Chapter 70

【1L: Is Sykes really a villain? A rational discussion of Sykes. Maggot people stay out.

First of all, I am not a Sykes stan. I am simply a reader who enjoys this manga. I cannot understand the recent trend of indiscriminately bashing villain stans. In my opinion, Sykes is not a stereotypical villain, but a complex character interwoven with both light and darkness.

As the Crown Prince of the empire and the one most likely to confront the world-destroying Aberrant Realm foretold in prophecy, he is the most brutal sun of the empire. You accuse him of cruelty, yet you cannot deny his radiance.

Sykes was born bearing both the sin of matricide and the duty of saving the world. This extreme contradiction between sin and virtue may be the root of his brutality. The constant struggle within his humanity drives him toward collapse, and his extremity is his way of maintaining internal consistency.

……

So far, has Sykes truly ever harmed any character? Even when facing Pei Xi, he clearly held back. In the most recent plot, Sykes was easily controlled and defeated, which further highlights the hesitation within his humanity.

I do not dislike this development. Perhaps this will become the most critical crossroads in Sykes’s life, a choice between the original sin of brutality and the divine duty of saving the world. I look forward to how the author will portray this going forward.】

Ye Zheng held her phone, scrolling through this so-called masterpiece on the forum, and her brow furrowed even tighter. All of a sudden, she genuinely wanted to find herself a pair of glasses. She suspected that she must have read something wrong.

Beneath this hot thread, there was still a massive pile of character analyses about Sykes. Titles such as “the most beautiful, strong, and miserable character,” “undoubtedly the hidden dark-line protagonist,” and “your Emperor Sykes has arrived” flooded the page.

Fortunately, there were also a few scattered passersby saying, “Sisters, this is not our Crown Prince, right? He is clearly the smooth-brained royal-style type.” Only then did Ye Zheng feel that the high-dimensional world still possessed some degree of normalcy.

Ye Zheng pressed her brow, decided to let herself off the hook, and quickly exited the thread.

She returned to the stronghold in the lower district and sat down on the sofa to rest. Out of curiosity, she had opened the forum’s hot threads, and now she had been forced to read thousands of words of Sykes analysis, to the point where she almost no longer recognized the three characters that made up the name “Sykes.”

God above! Before clicking in, she had assumed it would be a serious analysis, and had even foolishly hoped to extract more clues about Sykes and the Dragon Bone from it.

For the first time, Ye Zheng hated the fact that she read too quickly, so quickly that she had already stuffed all the content into her brain before realizing how strange it all was.

『It is fine. You can click into the neighboring masterpieces like “Beautiful, strong, and miserable black moonlight. An in-depth analysis of Zhao Mei,” or “Ye Zheng. The saintess’s redemption and dilemma.” After reading those, your brain will be purified through the tug-of-war of words.』

The system spoke in an attempt to comfort her.

Is it not just out-of-character analysis? Fortunately, Ye Zheng had not scrolled into any fanfiction. Leaving Zhao Mei and Pei Xi aside, even the extremely bizarre and niche ship between Zhao Mei and Sykes, who had never even met face to face, actually existed.

Ye Zheng’s expression turned serious. On the forum’s homepage, she carefully considered her options again and finally selected the hottest current thread, 【Serious discussion: Everyone can post their views on the recent plot!】

Since it was labeled “serious,” then the content should be relatively serious, right?

Readers who viewed this manga from a God’s-eye perspective must have been able to notice blind spots that she herself could not reach. Ye Zheng needed more perspectives to help her analyze the mysteries she had recently encountered.

For example, why had Dragon Bone suddenly begun appearing in large quantities throughout the lower district, almost like wholesale goods? What exactly was going on with Sykes’s body? What was Pei Xi’s true background? For matters related to the main storyline of the manga, Ye Zheng believed that the readers might know more than she did.

【1L: Serious discussion: Everyone can post their views on the recent plot!】

【2L: Zhao Mei is so handsome it killed me! Who can understand the appeal of a gentle beauty dom?】

【3L: Oh my god, in the latest chapter Pei Xi turned blood flowers into a sword and easily cleared a small high-risk Aberrant Realm. Our Pei Emperor slays!】

【4L: Pei Xi fans, stop stealing our Sykes’s title. Our Crown Prince is the legitimate emperor, okay? Do not forget your favorite was physically one-shot by Sykes last week.】

【5L: Stop arguing! Objectively speaking, in the last three chapters Pei Xi was one-shot by Sykes once and only survived thanks to his second ability, but then Sykes was pressed into the water by Ye Zheng. Rounded up, Ye Zheng one-shot two people. Ye Emperor has arrived!】

【6L: Ye Zheng fans really love elevating themselves. Originally I hated Zhao Mei fans the most, but now even Zhao Mei looks pleasant to me.】

【7L: What happened to the promised serious discussion? Why is it all one-shots the moment I enter? When did our Throne of the Aberrant Realm also enter the four-second* era?】

[T/N- I don't know if I conveyed it right it basically like when in shonen a super powerful villain introduced, history arc ended and he instantly became a fodder so new villains can be introduced. One-shot victims. The comment sarcastically called it out.]

…

Ye Zheng scrolled quickly, trying to find valid information within the pile of “one-shots.” Finally, she saw someone seriously discussing the plot.

【107L: Is no one analyzing this? What exactly is Zhao Mei’s background? It feels like he is hiding some incredible secret.】

【108L: There is a long-term analysis thread for Zhao Mei next door. I feel that what is subtle in these recent chapters is that Zhao Mei and Ye Zheng appeared in the same Aberrant Realm, and their abilities are also very similar, both being healing, water-based types.】

Seeing this, Ye Zheng raised her eyebrow slightly. As expected, some readers had noticed the key point.

【109L: Therefore, I think it is basically confirmed. Zhao Mei and Ye Zheng have a major connection, with a ninety percent probability that they are siblings.】

“So that is the conclusion?”

Ye Zheng tilted her head and continued reading with curiosity.

【110L: I also agree with the sibling theory! There was foreshadowing earlier. Rumors say Ye Zheng’s younger brother is an S-Class dual ability user of healing and offense. This matches Zhao Mei perfectly! It's obvious that the flood in the shadow Aberrant Realm last time and the torrential rain and flooding in this Aberrant Realm were both Zhao Mei’s hidden works. Healing is just his disguise. In reality, his offensive power is terrifyingly strong!】

【111L: Honestly, I think the torrential rain might have been Ye Zheng. That rain had a calming and healing effect. In terms of healing ability, Ye Zheng should be stronger than Zhao Mei. She can even sober Sykes up, so I think the rain was something she created.】

【112L: If she can bring down such heavy rain, then the flood might also be under her control. Controlling weather should be harder than controlling pure water flow, right?】

【113L: Wow, so this does not rule out the possibility that Ye Zheng is also hiding very deep strength. After all, from her previous scenes you can see that this woman is white-cut-black, very similar to Zhao Mei.】

【114L: Is anyone else a dual fan of Ye Zheng and Zhao Mei? I really feel the two of them are super similar and really hit my preferences. I secretly ship them as selfcest…】

At this point, Ye Zheng’s heart lifted slightly, but soon relaxed again.

【115L: I am done. Begging Ye Zheng fans for a no-face-posting tutorial*! We were clearly discussing Zhao Mei, so why do Ye Zheng fans always jump in?】

[T/N- that word chinese orginal roughly means "Please give us a guide on how Ye Zheng fans can stop forcing themselves into every thread"] 

【116L: Ye Zheng fans want to steal Pei Xi’s protagonist status, steal Sykes’s strong-character tag, and now want to steal Zhao Mei’s plot as well. Begging for a tutorial on how to behave and stay in your own lane, mom!】

【117L: Oh my god, please let your sister fans look at the thread title. Where does it write your sister*’s name? The manga itself left suspense. Is it not normal for people to speculate about a few characters?】

[T/N- “Sister” here refers to Zhao Mei, not Ye Zheng.]

【118L: Even black nicknames are being used. Are Ye Zheng fans trying to offend all male character fans? Calling him “zhao mei” with that black nickname, do you not feel like you are mocking real women’s plight?】

【119L: What is wrong with a guy being called zhao mei? Bringing more female treasures into the world is a good meaning, is it not?】

[T/N- "zhao mei" (招妹) in this context is a deliberate derogatory black nickname (黑称 / hēi chēng) used mockingly. Hei Cheng means little sister. In real-life Chinese culture (especially older generations in rural or traditional families), names like 招弟 (zhao di = "summon/recruit a younger brother") or 招妹 (summon/recruit a younger sister) were sometimes given to girls (or occasionally boys) as a superstitious "lucky name" to "attract" the desired opposite-sex sibling in future births.

Example: A family desperate for a boy might name their first daughter "Zhao Di" hoping the next child will be a brother (the name "calls in" the boy that's why it's degoratary. I am so done with these thread chapters I can't always explain this much.]

【120L: Many people do not dare say it, but what is wrong with hating female characters? Watching female character fans constantly police others under the banner of loving women is annoying. Our Zhao Mei one-shot your Zheng Zheng.】

【121L: Your Zhao Mei cannot even beat Sykes, who is already Ye Zheng’s defeated subordinate, right? And you are still fantasizing about one-shotting our saintess. I will pretend to heal while beating you to death.jpg】

Seeing the argument return once again to the word “one-shot,” Ye Zheng had already learned how to face it calmly. Although she found the entire flame war extremely baffling, it invisibly prevented the possibility of her dropping her mask in front of the readers. Judging by the outcome, it was not a bad thing.

However, seeing them fight over her, even dragging it past three hundred floors without stopping, a subtle feeling surged in Ye Zheng’s heart, mixed with a faint sense of guilt.

She seemed to finally understand why the system was always worried that revealing the truth would damage popularity, especially under such complicated circumstances.

“Everyone probably will not take such a small matter to heart, right?”

From the girl’s perspective, this kind of insignificant friction would quickly pass.

『The algorithm shows that Chaomei fans and Ye Zheng fans are not only clashing in this thread. Because the character settings overlap, it is naturally very easy for arguments to erupt in the upper dimension.』

The system was unexpectedly optimistic.

『Looking on the bright side, the two sides fighting each other is also a kind of fertilizer that does not flow into outsiders’ fields. Quarreling only makes them more die-hard. Look, next door, after Sykes got abused by you once, that kind of heaven-defying short essay was immediately squeezed out.』

『Now that Zhao Mei moms and Ye Zheng moms are fighting, no matter what, it is helping you solidify popularity. It is simply Qin Shi Huang* touching an electric door. Winning until numb!』

[T/N- Original Chinese: 简直是秦始皇摸电门——赢麻了啊！) is a super popular Chinese internet meme / punny歇后语 (xiehouyu, a two-part allegorical saying) that exploded in online slang around 2021 and is still used a lot today. Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇) — the first emperor of China, real name Ying Zheng (嬴政). 

嬴 (Yíng) sounds exactly like 赢 (yíng) = "win" / "victory". Next part roughly being numb, put together winning until being numb to victory itself.]

Watching the popularity value rise rapidly, the system temporarily indulged in short-term happiness. Dropping the mask could wait. At present, Ye Zheng’s combined popularity from her two identities had already reached the top three in “Throne of the Aberrant Realm”!

Who could have imagined this? According to the original development, she was supposed to be a character forever stuck at the very bottom of the popularity rankings.

✧✧✧✧✧

After Li Yixin and Tang Mingxi finished getting lunch at the school cafeteria, they sat down facing each other. For the first time, the two of them were so quiet while eating.

Especially Li Yixin. An awkward expression kept surfacing on her face. Back then, she had enthusiastically recommended the series to Tang Mingxi. Who could have expected that the friend she dragged into the pit would suddenly become part of a rival fandom?

Thinking about it carefully, the sudden hostility between the two fandoms felt extremely inexplicable. Too many fans from other sides had mixed in to fan the flames, causing the two camps to fight endlessly.

Clearly, both characters were gentle little angels, so why could everyone not simply follow their favorites and remain gentle and peaceful?

“The peripheral voting results are out! The Ye Zheng-Zhao Mei group has surpassed the Sykes group!”

Tang Mingxi secretly flipped open her phone beneath the cafeteria table and exclaimed in surprise, breaking the silence between them.

Li Yixin let out a sigh of relief and smiled. “That is great. The Ye Zheng merch I promised to give you finally has a solution!”

“The Zhao Mei video I promised to edit for you is almost finished too. Should I post it on your account?”

The two good friends quickly began chatting again, temporarily setting aside the disputes raging online. Even if, in real life, your close friend belonged to a rival fandom, you still had to spoil them!

Thinking this way, Li Yixin also quietly opened her phone after lunch and took a look at the forum.

She discovered that everyone was arguing even more fiercely now!

Li Yixin suspected that in the current situation, even if Zhao Mei and Ye Zheng personally appeared on the forum, they would still be kicked once in the middle of the chaos.

Inside the manga world.

【457L: Everyone is a fellow fan of this manga.. The characters you support would surely hope that everyone could get along harmoniously. Please stop arguing.】

Ye Zheng looked at the peacekeeping comment she had posted. It was quickly drowned by intense and heated replies from numerous readers. A trace of embarrassment, so faint it was almost imperceptible, flickered across her gentle face.

【458L: Pretending to be a rational neutral using Ye Zheng’s ID? Who the hell is "fellow fans" with Zhao Mei moms?】

【459L: A Ye Zheng roleplay account? What do you mean by barging in front of us Zhao Mei stans and shamelessly posting your face?】

“I temporarily, really do not want to speak anymore, System.”

Ye Zheng rested her chin on one hand. Her innocent black eyes were opened wide as she spoke in a slightly gloomy tone.

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Authors Note

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I am still not a teacher. I am just a fourth-year normal university student who has been forced by the school into a mandatory internship.