Chapter 108

Tang Mingxi opened the manga app precisely on time.

In the previous chapter, Pei Xi had hesitated over whether to go to the Western District to rescue Lu Qi, causing public opinion to explode in backlash. Tang Mingxi had watched the uproar unfold with delight, fanning the flames enthusiastically. She’d also greatly enjoyed Ye Zheng’s side plot. If only the main storyline would grant Ye Zheng more screen time.

Ye Zheng’s popularity had been steadily rising, yet the “Ye Zheng content ratio” in each new chapter remained pitifully sparse. There were clearly numerous moments where her actions and thoughts could’ve been explored in far greater depth, yet the author refused to depict them unless the plot absolutely required her presence.

Fans of other characters admitted that Ye Zheng possessed immense presence precisely because she transformed every scarce appearance into a scene-stealing moment, delivering overwhelming impact to readers.

Tang Mingxi sighed. Their Ye Zheng faction was truly the most gentle and well-behaved group within the entire 『Throne of the Aberrant Realm』 readership community. The official side was clearly taking precautions to prevent Ye Zheng from exploding in popularity. If a high-traffic idol were treated so unfairly, there’d be at least two protest trucks stationed outside the company building, perhaps even funeral wreaths delivered to the entrance.

Yet at present, Ye Zheng’s fans were merely venting on social media by roasting the author and rival ships. Their temper couldn’t possibly be better.

With soaring expectations for an ultra-high Ye Zheng content chapter, Tang Mingxi tapped into the newest update.

The instant it loaded, Sykes’s full frontal face filled the screen without warning. Tang Mingxi recoiled slightly, moving her phone farther away in mild disgust.

Recently, the number of fans shipping Sykes and Ye Zheng had inexplicably surged. Why was it that, even as a devoted fan of a female fictional character, she still couldn’t escape the fate of being saddled with an unwanted brother-in-law descending from the heavens?

Fortunately, this was merely random fan shipping. Ye Zheng clearly resembled the kind of formidable woman who had no space for men in her heart and would naturally draw her sword like a deity.

Within the manga, the golden-haired Crown Prince stood atop the city wall, delivering a solemn address with a stern expression. The barrage already contained hundreds of comments.

【What an epic face!】

【Fam, I can’t even hate him. This man’s a true king…】

【Sykes, king among kings, alpha among alphas!】

【Has no one noticed how well Sykes spoke? Besides being a SSS-Class powerhouse, his overall qualities as Crown Prince are outstanding. Everyone keeps overlooking that.】

【Um, is it possible the speech wasn’t even written by him? He doesn’t seem like the type who could compose those words.】

【Some people in the barrage, stop hating Sykes so much. If he didn’t write it, did you write it?】

After Sykes finished speaking, the perspective shifted. The Saintess stood quietly not far behind him, observing everything in silence.

The Crown Prince turned, appearing slightly weary, and said, “Let’s go.” Ye Zheng smiled gently and nodded before following behind him.

At first, Tang Mingxi assumed Ye Zheng had merely been dragged out by the old man to serve as background decoration. But the plot transitioned into Sykes’s memories. Surprisingly, Ye Zheng appeared within them as well.

It turned out that, thanks to Ye Zheng’s treatment, Sykes had recovered fragments of his lost memories. His decision to head toward the Western District this time was driven by the desire to reclaim his forgotten past, not by the lofty purpose described in the speech draft Ye Zheng had written for him.

Wait. The speech that Sykes’s fans had just been praising was actually written by Ye Zheng?

Tang Mingxi immediately reopened the barrage she had previously closed.

【Lmao I’m dying. We kept insisting Sykes couldn’t have written something like that and you still didn’t believe it.】

【Who is truly steering the narrative? Once again, the male characters' spotlight has been quietly redirected onto Ye Zheng...】

【"Some people, don't hate Sykes too much." I think it should read, "don't hate Ye Zheng too much" instead.】

【How amusing. It turns out Sykes fans are the ones who understand him the least.】

Although the barrage contained a few sarcastic remarks aimed at Ye Zheng, Tang Mingxi still felt invigorated watching it. Sykes was simply just a useless piece of trash when standing before her girl.

Yet the subsequent developments left her unable to smile.

After the group entered the Western District and experienced a sequence of bizarre incidents, Ye Zheng and Sykes encountered Pei Xi inside the grand church of the Western District. A mysterious man exuding a heavy paternalistic aura confined the three of them within a sealed space. Together, they searched for an exit inside the small room.

This portion of the plot made Tang Mingxi’s heart jolt. The author had arranged three potential CP pairings inside a single confined space. The forum would likely erupt into chaos over CP debates.

"Lu Qi said she wants to invite us to be guests together in her hometown."

"I agreed. I never break my promises."

On the phone screen, firelight reflected against a warmly toned face. The girl resembled a gentle cloud, yet she made Pei Xi recall the terror once instilled by the "Glorious Oath." His heart trembled before the Saintess who was both benevolent and terrifying.

In the final panel, the three successfully returned to the surface. Ye Zheng stepped alone into the dense fog, leaving readers with nothing but her resolute silhouette from behind.

To be honest, this chapter carried substantial narrative weight. Numerous new characters appeared. Pei Xi and Sykes, the two central male protagonists, seemed to share mysterious ties to the Western District experiments, while Ye Zheng appeared to be advancing her own independent agenda.

However, based on experience, most readers weren’t primarily concerned with the plot itself but with CP disputes. The forum frequently descended into arguments over this issue. Although she, as a solo stan of Ye Zheng, cared neither for the overarching storyline nor for CPs, Ye Zheng was inevitably dragged into these peculiar debates. She had no choice but to pay attention.

After Tang Mingxi captured screenshots of every one of Ye Zheng’s appearances in the new chapter, she immediately switched modes and began patrolling the forum.

As anticipated, the top trending post was indeed CP-related.

【1L: One room, two sexual orientations, three CPs being shipped. Let’s pay tribute to the legendary manga 『Throne of the Aberrant Realm』!】

【2L: In the new chapter, the old man dares to ship like this, I don’t even dare to watch. Everyone, fight fiercely!】

【3L: The top three most popular characters, who constantly tear at each other, placed inside a sealed space. The old man’s afraid the fans won’t fight.】

【4L: Xi-Sy | Sy-Xi, consistently holding the top ranking since early serialization; Xi-Zhao, once a dark horse contender for first place, though it collapsed midway, its residual prestige lingers; Xi-Zheng, suspected official male-female lead; Sy-Zheng, you peculiar BG top. Below, please welcome the debaters. In the new plot, who was shipped the hardest?】

【5L: Where did the Sy-Zheng fans come from? The best BG pairing in this strange series is actually Zhao-Lu, the most mutually reciprocal pair, and this new arc even includes after-sales.】

【6L: Sis Zhao-Lu upstairs, wake up. Your Zhao Mei’s gone. BG has turned into GL, just like neighboring Xi-Zhao, thoroughly deceased, very reassuring.】

【7L: Oh my god, will anyone care about us yuri fans? Ye-Lu was shipped the hardest this time, yet no one acknowledges it.】

【8L: Ye Zheng, during those thirty seconds you stared at Pei Xi, were you concerned about Pei Xi who fears the dark and revealed his vulnerability, or worried about Lu Qi whose whereabouts remain unknown?】

【9L: I’m done. Is Pei Xi straight that you ship him like this? This time it’s clearly Pei Xi and Sykes’s territory. Begging a certain big female lead fan not to dismantle the little couple tutorial!】

【10L: Our top sis is too indifferent to argue. In the new chapter, the connection between Pei Xi and Sykes is something no one can intrude upon. Combined with their fragmented memories, they grew up together in the lab. The value of heaven-sent childhood friends surpasses everything.】

【11L: This chapter truly gave Xi-Sy sis material to ship. It would’ve been perfect without a certain someone. Can this even be said? She genuinely feels abrupt within it...】

【12L: Liked. Ye Zheng didn’t need to be locked inside the small dark room with Xi-Sy at all. The old man’s smuggling goods again, adding scenes for a certain big female lead.】

【13L: The camera’s constantly being rubbed, the breakthrough relies entirely on Pei Xi and Sykes, yet fans boast about the most well-developed female character. We argue like this because we’re that competitive.】

【14L: Please come and appreciate the pure Xi-Sy sis small dark room plot! (Attached image)】

【15L: No, you P’ed* Ye Zheng out of the frame, leaving a large unsightly blank filled with background color. Doesn’t that make her presence even more overwhelming?】

[T/N- I am guessing photoshoped (?)]

【16L: I’m laughing so hard. Xi-Sy sis claims on the surface they don’t care and are too lazy to argue, yet in truth they care desperately and can’t even tolerate Ye Zheng’s existence.】

Tang Mingxi couldn’t resist clicking on the attached image in 14L. It was a long strip in which every scene featuring Ye Zheng in the small room had been P’ed out, leaving only Pei Xi and Sykes.

【17L: 14L, could you warn before posting ghost images? The frames without Ye Zheng are genuinely ugly and unsettling.】

Tang Mingxi examined the chain of sarcasm above. What did these people mean, shipping two males unrelated to her, yet relentlessly trampling her girl? Did their Zheng fans resemble people who’d want these two mangoes as brothers-in-law?

【18L: Ye Zheng’s sole official pairing is Little Steam. Please hold your male treasures tightly and stop bumping porcelain.】

【19L: I’m laughing faintly. Our Little Steam now even has presence on the forum.】

Tang Mingxi had only learned about this during the week. Li Yixin mentioned she’d accidentally discovered a Ye Zheng-related dream girl bot called 【Steam Empire】 on the Big Eye platform and immediately recommended it to her, the iron-blooded Zheng fan.

Steam is a homophone for Zheng wife. Although it was a dream girl bot, since it only had followers in the thousands and relatively few submissions, it accepted personal submissions related to Ye Zheng. It had only two rules: politely refuse character crossovers, and prohibit males from following.

[T/N: "Steam is a homophone for Zheng wife" is a fun Chinese fandom pun. Ye Zheng's name uses 筝 (zhēng). "筝妻" (zhēng qī) = "Zheng's wife" / "Ye Zheng's wife".

"Steam" in Chinese is 蒸汽 (zhēng qì).  

zhēng qì sounds almost exactly like zhēng qī (tiny tone difference, ignored in casual online use).

So 【蒸汽帝国】 ("Steam Empire") is secretly code for "Ye Zheng Wife Empire" — a cute, indirect way for fans to create a self-shipping / dream-girl bot claiming Ye Zheng as "their wife" without being too direct. ]

Tang Mingxi was merely a career fan of Ye Zheng, occasionally assuming a mom-fan stance, yet compared to malicious crossovers with male characters, wasn’t it preferable to ship Ye Zheng with herself? Wasn’t that more authentic than any so-called Xi-Zheng or Sy-Zheng?

The thread starter’s provocation swiftly drew a large crowd, and the post count surged.

【162L: Those claiming Ye Zheng is useless, have you actually read the plot? She was clearly controlling the rhythm. Some people even require the girl treasure to ghostwrite their speech drafts. Without Ye Zheng, Pei Xi and Sykes might’ve remained trapped in the small dark room for days.】

【163L: Upstairs, don’t gratify Xi-Sy sis. They’d love nothing more than for their two male treasures to remain locked in that small dark room for a lifetime.】

【164L: By the way, why is it Xi-Sy? Isn’t the protagonist bottom usually more numerous than the protagonist top?】

【165L: Answer: initially there were more Sy-Xi shippers, until the official setting book revealed Pei Xi is three centimeters taller than Sykes.】

【166L: Actually, the two male treasure fans are the ones who most strongly support Ye Zheng as the big female lead. They don’t care whether Xi-Sy escapes, only whether Ye Zheng does. They even P’ed a hypothetical line where Ye Zheng leaves while Xi-Se remains trapped, and our Zheng replaces them to fulfill the glorious duties...】

【167L: Ah, Zheng fans don’t need to speak that way about Pei Xi and Sykes. They also care deeply about Ye Zheng. This time, the trio cooperated seamlessly. There’s no need for fans to quarrel so intensely.】

【168L: I, a Sy-Zheng shipper, don’t even dare to speak. On one side bullied by Xi-Sy sis, on the other scolded by Ye Zheng solo stans. Our BG sis is just that low-status.】

【169L: Is it BG sis or silent crooked male treasure fans? Zheng fans know the truth in our hearts.】

【170L: Shipping BG isn’t as good as shipping our Zhao-Ye. BG narcissus, who wouldn’t call it immortal! (Attached P image of Zhao Mei and Ye Zheng in the same frame)】

【171L: Zhao-Lu becomes Ye-Lu. What remains unchanged is that she loves her. Can our yuri product compete too?】

【171L: How about this: Let Ye Zheng be heterosexual on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, homosexual on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and narcissus on Sunday. Who would still dare be dissatisfied?】

【172L: In truth, this woman possesses an ultra career-oriented mind. Imagining my girl diligently executing grand strategies, only to turn back and see everyone arguing over who she matches with, I can only say it’s fortunate paper people can’t access forums...】

Tang Mingxi paused upon reading 172L. For some reason, she felt faintly guilty. She claimed to be a career fan, yet she was vague about Ye Zheng’s professional trajectory. She hadn’t truly followed the plot attentively, after all, the male character content she disliked was too prevalent.

【182L: Zheng fans, please move to the neighboring Ye Zheng plot analysis thread. After reading that thread, who would still dare claim the new plot is Pei Xi and Sykes’s territory? There’s a genuine hidden-line protagonist!】

【183L: Just came from next door. That thread analyzes Ye Zheng far too darkly, doesn’t it? It makes it seem as though Pei Xi and Sykes are both secretly manipulated by her. It feels like all three are OOC...】

【184L: I say, have you all forgotten Ye Zheng’s prior deeds so quickly? You still dare ship Ye Zheng’s CP? I’m genuinely afraid that for every one you ship, Ye Zheng will ash one for you.】

【185L: My Sy-Zheng sis is simply that headstrong. It’s impossible for Ye Zheng to change gender again. Aside from that, what other major landmines could exist?】

Tang Mingxi felt she must deepen her understanding of her girl’s career trajectory. Otherwise, her rebuttals would seem shallow and lack depth. Thus, she navigated to the neighboring plot analysis thread.

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Authors Note

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Already refreshed after consuming Zheng Zheng cake.