Chapter 9: Why Did It Turn Out Like This?
Inside the restaurant.
Lu Zheng sat stiffly across from Yi Ning, knees together, hands neatly placed on his lap, head lowered.
Staring at the girl before him—legs crossed, arms folded, leaning against the chair like a judge looking down on a defendant—he was filled with regret.
He should’ve cut his ability and fled from the start.
His power didn’t actually have any activation constraints. Tossing the dice was just a bluff to mislead enemies.
Of course, he wouldn’t deny there was also a little chuuni-style thrill to it.
If only he’d been decisive enough back then, he wouldn’t be sitting here like a stalker caught red-handed by his victim.
“Hello, may I take your order?”
Fortunately, a server came over and broke the heavy silence between them.
He glanced at the two, then handed the menu to Yi Ning.
Yi Ning casually flipped through a few pages. “Just saying this up front—I’m not paying a single cent.”
Lu Zheng: “No worries. Didn’t we agree? It’s my treat.”
“Hmph~”
Yi Ning scanned the prices and casually named a few of the cheaper dishes.
So generous?
Lu Zheng was puzzled.
In his impression, Dr. Alien wasn’t exactly known for kindness.
And right on cue—
Yi Ning closed the menu and added, “Also, give me one of everything else on the menu.”
The server was stunned. He looked at Lu Zheng with a sympathetic expression and quickly tried to reason with them. “That’s... way too much. The two of you won’t be able to finish all that. It’d be a huge waste.”
“I can’t take leftovers home?” Yi Ning retorted, though she didn’t insist on the joke. It seemed she just felt like teasing him.
“Bring me your three most expensive dishes.”
The server, sensing this girl wasn’t exactly reliable, looked to Lu Zheng for confirmation.
At the same time, Yi Ning shot Lu Zheng a challenging look.
Left with no choice, Lu Zheng nodded.
He had to admit he was in the wrong.
Seeing his nod, the server noted the chaotic order and stepped back to leave.
“Wait!”
Yi Ning suddenly called him back.
“Bring me two bottles of your most expensive beverage!”
The server paused and scribbled it down, then looked up. “Beverage? Not wine?”
Yi Ning waved a hand. “I’m a model citizen. No smoking, no drinking.”
Lu Zheng was speechless.
You, the biggest villain in D-City, have the gall to call yourself a model citizen?
Once the server was gone, Yi Ning grinned at Lu Zheng.
So, he was willing to shell out this much?
Either he felt really guilty... or he had something to hide.
“So, tell me. Why were you tailing me?”
Yi Ning leaned forward, elbows on the table, cheek resting on her hand as she smiled at him.
So I really couldn’t dodge this, huh?
Lu Zheng sighed inwardly.
“Well... I just thought you looked kinda cute...”
“And that gives you the right to stalk someone?”
Yi Ning wasn’t buying it.
“Didn’t the Hero Association warn you not to use your powers for anything illegal?”
“They... did...”
Lu Zheng never imagined he’d one day get lectured on the misuse of powers by the very supervillain trying to take over D-City.
“So you knowingly broke the rules? Naughty~”
Watching Yi Ning smirk at him, Lu Zheng couldn’t reconcile her with the Dr. Alien he knew—the one who made weird gadgets all day.
He tried to keep quiet and endure her questioning, but the more he resisted, the more excited Yi Ning got, launching attacks from all angles.
Lu Zheng even considered giving up and just telling her the truth.
But since he was the biggest obstacle to Dr. Alien’s conquest of D-City, he figured it was safer for his family if he kept pretending he was just led around by lust.
Luckily, the food arrived quickly and temporarily shut Yi Ning’s mouth.
“This place is actually pretty good.”
Yi Ning’s chopsticks moved at lightning speed, cheeks puffed out with food.
“Well, yeah.”
They had ordered the most expensive items.
With a sense of inferiority rooted deep in his heart, Lu Zheng didn’t dare compete with her for food. He picked at the leftovers or whatever she didn’t want.
As he watched Yi Ning devour the dishes like a storm, he couldn’t help glancing at her small figure.
She was so petite, but her stomach hadn’t bulged at all despite eating so much. Where did all that food go?
Did that Super Invincible Girlification Machine have some kind of secret digestive function?
Yi Ning set down her chopsticks for now, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and downed a full glass of juice in one go.
Looking across at Lu Zheng, curiosity overflowed in her eyes.
At first, she thought he was just an unregistered ability user the Hero Association hadn’t caught yet. But after all her subtle prodding, she realized—he knew way too much.
Not just general knowledge about the Hero Association, but also their operational style, internal policies—he had it all down pat.
And based on the occasional slip in his words, she could tell he was very familiar with the combat personnel of D-City’s Hero Association.
Unless he’d worked with them for a long time, there was no way he could know this much.
This guy... could he be the ace of the D-City Hero Association, Pixel Mask?
The idea suddenly popped into Yi Ning’s head.
And the more she thought about it, the more it made sense.
D-City was relatively distant from the Evil Council’s sphere of influence. The Hero Association’s roots here were deep, and the city was fairly secure.
Besides some admin staff, the D-City branch only had three combat members:
The branch chief, Grand Magus Miss Qiu Yu.
Second-in-command, martial arts expert Ye Qin.
And then—name unknown, age unknown, abilities unknown—the D-City ace hero known only by his fighting style and build: Pixel Mask, presumed to be a young man.
Yi Ning looked again at Lu Zheng.
Yep, young man.
And if he really was Pixel Mask, then it made sense that he followed her around.
A superhero secretly tailing a supervillain to prevent trouble? Totally logical.
Yi Ning pushed her empty glass toward Lu Zheng. “Refill this for me.”
Then, while Lu Zheng obediently refilled her glass, she grinned and tossed her suspicions aside.
What did Pixel Mask’s identity matter to her? It’s not like she was really here to conquer D-City.
Besides, she had no interest in using his identity as leverage.
She was the top student of Evil University.
She had standards as a villain.
“Cheers.”
Yi Ning raised her glass and held it toward Lu Zheng.
Lu Zheng looked puzzled. He didn’t quite understand why the once-aggressive Yi Ning had suddenly become so easygoing—but he could tell she didn’t plan on pushing the stalking issue anymore.
That was a relief for him.
He’d already been struggling to deal with her relentless interrogation.
And he lived right next door to Dr. Alien. If she ever did try to pull something big, he’d be the first to know.
He was the ace of D-City, after all. His ability was so mysterious that even the Hero Association couldn’t determine its exact nature. He had confidence.
“Cheers.”
Lu Zheng lifted his glass and gently clinked it against hers.
All in all, both were fairly satisfied with how dinner went.
Well, except for a certain Miss Qiu Yu, who just happened to glance through the restaurant window—and saw her best friend being led away.