Chapter 115

At the end of the previous chapter, Ye Zheng and the other two had escaped from the small dark room. During the chaos, Ye Zheng ran alone into the mist while Pei Xi chased after her.

When the new chapter opened, Pei Xi failed to find Ye Zheng. Inside the white fog, he vaguely glimpsed dragon-bodied women and seemed to become stimulated by the sight before running back. When he returned, he discovered Kieran being beaten by Sykes.

After a tense confrontation, Pei Xi finally recalled memories from before he was four years old and came to understand what the “Hope Project” truly was.

Tang Mingxi had little interest in this helpless male lead plotline or in his childhood flashbacks. However, when she casually glanced at what came next, she was instantly furious.

The so-called “Hope Project” exploited women’s unique reproductive abilities in order to artificially create gods. Pei Xi and Sykes were both products of god creation that had been achieved by sacrificing countless women.

On the phone screen, the blue-haired bishop wearing white robes showed a solemn and pitying expression. He was clearly one of the executioners, so how did he have the nerve to wear that expression?

As she continued scrolling, Tang Mingxi’s anger reached its peak.

“If nothing unexpected happened, she should have been personally transformed into a… Blessed Reliquary by Wen Jian using dragon bone.”

“Has the Ye family still not announced Ye Zheng’s marriage?”

After connecting it with the memory fragments Pei Xi had mentioned earlier, Tang Mingxi understood that Blessed Reliquaries were the women selected for the experiments. Did Kieran’s words mean that Ye Zheng was also one of them? And what nonsense was this about marriage? Did Ye Zheng herself even know?

Tang Mingxi desperately wanted to punch the pretentious man on the screen, but she restrained herself for the sake of her phone.

If the author actually dared to force Ye Zheng into a marriage, she and the members of the little steam squad would genuinely show up at the author’s company with trucks, protest banners, and wreaths!

Still seething with anger, she continued reading. Pei Xi and the others decided to head toward the base. On the way, they briefly developed murderous intent toward Kieran, but after learning about Zhou Yun’s true plan, they suppressed that urge. When they finally reached the base, Kieran produced the original Hope Project document.

Seeing that file only made Tang Mingxi even angrier. How could so many women have agreed to such a plan? It felt nothing more than the ultimate male fantasy about producing heirs.

Even when Kieran revealed the shocking secret that the salvation prophecy was false and only the world's destruction was real, Tang Mingxi, as a woman, still couldn't accept it. A future built upon the corpses of women would never be kind to women. In her opinion, it would be better for everyone to perish together. What she hated the most were those vague grand narratives used to shackle people.

Up to this point, the author had spent most of the story portraying how tragic Pei Xi’s childhood had been. He had been monitored, imprisoned, and experimented on. Meanwhile, the tragedies of the women behind everything were reduced to Kieran’s brief explanations and a few fleeting glimpses in Pei Xi’s memories. Tang Mingxi couldn't empathize with that at all.

She could even understand why Zhou Yun used five hundred thousand people as leverage. Zhou Yun wanted to destroy the Hope Project and kill the god-creation products like Pei Xi.

If there was anything extreme about it, it was only the desire to kill Ye Zheng. That was probably because Ye Zheng possessed the Divine Sword and was regarded by the empire as God’s Chosen, while Zhou Yun wanted to shatter every last piece of hope the empire held.

Her finger kept scrolling across the screen. Kieran, who had been chatting with the two young men, was suddenly interrupted by a knock at the door. He went to open it.

The Saintess, dressed in pristine white robes, suddenly appeared on the screen in Tang Mingxi’s palm.

Tang Mingxi’s eyes widened immediately. Why had her baby suddenly appeared here? Wait. Why were her hands bound by those black rings?

“It was Zhou Yun who sent you in here, wasn’t it?”

“Perhaps before you killed four people in the base, you didn’t know Zhou Yun had kidnapped five hundred thousand people and demanded that I kill all of you?”

In the manga, Kieran questioned the girl with disappointment, as if he were looking at a naive child who had been deceived.

In the close-up panel, Pei Xi and Sykes showed different expressions. When they saw the Saintess being escorted to the doorway by tall knights in white, they were so shocked that they instinctively stepped closer.

Ye Zheng’s bound hands rested calmly in front of her. Facing several gazes filled with doubt and disbelief, her expression remained as gentle as ever.

“Even if I had known, I would still have done it.”

On the screen, four gruesome death scenes floated behind the girl: one person drowned in a shallow stream, one person shot multiple times, one person whose flesh exploded, and one person whose head was smashed off by a dragon-bodied monster. Ye Zheng’s upright figure appeared smallest at the bottom, surrounded by these horrifying images, as though the vengeful spirits of those who had died because of her were glaring at her in rage and interrogating her.

“Because this is your inevitable end.”

The Saintess smiled and spoke without the slightest remorse. In an instant, all the ghosts trying to judge and torment her seemed to scream once more before turning to ashes under her cold words.

Tang Mingxi was in the car. She covered her mouth and let out a silent scream. She declared this the most satisfying moment of the chapter!

Earlier chapters had shown women willingly allowing themselves to be exploited and transformed, serving only as tragic background panels to highlight the male lead Pei Xi’s beautiful yet miserable strength. It had been suffocatingly frustrating until Ye Zheng finally took out several people and allowed her to breathe freely again.

While Pei Xi and Sykes were still hesitating and being manipulated by Kieran, Ye Zheng had already arrived at the base and started a full rampage. This woman’s value kept rising higher and higher!

On the final page, an enraged Kieran locked Ye Zheng inside a confinement cell. Tang Mingxi wasn’t particularly worried. Ye Zheng gave her an overwhelming sense of security. It felt like even if this woman were thrown into the eighteenth layer of hell, she’d slaughter her way back to the heavens in no time.

Instead, Tang Mingxi became even more excited. What would Ye Zheng do next? She must hate this place. Would she cooperate with Zhou Yun to wipe out these disgusting men? Especially Kieran.

Tang Mingxi eagerly opened the forums. Her urge to discuss was at its peak, and she couldn’t wait to rave about Ye Zheng with her fellow fans.

However, when she entered the forums, the atmosphere was completely different from what she had imagined.

【Sorry, I know this isn’t great, but I’m kind of starting to stan Kieran…】

【Pei Xi’s mom squad, come cry with me! What kind of ending could possibly match baby’s lifetime of suffering and wandering?】

【Many people don’t dare say it, but ever since Zhao Mei’s identity was exposed, Ye Zheng’s Saintess character has completely collapsed.】

The three hot threads left her dizzy. Were these people even reading the same manga as her?

【1L: Sorry, I know this isn’t great, but I’m kind of starting to stan Kieran…】

【2L: I really love this type of bad guy who’ll do anything for justice. Does anyone else get it?】

【3L: OP, you can search Kieran’s tag on xiǎo fú tè*. There’s already a lot of content since he appeared. Beauty really is the number one productive force.】

[T/N- xiǎo fú tè= Pixiv]

【4L: It’s all 2D anyway, so what’s wrong with staning a villain? Besides, Kieran isn’t really a villain in a way.】

【5L: This is insane. Kieran runs the Hope Project that even killed his friend’s daughter, and he hid Zhou Yun’s negotiation terms from the empire, dooming five hundred thousand people to death. And you still say he isn’t a villain?】

【6L: So what if he’s a villain? In real life I’d run as far away as possible, but in 2D it’s harmless. Can’t you people separate fiction from reality?】

【7L: Kieran hid Zhou Yun’s threat to protect Pei Xi and Sykes. He even admitted his sins were heavy and said he’d let Pei Xi deal with him afterward. In a way, he’s quite divine.】

【8L: “Bad man who does anything for justice.” You’re just stealing the praise Ye Zheng fans give Ye Zheng and applying it to Kieran.】

【9L: Ye Zheng fans upstairs, please trademark the dictionary first.】

【10L: I don’t think Kieran is a villain at all. Have you even read the manga? The Hope Project wasn’t started by him, and the women who participated did so voluntarily.】

【11L: LOL. “Voluntarily.” The person upstairs is a guy, right?】

【12L: The Hope Project is the peak of history. Writing cannibalism of women as supreme righteousness makes me sick. Anyone supporting Kieran is officially classified as severely misogynistic.】

【13L: The author’s misogynistic nature can’t be hidden anymore. I’m not surprised he wrote this plot. What’s hard to stomach is how many people actually like incel stuff.】

【14L: What does incel mean?】

【15L: Incel refers to woman-hating men, but calling the author that seems a bit unfair. At most, he’s just somewhat chauvinistic.】

Tang Mingxi frowned as she read. She already thought liking Kieran was bizarre, but what shocked her even more was that some people were actually trying to whitewash the “Hope Project.”

【52L: Am I the only one who felt a little moved when I saw all those women’s signatures on the original document? The Hope Project’s original intention was good, and it really did give the empire Pei Xi and Sykes, two boys with the potential to save the world. Whether it’s Pei Xi’s mom or Sykes’s mom, they were all incredibly great women!】

【53L: I don’t understand why people are cursing the author for misogyny because of this plot. It’s obvious the protagonist and even the antagonist Sykes oppose Kieran and the Hope Project. Can you stop taking things out of context?】

【54L: “If there is no god, create one. If there is no hope, create hope.” The methods are extreme, but in desperate times, cruel hope is often the final straw. I think the plot is harsh but reasonable.】

【55L: Anyone who can’t accept this simply has low tolerance. The world is doomed to destruction anyway, so who cares about ethics and morality at that point? The women in the manga who voluntarily sacrificed themselves have far more vision than those of you arguing about love-female versus hate-female.】

【56L: I think the author is clearly satirizing the reality of treating women as breeding tools. The direction of the plot is to overthrow the Hope Project. For a male author to have this level of progressive awareness about female issues is already pretty good.】

【57L: +1 to the above. I’m not trying to whitewash the author, but using the very thing he’s criticizing to accuse him of misogyny feels too harsh.】

【58L: Here come the love-female grand thinkers! Instead of spending time on the forums cursing female character fans who are also women, why not donate more sanitary pads?】

Tang Mingxi wondered when the forums had become filled with so many male readers. These people empathized with Kieran and with the author, yet when it came to the sacrificed women, it was always described as “cruel but reasonable.”

She kept scrolling. Fortunately, plenty of readers were still normal.

【72L: “Original intention was good,” “great women,” “Pei Xi’s mom,” “Sykes’s mom.” Don’t you feel any contradiction when you type those words…】

【73L: Everyone who thinks this is reasonable is a guy, right? No real woman would agree with this grand narrative that devours women.】

【74L: Where did all these author-protecting babies come from? A male author’s so-called female awareness is just creating a world where women bear the burden of reproduction, then letting male babies pretend to save them.】

【75L: I understand cursing the author, but why drag Pei Xi and Sykes into it? They didn’t do anything wrong. They even wanted to kill Kieran.】

【76L: Wanting to kill Kieran isn’t that impressive. Ye Zheng next door is actually killing those disgusting people. The difference is obvious.】

【77L: This chapter supports Ye Zheng the most so far. That murder montage at the end was so cool I almost squealed!】

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Meanwhile, Li Yixin was also scrolling through the forums.

【1L: Many people don’t dare say it, but ever since Zhao Mei’s identity was exposed, Ye Zheng’s Saintess character has completely collapsed…】

【2L: The kind, healing Saintess who used to risk her life to save people, even cats. She used to be such a positive female character. Now she’s scheming and massacring people. Do Ye Zheng fans really think there’s nothing wrong with the plot?】

【3L: I support OP. I really don’t understand why the author set up this character. Her behavior in this update is baffling as well.】

【4L: OP, you’re brave enough to name a religious character. Be careful, Zheng Zheng moms and the little steam squad might smell it and come blast you!】

【5L: Here we go again. Ye Zheng’s character and aura change every week, huh? Ye Zheng antis pretending to be neutral passersby.】

【6L: Oh my god, Ye Zheng’s aura changed again? Now it’s the face that’s about to step on your male baby underfoot~】

【7L: Ye Zheng fans in this thread are still stubborn. Your Saintess has already turned into a serial killer maniac. The justice Saintess full of great love you keep praising was just fake.】

【8L: 7L went too far. Even if you mowed down every man who joined the Hope Project with a machine gun, there wouldn’t be a single innocent casualty. And you’re still pitying them?】

【9L: Our Zheng is full of great love. She’s a divine girl who loves the world like a goddess. Where exactly has the character collapsed? The people she killed aren’t even human anyway.】

【10L: Ye Zheng says: Humans are born good by nature. If they aren’t good, then they aren’t human. Kill!】

【11L: Today’s forums are legendary. The men who oppressed women and the male characters born from that oppression are skyrocketing in popularity, while the female character actually avenging women is being judged as a murder demon. How can people become this artistic?】

【12L: Even a passerby like me is shocked by this thread. Don’t you think what Ye Zheng did was incredibly cathartic?】

【13L: A moment of hot-blooded action is useless. In the end she still got captured by Kieran. There’s no long-term strategy at all. As a girl, I don’t feel catharsis. I just feel like she got nerfed.】

【14L: After Kieran called Ye Zheng a Blessed Reliquary, he mentioned her marriage and gave Pei Xi and Sykes a meaningful look. Don’t tell me the author is arranging a marriage between Ye Zheng and either Xi or Sy? My Xi-Sy sisters would completely break down!】

【15L: 14L means Ye Zheng is only being treated as a Blessed Reliquary, while Xi-Sy would lose their mutual love…】

【16L: This is hilarious. Calling you male-baby moms is too gentle. Some people only deserve to be called male-baby dads. They completely forget they’re women themselves just to protect their male babies.】

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After Zhao Mei’s character completely disappeared, Li Yixin no longer wanted to keep following the manga. But when she thought about how much Tang Mingxi liked Ye Zheng, she decided to continue keeping an eye on it for her, so they would still have something to talk about.

Li Yixin used to ship Xi-Sy and stan Pei Xi, but now she found herself growing increasingly indifferent toward these male characters. She couldn’t exactly say she staned Ye Zheng either, yet this thread made it impossible for her to remain a silent passerby.

【167L: Isn’t the Hope Project worth resisting? Ye Zheng’s methods may be somewhat extreme, but isn’t it going too far to attack her as irrational and cruel?】

She gripped her phone tightly, feeling a little nervous. She rarely argued with people online. In the past, whether she was shipping CPs or stanning characters, she always focused on content from fellow fans. The hugely popular male characters she had once supported had never sparked such bizarre controversy.

Replies soon appeared.

【168L: Outside the base, Zhou Yun used five hundred thousand people as leverage. Pei Xi and Sykes could both restrain their urge to kill Kieran for the sake of those five hundred thousand lives. Other than venting anger, what purpose does Ye Zheng’s behavior serve?】

【169L: Isn’t it possible that Pei Xi and Sykes are simply too useless to kill Kieran?】

【170L: Our independent big female lead chefs stay forever young and forever love stepping on others. Sykes couldn’t kill him, yet your female lead got locked up by Kieran lol.】

【171L: I can’t stand it anymore. Ever since Ye Zheng went viral, the forums have been flooded with these cute love-female sisters. Every thread cursing male characters or their fans turns out to be from Ye Zheng stans.】

【172L: Ye Zheng fans, please return the harmonious and loving forum environment from before Ye Zheng appeared, for free!】

【173L: Don’t male character stans remember the early days? Your “harmonious and loving” forum environment refers to the time when Lu Qi had slightly more physical interaction with Pei Xi and you all started mocking her?】

【174L: Is this the friendly forum environment you want without Ye Zheng and her fans? (attached image)】

Li Yixin tapped open the screenshot attached to 174L and hissed in disgust.

The screenshot came from a post made by male readers in a neighboring bars. Compared to forums, male readers preferred hanging out in those bars*.

[T/N- I Translated is as Bar but chinese is "吧" (bā) , probably short form of 贴吧 (tiēbā), I don't know for sure , tieba is like subreddit, I separate discussion app from Baidu(China's equavilant of google.]

Someone had posted a screenshot of the brutal manga scene where the base experimented on women and labeled it “Blessed Reliquary warning.”

Below it were piles of comments such as “good pic,” “guaranteed to break little fairies,” and “finally the author drew something decent.” Li Yixin wondered whether these people were even human.

For the first time, internet comments made her hands tremble with anger. When she looked back at her own post saying “Ye Zheng’s methods are a bit extreme,” she felt like slapping herself. She wished Ye Zheng could crawl out of the manga and deal with these people!

Why could these men feel no empathy at all when seeing such a plot, and even use it as a weapon to attack women?

Once this foul-smelling screenshot appeared, replies flooded in.

【175L: …I’ve dried my tears in silence. Who still expects anything from men?】

【176L: Just thinking that without Ye Zheng fans the forums would be overrun by these stinking men. Who isn’t grateful to Ye Zheng and her stans right now?】

【177L: Ye Zheng fans upstairs, stop gold-plating yourselves. As everyone knows, 2D men and 3D men are two different species. We male character stans also hate these no-limits 3D men who play memes like that.】

【178L: Disliking Ye Zheng’s behavior has nothing to do with stanning male characters. Not supporting her actions is simply because her logic is no different from those violent men. It’s essentially misandry.】

【179L: Your misandry seems very relaxed, but your harsh malice toward female characters more than makes up for it.】

【180L: Another pic for you. Fragile-hearted Ye Zheng fans shouldn’t open it if you’re weak. Those who curse Ye Zheng deserve to be with the bar guys 99. (attached image)】

Li Yixin prepared herself mentally, but when she saw the image, rage almost choked her.

On the surface they were targeting Ye Zheng, but in reality they were using her as an outlet to vent their malice toward women. Just one glance wounded her deeply.

【181L: Oh my god, why do these men hate Ye Zheng so much?】

【182L: Ye Zheng killed a few men who deserved to die, so those sewer creatures got severely triggered.】

【183L: Ye Zheng antis and incels running toward each other. You two look perfect together guarding the untouchable dignity of male babies.】

【184L: This former Xi-Zhao sis is about to get abused into becoming a Ye Zheng stan. What exactly did this little girl do wrong? Why do both men and women hate her so much…】

【185L: Sigh! The author clearly wrote this to show women’s tragic greatness and to save women, so why are so many people standing on the opposite side of what the work is trying to express?】

Li Yixin read the comment from 185L and felt the same way, yet something seemed off. She couldn’t quite identify it until someone below cleared up her confusion.

【201L: Because the author only wants to use women’s tragedies to gold-plate male babies. Otherwise why would the forums instantly fill with “heartache for Pei Xi and Sykes” and “want to stan Kieran” the moment the plot dropped? On the surface the author pretends to pity them, but deep down he completely agrees with the logic of the Hope Project and truly believes that women’s greatest role is exactly this.】

【202L: Don’t say Pei Xi and Sykes will overthrow the Hope Project. Even if they really overthrow the base, it’s just the author giving male characters character development. Inside the manga they were born from sacrificing women. Outside the manga they gain massive popularity by “saving” women. The sacrificed women get devoured cleanly in both dimensions.】

【203L: Meanwhile the two female characters who show empathy and anger toward this situation, Ye Zheng and Zhou Yun, are shaped into villains. Zhou Yun is portrayed as someone willing to harm five hundred thousand people, and Ye Zheng becomes irrational and violent. Other women simply need to be saved by men.】

【204L: You tell me the author is satirizing reality and speaking for women? I see deception and threats instead. Grand narratives are used to confuse women, while women who refuse to accept them get labeled as unreasonable and narrow-minded lunatics. At the same time the stereotype that women are weak and need men to save them is repeatedly reinforced, weakening women’s desire to resist.】

【205L: I feel a bit ashamed. My biggest reaction after reading was indeed heartache for Pei Xi and hoping he could save those women. After reading the above analysis, it really feels wrong.】

【206L: Yeah, I’m a Sykes stan. This time I’m brainlessly standing with Ye Zheng. Ye Zheng should really massacre the entire base!】

【207L: Okay, I admit I used to be a Ye Zheng anti. But without Ye Zheng this chapter would have made me furious to death. Now I’m black-to-passerby.】

【208L: I’ve turned from hater to fan for Ye Zheng. Only women can truly empathize with women. It’s hilarious that a male author portrays this very point as villainous.】

【209L: For now I don’t want to see Pei Xi and Sykes plots anymore. No matter their attitude, everything feels a bit hypocritical…】

【210L: Wow, everyone’s supporting the antisocial woman. Who’s paying attention to #MaleSafety# (attached image Blessed Reliquary warning)】

【211L: I’ll castrate the vulgar! A nan slipped in!】

Li Yixin rolled up her sleeves. How was there still a stinking man brazenly charging in like this? She was about to copy some premium online roast lines right now!

【219L→210L: Serial Killer Zheng warning! (attached image)】

Seeing the new reply, Li Yixin paused before leaving the forum and opened the attached image out of curiosity.

She jumped when it finished loading.

The color palette was dark and drenched in blood. The four men Ye Zheng had eliminated were enlarged and sharpened in their gruesome death scenes, while Ye Zheng stood small at the bottom center. Her pitch-black eyes seemed to quietly stare at whoever opened the image.

It was a screenshot from the original manga scene, heavily edited to resemble a horror movie poster. Yet when she looked more carefully, Ye Zheng was actually a little cute in a ghostly way, Li Yixin thought awkwardly.

210L had been ranting again earlier, but he went completely silent the moment the warning image appeared.

【220L: What’s wrong, Ji Duan?* Why aren’t you laughing or memeing anymore? (Serial Killer Zheng warning image)】

[T/N- Literally means gathering shortness, but It's a phonetic play on "鸡短" (jī duǎn), which is vulgar slang for "small penis" (鸡 = cock/chicken as euphemism for penis; 短 = short).]

【221L: This is what happens when you mess with Zheng stans. Choose your way to die~ @210L】

【222L: Doubt Ye Zheng stans, understand Ye Zheng stans, become a Ye Zheng stan. This time I’m genuinely joining the Zheng gate!】

【223L: Ahhhh I can’t stop laughing. I declare the forums can’t survive without Zheng Zheng moms! Without Zheng Zheng moms, who else would beat male babies this hard? (Serial Killer Zheng warning image)】

【224L: Zheng Zheng moms, I won’t allow anyone to defy you! (Serial Killer Zheng warning image)】

【225L: That really scared me. Isn’t it bad to fight back using the same methods? In the end we only hate those disgusting behaviors. Don’t become like them.】

【226L: What’s wrong upstairs? I’m still waiting for #MassacreHopeProjectZhengWarning# #DestroyTheWorldZhengWarning#】

Li Yixin silently saved the entire image pack. It was a little terrifying, yet the killing power was irresistibly charming.

Suddenly she narrowed her eyes as a thought occurred to her. She glanced at 219L’s ID. This aggressive style and level of firepower had to be Tang Mingxi again.

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Authors Note  

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Although female celebrity stans insulting other female celebrities can also be intense, their attack power against male babies is extremely strong. It’s stronger than the cursing power of 2D female baby moms.