Chapter 35-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
The cracked earth was crisscrossed by countless gnarled fissures, and below them, swarms of black bugs were surging. Oddly, these bugs seemed to have no intention of attacking, allowing humans to step over the fragile ground above their heads.
Ye Zheng no longer watched the ground. She looked up at the sun, orienting herself.
As a Saintess who frequently worked in the lower district, she had been to this area several times. Even though it had lost its original appearance after being enveloped by the dimensional space, Ye Zheng could still recall the layout of the area from memory.
She looked at the rolling wasteland, no wonder she hadn't seen any ordinary people along the way. In the southwest, there was a shelter.
The shelter was built with extremely special and expensive minerals and would not be swallowed by a Demonic Domain. It was also extremely sturdy and could provide refuge for people trapped in the Demonic Domain. Unfortunately, there were only four shelters in the lower district, and the real estate prices in those areas were very high.
According to Wu Shu, the Cloud-Soaring Squad was hurrying in this direction.
Ye Zheng was a little curious about why the Cloud-Soaring Squad would appear in this Demonic Domain. It was far from their base, and with the powerful rival Royal team here, coming to this place didn't seem like a rational choice.
"Is that someone's basement up ahead?" The red-haired Ryan, who was in the lead, paused and looked confused.
He was using his ability to sense the activity of the underground bug swarm when he suddenly found that the swarm was avoiding a certain underground area ahead, and his ability was also blocked by that area.
This feeling was familiar. The hunting ground that the Crown Prince built under the palace was also made with very special materials to prevent the beasts inside from escaping and destroying the hunting ground.
Ryan's eyes widened. "Is there someone in the lower district with the financial means to build a basement just like the Crown Prince's?"
"...It's a shelter against Demonic Domains."
Yu Tianming gave Ryan a hard look, as he clearly had no common sense. He was about to tell him to read more when he heard Sykes speak. His elegant voice rose slightly, with a hint of confusion. "A shelter?"
The knowledgeable Prime Minister's son swallowed what he was about to say and dutifully began to introduce the shelter, which was a marvel of cutting-edge technology, to his two teammates.
Ye Zheng listened to the conversation of the three young masters with amusement. The upper district not only had no Demonic Domains but also had the most elite ability users. Shelters naturally didn't exist in the absolutely safe upper district.
Ten years ago, it was common to see young ability users from the upper district enter the lower district's Demonic Domains for training. Everything changed after the 'Blood Flower' Incident.
The amusement in Ye Zheng's eyes faded. Her black eyes looked at the shelter in the distance. A square building with a shiny black-iron luster stood abruptly on the barren land, like an indestructible, giant shield. However, its grandest part was buried underground, far more magnificent than the part that was visible.
She had also stayed in a shelter once, with her family.
The Royal Academy team quickened their pace. Although they hadn't found any core monsters here, going inside the shelter to learn more and escape the heat was a good idea.
"Is that Lucy?"
As they got closer, Ye Zheng saw a small figure standing guard in front of the shelter.
The boy with the orange ponytail vigilantly looked at them, his expression showing a wariness that was foreign to Ye Zheng. It seemed that the innocent and lively Lucy also had the ability to handle things on his own.
Lucy strode toward them in his flat boots. After recognizing their identities, his expression became even more guarded.
"The Royal Academy team? What are you doing here?"
Yu Tianming was amused by the question from this boy and pushed up his glasses. "We're all competitors. Isn't it more suspicious for you to be here? I remember your territory is quite far from here."
Ye Zheng noticed that their conversation was sarcastic, but it was clear they had a lot of encounters. It was likely that the protagonist team and the Royal Academy had clashed frequently during the second stage of the competition.
But at the moment, she was more curious about the shoes Lucy was wearing.
"I gave him those."
"I didn't expect Lucy to actually wear them."
[In the chapter where you gave Lucy the shoes, some readers started arguing about her fighting in high heels. The argument went all the way to the creator's Weibo, and many female readers suggested that the creator should use the 'Zhao Mei giving a gift' plot to have Lucy change into more comfortable shoes, as a rejection of female character stereotypes.]
[Given that this manga has many female readers, the editor also suggested making the change. So the creator had Lucy wear the shoes you gave him in the new plot, and it also helped to sell a bit of team spirit!]
[I heard that all of Lucy's new merch will be with his current look, no more little high heels!]
The System's voice sounded quite excited.
Ye Zheng's eyes moved, and she quietly looked at the lively boy in the distance. When Lucy turned his head, his eyes met the girl's, which were filled with a hint of a smile.
The Royal team, a new face, a female member, Ye Zheng? Lucy's not-so-clever mind quickly deduced the identity of the person in front of him.
He had seen her from a distance at the Crown Prince's banquet last time. Seeing her up close this time, he found her to be a little more pleasing to the eye than the other members of the Royal team.
Looking closer, her demeanor and appearance were somehow similar to Zhao Mei's, but the two were also a little different. Zhao Mei was quiet and mysterious, like a noble black cat, while this Ye Zheng... was serene and holy, like a pearl-like lake in his hometown's vast prairie.
"Damn, is this what a Saintess is like? She practically has a halo hovering over her head!"
A faint look of confusion appeared in Ye Zheng's eyes. Lucy's gaze kept changing, and she had no idea what he was thinking.
"Could he have recognized me?"
"Lucy, it's very rude to ignore us like this." Yu Tianming's helpless words, tinged with a hint of warning, brought Lucy back to reality. He glared at the boy with glasses, thought for a moment, and then told them the truth. "We didn't come here for the competition. This is where Percy grew up. His friends and family are all in this area. We just came to help Percy protect his home."
"So you can rest assured, we're not here to steal points."
A look of surprise flashed across Yu Tianming's face. "I always heard he was an orphan..."
Lucy unceremoniously rolled his eyes. "An orphan just means he doesn't have parents, not that he grew up in a dimensional space!"
Yu Tianming was choked up by the retort, and he heard a soft laugh from the girl beside him, making him even more frustrated.
He rubbed his forehead. A hint of sarcasm crossed the eyes behind his glasses. Just to protect a friend's hometown, not for points? How could he believe that?
Ye Zheng, however, slightly raised her eyebrows. She believed that reason.
She had spent some time with the Cloud-Soaring Squad and couldn't deny that, as the protagonists, they were righteous, kind, and brave.
Lucy stood in front of the tightly closed door of the shelter, with no hint of awe toward the powerful. "There are no monsters for you to kill here. You should leave now."
Yu Tianming was about to say something else, but Sykes, who had been silent all this time, ignored Lucy's obstruction, walked up to the dark metal door, and casually raised his hand.
"How noisy." His golden eyes were filled with impatience, and his hand seemed to be about to press against the door.
"You can't destroy it!" Lucy shouted. He suddenly remembered Sykes's ability. He probably wasn't going to push the door, but to destroy it directly!
Sykes heard this and didn't hesitate at all. He forcefully pressed his hand against the door—
The door didn't move.
The area was completely silent. Everyone's questioning and confused gazes were on the two people in front of the door.
A moment later, a suppressed laugh escaped Sykes's throat. A clean hand was pressing against the door next to his. He turned his golden eyes and looked at Ye Zheng, who had appeared beside him at some point.
Ye Zheng gave him a humble and submissive smile and gently spoke, which to Sykes sounded like she was coaxing an ignorant child.
"Your Highness, this door is of utmost importance. If it is destroyed, I'm afraid the entire shelter will be destroyed."
"Please be patient for a moment. Lucy will open the door soon. The people taking refuge inside are also looking forward to your greeting. The arrival of the Empire's Crown Prince will surely lift their spirits in this difficult time."
Sykes's burning golden eyes stared unblinkingly into the girl's gentle black eyes, like a golden python suppressing its hunger and waiting for a fatal strike. But in the end, he slowly lowered his hand from the door.
His fingers curled up, feeling the moisture in his palm, the water left by Ye Zheng.
"Ye Zheng, you're more capable than I thought."
Sykes let out a laugh that held a deeper meaning.
His [Destruction] was based on his imagination. He could imagine the sturdy door being torn into pieces. The moment his palm touched Ye Zheng's [Stream], he couldn't imagine how to destroy such a ridiculous and weak flow of water.
A sense of danger, a feeling that even the eerie Percy had never given him, arose inexplicably in Sykes's heart.
No one had ever been immune to his [Destruction]. Even the woman who created and gave birth to him had died by his [Destruction]. Who in the world could resist him?
The weak healing Saintess, Ye Zheng? Sykes felt that this thought was absurd, so much so that he temporarily ignored Ye Zheng's utterly offensive action.
Yu Tianming saw that Sykes showed no signs of losing his temper and confidently approached. "Your Highness, the door is open. Let's go in."
"Miss Ye is right. Everyone is looking forward to the Crown Prince's greeting. It's a rare honor for them."
The setup of this third stage of the competition had a political motive. If he could use this opportunity to let the Crown Prince gain an excellent reputation in the lower district, the Emperor and his father would surely be more confident in letting him take over his position.
He was born to be the Empire's Prime Minister, second only to the monarch, just as Sykes was born to inherit this country.
Yu Tianming secretly glanced at Ye Zheng. The girl's expression was still calm, as if she hadn't realized what a disrespectful, dangerous, and remarkable thing she had just done.
He really had to thank this Saintess this time. Otherwise, it would have been hard to pin the blame on someone else if the Crown Prince had destroyed the shelter. At that time, it would surely have caused a storm of public outrage in the lower district.
Her innocence and kindness were truly complementary to her ability. If this Saintess had any offensive power, she might have been eliminated by the ruthless Royal Family because of her attitude toward the Crown Prince.
Sykes was the savior carefully groomed by the Royal Family and the Sei Curia. Any sign of trouble would be immediately eradicated by those crazy cultivators.
Yu Tianming shook his head with a smile. He was indeed lucky this time to have Ye Zheng, the righteous Saintess, come forward to stop Sykes's destructive behavior, saving him, a loyal subject, a lot of trouble.
Misgendered right here
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