Chapter 15
Dr. Alien's Evil Research Base.
“Ding-dong～”
The rarely used doorbell rang.
“Coming, coming.”
Yi Ning climbed down from the machine in the center of the base, both hands stuffed into the pockets of her lab coat as she lazily made her way to the front door.
“I’ll say this in advance—I’m not buying anything.”
She cracked the door open. Standing outside was a familiar face.
“Pixel Mask?”
Yi Ning looked a bit surprised. She opened the door wider and invited him in.
“Well, this is rare. You actually didn’t kick down my door this time. Finally developed a conscience about wrecking other people’s property?”
She led Lu Zheng to the table and chairs meant for guests, pulled out a chair for him, gestured for him to sit, and even poured him a cup of tea.
What was this? The feeling of welcoming a familiar friend into her home?
Lu Zheng felt a little out of place.
Still, since he didn’t want to wrap things up too quickly and end up dragged back for more interrogation, he just accepted Yi Ning’s hospitality and sat in the chair she pulled out, holding the teacup in both hands.
He couldn’t drink it with his helmet on.
“This kind of peaceful start feels... a bit off.”
Yi Ning brought over two plates of cake, poured herself a cup of tea as well, sat across from him, and began nibbling at her cake with a fork.
“So let’s talk about something a little less peaceful.”
Propping her head on one hand, she grinned. “Lucky you, you didn’t kick my door today.”
Lu Zheng looked puzzled.
Don’t tell him... she did something to the door?
“Bingo.”
Yi Ning smirked and pointed at him with her fork.
“I replaced the door material this morning. If you’d kicked it like usual, you’d have bounced straight to the moon.”
Hearing that, Lu Zheng looked down at the teacup in his hands, inwardly thankful he’d let her looks distract him.
Watching him hold the cup so primly, Yi Ning felt bored. She searched for something to talk about.
“You’re still wearing that broken helmet even after being exposed? I mean, your hero alias is ‘Pixel Mask,’ so I guess it makes sense—but what’s with the mute act?”
Lu Zheng didn’t respond.
Yi Ning tilted her head, squinted at him, then suddenly grinned as if something clicked.
“Don’t tell me... you think staying silent like some cool, aloof hero is badass? A case of chunibyo?”
Lu Zheng’s body froze at the bullseye.
He’d wanted to stay calm and deny it, but the pixel screen on his helmet—controlled by brainwaves—betrayed him.
Σ(ŎдŎ)
Seeing that, Yi Ning covered her mouth and laughed wickedly.
“Ahh, so youthful.”
Lu Zheng stopped pretending. If she was gonna tease, then two could play that game.
“You’re no better. You go around calling yourself ‘Doctor’ when you don’t even have a doctorate.”
But Yi Ning, being the shameless villain she was, wasn’t the least bit embarrassed. In fact, she was proud.
“I just think it sounds cool. Got a problem with that?”
She finished the strawberry on her cake, licked her fork, stood up, and took a few steps aside.
“And for the record, my doctorate diploma is on the way!”
Yi Ning lifted her chin and looked down on Lu Zheng with smug superiority.
At that moment, the chair Lu Zheng was sitting on suddenly softened, sprouting several soft tendrils that bound him tightly. His arms were forcibly separated from his pockets to prevent him from grabbing his dice.
Once he was securely tied up, the chair returned to its normal form.
Then, the flat ground bulged upward, transforming into a stone prison that enclosed him completely.
“Same old trap routine.”
Yi Ning smirked at him through the bars.
Then she noticed the untouched cake and tea on the table in front of him.
With a snap of her fingers, the prison bars opened up just enough for her to step through.
She walked to Lu Zheng’s table, picked up his fork, stabbed the strawberry off his cake, popped it into her mouth, and deliberately chewed it exaggeratedly, making a show of it.
“This strawberry is soooo sweet. What a shame… some people don’t get to taste it.”
She leaned in and noisily chomped near his ear.
Then, she strutted back out of the prison. The bars immediately returned to their sealed state.
Yi Ning returned to the central machine, pushing it over to Lu Zheng’s cell while humming a tune.
With another snap, the chair holding Lu Zheng forcibly twisted his head toward her, and the prison wall conveniently opened a viewing window.
“Ta-daa! SD-190! I call it the Super Invincible Hypnotizer!”
Yi Ning raised her hands dramatically, putting on a twisted villainous expression.
She paused awkwardly for a few seconds—nothing happened.
Looking around in confusion, she scratched her head.
“Ah, hold on a sec.”
She gestured for Lu Zheng to wait, then went back to the central console and made some adjustments.
“Okay! Let’s try that again.”
Returning to the front of the prison, she struck the same pose.
“Ta-daa! SD-190! I call it the Super Invincible Hypnotizer!”
This time, the entire base plunged into darkness.
Boom—!
Thunder rumbled, and 3D lightning bolts flashed around the base.
When the effects ended, the lights came back on.
“Sorry about that. Since you didn’t kick the door in today, I forgot to turn this thing on.”
Yi Ning patted the machine beside her.
“This baby isn’t just some lame device that only works on humans. It can hypnotize anything—plants, animals, living or dead!”
Lu Zheng looked down at the chair binding him.
“You guessed right. That chair, and the ground under it? They’ve both been hypnotized. Right now, they believe they’re traps meant to restrain you.”
Yi Ning affectionately stroked her invention.
“Oh, and I added wheels to it this time.”
She proudly pointed underneath the machine.
Lu Zheng asked, “So what’s your plan today?”
“You know the drill. I’m going to use this machine to hypnotize all of D-City! Make everyone sincerely believe that I, Dr. Alien, am the true ruler of this city!”
Boom—!
Another thunderbolt flashed via 3D projection, perfectly timed with her raised hands.
“Cool, right?”
Yi Ning gave him a thumbs-up, grinning smugly.