Chapter 206 : Chapter 206
Chapter 206. What Must Come, Will Come
Looking at the girl in front of him who was smiling slyly and playing dumb, Lu Zheng felt utterly helpless.
But beyond that helplessness, a trace of comfort also rose in Lu Zheng’s heart.
The source energy crystals created by Yi Ning were just like spirit stones from cultivation novels — they would undoubtedly attract countless people like moths to a flame. As the inventor of these stones, Yi Ning could absolutely make a fortune from them.
Yet she had chosen to abandon them out of concern for the potential irreversible damage to the environment.
Wasn’t that a sign that somewhere deep in Yi Ning’s heart, there still remained a sliver of justice?
Thinking of this, the look Lu Zheng gave Yi Ning was filled with affection and care.
That gaze, overflowing with emotion, was so intense that Yi Ning felt sick just being stared at.
She curled her lips, an expression of distaste creeping across her face.
“What the hell are you looking at me like that for? It’s disgusting.”
As she spoke, Yi Ning followed Lu Zheng’s gaze to look down at herself.
His line of sight ultimately stopped somewhere near her slightly underwhelming twin peaks.
Yi Ning’s eyes immediately filled with disdain as she looked at Lu Zheng. She raised her hand to cover her chest.
Sure, she didn’t have much to offer there — but that didn’t mean people could look all they wanted, okay?
This was a double-A-level scenic spot. Entry required a ticket!
Seeing Yi Ning act like she was guarding herself from a pervert, Lu Zheng’s expression became somewhat awkward.
He was willing to swear to the heavens that his mind had been elsewhere entirely, that he hadn’t even realized where his eyes had wandered, and that he absolutely hadn’t seen anything inside Yi Ning’s scenic zone.
He paused for two seconds, then decided to offer an explanation.
“I was just thinking that your decision to abandon the invention in order to protect the environment was really amazing.”
“At that moment, I was so moved by your selflessness that I had no time to notice where I was looking.”
To be honest, Lu Zheng thought his explanation was absolute trash.
Spacing out and coincidentally staring at someone’s chest… even he didn’t believe that excuse.
But surprisingly, Yi Ning didn’t press the advantage and continued attacking his weak point.
She simply froze for a second, slightly curled her lips, and muttered a few vague words in response.
“Uh… I see…”
There was no helping it.
Yi Ning had mostly just been saying nice-sounding things earlier.
While the potential irreversible damage to the environment was indeed one reason she had abandoned the invention, it wasn’t the main one.
After all, Yi Ning had grown up as a proper villain character. She might occasionally feel a twinge of concern for nature, but that was never going to be the core reason she’d give up on an invention with such immense money-making potential.
A person only lived for a hundred years or so — once she was dead, who cared if floods swept the world?
The real reason Yi Ning had abandoned the invention was that she was dissatisfied with its efficiency.
Creating a single source energy crystal mining zone would take at least several years. Drawing energy from the spiritual veins and converting it into source energy crystals — the conversion rate was simply too low.
In Yi Ning’s eyes, the enormous energy contained within the spiritual veins being converted so inefficiently was simply a waste — no, a desecration!
How could such a thing ever be recorded among her glorious inventions?
It was a stain on her life she couldn’t scrub away!
And now this whole mess had somehow raised Lu Zheng’s affection level toward her.
Yi Ning could only stretch her mouth into a forced smile and shamelessly accept Lu Zheng’s praise and admiration.
In truth, she had never really thought Lu Zheng had been peeking at her double-A-level scenic spot.
That earlier reaction had just been a little performance to seize control of the conversation from Lu Zheng.
After all, Yi Ning had been living in this female body and interacting with Lu Zheng for quite some time, often using this body to offer him the occasional little “perk.”
She understood men’s admiration for attractive women, and naturally didn’t care too much about such trivial details.
But sometimes, by using the small advantages of a girl’s body, she could easily disrupt Lu Zheng’s rhythm during conversations and firmly maintain control of the topic.
Just like now.
“Anyway, once we leave this city, we’ll head straight to the church’s sacred stone mining site to recover the machine I threw… left behind there.”
Yi Ning smoothly skipped over the fact that she had casually dumped a machine that could cause irreversible harm to the environment on a planet that also had intelligent civilizations.
Originally, such an irresponsible act that had caused losses to others would have earned her at least a few nagging words from Lu Zheng.
But now, Lu Zheng just lightly tapped his own head and expressed agreement with Yi Ning’s plan.
Seeing Lu Zheng’s serious and earnest expression, Yi Ning felt a twinge of guilt in her heart.
Sure, she was going to clean up the mess caused by her dumped invention — but she had other intentions as well.
From the sacred stone she held in her hand — one sold by the church — it was likely the church had only just established a mining zone, and only a small amount of the sacred stones had been extracted.
To return to Blue Star via spaceship, she’d need a vast amount of energy — that was non-negotiable.
Buying it all in space would cost a sum so large it made Yi Ning’s heart ache.
But if she could get her hands on all the sacred stones the church had mined so far…
Not only would that cover the energy needed to return home — it would also save her a fortune.
There was just one problem.
Yi Ning’s gaze quietly shifted toward Lu Zheng.
In Lu Zheng’s eyes, sacred stones created by exploiting a planet’s environment naturally belonged to the locals of the exploited region.
There was a very high chance he wouldn’t agree to her harvesting some sacred stones on the side while recovering her invention.
“Sigh—”
Yi Ning quietly sighed.
Guess she’d just have to take it one step at a time.
She shoved the sacred stone in her hand into her pocket, stood up from the chair, and waved at Lu Zheng.
“Let’s go. There’s still one last place we haven’t been to yet.”
“What? There’s more?”
Lu Zheng’s eyes immediately widened.
His current expression was just like that of a boyfriend who, after being dragged around a mall for three full loops by his girlfriend, heard her say she wanted to go for another three laps — utterly exhausted and in despair.
One more place?
Hadn’t they already visited every single shop in this market?
Where else could they possibly go?
Despite his overwhelming reluctance, Lu Zheng still followed Yi Ning to their final destination.
Staring at the familiar “Not Qualified” symbol in front of him.
“The church? What did you bring me here for?”
Yi Ning just rolled her eyes at him, waved him forward as she walked, and gestured for him to keep up.
Soon, Lu Zheng followed Yi Ning to the entrance of several side buildings next to the church.
These were the official church shops that sold church-produced goods. That laundry device in Lester’s house had also been bought here.
Yi Ning didn’t stop walking. She led Lu Zheng through the doors, turning left and right, until they arrived in front of a store with a lavish signboard.
This was a place she had asked Lester’s sister about before heading out, after much hesitation and internal struggle.
“This is the thing you still needed to buy?”
Lu Zheng stood just outside the shop’s entrance, staring at the signboard with his entire body going stiff.
In addition to the prominent church emblem, the sign read:
Victoria’s Secret.
Of course, even without the overly familiar sign, just one glance through the glass windows on either side of the store was enough to know what kind of products it sold.
This was a lingerie shop.
Women’s lingerie.