Chapter 86: Yi Ning Closed the Door, and Didn't Even Leave You a Window
The answer lay in that sentence he'd agonized over from the beginning!
“You no longer need to worry about that guy.”
Yi Ning had told him that from the start.
If Yi Ning had really colluded with that Freedom Alliance guy, what reason would she have to say such a thing on her own? Wouldn’t it have been smarter to just pretend she didn’t know anything?
Compared to concealing information out of some shady alliance, saying “I’ll handle him myself, no need for you to worry” made far more sense.
Lu Zheng sighed lightly, and the blockage in his chest eased a little.
But he knew Yi Ning's personality. She definitely hadn't said that out of concern for them.
More likely, that Freedom Alliance guy was useful to her, and she didn’t want to hand him over to the Hero Association.
As for what use—Lu Zheng had some guesses.
Most likely, she planned to use him as a lab rat.
Ever since the Evil Council and Hero Association signed a treaty forbidding evil subordinates from targeting regular civilians, a disposable test subject had become a rare and coveted asset among evil scientists.
As an evil scientist, it was perfectly natural for Yi Ning to be interested.
Lu Zheng rubbed his temples.
This outcome gave him a headache.
Yi Ning’s goals clearly clashed with theirs.
Yi Ning wanted to capture that guy for her own experiments, while Lu Zheng had to arrest him and deliver him to the court for trial.
Frankly, for those who committed heinous crimes, Lu Zheng didn’t care all that much whether their fate was court justice or brutal torture at the hands of an evil scientist.
In fact, on a personal level, he’d prefer giving them to Yi Ning.
It’d deepen their relationship and ensure the criminal got what they deserved.
Why not?
If Lu Zheng were an ordinary citizen, he’d be happy to do it.
But unfortunately, he wasn’t.
He was a hero in the Hero Association.
As an enforcer of justice, he had to uphold procedural justice—capture that guy, bring him to court, and ensure he received proper punishment.
No acting on personal feelings.
Lu Zheng exhaled deeply, pushed aside all prior thoughts, and showed a determined expression.
Now it was time to race against Yi Ning.
He had to arrest that bastard from the Freedom Alliance before Yi Ning could get to him!
But then Lu Zheng couldn’t help but roll his eyes at himself.
That sounded nice and all, but in reality, they were trailing far behind Yi Ning—how exactly was he supposed to race her?
Judging from Yi Ning’s tone earlier, she’d probably already made arrangements for the Freedom Alliance guy, while he didn’t even know the man’s name.
She had a full aerial advantage—how was he supposed to win?
The more Lu Zheng thought about it, the more despair he felt. His once swelled-up confidence deflated with a “pfft—”.
800k versus 600k—the edge was clearly hers!
He gripped the steering wheel with both hands, slumped his chin onto it, and stared blankly at the door to Yi Ning’s base.
Then—
His gaze happened to drift to the surveillance camera above Yi Ning’s door.
“Hmm?”
There was his lead, right there!
He suddenly perked up and sat upright.
After spending so much time dealing with Yi Ning, Lu Zheng had come to understand her habits.
That woman almost never left her base during work hours.
Even when she needed materials for her evil inventions, she preferred calling someone to deliver them to her doorstep.
So, if Yi Ning had met the Freedom Alliance guy, it could only have been at the entrance of her base.
And the gate was within the camera’s field of view.
If he could sneak into Yi Ning’s base and find today’s camera footage—boom, a lead!
Lu Zheng got more and more excited, jumping out of the car and flexing his fingers, ready to infiltrate Yi Ning’s lab.
But first, one important thing needed checking—
Was Yi Ning still inside?
There was no way she’d cooperate with him, so this had to be done secretly.
Normally, Yi Ning left her base after wrapping up business. But since he’d spanked her hard today, Lu Zheng worried she might still be inside tending her wounds.
If he sneaked in only to bump straight into her, it’d be the most awkward scene imaginable.
Lu Zheng straightened his clothes and walked to Yi Ning’s front door.
He didn’t plan on using any fancy method to confirm—just ring the doorbell and see.
“Ding-dong.”
Lu Zheng pressed the bell.
As expected, no response.
To be sure, he rang it a few more times.
“Ding-dong.”
“Ding-dong.”
Maybe because he was certain Yi Ning wasn’t home, his doorbell pressing became more aggressive.
It was like mashing buttons in a QTE minigame—his finger spammed the button like crazy.
Eventually, the doorbell retracted into the wall, and the screen that showed “owner not present” appeared in its place.
“Alright!”
Lu Zheng clenched his fist.
Yi Ning wasn’t home!
Smirking, he left the front gate and began circling her base, looking for a place to climb in.
But after going all the way around, he realized—
Yi Ning’s base had no windows at all.
Nothing but that big front door.
He had originally hoped to refresh his secret agent skills learned back in training, but God had not only shut the door—He hadn’t left a window either.
Wasn’t this woman afraid of suffocating?
Lu Zheng returned helplessly to the front door and finally pulled out his dice.
As the die of fate landed, Lu Zheng learned his ability for the day:
“Free Running.”
It let him use nimble movements and smooth techniques to quickly navigate complex environments—both urban and wild.
It also reduced noise from his movements.
A must-have skill for sneaking around and breaking into places.
“?”
Lu Zheng tilted his head in confusion.
What was he supposed to do with that?
Even a lockpicking skill would’ve been more useful than this.
Frustrated, Lu Zheng squeezed the die in his hand and angrily tossed it to the ground.
He already knew how to do this stuff—the only difference was skill level!
And it wasn’t like there were any windows to sneak through anyway!
With a sigh, he bent down, picked up the die, and stuffed it back into his pocket.
It had cost him money, after all.
No point blaming the die for his bad luck.