Chapter 205 : Chapter 205
Chapter 205
This Is a Major Environmental Crisis
“Ehehe~ Chu~mi!”
Yi Ning tilted her head to the side, eyes drifting up to the clouds in the sky as she stuck out her tongue and played dumb.
“What’s the point of pretending to be clueless now?! Anyone could tell this is your invention’s doing, right?”
Lu Zheng couldn’t hold back his complaint.
“I was just trying to lighten the mood~”
Yi Ning gave her shoulder a strong shake, dislodging Lu Zheng’s head from where it was resting.
Once Lu Zheng was sitting properly again and looking at her, she flashed him a sheepish grin and waved her hand.
“As the saying goes: ‘In the stifling heat of the last month, molten gold scalds stone, the swarms of mosquitoes buzz like thunder, and foxes retreat for a thousand miles.’ With such harsh conditions, we need a little joy to get through it~”
Lu Zheng blinked at her in confusion.
He looked up at the sky.
Granted, the alien planet was currently in summer, but perhaps it wasn’t full summer yet—today’s weather was surprisingly pleasant.
Fluffy clouds drifted across the sky, periodically blocking the blazing sun, and there were occasional breezes rustling through the air.
Then he turned to look at their surroundings.
The streets were neat and orderly. The plaza they were in was surrounded by various types of flowers.
Aside from a few bee- or butterfly-like insects fluttering among the blossoms, there wasn’t a bug in sight.
“Don’t you think that line was kind of wildly out of place here?”
“Was it?”
Yi Ning widened her eyes in mock surprise, glanced left and right, then turned a shocked face toward Lu Zheng.
Lu Zheng said nothing, just locked eyes with her.
After a moment, perhaps feeling a little guilty, Yi Ning’s eyes began to dart around. She placed both hands under her chin and once again made that silly, cutesy face.
“Ehe~ lölölö!”
Lu Zheng: “……”
Lu Zheng: “#”
What the hell is ehe supposed to mean?!
He suppressed the rising irritation in his chest, took a deep breath, and calmed himself.
“Stop acting dumb already. Let’s move on to the next topic.”
“You brought this up for a reason, right? Is it because that invention of yours has something we need… or is it something that poses a serious problem?”
He looked at Yi Ning, hoping to get a straight answer.
But instead, Yi Ning decided to embrace the least likable trait of all “smart” characters—
Speaking in riddles.
“Yes… and also no, I suppose…”
She leaned back against the bench, absentmindedly fiddling with the Holy Stone in her hand, speaking in vague, abstract terms that no one could understand.
After a few seconds, just as Lu Zheng was about to interject, she turned her head to meet his gaze.
“We do need to go to where that invention is.”
Lu Zheng: “?”
Can you speak like a normal person?!
Yi Ning ignored the confusion and mild exasperation in his eyes, smirking as she pulled the topic in a new direction.
“Have you ever wondered—why do things like the magic that Qiu Yu uses, the Qi that Ye Qin uses, or the psychic energy you use as a superpowered being… Does it even exist in our world?”
Do smart people ever speak normally?
Can’t you just finish explaining one thing before moving on to the next?
Lu Zheng’s mouth twitched.
He sighed and ultimately chose to play along with her.
He was curious, after all.
“Why?”
“I don’t know!”
Yi Ning crossed her arms and puffed up with confidence.
“I’m not an expert in that field! And I was never all that interested either, so I never did any in-depth research!”
Then why bring it up in the first place?!
Lu Zheng’s fists clenched instinctively.
He shuffled closer to her, raised his now-iron-hard fist, and waved it menacingly in front of her face.
“See this? Fist the size of a rice bowl. Wanna find out what it feels like getting this planted in your face?”
Yi Ning didn’t flinch. “First comes a wave of impact, followed by a sensation like your face is caving in, then the force launches you into the ceiling, and finally your head ends up embedded in it.”
Back when she wasn’t a girl, she’d been on the receiving end of Lu Zheng’s fists every workday.
When it came to how hard Lu Zheng’s punches were, she spoke from absolute authority.
She raised a finger with confidence.
No one understood Lu Zheng’s punches better than she did!
Her dead-serious reply left Lu Zheng at a loss for words.
After a few seconds of silence, he decided to just move past it.
“Let’s talk about your machine that makes Holy Stones.”
“Hey, hey—don’t rush!”
Yi Ning waved her hands repeatedly.
“There’s an order to these things!”
And that machine should be the first part of the order, right?!
Lu Zheng rolled his eyes.
Yi Ning ignored him and continued her cryptic commentary.
“You should know this—well, I can’t use it, so I should tell you. The energy you all use—be it magic, Qi, or psychic power—it’s all converted from a type of energy that’s permeating the air, right?”
Lu Zheng: “……”
Yeah, he knew that. It was in the textbooks. They even tested it.
Still, he decided to keep quiet so she wouldn’t get sidetracked again.
Unfortunately, his silent consideration didn’t register with Yi Ning.
She smirked proudly.
“You do know, right? It’s in the textbooks. That question was worth a whole point on the exam! If you didn’t know, I’d have to mock your education level!”
Lu Zheng had always been the one questioning her academic qualifications. Finally, she could laugh at his supposed illiteracy!
Lu Zheng: “…I know.”
“Aw, you do? What a shame…”
Yi Ning’s little face immediately drooped.
It was clear she genuinely felt disappointed.
Lu Zheng felt a bit exasperated.
They weren’t even on the same academic track—their exam questions weren’t the same, okay?
Back when he took the test, that question was worth two whole points!
…Wait, why was he going off-topic now?
Lu Zheng quickly refocused and dragged the conversation back.
“I know that energy. The official name is Primordial Energy, or Source Energy for short. It originates from within Blue Star and spreads through the land veins into the air.”
“Can we please move on to the next topic now?”
He recited the textbook definition of the energy in one breath.
The smoothness of that delivery stunned even Yi Ning.
She’d been planning to explain the concept herself, take her time chatting, and watch Lu Zheng struggle to stay patient and appease her while urging her to keep the explanation orderly.
But this guy was an actual top student?!
It had been years since graduation—wasn’t this kind of non-specialist knowledge supposed to have faded by now?
Heroes were supposed to be all brawn, no brain—why was he suddenly thinking so hard?
What was she, an evil scientist, supposed to do now?
There was only room for one “smart character” in this duo!
Yi Ning puffed out her cheeks a little, clearly annoyed, but finally dropped the stalling and got to the point.
Because she felt her “genius” character setting had been threatened, she didn’t even bother dragging the topic out to enjoy Lu Zheng’s flustered expressions anymore.
“My machine that manufactures Holy Stones—what it does is constantly extract Source Energy from the land veins to produce stones infused with primordial energy. But if it’s used for too long, it’ll cause irreversible damage to the land veins.”
“Put simply, the land will stop producing Source Energy. That area will become a barren wasteland.”
“It’s way too environmentally unfriendly. That’s why I tossed it into the trash bin.”
Lu Zheng nearly cracked.
No wonder she’d been dodging the topic, rambling, and stalling—her invention had a massive problem!
Yi Ning scratched her head, then fired off one last attempt to play dumb: “Tehe perinko~♪”