweating buckets.
Only now did she realize she’d gotten too caught up in making the invention’s entrance flashy and forgot something more important.
How could she have placed the invention in the hot spring—with Lu Zheng?
She’d completely traded substance for style.
Her confident smile vanished instantly.
She timidly raised her hand, hesitating as she addressed Lu Zheng.
“Um… can we talk about this?”
“But I refuse!”
Lu Zheng shook his head without hesitation.
Yi Ning bristled.
“I haven’t even said anything yet!”
“I already know what you’re thinking.”
Lu Zheng curled his lip.
“You want me to wait until you finish your evil plan speech before I destroy it, right?”
Yi Ning nodded in humiliation, then gave Lu Zheng a pleading look.
She’d been so nice to him—surely he could repay her a little?
Nope.
Lu Zheng turned around, clenched his right hand into a fist, and slammed it toward Yi Ning’s evil invention.
“Die!”