Chapter 78: Skipping a Phase Comes with Punishment
“No!”
Yi Ning collapsed to her knees, one hand propping herself up, the other stretching forward in despair, trying to stop Lu Zheng’s fist.
But the distance between them was too great. Her dramatic gesture couldn’t move Lu Zheng, who was currently in full hero mode.
Bang!
With a loud crash, Lu Zheng’s fist slammed down on Yi Ning’s evil invention of the day, punching straight through it.
As if still unsatisfied, he followed up with several more punches under Yi Ning’s horrified gaze, venting all his pent-up frustration from being trapped in the hot spring, turning the machine into a heap of twisted scrap metal.
Poor Super Invincible Water Temperature Controller—its one and only task since its creation had been to heat the evil spring water at Dr. Alien’s base.
Watching her invention get reduced to junk right in front of her, Yi Ning’s face contorted with anguish.
“You bastard! Damn it!”
As if her spine had been pulled out, the hand she’d raised in despair dropped weakly, and she collapsed to the floor in an orz position.
If one looked closely, one could even spot faint tear tracks on her face.
It hurts! It hurt so much!
“You heartless brute—don’t you have any feelings at all?”
“How could you destroy my evil invention before I finished explaining my evil plan?”
“You broke the rules! You violated the proper order for destroying an evil scientist’s plan! You’re going down the wrong path!”
“Damn it! My evil invention was destroyed before I could even explain its functions! Do you know the pain we evil scientists go through?”
Yi Ning wailed.
She hammered her pink little fists against the ground, trying to vent her heartbreak.
Unfortunately, none of this stirred any sympathy in Lu Zheng.
He’d been holding in his anger since the whole hot spring trap ordeal, and this was the perfect chance to let it out.
And as a hero, destroying evil villains’ plans was only natural—it was his duty.
Just like the sun rises in the east and water flows downhill.
There was nothing to criticize about it.
Lu Zheng clapped his hands clean of imaginary dust, dipped his left hand in the hot spring to rinse it off.
He didn’t give Yi Ning a single word in response.
His coldness left Yi Ning visibly deflated.
Grumbling, she got to her feet and shot Lu Zheng a grumpy glare, raising her right hand to make an internationally recognized gesture of dissatisfaction.
“You think smashing my evil invention means you’ve stopped me? Naïve!”
“You don’t want to hear my evil plan? Then I’m going to explain it anyway!”
She slashed her middle finger through the air, her face twisted with stubborn defiance.
So what if the evil plan was ruined?
There was no rule that said you couldn’t explain an evil plan after it was destroyed!
As long as you had thick enough skin, you could monologue to thin air if you wanted.
“Everyone, pay attention!”
Yi Ning picked up her little pointer again, hit the PPT control button, and stomped over to the small screen, tapping it twice with flair.
“Thanks to a certain insensitive brute, I’ll keep this short!”
A doodled image of Yi Ning and her invention appeared on the screen.
Yi Ning pointed at the now-destroyed machine with her pointer, pretending it was still sitting at the center of the hot spring, and started narrating her plan as if nothing had happened.
“I was going to use that machine to control the water temperature of everyone’s baths in D-City! I’d hold the entire city hostage—force them to submit to me, the great Dr. Alien, and my little scrappy organization!”
The slides flipped rapidly, quickly reaching the final page.
Yi Ning raised her hands dramatically and issued the ultimate threat.
“Otherwise, I’ll set the bath temperature for all of D-City to 45℃! Let them suffer a fate worse than death under scalding hot water!”
Honestly, this pitiful display of stubbornness was almost… endearing.
So, in the face of Yi Ning’s “threat,” Lu Zheng softened a bit.
Might as well humor her a little.
His pixel screen showed two beady eyes.
He tilted his head and asked tentatively:
“Why not just set it to 100℃?”
Yi Ning flinched as if she’d been shocked, clasped her arms over her chest, and leaned back slightly.
“Wah~ You’re even more evil than I am! Is that something a city-protecting hero should say?”
“Boiling water at 100℃ causes burns! And since I’d be controlling all the city’s water temperatures, no one would be able to cool it down! That kind of exposure could easily lead to infections!”
She slid her pointer back into the pocket of her white lab coat.
“You’re surprisingly kind, huh.”
Lu Zheng tossed her own catchphrase back at her.
But he still had one thing he couldn’t quite figure out.
“If you’re worried about the temperature being too hot, why not just lower it to 1℃? The effect’s pretty similar, right?”
The scene turned oddly ironic.
The hero was now casually discussing nefarious tactics, while the villain sounded oddly… considerate.
But Yi Ning was still a true evil scientist—Lu Zheng was no match for her in pure wickedness.
Faced with Lu Zheng’s innocent suggestion, Yi Ning simply smiled and wagged her finger.
“I know there are people out there who like cold showers. No way I’m letting them off that easy.”
“And the key is to keep the temperature high enough to be uncomfortable, but still just bearable.”
Yi Ning pushed up her non-prescription glasses, lenses flashing with evil glint.
“If the water’s too hot or too cold, people just won’t bathe. And then how would I torment those who refuse to follow my orders?”
Truly worthy of the evil scientist title—her villainous strategy was far more comprehensive than any amateur’s.
Grinning, she pulled out her remote again and pressed a button.
The small screen retracted back into the floor.
That marked the end of her evil plan presentation.
Lu Zheng’s pixel screen relaxed.
Usually, he’d follow up by giving Yi Ning a light beating and then call it a day.
But since he’d skipped a few phases this time, he figured he’d go easy on the final step.
What a long day.
He moved to the hot spring’s edge, rested his right hand there, and planned to soak a bit longer before leaving.
Unfortunately, he’d overlooked one thing: Yi Ning was still standing behind him with that fake smile.
No way she’d let someone who skipped a phase off so easily.
Anyone who skips gets flushed down the toilet!