Chapter 218

The following morning, the moment Tang Mingxi woke up and opened a certain social media platform, #SykesDeath and #ThroneOfTheAberrantRealm were already hanging prominently at the very top of the trending searches, with #YeZheng following closely behind.

As she scrolled through the real-time posts under #SykesDeath and #ThroneOfTheAberrantRealm, new comments continued refreshing nonstop:

“I’ll never accept Sykes’ ending.”

“Please, I’m begging the anime production team to give Sykes the ending he deserves.”

Mixed among them were countless resentful comments like:

“Ye Zheng, I hate you.”

“Ye Zheng, give me back my Crown Prince.”

“Old uncle, just hurry up and reincarnate already.”

Having the character one stanned die on his birthday was objectively pretty cruel, but as a purely subjective Zheng passerby, Tang Mingxi woke up wickedly early that morning, laughing all the while.

She tapped into the #YeZheng trending topic. Although she’d already braced herself for war, she was pleasantly surprised to discover that the situation was completely under the Zheng fans’ control.

【Heard you were asking who #YeZheng is? The SAINTESS PAPESS from Throne of the Aberrant Realm, the blood-drenched major villain, the insanely hot top-tier “Hot Zheng” whose merch prices know no ceiling, the nightmare of countless male treasures and their fans, the one and only true God!】

【Who the hell is even stanning #YeZheng? I seriously still can’t get into her!】

【Any Zheng moms wanna follow each other under #YeZheng? Trying to raise the Ye Zheng concentration on my timeline.】

【Passing by as an outsider, but this picture looks insanely majestic. There’s this kind of cruel divinity to it. Requesting an entry guide into the fandom! (Screenshot of Ye Zheng clasping her hands together while twisting the giant dragon)】

On Ye Zheng’s fandom square, plenty of fellow fans were posting photos from yesterday’s Zheng merch displays at the birthday event, check-ins at the giant screen, and the freebies they’d received offline. For a brief moment, the atmosphere was harmonious and overflowing with joy.

Any attacks launched under Ye Zheng’s name were swiftly crushed, and Zheng fans could immediately trace the attackers’ affiliations before striking directly at their sore spots with terrifying precision. Sometimes, even a single clapping emoji was enough to make the other side completely lose their minds. They didn’t even need to bring out Ye Zheng’s iconic scenes.

Thanks to the anime’s explosive popularity, Sykes’ death and the latest developments in Throne of the Aberrant Realm became the hottest topic across gaming forums, anime forums, and several major 2D video platforms. Countless people stayed up through the night, furiously writing articles and editing videos to criticize the newest chapter of Throne of the Aberrant Realm.

《Try Not to Laugh Challenge! Ranking the Most Absurd Deaths of Popular Manga Characters》

《The Pioneer of the Female-Protagonist Male-Demographic Genre — Let Us Salute This Legendary Mangaka!》

《The Rival Male Deuteragonist Got Slapped to Death by the Villain? This Truly Was the Most Unbeatable Episode!》

《How Ridiculous Is King of the Bizarre Realm? One second ago: “The emotional flashback arc is hitting hard!” The next second: “LMAO, turns out it was just a life-flashing-before-his-eyes scene.”》

These videos, which rode the trend with deliberately exaggerated titles, rapidly climbed the platform trending charts. They pulled in tens of thousands of viewers in no time. Many people who had never read the manga or watched the anime were lured in by curiosity and clicked on them.

The core reason these people were dissatisfied was because the actual direction of the plot had strayed far beyond their expectations.

From the very beginning of the manga, Sykes had been positioned as Pei Xi’s foil, an enemy whose existence would drive the protagonist toward greater strength. The setup of the second-generation Demonic Dragon and God of Hope had firmly cemented the two as destined rivals. Readers had naturally assumed they were genuine opponents fated to stand against each other.

Over the previous few chapters, the narrative buildup surrounding Sykes, along with his psychological portrayal, had increased dramatically, clearly paving the way toward the climax of his storyline. His arrogant act of summoning an Aberrant Realm before all the empire’s dignitaries and transforming into a Demonic Dragon had pushed readers’ expectations to their absolute peak, making them even more eager to see how the protagonist would respond.

But every last bit of that anticipation was utterly crushed by Ye Zheng within only a few pages of screentime.

“Look at this, holy shit, the author even drew such an insanely cool perspective shot! I seriously thought the protagonist was about to pull off something earth-shattering.”

“Eh? That’s it? Turns out our trash protagonist was just acting as a cameraman for the real protagonist, Ye Zheng!”

“So making a powerful female lead in female-oriented manga isn’t profitable enough? What the fuck did we male-oriented readers do wrong? Paying money just to catch up to the latest chapter really was a refreshing experience of eating shit.”

“I’m never giving this kind of strong female lead manga another glance or another shred of hype ever again. Anyone still following this series either has a fetish for eating shit or is just a straight-up masochist!”

Li Yixin clicked on the latest video uploaded by a massively popular 2D content creator with over a million followers. It was currently trending across the platform. The creator completely tore apart the latest chapter of Throne of the Aberrant Realm. She disagreed with many of his arguments outright, yet after thinking them over carefully, she had to admit they carried a strange kind of logic.

Anyone who had read the manga knew that Ye Zheng actually had very little screen time. She was almost nonexistent during the early arcs, and although many explosive plot points involving her appeared later on, her characterization remained far less detailed than that of the protagonist team or Sykes. In the newest chapter, all the thrilling combat panels focused on Pei Xi and Sykes. Ye Zheng herself only appeared in a handful of simple frames.

In fact, readers could barely find any internal monologue from Ye Zheng anywhere in the manga.

That was precisely why early readers, herself included, had unconsciously projected a stereotypical impression onto Ye Zheng and failed to notice the incongruity between her and Zhao Mei.

The overwhelming shock after the truth was revealed wasn’t because it was impossible for Ye Zheng and Zhao Mei to be the same person. The real reason was that these two characters had completely shattered the audience’s expectations and overturned their entire understanding of them.

When she saw Ye Zheng kill Sykes last night, Li Yixin didn’t experience the same confusion and disbelief she had felt when Zhao Mei’s persona was killed off. Instead, What she felt instead was sheer shock at the astonishing charisma of Ye Zheng as a character.

Li Yixin didn’t know whether the author had intentionally written Ye Zheng this way, but the extremely minimalist portrayal only made Ye Zheng appear even more mysterious and overwhelming. Just like the effect achieved in the newest chapter: Ye Zheng required no grand buildup whatsoever. With nothing more than a casual raise of her hand, she dismantled the empire’s strongest ability user.

Li Yixin let out a sigh. Even so, she still hoped Ye Zheng would receive more narrative focus. There were clearly so many explosive plot points centered around Ye Zheng. If those storylines were properly expanded upon, they would undoubtedly be spectacular.

Those people calling it a “strong female lead” or “female protagonist manga” were saying it sarcastically, yet at the same time, she genuinely longed for a hot-blooded shonen manga with Ye Zheng as the protagonist. Li Yixin finally began to understand Tang Mingxi’s feelings a little better. Watching male characters with flashy designs but fundamentally repetitive cores reenact hero stories that had already been told hundreds or even thousands of times honestly wasn’t all that interesting anymore.

Even though Ye Zheng had very little internal monologue and only a handful of detailed portrayals, she somehow evoked a far deeper sense of resonance in them than those heavily emphasized male characters ever could.

【The greatness of Zheng God needs no words!】 【Hot】

【1L: The greatness of Zheng God needs no words!】

【2L: This is the first time stanning a female character has felt this satisfying. It’s like waking up one day and discovering that the popularity of all the male treasures has dropped by ten thousand times. So damn refreshing.】

【3L: This is the first time I’ve felt the phrase “the main lead is carrying hard” this intensely… Casually killing Sykes with a few effortless strokes. I wouldn’t even dare fantasize about something like that.】

【4L: Zheng God literally turned Sykes’ flashback into a death montage. So cool I’m actually losing my mind.】

【5L: With this comment, I commemorate the fallen duo of the Lower District Twin Young Masters. Amen.】

[T/N- I think I have explained this Young master way too many times but It's Pei Xi x Sykes kinda gay ship]

【6L: I’ll never hear “a fated rival is still a fated rival” ever again. I’ll spend half a second mourning the terrible days spent fighting with Sykes fans, Xi-Sy sisters, and Zheng-Sykes sisters (covers mouth laughing emoji)】

【7L: Zheng moms upstairs, don’t celebrate too early. Some people have already fallen headfirst into abusive love with Ye Zheng.】

【8L: There are no Ye Zheng antis in this world, only Zheng fans and twisted Zheng fans. Those people are even more dedicated than we are to turning Throne of the Aberrant Realm into a hot-blooded strong female lead manga.】

【9L: I’m dying laughing. Which evil Zheng fan created the tag #3.5SykesMemorialDay? And it actually ranked right below #3.5SykesBirthday.】

【10L: Zheng fans possess as much martial virtue as Ye Zheng herself.】

【11L: I was initially concerned that some overpowered male character would surge in popularity thanks to the animation. Instead, my female lead literally sent him flying with brute force. This is incredibly satisfying for us Ye Zheng fans!】

【12L: Ye Zheng’s super-topic fan count has been climbing at an unbelievable pace over the past two days. The only real contribution Sykes made in the entire manga was acting as a stepping stone to boost our Zheng’s popularity.】

【13L: Who said Sykes died too abruptly? This guy’s death was actually quite meaningful.】

…

【283L: But I genuinely feel the plot development is rather abrupt. I’m not saying Ye Zheng is bad, but don’t you think Old Uncle is overhyping this character? Suddenly making her strong enough to instantly kill Sykes feels completely unreasonable…】

【284L: So what?】

【285L: Overhyping? Anyone with eyes can see this is pure suppression marketing. Do you realize how many amazing plotlines Ye Zheng got robbed of because of it?】

【286L: Anyone still having doubts should head over to the neighboring plot analysis thread. After all, Ye Zheng isn’t the protagonist. Most of her schemes were carried out off-screen, but if you pay close attention, the clues are all there. It’s not some deus ex machina. If there’s any problem with the plot experience, that’s on Old Uncle.】

The hottest thread on the forum’s front page was the newly posted plot analysis thread. Its title had clearly been crafted to provoke attention and stir controversy, and the reply count had exploded within a remarkably short span of time.

【Ye Zheng, How Exactly Did She Instantly Kill Sykes?】【Hot】

【1L: Ye Zheng, just how the hell did she instantly kill Sykes?】

【2L: I think this is the biggest question most people had after finally recovering from the shock of Ye Zheng strangling Sykes to death. OP, I went back and carefully reread the recent chapters. I can confidently say that Ye Zheng instantly killing Sykes isn’t strange at all, whether you look at it from the perspective of her abilities or her motives.】

【3L: First of all, even before Sykes awakened his memories, Ye Zheng had already taken the initiative to invite him to her coming-of-age ceremony. From that very moment, her plans concerning Sykes had already begun. Back then, a lot of people guessed that her goal was to recruit him or make use of him. No one expected that what she actually wanted was to kill him.】

【4L: Ye Zheng sent Wu Shu disguised as the emperor's aide to receive the protagonist’s team. That proves Sykes wasn’t the only one included in her plans, she also had complete control over the protagonist team’s movements. If I hadn’t seen the shocked and grave expression on her face when Sykes burst into the banquet hall, I’d honestly suspect that even his rampage had been part of her plan from the very beginning (though I’m still not ruling out that possibility).】

【5L: Ye Zheng absolutely has the intelligence and strategic ability necessary to orchestrate Sykes’s death. On top of that, after successfully ascending to the position of Papess, the forces and resources she can command have already risen to an entirely different level.】

【6L: I agree with the OP that Ye Zheng could’ve schemed Sykes to death, but in the manga, she very clearly killed him instantly. That was the Demonic Dragon, the strongest form!】

【7L: Exactly. An A-Class ability user instantly killing a SSS-Class? This plot’s basically a fucking joke.】

【8L: Hold on, don’t jump to conclusions. Is it possible that the effortless instant kill you saw was actually the culmination of a meticulously planned and flawlessly executed strike that Ye Zheng had prepared for a long time?】

【9L: Anyone still insisting Ye Zheng is only A-Class should seriously go read the extras. Ye Zheng has always concealed her true ability rank. Her primary ability is SS-Class.】

【10L: But a SSS-Class is supposed to be an existence capable of instantly killing others. Ye Zheng casually killing someone above her rank that easily is way too absurd.】

【11L: OP, I’m sentencing all of you to reread the manga. Think carefully about how Wen Jian died. What exactly did Pei Xi witness inside the Papal Palace? During the Papess succession ceremony, Ye Zheng obtained an incredibly important ability, one that’s been passed down through generations of Popes. An ability on that level is definitely SSS-Class. Ye Zheng’s combat power has already reached a completely different tier.】

【12L: Oh my god, 5S Ye Zheng! The true apex of humanity.】

【13L: Just look at the image the OP posted. At that moment, Pei Xi saw dragon-form Sykes ensnared by something resembling spider silk. After Sykes broke free, there was a close-up of his expression, and he very clearly looked dazed. It’s highly likely that Sykes had already sustained severe injuries by then, the author simply chose not to draw them out explicitly (attached image).】

【14L: Alright, I’m convinced. Why the hell doesn’t the author draw things properly?】

【15L: Also, did anyone else notice that when Pei Xi and the others infiltrated the palace and encountered Ye Zheng, neither her expression nor her condition looked like someone who’d just narrowly escaped after losing to Sykes? She even seemed surprised when she heard movement coming from deep within the palace.】

【16L: Now that you bring it up, it’s entirely possible that Ye Zheng had already defeated Sykes once inside the banquet hall, and only afterward did Sykes transform into his second-stage Demonic Dragon form?】

【17L: I’m genuinely amazed. How are you people this good at analyzing things?】

【18L: After hearing the OP’s analysis, it really feels like Ye Zheng had been laying the groundwork and orchestrating everything for a very long time through her position as Papess, alongside her SS-Class ability, combined with SSS-Class power, plus assistance from Pei Xi and the Divine Sword. In the end, Ye Zheng was merely delivering the finishing blow to an already heavily wounded Sykes. It wasn’t some brainless instant kill at all. The author simply omitted far too many details, which made it seem unreasonable at first glance.】

【19L: Ye Zheng’s support probably wasn’t limited to just Pei Xi and the Divine Sword either. Did nobody notice the white figure standing in the corner of the banquet hall? Besides, as Papess, Ye Zheng has her own order of knights. She could very well have confronted Sykes head-on together with them.】

【20L: Oh, so I wasn’t the only one who noticed that little white cutie in the corner. Don’t forget, this girl also helped Ye Zheng completely cement her status as God’s Chosen.】

【21L: Let’s leave behind the mysterious figure…】

【22L: Ye Zheng had been plotting and scheming to kill Sykes from the very beginning, and she even deliberately chose to do it on his birthday. I seriously can’t accept this. It’s way too cruel to Sykes. He never once harmed Ye Zheng or stood in her way at all!】

【23L: If it were because Sykes transformed into the Demonic Dragon, then killing him would be entirely justified, and I wouldn’t criticize Pei Xi for it. But Ye Zheng wasn’t doing it to stop the Demonic Dragon. In fact, she might’ve been the very person who pushed Sykes into his complete blackening…】

【23L: First of all, Ye Zheng is a villain. Second, Ye Zheng is a villain. And lastly, does Sykes even need Ye Zheng’s help to blacken? Hasn’t he always been dark as hell already? Don’t let his baby-dragon-level intelligence fool you, he’s actually just a tiny black-hearted baby dragon.】

【24L: What happened to the so-called final battle at the summit of the villains? Don’t start refusing to accept reality just because Ye Zheng won.】

【25L: Ye Zheng, the villain among villains, the woman among women!】

【26L: You people call it cruel, but I honestly think this was the best possible release for Sykes. Judging from his memories, both his self-destructive impulses and his urge to destroy others were incredibly severe. Ye Zheng ending his life at the exact moment he became the Demonic Dragon was actually the best outcome he could’ve received.】

【27L: Exactly. The very last thing Ye Zheng said to Sykes was, “This is the only redemption I can give you.” She fulfilled the promise she once made to him!】

【28L: Honestly, Ye Zheng’s greatest driving force has always been “redemption.” Anyone capable of understanding that point wouldn’t think she’s cruel at all. They’d only think she’s incredible.】

【29L: Ye Zheng fans, can you stop being so fucking shameless? How the hell do you even have the nerve to call killing Sykes “saving” him?】

【30L: Then what else was supposed to happen? Let Sykes destroy the entire world while waiting for Pei Xi to slowly grow up before finally stopping him?】

【31L: Thinking about how many people are upset over Ye Zheng killing Sykes honestly makes me laugh. Ye Zheng managed to kill the emperor’s dragon son right in front of his own father. That’s the level of arrogance she possesses. So what if she did?】

…

【482L: Sykes is dead. Both the manga and the anime are going to flop together now. Who the hell would keep watching if Sykes isn’t there anymore?】

【483L: Sorry, but all I know is that Ye Zheng’s popularity has absolutely exploded over the past two days. Her birthday billboards have gone up across more than a dozen cities, and both the anime and the manga are shooting through the roof in popularity.】

【484L: The overall reading experience really does feel a little strange. The style between the early and later sections seems noticeably different. But there’s no way you can call this manga unengaging. At the very least, I’m genuinely excited to see what Ye Zheng does next, and how the hell Pei Xi’s supposed to deal with her.】

【485L: The unpredictable stage of fate that updates every Monday…】

【486L: Honestly, every bit of dissonance in this manga would disappear if they’d just make Ye Zheng the protagonist. She’s got character growth, hot-blooded hype moments, and insanely satisfying payoffs. It’d be an absolute victory.】

【487L: I said this ages ago, The Legend of Ye Zheng is the one and only true destination for this manga.】

【488L: Please, just let me watch a single episode of The Legend of Ye Zheng. My fellow fans would do anything for it!】

…

Completely contrary to what Ye Zheng’s fans had expected, Sykes’s death ended up triggering yet another overwhelming surge in Ye Zheng’s popularity.

Thanks to countless marketing accounts and netizens wildly exaggerating the story and fanning the flames even further, Sykes’s death spread among casual readers as the utterly absurd tale of him getting slapped to death by Ye Zheng in a single hit. The screenshot of Ye Zheng pressing her palms together went explosively viral as well. Combined with the line, “I heard you’re very strong?”, it flooded countless comment sections and rapidly evolved into a massively popular meme.

For the readers of Throne of the Aberrant Realm, the greatest impact of this incident was that the forums would no longer be flooded with arguments and skepticism regarding Ye Zheng’s strength or her standing as the number one antagonist.

No one would ever again regard her as some vague, barely present female lead, nor as a supporting character who merely stole the spotlight from time to time. Ye Zheng’s radiance and shadow now blanketed everyone equally.