Chapter 32-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
The two of them pushed the door open, and Sykes, who was leaning against the window, glanced over, his piercing golden eyes holding a sneer.
"What an esteemed guest, Saintess."
Ye Zheng nodded submissively. "You're joking. I can't live up to the title of esteemed guest."
Sykes turned around, his face particularly grim in the backlight.
"Your Highness, Miss Ye has been busy with Curia matters recently and didn't intentionally delay the competition."
Yu Tianming tried to smooth over the subtle tension between them. Getting Ye Zheng to join them was meant to connect the Curia and the Royal Family, not to make their relationship more strained.
He subtly glanced at the innocent-looking Ye Zheng. It must not have been his imagination; Ye Zheng was particularly defiant toward the Crown Prince, even though she was good at disguising her impatience with submissive behavior.
He had heard that the Saintess of the Curia was kind and benevolent, and cared about the people. He had always thought it was just the Curia's PR, after all, the rumors about the Pope were also of being righteous and pure, but what was the reality...? Yu Tianming pushed up his glasses, but Ye Zheng seemed a little different.
He wondered, why wouldn't she obey the Crown Prince? Sykes represented the supreme power of the country in the future. Although the Emperor and the current Empress had a son and a daughter, everyone knew they couldn't pose any threat to Sykes's position.
Sykes not only had a 3S-rank talent but also the Emperor's favoritism and the ministers' support. Even the Curia implicitly showed their satisfaction with Sykes.
Yu Tianming had never been able to understand his new teammate's actions. Just because of Sykes's tyranny and injustice, she gave up a high position that was within her reach. Hadn't the Curia told this Saintess the common sense of being a subject, besides teaching her the doctrines of hope and justice?
"Is that so? I hope the Saintess can work with the same enthusiasm she has for the Curia in my team."
"Qin Lu said you would bring me a huge surprise. I hate being fooled more than anything. You won't disappoint me, will you?" Sykes was tall, and he now looked down at her, making his presence even more intimidating.
"Please rest assured, Your Highness. I will do my best." Ye Zheng looked up, her cold black eyes meeting Sykes's scrutinizing golden ones, which held a hint of mockery.
"Um, excuse me, but this sensor is lit up. A Demonic Domain has appeared in the southeast, a bit far from us."
"Your Highness, should we go?" The red-haired, flamboyant Ryan cautiously asked. He didn't show his usual unruliness he had when with Ye Di. He was seriously watching the Demonic Domain's movements in the corner of the room, holding the sensor.
Ye Zheng glanced at Ryan. She guessed that if Ye Di were here, his status would probably be similar to Ryan's.
Thinking about this, Ye Zheng felt a little regretful. Maybe she should have bundled Ye Di up and given him to Sykes for a good beating. Then she thought, given Ye Di's obsession with joining the Royal team, maybe she would have a chance to "help" him in the future.
Sykes strode toward the table with the sensor. Ryan tactfully moved aside, making it easier for Sykes to check the display.
"It is a bit far."
"Mark it first."
Sykes stared at the location shown on the sensor and slowly said, "For the Saintess to adapt to the team as quickly as possible, this distance is nothing."
Yu Tianming immediately pulled Ryan outside to prepare for the Crown Prince's departure. Sykes, accustomed to this, sat on the sofa reading a book, a calm and unhurried demeanor as if he were just waiting for a not-so-important ball.
It wasn't until Yu Tianming knocked on the door that he walked out, with Ye Zheng following him quietly.
When Ye Zheng saw the mode of transportation, her eyes widened slightly. She thought it would be a car, but it turned out to be a gigantic, winged beast, about a story tall. It was pitch black and looked terrifying, but upon closer inspection, its round eyes were clear and docile, with a hint of fear.
On the beast's back was a magnificent carriage. A servant had set up a ladder. Sykes climbed the ladder, followed closely by Yu Tianming and Ryan.
Ye Zheng watched the backs of her three teammates, slowly walking at the very end.
The ability competition had four-person teams plus one substitute. And there was one teammate who had not yet appeared, and she couldn't even confirm whether this person was real—
No one knew their gender or family background, only their codename: Raven. They were the Crown Prince's shadow knight. Legend had it that no one besides the Crown Prince had seen Raven's true face, or rather, no one who had seen Raven existed anymore besides the Crown Prince.
Many people thought Raven was just a legend, until Sykes participated in this competition, and a spot on the team clearly belonged to Raven.
Ye Zheng slightly narrowed her eyes. She was inclined to believe that this shadow knight was real, and because of this, Sykes's existence was incredibly tricky for her to handle.
He not only possessed an unparalleled level of strength himself, but he also had the deep-thinking Prime Minister's son and the elusive shadow knight as his personal guards. As for Ryan... well, he didn't matter. He was indeed her brother's friend; he was so stupid that she felt a sense of familiarity.
In any case, trying to uncover the royal family's hidden dragon bone secret under these circumstances made her feel a little lost and uneasy.
[Don't stress too much. Secrets and stuff will just naturally emerge at the right plot points. You don't have to risk your life to deliberately seek them out.]
[Why don't you open the manga app and just chill? It's very relaxing to occasionally read some trashy romance manga about overbearing bosses and explosive love.]
The System's well-intentioned recommendation made Ye Zheng let out a soft laugh.
She was already on the strange beast carriage. There were only her, Yu Tianming, and Sykes in the carriage. They sat on different sides of the magnificent and comfortable compartment, which was unnaturally silent.
Ye Zheng looked out the window. The beast flapped its wings and took off. She didn't feel any turbulence inside, and it was more stable than she had imagined.
If she wasn't mistaken, Ryan must be at the front, driving the beast. His ability, [Beast Control], was what made this beast carriage so comfortable and stable.
Ye Zheng glanced at Sykes. She suspected that Sykes included the not-particularly-talented Ryan in his team just to have a useful servant.
This was her first time flying in the sky. Ye Zheng watched the clean scenery for a while, then lost interest and looked away.
Ye Zheng sighed softly and took out a book under the subtle gazes of her two teammates.
The girl in the white dress held a Curia text, her eyes calmly scanning the pages, giving her an exceptionally noble aura that perfectly fit the persona of a Curia Saintess.
Ye Zheng lowered her gaze. Only she could see the phone tucked inside the book.
[Oh wow, you, the "pure" Saintess, are secretly playing on your phone!]
[Humans really can't resist using their phones.] The System excitedly chattered in Ye Zheng's mind.
The System had told her that phones in the higher dimension had many functions, as evidenced by the forum and the manga apps. It also mentioned something about video and novel apps, which were features her world didn't have.
In the world of King of the Demonic Domain, phones were expensive luxury items with only communication functions. Percy and the others' phones were given to them by the official competition committee for easy communication.
Therefore, Yu Tianming and Sykes would never guess that their fellow paper character was so engrossed in browsing a mysterious thing like a forum.
What the System said was sometimes right: don't put too much pressure on yourself. Although she would absolutely not read any trashy romance manga about overbearing bosses.
The forum was still arguing over the highlights of Percy and Zhao Mei. The readers who liked Percy were clearly more aggressive, and their arguments were everywhere. In contrast, the readers who liked Zhao Mei seemed much weaker, but surprisingly, her popularity was rising quickly.
A look of sudden understanding appeared on Ye Zheng's face. She vaguely understood the term "creating a victim narrative" (a popular online term for fans who use a character's perceived victimization to gain sympathy and popularity).
Yu Tianming sat across from Ye Zheng, discreetly observing his new teammate. He saw her reading an old, outdated Curia textbook and still showing an expression of learning, which for a moment made him feel awed by her piety as the Saintess. His understanding of Saintess Ye Zheng seemed to become more complete.
Ye Zheng scrolled through the forum. The readers hadn't produced any new content recently; they were just arguing about old topics.
There was also a power ranking. Ye Zheng didn't need to click on it to know it was definitely inaccurate, because no reader would include her in the rankings for now.
Although there was a heated discussion about Zhao Mei's true strength, some even guessed that Zhao Mei might be the ultimate villain hidden within the protagonist team. This theory was a minority, and most preferred the "beautiful but tragic second male lead" narrative. But Ye Zheng was more interested in the former guess.
The interesting thing was that even she, as the character herself, had a hard time giving herself an accurate role. Maybe she was that kind of niche, ultimate villain.
Ye Zheng exited the forum, which had no fresh topics, and clicked on the manga app.
Besides King of the Demonic Domain, she could also read other manga. Ye Zheng had curiously read some and found that they didn't suit her taste.
Of course, King of the Demonic Domain was the same. If it weren't for the fact that she was in this world, she wouldn't have paid so much attention to it.
For example, in the latest original plot spoilers for King of the Demonic Domain, another plot point appeared that she didn't like or understand.
In the Demonic Domain they were heading to, the Royal Academy team, who were the villains, would not only encounter the protagonist team but also unlock new characters—the team members from the Middle District Academy.
In this original plot, there was still nothing for the female lead Ye Zheng to do, but another newly introduced female character seemed to have a lot of screen time and her own highlight moments. It was clear that the creator put a lot of effort into this new character.
He not only put effort into the plot but also into the appearance design, although Ye Zheng couldn't understand the creator's peculiar sense of fashion.
Ye Zheng looked at the newly introduced Middle District Academy team captain on the screen. She had a sharp, short hairstyle that the Saintess was envious of and was tall and heroic.
She wore a black form-fitting long dress with high slits on both sides. There were small cutouts on her chest and sides of her waist, which were an unexpected and useless design.
Ye Zheng tilted her head, staring at the fierce-looking female character on the screen. She couldn't imagine that she would actually appear dressed like that—this outfit made it difficult even to walk with a wide stride, let alone fight.
Sometimes it was inaccurate to say that the creator put effort into male characters and was perfunctory with female characters. Ye Zheng looked up at the hairstyles and clothes of her two teammates. These "creative touches" didn't appear on them.
[Oh, male creators are just like this. They occasionally use female characters to add some fanservice and please the male readers.]
"This manga also has a lot of female readers. Why not open a big hole on Sykes's chest to please the female readers?"
Ye Zheng's gaze shifted to Sykes's tightly wrapped chest. She communicated with the System in her mind, baffled.
Didn't the manga creator especially like to create popular villains like Sykes? He should have added this element to please the readers. Sykes's popularity would surely be even higher.
[No, no, that would instantly ruin the high-status of the big villain!]
The System couldn't even imagine the scene of the arrogant and noble Sykes with a hole cut out of the fabric on his chest...
Author's note:
Zhengzheng: Support Sykes's freedom to have a 'chest window'!
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