Chapter 192

Li Yixin had already begun her winter break. Although she was preparing for the college entrance exams and still carried a heavy study load even during the holidays, things had finally eased up a little.

Unfortunately, her peace of mind was short-lived, the manga Throne of the Aberrant Realm had once again managed to put her on edge.

Sometimes, she genuinely wished she could turn back time and stop her past self from ever clicking on the first chapter of Throne of the Aberrant Realm. Beyond that point, there had been nothing but hell!

Li Yixin grew more and more tense after reading the author’s post. An important character was going to die soon? It couldn’t possibly be Ye Zheng, could it?

Ye Zheng seemed exactly like the kind of overarching villain who would survive all the way until the very end and shake the entire world to its core. Li Yixin found herself leaning toward the possibility that it would be one of the other members of the Cloud Soarers, aside from Pei Xi. After all, using the death of a teammate to drive the protagonist’s growth was a common trope, and they just so happened to be in the extremely dangerous position of being wanted fugitives.

After mentally bracing herself and building up her emotional defenses, Li Yixin clicked into the latest update.

Last week, Pei Xi had accidentally entered an Aberrant Realm on his way to the Western District, where he obtained the true Divine Sword and uncovered the truth behind Ye Zheng’s forgery. Meanwhile, Ye Zheng had officially ascended as the Empire’s Papess during her coronation ceremony.

Just as the readers had been expecting this week’s plot to dive straight into a confrontation between Pei Xi and Ye Zheng, the protagonist of this particular chapter turned out to be someone else entirely.

The manga depicted Pei Xi’s arrival in the Western District after he had saved the train passengers and acquired the Divine Sword. He found the Western District in a state of chaotic disorder, with unknown factions running rampant everywhere. Amidst the unrest and confusion, they somehow managed to get in contact with Lu Qi.

It had been quite a long time since Li Yixin had last seen Lu Qi. Seeing her again on the screen, she noticed that Lu Qi’s temperament had become much more composed and restrained. She had shed that overly lively and innocent aura she once had. When looking into those bright, wide eyes, it was now impossible to tell what she was truly thinking anymore.

Having followed the series from its earliest days all the way to the present, Li Yixin suddenly realized that Lu Qi seemed to be the member of the protagonist’s party who had undergone the most significant transformation.

Although she wasn’t even sure whether Lu Qi could still be counted as part of the main group, Li Yixin suddenly felt an intense urge to find out what Lu Qi had been doing during her time away from the Cloud Soarers. It definitely couldn’t have been something as simple as “accompanying her family,” like she had told Pei Xi.

Just as her curiosity had been thoroughly stirred, the scene abruptly shifted on the very next page. Birds swept past the Imperial Palace, and the golden-haired, golden-eyed Crown Prince instantly dominated an entire vertical spread.

His golden eyes were streaked with bloodshot veins, and his gaze restrained a tangled storm of complex emotions. Clad in a dark red uniform, with his boots firmly planted on an intricately patterned carpet, he appeared even sharper and more imposing than before.

“Whose rabid dog is off its leash again?”

Tang Mingxi quickly pushed her phone farther away, a look of unmistakable disgust appearing on her face.

She scrolled down at speed, skimming through Sykes’s plot points at a rate of ten lines per glance, only to realize by the time she reached the bottom that this entire chapter had been devoted to him alone.

While forcibly suppressing his newly acquired ability to summon Aberrant Realms, Sykes had been investigating the Emperor’s affairs and uncovered that Roy from the Cloud Soarers was, in fact, the Emperor’s illegitimate son. The Emperor was using Roy to keep watch over Pei Xi, seemingly acting from the shadows to protect and guide him.

Immediately afterward, he received an order from the Emperor instructing him to relocate to the shelters in the Lower District for a temporary stay.

With his mental state steadily unraveling, Sykes ran to his mother’s graveyard. As fragmented memories surfaced, he seemed to hear the lullabies as if she was singing; those worried, tender words felt as warm and comforting as if he had returned to her womb.

[T/N- This is probably when Sykes literally was in womb , cause empress died giving birth to Sykes.]

A sudden torrential downpour arrived, washing away the last remnants of that warmth, and Sykes returned to the palace to confront his father.

During the confrontation, the Emperor recalled the late Empress’s voice and her smile, along with the promise the two of them had once shared, and he felt a surge of guilt and sorrow rise within him.

On the screen, the young late Empress, with her long, smooth brown hair, gazed down at her belly with an expression overflowing with tenderness.

Under the Emperor’s subdued and almost pleading persuasion, Sykes outwardly agreed to remain in the Lower District, yet deep inside he was brewing a reckless and dangerous madness. He even went so far as to brutally slam the servant who had shown him genuine care against the wall, leaving the man’s fate uncertain, before the scene closed with the lonely silhouette he left behind for the readers.

Tang Mingxi was left utterly speechless. She had waited an entire week, a stretch that felt like seven full centuries, hoping to finally see Papess Zheng show off her abilities, only to be handed this “delinquent boy turns dark” side-show instead.

After logging into the forum, Tang Mingxi was stunned to discover that this edgy transformation had actually kicked up a whole wave of hype. Were people seriously getting pity-baited into stanning him now?

And they even had the fucking nerve to try and snatch her girl’s title?

【Uncle (Author) finally remembered Sykes’s role. The #1 Villain is about to make his entrance!】【HOT!】

【1L: Uncle finally remembered our Sykes’s role. The #1 Villain is really coming now!】

【2L: Finally, it’s not just my baby getting beaten up or reduced to fanservice. Do you even know how long us Sykes stans have been waiting for this day?】

【3L: I’ve said it before, Sykes is a layered character. Mindless haters just slap the label of aggressive psycho on him, but he’s obviously a victim of the Hope Project too! Sykes didn’t choose to become a Dragon Bone creation; the real culprit is clearly the Emperor.】

【4L: This! That scene where little Sykes secretly went to visit his mom’s grave really hit right in the feels. It’s not that he doesn’t know how to love; it’s just that no one ever taught him how.】

【5L: NoBoDy tAuGhT hIm tO lOvE~ (Pink Loopy Beaver Emoji)】

【6L: What’s with the sarcasm from the guy above? Isn’t this just the truth? How many people have actually treated Sykes with any real sincerity?】

【7L: There were exactly two people who treated Sykes with sincerity, one got cursed to death by him, and the other got slammed to death by him in the latest chapter. How do you people still dare to genuinely like him? Aren’t you afraid he’ll cross dimensions just to repay your kindness with a grudge?】

【8L: Hey, the person above, don’t take it this far. The late Empress chose to give birth to Sykes out of her own will to save the world from the apocalypse. As for that servant, even if he treated Sykes well, he was the Emperor’s man from beginning to end. If Sykes wants to break free from the Emperor’s control, he’s bound to deal with the spies around him. That’s the first step in pushing back against the patriarchy. Stop pulling things out of context.】

【9L: 7L is clearly a fan of a certain “strong female lead.” She’s allowed to be decisive and ruthless, and now they even want to snatch the title of “#1 Villain” away from Sykes. Fans really do resemble their idols, always trying to quietly steal what’s not theirs.】

【10L: Is the person above seriously allowed to say that? Even though our little Sykes has been getting a surge of fans from the anime lately, let’s not start unnecessary fights with other characters.】

[T/N- by person above 10L meant the original poster aka 1L not 9L]

【11L: I was already shocked just reading the title. You’re really being this bold? Do you have a death wish or something?】

【12L: We Sykes-stans are just more rational and don’t like picking fights, but that doesn’t mean we can’t win one. I’ve been wanting to say this for ages: Sykes and Pei Xi are the central pillars of this series.】

【13L: I only got into the series because of the anime. After reading the spoilers, my heart genuinely hurts. Sykes never wanted to become a bad person, yet everyone has already labeled him as a cruel villain...】

……

【59L: Stop, you’re actually making me laugh. Sykes’s only real title is “Pei Xi’s Arch-nemesis.” The whole “#1 Villain of the Series” label was something Ye Zheng’s fans came up with. Don’t try to rewrite history.】

【60L: #Ye Zheng The absolute peak of the series, no qualifiers needed##The ACE among villains##No equals, only those beneath her#】

【61L: I’m begging you all, keep chanting your “Arch-nemesis means Arch-nemesis” line together with the Pei Xi fans. The “Twin Young Masters” and “Twin Weaklings” CP of the inferiors is honestly too entertaining to ship.】

[T/N- Degoratary CP's of Pei Xi and Sykes]

【62L: Sykes put on an entire performance of “Daddy’s Boy” drama with the Emperor, and Sykes-stans still have the nerve to hype it up with phrases like “rebelling against the patriarchy.” If Sykes hadn’t smashed that servant to death, I bet you’d even try to dress it up as “anti-feudalism.”】

【63L: Ahhhhh, person above, look at this screenshot I took! There are actually people hyping Sykes up as “anti-patriarchy” and “anti-feudalism,” saying he refuses to go to the Lower District because he doesn’t want to bring the Aberrant Realm down on the common people.】

【64L: I honestly don’t get what you all are even trying to analyze about Sykes. Isn’t it simply that his inheritance rights are being threatened, so he’s turning into an even more aggressive, unstable psycho?】

【65L: In another thread, they’re even breaking down the father-son dynamic. It’s all “the ruler is ruler, the minister is minister, the father is father, and the son is son,” claiming that the Emperor’s gaze is the one thing Sykes can’t bring himself to face directly in this lifetime.】

【66L: And then it somehow jumps to him not even daring to look straight at his father’s crotch.】

【67L: I’m laughing so hard I can’t handle it. The moment the Emperor’s character design dropped, I just knew people would start doing father-son crack shipping.】

【68L: I really haven’t seen many Sykes-stans genuinely cursing the Emperor. Most of what I’ve seen are conspiracy takes, like claiming the little princess sister is deliberately provoking Sykes, or blaming the late Empress for being selfish by bringing Sykes into such a cruel world just to fulfill her own ideal of saving it...】

【69L: The people blaming the late Empress are actually fucking insane. She was obviously just a blood bag for that royal father-and-son pair, a pure plot device, and one of the most tragic female characters in the entire series.】

【70L: They really have the nerve to say anything at all. The late Empress died such a miserable death just to serve as a tragic backstory for Sykes, and even after dying, she still has to shoulder the blame for Sykes’s brutality. To this day, she doesn’t even have a name.】

Tang Mingxi read through the so-called “masterpieces” posted by Sykes-stans on the forum and found herself momentarily speechless with anger. The anime had clearly inflated this group’s confidence far too much. Did they seriously think that just because their favorite was gaining popularity, they could twist black into white?

Even though she knew the “important character death” predicted by Uncle was unlikely to be Sykes, she still genuinely hoped for a miracle. She had no desire to ever see this unbearable crowd again.

However, what Tang Mingxi never expected was that the Sykes-stans would soon deliver an even more shocking, heavyweight statement!

【I’m begging Zheng-stans to stop trampling other female characters as “tools.” Your so-called “love for women” is nothing but a lie you tell yourselves!】

The moment this thread, which directly called them out, was posted, it instantly exploded into a trending topic. Different factions flooded in, and before long, it was pushed all the way to the number one spot on the forum.

【1L: I’m begging Zheng-stans to stop trampling other female characters as “tools.” Your so-called “love for women” is nothing but a lie you tell yourselves!】

【2L: I’ll drop the trashing screenshots first, just in case “Zheng-Zheng’s moms” show up again and try to rewrite history. (Screenshot) (Screenshot)】

【3L: Fine, I’m about to start tearing into you all. Even if trashing other female characters to hype up Zheng is considered “politically correct” on the this forums, don’t think you can just step all over them whenever you want just because they don’t have as many fans.】

【4L: After reading through Sykes’s storyline, what moved me the most wasn’t Sykes’s transformation, but the late Empress. For the future of the Empire, she treated her own body as a vessel to nurture hope. Even knowing that giving birth to Sykes would cost her life, she was still filled with anticipation and love for him, without the slightest trace of resistance or fear. As an Empress, she fulfilled her duty as the Mother of the Nation; as a mother, there’s no questioning the depth of her maternal love. In both her public responsibility and her private affection, she was magnanimous and awe-inspiring, without a doubt a noble and formidable woman.】

【5L: I really didn’t expect that the moment I checked the comments, she’d be labeled a tool, a blood bag, and a soulless “male-oriented” female character by some people...】

【6L: The late Empress isn’t a one-dimensional character. It’s you people who are obsessed with forcing malicious, reductive labels onto her. You demean and trample female characters under the banner of “loving women.” The one erasing the late Empress’s individuality isn’t the author, it’s you malicious nitpickers!】

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Authors Note  

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The domestic entertainment scene really indulges me; the moment the Spring Festival films were released, they handed me fresh material all over again. I only ask that the internet stop overhyping how “feminist” those greasy Spring Festival movies are. The only thing they truly share with feminism is providing hilariously absurd forum content about people who only drink milk tea with “micro-sugar” levels.