Chapter 7: Adapting to a New Identity Is Never That Easy
On the other side, the sky-falling demon queen Yi Ning—now wielding the triple combo of directness, pursuit, and bad-girl energy—had just finished cleaning up the loudmouthed measuring device.
She picked up a pile of clothes stacked beside the lab door on the sofa bed, stepped out of the lab, scooped up the scattered clothes she’d flung during her body check, sorted them into two piles by color, and tossed them into the washing machine. Then she walked into her bedroom.
Though “bedroom” might be a stretch—every surface was covered in a fine layer of dust, as if no one had lived there in ages. Only the area near the wardrobe looked somewhat clean.
Yi Ning pulled open the wardrobe and began rummaging through it.
She pulled out a few pieces of clothing and sighed. “Good thing I’m usually stingy and didn’t throw away these clothes I couldn’t wear anymore.”
But even the clothes she used to not fit into were now too big for the 20 centimeters—no, 19 centimeters—shorter version of Yi Ning.
Especially the pants.
The waist was way too wide.
Outerwear at least had drawstrings, but underwear had no such luck. She had to fold the waistband and pin it in place with a safety pin.
Looking at herself in the camcorder, Yi Ning sighed helplessly.
She was definitely going to turn heads if she went out like this.
But she didn’t have any other options.
As long as nothing showed, that was a victory.
Yi Ning turned off the TV and camcorder, walked out the door, kicked it shut behind her, greeted a passing neighbor, stepped into the elevator, and pressed the button for the first floor.
“Good evening.”
Lu Zheng nodded and responded instinctively, then took out his keys and slid one into the lock.
Wait a second...
Lu Zheng whipped his head around to look at the elevator Yi Ning had just entered, then glanced back at the neighboring apartment door.
Wasn’t that Dr. Alien? She lived next door?
Was it a coincidence?
Lu Zheng couldn’t quite believe it, but thinking carefully, there didn’t seem to be any other explanation.
Heroes like him who didn’t want to reveal their real identities had very high clearance in the Hero Association. Aside from two people in the same branch, only top-level HQ personnel knew his true identity.
Unless Dr. Alien had the means to access files from HQ, she couldn’t possibly know who he was.
Plus, the place he was living in had a great location and reasonable rent. A quality listing. It wasn’t strange that she’d end up living here.
Staring at the elevator’s floor indicator, Lu Zheng hesitated. He put his key away and leaned against the hallway window, pulling out a die.
She was still a dangerous figure trying to conquer D-City. Better to tail her just in case.
Who knew what kind of sinister, diabolical, groin-targeted scheme she was planning?
Once bitten, twice shy.
He tossed the die once, then slipped out the window, swung down onto an air conditioning platform using the security grilles installed by other residents.
A few rounds of rooftop parkour later, Lu Zheng landed on the ground smoothly.
Peering through the front gate, he watched as Yi Ning stepped out of the elevator.
Lu Zheng tossed the die again and quietly followed her.
Yi Ning left the residential complex and headed toward the mall.
Just as she expected, her head-turn rate on the street was absurd.
Some people even came up to ask if she was in trouble.
It was honestly annoying.
Fortunately, the mall wasn’t far. But once she got there, she realized something very important—
What size clothing did she wear now?
She only knew she used to wear XL. She had no idea how clothing sizes worked.
Well—whatever.
The shop assistant would probably know.
She boldly pushed open the door to the women’s clothing store. The saleslady quickly and warmly greeted her.
“Welcome!”
“Mm...”
Yi Ning responded with a hum, then fell silent.
She had never shopped for clothes in-person before—everything she owned had been bought online. She wasn’t used to dealing with store staff.
But she quickly adjusted.
“I want to buy an outfit. Do you have anything that looks nice?”
“How about this set?”
The smiling saleslady brought over an outfit and started pitching it from fabric to design.
Yi Ning listened in a daze. She touched the fabric and didn’t hate the design, so she nodded. “I’ll try it.”
“What size do you wear?”
“Not sure.”
The saleslady paused, then kept smiling. “What’s your height and weight?”
“Height... 1.6 meters. Weight... not too sure.”
Still smiling, the saleslady examined Yi Ning carefully, then handed her an outfit. “Try this size S first. If it feels a bit tight, let me know and I’ll get an M.”
“Okay.”
Yi Ning nodded, took the clothes, and entered the fitting room.
After changing, she spun a few times in front of the full-length mirror, moved around a bit, confirmed the fit, and stepped out.
“I’ll take this one.”
Yi Ning pulled out a card and handed it to the saleslady.
“Please come again!”
With the saleslady’s smile behind her, Yi Ning left the store carrying her old clothes, wandering a bit before arriving in front of a women’s lingerie shop.
Yi Ning stared at the glowing store sign, hesitating at the entrance.
She really didn’t want to come here.
It wasn’t about male pride or anything like that. It was just... a weird kind of shame.
Even though her body was now female, she’d been male for over twenty years. That sort of identity change wasn’t something she could get used to right away.
The only reason she was even standing here now was because, after all that walking, her secondary sex characteristics were starting to chafe and sting.
Yi Ning took a deep breath and, resigned, walked into the store.
Lu Zheng, still silently tailing her, glanced at the sign and chose to sit with a few older men on the bench nearby.
Inside, the rows of bras and panties dazzled Yi Ning.
She kept her eyes low, stealing glances at the underwear on display while she awkwardly wandered the store.
Whoa... this design is... bold...
She tried to imagine how it’d look on her, but her mental image defaulted to her old male form—resulting in a mental picture that shocked her so much she didn’t recover in time. Even after forcibly swapping in her current body in her imagination, the horror of the first image had already done damage—her SAN score took a hit.
Yi Ning hesitated.
It was just some chafing. She could bear it, right?
Unfortunately, before she could decide, the saleslady blocked her retreat.
“Hello.”
The smiling saleslady looked straight at Yi Ning.
“Uh... um... I’d like to buy some underwear. Do you have any recommendations?”
With nowhere to run, Yi Ning had no choice but to face her head-on.
“What size do you wear?”
“Uh... not too sure.”
“First time buying? Where are your parents?”
Judging by Yi Ning’s height and the way her clothes fit, the saleslady seemed to mistake her for a teenager.
Which, honestly, worked in her favor.
After all, just this morning she’d still been a man. Stepping into a shop like this, where only women typically went, put her under a fair amount of pressure.
Especially since she had no real understanding of this kind of product.
Even knowing there was no way anyone could tell, she couldn’t stop the gnawing fear that someone might somehow figure out she’d originally been male.