Chapter 153 : Chapter 153
153. Run Away~
Lu Zheng’s face was full of helplessness. He glanced at Yi Ning and tugged at his leg with a bit of force, trying to free himself from the quagmire called Yi Ning.
But Yi Ning, clinging to his calf, seemed to have summoned strength from nowhere. No matter how he pulled, she refused to let go.
Lu Zheng had no choice but to stop struggling with his leg and instead attempt the power of words.
After all, he couldn’t really just kick Yi Ning off with full force and send her flying into the wall, could he?
Though, in his mind, Lu Zheng thought that even if Yi Ning were kicked into the wall, she would have deserved it.
“I’m saying, given our relationship, if you’ve got something to say, just say it. Clinging to my leg like this and not letting go isn’t a solution, is it?”
Lu Zheng tried to make his tone as gentle as possible.
He really couldn’t understand why Yi Ning was so insistent on holding onto his leg.
If he handed the relevant materials over to the Hero Association quickly, he could come back just as quickly to clean up Yi Ning’s mess.
Surely she wasn’t actually worried he’d never return, was she?
That thought flashed in Lu Zheng’s mind for just a moment before he dismissed it.
He lived right across the street from Yi Ning. If they ever wanted to settle things one-on-one offline, it couldn’t be more convenient. Even if he wanted to run away, he couldn’t escape her for long.
Facing Lu Zheng’s sincere attitude, Yi Ning turned her head away, dodging his searching gaze.
She was feeling guilty.
Because blocking Lu Zheng like this was purely for her own selfish reasons.
As a member of an evil organization, Yi Ning had an “evil quota” she had to meet every day. That was why she always made little evil gadgets during workdays, deliberately provoking Lu Zheng into coming over to beat her up.
Whether successful or not didn’t matter—but she had to act on it.
During rest or leave, it didn’t count. But now she was on a workday. If she didn’t complete her evil quota before the end of the day, she would have to work overtime to make it up!
Overtime!
Such a hateful word—especially when there was no overtime pay!
To avoid working for free under her detestable boss, Yi Ning wanted to complete today’s evil deed before getting off work—namely, making Lu Zheng temporarily leave D-City with her and go to the alien planet.
The Hero Association had regulations: to prevent cities from being left undefended and letting evil organizations take advantage, heroes stationed in cities like Lu Zheng were forbidden from leaving without applying for approval.
So, if she managed to drag Lu Zheng out of D-City, it would count as weakening the city’s defenses, and her evil deed for the day would be considered complete.
But the cost of that was obvious: while Yi Ning got credit for her evil deed, Lu Zheng would face condemnation. Leaving his assigned city without approval would get him made into a negative example, his back stabbed by countless fingers pointing.
Of course, Yi Ning couldn’t tell him that truth.
But just turning her head away and playing turtle wasn’t a real solution either.
Under Lu Zheng’s doubtful and scrutinizing gaze, Yi Ning spun her evil brain quickly and soon came up with an excuse to deceive him.
She adjusted her expression slightly, turned back to face him, and switched fully into drama-queen mode.
“Sigh~”
Yi Ning let out a long sigh, wearing a deeply troubled expression.
To ward off suspicion, she even forced out a few tears.
But faced with Yi Ning’s supposedly exquisite performance, Lu Zheng wasn’t moved in the slightest!
He rolled his eyes at the ceiling before lowering his head to look at her, asking flatly:
“What’s wrong?”
It wasn’t that Lu Zheng had a heart of stone, but the longer he spent with Yi Ning, the more he understood her.
Nine times out of ten, this kind of sadness was an act, just a prelude to her next trick.
On other days, he might have played along, but now his patience was worn thin. He simply put on a “whatever” attitude to deal with her.
And Yi Ning, as expected, didn’t care about his indifference.
She kept up her pitiful act and spun her fabricated tale.
“It’s not that your little sister is being unreasonable, it’s just that this is your sister’s mistake. If the Hero Association learns the truth, I’m afraid I’ll be thrown into prison~”
“So, I take it Miss Yi Daiyu is afraid that if the Hero Association finds out how shameless you’ve been, they’ll settle accounts with you?”
Lu Zheng couldn’t help but nearly crack up at her words.
Still, despite what he said, he didn’t think what Yi Ning had done was really so terrible.
When he had been angry before, it was only because of Yi Ning’s detached, indifferent attitude that had chilled him.
At the end of the day, her so-called wrongdoing was just throwing garbage around. And she’d done it on her own property.
Throwing trash around at home—was that a crime? At most, it was unhygienic.
It might not fit common values, but it wasn’t nearly serious enough to be illegal.
The Hero Association wasn’t about to throw Yi Ning in jail over that.
Still, since her excuse sounded convincing enough without obvious holes, Lu Zheng grew more cautious.
He still didn’t know what Yi Ning’s true scheme was.
So he tried to comfort her: “Relax. What you did isn’t that serious. It’s not like you deliberately tried to destroy their civilization. The Hero Association won’t go that far.”
But his words, meant casually, struck deep for Yi Ning.
Because in truth, she had considered destroying that civilization—she only gave up because she couldn’t cover her tracks well enough.
Hearing Lu Zheng mention “deliberately destroying a civilization” made cold sweat drip down her back.
That brief stiffness in her face didn’t escape Lu Zheng’s watchful eye.
He smirked.
As expected—she was hiding something!
Yi Ning must have some ulterior motive for blocking him like this. And if she was being this roundabout, it couldn’t be anything good.
This could only mean there was a huge trap waiting for him.
Sensing danger, Lu Zheng felt uneasy.
He masked his expression, tested the grip on his leg, and when Yi Ning wasn’t paying attention, he suddenly pulled free and bolted.
As he ran, he called back to reassure her: “Once I’ve reported to the Hero Association and gotten the paperwork approved, I’ll come back to go to the alien planet with you!”
Yi Ning: “?”
The sudden change stunned her. By the time she reacted, Lu Zheng had already run several steps away.
Her quota was about to slip away!
“No!”
Yi Ning sprang up and dashed after him. Taking advantage of a moment when Lu Zheng was slowed by obstacles, she finally managed to seize his wrist.
She gripped both his wrists tightly, bent forward slightly, lifted her face, and gazed at him with watery eyes, putting on a pleading look.
As she spoke, she gently shook his arm.
“Please! If I don’t have you, I’ll…”