Chapter 175 : Chapter 175
175. The I’ve-Lost-Count-How-Many-Times First Contact Between Blue Star Humans and Aliens
Yi Ning reached out with both hands, trying to pry Lu Zheng’s fingers off her temples.
But how could she possibly match Lu Zheng’s well-trained physique?
Forget budging his fingers—even as she exerted her full strength, his grip tightened with hers. The more she struggled, the tighter he pinched.
Damn it!
Was she really going to have to admit fault?
Gritting her teeth against the pain, Yi Ning began weighing the pros and cons of apologizing.
Ever since they’d landed on this alien world, she’d been riding Lu Zheng’s coattails.
Aside from helping build and pilot the helicopter, she hadn’t really done anything useful. Lu Zheng had carried nearly the entire burden, while she teased and made fun of him whenever she could for her own amusement.
If she were being honest, apologizing now wasn’t even that bad.
She might even come out ahead.
Profit secured!
But still…
Yi Ning frowned deeply.
She, Yi Ning, had been dominating the scene for years—brazen, arrogant, and untouchable. The number of people she’d sent “to the heavens” was as countless as the stars.
As a legendary figure in the criminal world, apologizing—especially to a hero—was just… disgraceful!
Could she really throw away her pride like that?
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
Yi Ning wailed as she clutched Lu Zheng’s fingers, tearfully begging for mercy.
Screw pride—pain took priority!
And hey, they were in another world. Who was going to know she apologized?
If no one heard it, it didn’t count!
Yi Ning focused all her energy on the pain in her head, mixed in a few memories of previous beatings, and even managed to squeeze out a few tears to win Lu Zheng’s sympathy.
“Please, show some mercy and let me off just this once.”
Unfortunately, what seemed like a flawless groveling strategy to Yi Ning utterly failed to move Lu Zheng.
God may have mercy—he did not.
Rather than letting go, Lu Zheng tightened his grip and calmly threw out a line of questioning.
“What are you sorry for?”
A classic relationship deathtrap of a question—coming not from a girlfriend, but from Lu Zheng himself.
Ugh, she hadn’t even turned into a cute white-haired loli yet!
Yi Ning seethed but dared not argue. Instead, she racked her brain to dig up some vague, plausible list of sins.
“I… I’m sorry for…”
She mumbled, clearly reluctant.
Lu Zheng wasn’t about to indulge her.
He pinched just a bit harder, and Yi Ning had no choice but to lower her head and miserably confess her crimes.
“I shouldn’t keep provoking you for no reason, and I shouldn’t try to take advantage of you whenever I get the chance… I’m a terrible person, truly unforgivable…”
A full, textbook-style apology spilled from her lips.
Though clearly unwilling, Yi Ning got through it. And Lu Zheng, sticking to his promise, let go once she finished.
Then, like a nagging old man, he started lecturing her.
Saying stuff like how provoking people was rude, how she should stop taking advantage of others, and “if it wasn’t me being provoked—”
It was all blah blah blah to Yi Ning, who didn’t listen to a single word.
She imagined Lu Zheng tied to a cactus, while she stood beside him cracking a lightning-charged whip.
Take this, Lightning Whip of Justice!
“Sigh…”
Seeing her completely inattentive look, Lu Zheng could tell she wasn’t taking any of it seriously.
But he didn’t push further.
Education took time—he’d get through to her eventually.
…
Lu Zheng and Yi Ning continued toward the city.
Well… technically, only Lu Zheng was walking.
Just like in the forest, Yi Ning had squatted on the ground less than an hour in and refused to move.
In the end, Lu Zheng had to carry her on his back.
Not that he minded—his physical strength made it easy.
But unlike in the forest, they were now walking along a public road.
They often passed other travelers heading to the same city.
And their bizarre traveling posture drew plenty of curious stares.
Some kind-hearted strangers even came over to ask if they needed help.
Truly, these aliens were kind and hospitable.
Like the group approaching them now.
A party of three—two men and one woman.
Judging by their attire and gear, they were the standard warrior-mage-healer trio.
“Is your companion injured? We’ve got some spare herbs—don’t worry, we picked them during our last mission. No charge.”
The male warrior, carrying a one-handed sword and shield, stepped up and asked kindly.
From their group dynamics, he was clearly the leader.
Thanks to the translation stick Yi Ning had bonked him with earlier, their otherwise incomprehensible alien language came through as fluent D-City Hero Association Standard Language to Lu Zheng.
“Thanks.”
Lu Zheng gave a small shrug, his tone laced with helplessness.
“She’s not hurt or anything. She’s just too lazy to walk.”
As if on cue, Yi Ning wiggled her legs to confirm his statement.
“R-Really?”
The party’s expressions immediately turned strange.
But they didn’t pry further—just introduced themselves.
“I’m Lester.”
The warrior thumbed his chest, then gestured to his teammates.
“That’s Rupert, our team’s healer.”
The priest nodded with a gentle smile.
“She’s Eunice, our mage.”
The mage girl was much more enthusiastic—she smiled and waved at them.
“We’re the Friendly Money-Making Squad! Don’t be fooled—we’re actually a certified Silver-ranked team!”
“O-Oh…”
Lu Zheng forced a smile—awkward but polite.
There were just too many things in that introduction begging for commentary.
He didn’t even want to talk about the overused metallic ranking system—but that team name?
Was that a mistranslation from Yi Ning’s translation stick?
Seeing Lu Zheng’s weird expression, Lester gave an awkward smile of his own.
“Let me guess—you think our team name is weird?”
“Not at all.”
Lu Zheng shook his head politely.
Even if he did think it was weird, he wasn’t about to say it out loud.
“It’s fine. Honestly, we think the name sucks too. But coming up with a good one is way harder than it sounds.”
Lester sighed and shrugged, then glanced at Lu Zheng and Yi Ning’s outfits.
Seeing no badges from any adventurer’s guild, he added:
“You probably wouldn’t know since you’re not an adventurer, but naming a team is a real pain. All the good ones—‘Wings of Freedom’, ‘Hand of the Titan’, you name it—either already taken or bought by big-name squads.”
“Plus, we’re not exactly poets or scholars. In the end, we stood at the registration desk for nearly an hour and finally settled on something that at least reflects our goal.”
Lester was quite the talker. Even with Lu Zheng only offering the occasional polite response, he could go on and on by himself.
Still, thanks to him, Lu Zheng was finally starting to get a basic understanding of this alien world’s civilization.