Chapter 35

Countless jagged fissures crisscrossed the cracked earth, with swarms of black insects surging and jostling beneath them. Strangely, these insects seemed to have no intention of attacking. They allowed humans to tread over the fragile ground above their heads without resistance.

Ye Zheng stopped staring at the ground. She raised her head to look at the sun and determine her direction.

As a saintess who often worked in the lower district, she had visited this area a few times. Even though it had lost its original appearance after being enveloped by the aberrant realm, Ye Zheng could still recall the layout of the region from memory.

She gazed at the stretching wasteland. No wonder she had not seen any ordinary people along the way. To the southwest, there was a shelter.

Shelters were built from extremely special and expensive ore that the descending aberrant realms could not swallow. They were also incredibly sturdy, providing protection for people inside the realms. Unfortunately, there were only four such shelters in the lower district, and housing prices were very high in areas near them.

According to what Wu Shu had said, the Cloud Soarers team was heading in this direction.

Ye Zheng was somewhat curious about why the Cloud Soarers would appear in this aberrant realm. It was far from their base, and with strong rivals like the Royal Academy team present, coming here did not seem like a rational choice no matter how she looked at it.

"Is that someone's basement up ahead?"

Ryan, walking at the front, paused slightly and showed a puzzled expression.

He was using his ability to sense the movements of the underground insect swarm when he suddenly discovered that the insects were avoiding a certain underground area ahead. His ability was also blocked by that region.

This feeling was very familiar. The hunting ground built underground in the imperial palace by the crown prince was the same, constructed with extremely special materials to prevent the aberrant beasts inside from breaking out.

Ryan's eyes widened. Someone in the lower district actually had the financial resources to build a basement identical to the crown prince's?

"...It's a shelter designed against aberrant realms."

Yu Tianming gave Ryan, who clearly lacked common knowledge, a complicated look. He was about to tell him to read more books when he heard Sykes speak beside him. The crown prince's gorgeous voice rose slightly, carrying a hint of doubt. "A shelter?"

The erudite son of the prime minister swallowed the words he had been about to say and resigned himself to explaining to his two companions the cutting-edge technology behind these shelters.

Ye Zheng listened to the conversation among the three young masters with amusement. There were no aberrant realms in the upper district, which also gathered the top ability users, so shelters naturally did not exist in that absolutely safe area.

Ten years ago in the lower district, it was common to see young ability users from the upper district coming to train in lower-district realms. Everything changed after the Blood Flower Incident.

The smile in Ye Zheng's eyes faded. Her dark gaze turned to the shelter not far away. On the barren land stood abruptly a massive cubic structure gleaming with black-iron luster, like an indestructible giant shield. However, its true grandeur lay deep underground, far more impressive than the portion visible above ground.

She had once stayed in a shelter, together with her family.

The Royal Academy team quickened their pace. Although no core monsters had been found in this area yet, going inside the shelter to gather information and escape the heat sounded good.

"Is that Lu Qi?"

As they drew closer, Ye Zheng clearly saw a petite figure standing guard in front of the shelter.

The teenager with an orange high ponytail looked at them warily, her expression carrying a defensiveness that felt unfamiliar to Ye Zheng. It seemed the naive and lively Lu Qi was also capable of handling things independently.

Lu Qi stepped toward them in her flat-soled boots. After recognizing who they were, her expression became even more guarded.

"The Royal Academy team? What are you doing here?"

Yu Tianming laughed at the girl's question and pushed up his glasses. "We're all contestants. Isn't it more suspicious that you appear in this place? If I remember correctly, your territory is quite far from here."

Ye Zheng noticed that the exchange between the two was full of barbs, but it was clear they had interacted a lot. Probably because in the second stage of the competition, the protagonist team often clashed with the Royal Academy.

But at the moment, she was more curious about the shoes Lu Qi was wearing.

"Those are the ones I gave her."

"I didn't expect Lu Qi to actually put them on."

『In the episode where you gave Lu Qi shoes, readers argued about her fighting in high heels. The debate even spilled over to the author's Weibo*. Many female readers suggested the author follow the Zhao Mei gift plot to give Lu Qi more comfortable shoes and reject stereotypical portrayals of female characters.』

[T/N- Weibo is Chinese twitter+reddit of short.]

『Since this manga has a lot of female readers, the editor also recommended changing it. So in the new plot, the author arranged for Lu Qi to wear the shoes you gave her, and it conveniently boosted some team camaraderie too!』

『I heard the new merchandise for Lu Qi uses her current design, no more little high heels!』

The system's voice sounded rather excited.

Ye Zheng turned her eyes quietly toward the energetic teenager not far away. Lu Qi turned her head and happened to meet the other's gaze, which held faint traces of amusement.

Royal team, new face, female member: Ye Zheng? Lu Qi's not-very-sharp mind quickly deduced the identity of the person before her.

She had glimpsed her from afar at the crown prince's banquet last time. Up close now, she found Ye Zheng a little more likable than the rest of the Royal team.

On closer inspection, her aura and appearance were strangely similar to Zhao Mei's, yet different. Zhao Mei was quiet and mysterious, like an elegant black cat, while this Ye Zheng in front of her... was serene and holy, like a pearl-like lake on the great grasslands of her hometown.

Damn it, is this what a saintess is like? It's as if there's literally a halo floating above her head!

A faint puzzlement appeared in Ye Zheng's eyes. Lu Qi's gaze kept shifting as she looked at her, and Ye Zheng wondered what she was thinking.

She couldn't possibly have recognized her, right?

"Lu Qi, ignoring us like this is very rude."

"Why are you all here?"

Yu Tianming's words, laced with helplessness and a hint of warning, snapped Lu Qi back to attention. She glared at the bespectacled teenager, thought for a moment, and still told the truth. "We didn't come here for the competition. This is the area where Pei Xi grew up. His friends and relatives are all here. We're just trying to help Pei Xi protect his home."

"So you can rest assured. We're not here to steal points."

A flicker of surprise crossed Yu Tianming's face. "I've always heard he was an orphan..."

Lu Qi rolled her eyes without any courtesy. "Being an orphan just means no parents. It doesn't mean he grew up in an aberrant realm!"

Yu Tianming choked on her retort, and a faint chuckle seemed to come from the girl beside him, making him even more annoyed.

He pressed his brow, a trace of mockery flashing in his eyes behind the lenses. Just to protect a friend's hometown, not for points: how could he possibly believe that?

Ye Zheng, standing to the side, raised an eyebrow lightly. She believed it. She had spent some time with the Cloud Soarers and could not deny that, as the protagonist team, they were just, kind, and brave.

Lu Qi stood blocking the tightly closed door of the shelter, her words carrying not the slightest awe toward nobility. "There are no monsters here for you to kill. You should leave."

Yu Tianming was about to say something when Sykes, who had been silently watching everything, ignored Lu Qi's obstruction and walked up to the heavy black door. He casually raised his palm.

"How noisy."

Impatience filled his golden eyes as his palm moved to press against the door.

"Don't destroy it!"

Lu Qi shouted. She suddenly remembered Sykes's ability. He probably wasn't planning to push the door open, but to destroy it outright! Sykes showed no hesitation at her words. He pressed his palm firmly against the door.

The door did not budge.

For a moment, the scene fell silent. Inquisitive and puzzled gazes turned toward the two people at the door.

After a brief pause, a suppressed laugh escaped Sykes's throat. A fair, slender hand had approached his and pressed against the door together with it. He turned his golden eyes to look at Ye Zheng, who had appeared beside him at some unknown point.

Ye Zheng gave him a humble and gentle smile, speaking softly in a tone that, to Sykes, sounded like coaxing an ignorant child.

"Your Highness, this door is crucial. If it is damaged, the entire shelter might collapse."

"Please be patient for a moment. Lu Qi will open the door soon. The civilians taking refuge inside are also looking forward to your greeting. The arrival of the empire's crown prince will surely inspire them in their hardship."

His burning golden eyes stared unblinkingly into the girl's warm black ones, like a golden python restraining its hunger and waiting for the fatal strike. In the end, however, he slowly lowered the hand pressing against the door.

His fingers curled, feeling the moisture in his palm: water marks left by Ye Zheng's 【Stream】.

"Ye Zheng, you are more capable than I imagined."

Sykes let out a meaningful light laugh.

His 【Destruction】 relied on his own imagination. He could imagine the sturdy door shattering into pieces. But in the moment his palm touched Ye Zheng's 【Stream】, he unexpectedly found himself unable to imagine how to destroy such a laughable and weak flow of water.

For some reason, a trace of danger rose in Sykes's heart, a feeling that not even the strange Pei Xi had ever given him.

No one had ever been immune to his 【Destruction】. Even the woman who created and gave birth to him had died from it. Who in the world could withstand him?

The fragile healing-type saintess Ye Zheng? Sykes found the thought in his mind absurd, so much so that he temporarily overlooked Ye Zheng's sufficiently bold and offensive action.

Seeing that Sykes showed no signs of flying into a rage, Yu Tianming relaxed and approached. "Your Highness, the door has been opened. Let us go inside."

"Miss Ye is right. Everyone is looking forward to the crown prince's greeting. For them, this is a once-in-a-lifetime honor."

The setup of this third stage of the competition carried political undertones to begin with. If he could help the crown prince use this opportunity to gain excellent reputation in the lower district, the emperor and his father would surely feel more at ease letting him take that position.

He was born to become the prime minister, second only to one and above all others, just as Sykes was born to inherit the nation.

Yu Tianming secretly glanced at Ye Zheng. The girl remained calm, as if she did not realize what a bold, dangerous, and remarkable thing she had just done.

This time, he really had to thank this saintess. Otherwise, if the crown prince destroyed the shelter, it would be hard to shift the blame to someone else. It would definitely stir up another storm of bloody public opinion in the lower district.

Her naive kindness and her ability truly complemented each other. If this saintess had even a bit of offensive power, given her attitude toward the crown prince, the ruthless imperial family might have eliminated her directly.

After all, Sykes was the savior carefully cultivated by the imperial family and the church. Any trace of trouble would be immediately uprooted by those fanatical nurturers.

Yu Tianming shook his head with a smile. This time he was truly lucky. With the righteous saintess Ye Zheng stepping in to stop Sykes's destructive behavior, she had saved this loyal subject a lot of trouble.