Lu Ming held the antidote to the annoyance potion in his hand, the transparent liquid contained within a test tube.
In the living room, Shizuka was sitting quietly watching television, but she wasn't really paying attention. She just sat on the sofa hugging a pillow, her gaze drifting toward Lu Ming's room from time to time.
Until she saw Lu Ming appear again!
Lu Ming walked slowly toward Shizuka with the antidote in hand. Shizuka immediately stood up, her eyes lighting up as she saw the test tube in his hand.
She never wanted to experience the feeling of being hated by everyone again. "Lu Ming! Is this the antidote?"
"Yes!" Lu Ming nodded and handed the test tube to Shizuka. "Drink it, and that uncomfortable aura around you will disappear!"
Shizuka looked at the test tube and the transparent liquid inside. Lu Ming watched the dazed Shizuka, not telling her where the antidote had come from.
He couldn't exactly tell Shizuka that he had created it out of thin air in the "Manufacturing Space"! That would be too complicated to explain and would easily expose his secret.
Snapping back to her senses, Shizuka didn't hesitate for a second. She pulled out the stopper, tilted her head back, and drank it down.
The liquid felt slightly cool as it entered her mouth. It was colorless and tasteless, sliding down her throat without any discomfort.
She put down the test tube and looked at Lu Ming somewhat nervously. "I... I don't feel any change right now. Will it really work?"
"Don't worry! It'll be fine in a few minutes." Lu Ming smiled and sat down next to Shizuka to watch TV with her.
Actually, Lu Ming wasn't surprised by this. In the Manufacturing Space, he had already confirmed the antidote's composition through the data stream; it could completely neutralize the effects of the annoyance potion, it just needed a little time to take effect.
Lu Ming knew the reason, but Shizuka didn't! So, Shizuka was still a bit restless.
Seeing this, Lu Ming smiled and comforted her, "It's okay, Shizuka. The problem should be resolved in about five minutes."
Lu Ming picked up the TV remote and found a funny cartoon to watch, hoping to help Shizuka relax.
Lu Ming and Shizuka sat in front of the TV, eating potato chips as they watched the cartoon.
Only after the cartoon ended did Shizuka notice how close she was leaning toward Lu Ming. A faint blush crept onto the tips of her shy ears. Turning her head toward the window in embarrassment, she saw pedestrians walking by on the street.
Shizuka remembered the empty street from earlier; even the wind blowing through had seemed exceptionally quiet, without a single soul in sight.
Now, seeing people passing by from time to time, and with Lu Ming staying by her side...
Shizuka's eyes reddened. With tears in her eyes, she looked at Lu Ming, then suddenly hugged him tightly around the neck, burying her head in his chest and sobbing softly.
"Lu Ming, thank you for helping me! Thank you for solving this big trouble for me," Shizuka's muffled voice came from his embrace.
Lu Ming was stunned for a moment. He put the potato chips on the table and gently patted her back to comfort her.
"It's all right, Shizuka! It's better now, everything is in the past! And you don't need to thank me so much."
After all, that bottle of mineral water Nobita gave was meant for me; you only drank it by mistake."
Lu Ming smiled. "Besides, I should thank you for taking the hit for me."
Shizuka's sobbing hitched. She clenched her small fists and punched Lu Ming a few times. *Lu Ming, you jerk, give me back my touched feelings!*
After taking a moment in Lu Ming's arms, Shizuka stood up with a beet-red face. "Alright, I'm going home now!"
"Lu Ming, see you at school tomorrow." Having said that, Shizuka ran out with a blushing face.
Seeing this, Lu Ming also ran to the door. "Do you want me to walk you home?"
Shizuka's face turned even redder upon hearing this. She stammered, "N-no need, Lu Ming! I... I can go back by myself!" Lu Ming smiled at the sight.
After returning to his room, Lu Ming entered the Manufacturing Space and created the annoyance ray gun, adding a cancellation ray to it as well.
Lu Ming looked at the metallic luster of the ray gun in his hand, playing with it as if he couldn't put it down.
"What a pity! I don't have a target to test its effect on," he lamented helplessly.
Lu Ming took the ray gun into the yard and fired a shot at the peach tree, but it didn't cause any damage.
But in the next second, the peach tree in the yard began to emit an annoying aura. Lu Ming felt that the peach tree before him seemed completely unpleasant.
It was exactly the same effect as when Shizuka drank the annoyance potion. Lu Ming switched the ray gun to the cancellation ray and fired another shot at the peach tree. Before long, the peach tree returned to its original state.
Lu Ming looked at the cool ray gun in his hand. "This thing is much more useful than the annoyance potion."
Just as Lu Ming was about to put the ray gun back into the Manufacturing Space, Lin Hua's voice came from the sky.
"Little Lu Ming, what is that thing in your hand now?"
Lu Ming looked up into the sky and saw Lin Hua flying down from the clouds, wearing a bamboo copter and holding the all-purpose cloud gas.
Flying down from the sky, Lin Hua saw the cool ray gun in Lu Ming's hand and snatched it away.
Lu Ming stared blankly at his empty hands, then at Lin Hua, who was playing with the ray gun.
After playing with it for a while, Lin Hua was puzzled and looked at Lu Ming in confusion.
"This thing couldn't be a gun, could it? Or is it some new gadget I don't know about!" Lin Hua asked.
Snapping out of his daze, Lu Ming snatched the ray gun back from Lin Hua's hand.
"This isn't a gun, but you could also say it is! It looks like a gun and is used like a gun, but what it fires is actually a laser, and it doesn't cause any damage."
Lin Hua looked at Lu Ming with a face full of black lines. "Then after all that nonsense, what exactly is it supposed to do?"
"Who told you to snatch my stuff the moment you arrived? It's not too much for me to get a little revenge, is it?" Lu Ming muttered under his breath.
Lin Hua, who had heard every word clearly, took several deep breaths to calm herself down, then stared intently at Lu Ming.
Seeing this, Lu Ming didn't dare to keep her in suspense any longer. He raised the laser gun in his hand. "It's called the annoyance ray gun. As the name suggests, anyone hit by it will be hated by everyone.
Furthermore, this ray gun has a customizable annoyance duration. Within the specified time, the person hit will be isolated, marginalized, and hated."
Saying this, Lu Ming took the ray gun and adjusted the custom annoyance duration.
Then, he pointed the muzzle at himself and pulled the trigger. Lin Hua stepped forward in panic to stop him, but the ray was too fast; she couldn't make it in time.
Lin Hua ran nervously to Lu Ming and checked his physical condition. Seeing that no changes had occurred to Lu Ming, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Lin Hua was just about to give Lu Ming a stern scolding, but then she felt an uncomfortable aura coming from him.
As Lin Hua approached Lu Ming, all sorts of nauseating and sickening feelings welled up in her heart. She quickly put on her bamboo copter and flew a bit further away before she felt any better.
High in the air, Lin Hua looked at Lu Ming from a distance, yet she still felt a sense of hatred and disgust.
Lu Ming pretended to look up at the sky with a face full of disappointment and sadness as Lin Hua flew far away.