Chapter 54-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
"Oh, why has our little Saintess come today?"
The middle-aged man walked into the hall with a smile, staring at the Saintess who was waiting with her head bowed.
The reverent Saintess raised her head upon hearing his words, her face a little pale with a hint of hesitation.
"Your Holiness the Pope, His Highness the Crown Prince is going to the lower district personally to deal with that Demonic Domain."
Wen Jian showed a surprised expression. The gentle demeanor, which had always been deliberate and artificial, vanished for a moment, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.
Ye Zheng blinked. It seemed he hadn't received the news yet.
She wondered if it was her imagination, but he seemed to be in a bad mood today. It looked like he had encountered more than one unpleasant matter.
"That Demonic Domain? Why did the Crown Prince suddenly go... have such a whimsical idea?"
Wen Jian's tone could barely maintain his usual persona, betraying his impatience.
"Today, the severed limbs of those children trapped in the Demonic Domain were found in His Highness the Crown Prince's room. His Highness is furious and is already preparing to set out."
"What about the people around the Crown Prince? Are they just letting him jump into what is obviously a trap?"
Wen Jian found it incredible. This was clearly a trap set specifically to lure Sykes into the Demonic Domain, and Sykes just jumped right in?
Ye Zheng's smile was tinged with helpless bitterness. "You know as well as I do, Your Holiness, that His Highness Sykes has a very straightforward personality."
Wen Jian paced back and forth a few steps, then suddenly looked at the Saintess standing in the center of the hall.
"Were you at the scene just now?"
"Yes, I was originally planning to ask His Highness Sykes about the competition..."
"There is no need to ask the Crown Prince about such matters."
The Pope interrupted her. His pair of brown eyes, always smiling, now held a deep, scrutinizing gaze. He stood on the steps, looking down at her with a smile.
"You are the holy and beautiful Saintess of the Sei Curia, not some bad child full of lies, are you?"
Ye Zheng felt the middle-aged man's venomous, probing gaze lingering on her. She lowered her head even further, without a trace of panic, and gave the answer she had prepared long ago.
"...Besides that, I also wanted to ask a few things of His Highness Sykes. For instance, my younger brother and my father are both capable and loyal men. Perhaps they could help alleviate His Highness Sykes's burdens during these chaotic times."
Hearing Ye Zheng's answer, the smile on the Pope's lips became a bit more genuine, and he nodded.
"I was right about you. You are a good child who thinks of her family."
Ye Zheng's tone was tinged with apprehension and respect, yet the lowered face hidden in the shadows was perfectly calm. When she finally looked up, sunlight streamed through the stained-glass windows depicting deities, illuminating her face. She appropriately revealed a look of gratitude.
"Sykes is a straightforward and generous child. As long as you are loyal enough, he will grant you what you ask for."
"Of course, you must never forget that you belong to the Sei Curia."
Wen Jian's tone was gentle as he reminded her, devoid of the earlier pressure, like a well-meaning elder.
He and Yu Tianming were the same kind of people, Ye Zheng thought calmly as she listened with a smile.
As the Pope, Wen Jian not only lacked any faith but was a purely interest-driven animal. Therefore, he naturally saw everyone as beasts that could be driven by personal gain.
At the same time, he considered himself extremely clever, capable of seeing through and manipulating everyone.
Ye Zheng looked up at the high and mighty middle-aged man, feeling not a shred of respect. This man had frequently appeared in the young Ye Zheng's nightmares, but the seventeen-year-old Ye Zheng could now see through his operational logic at a glance, as if he were the child who could be easily manipulated by adults.
"Your Holiness, I have one more presumptuous request."
"Let's hear it."
Wen Jian's mood had improved somewhat. At least, most things were still within his control.
"I am very grateful that you gave me the opportunity to assist His Highness Sykes. However, my actions during this time have led me to discover that this task is not as easy as I imagined, especially after encountering those things in His Highness Sykes's room today..."
The girl seemed to recall the horrifying scene, her voice trembling imperceptibly.
Wen Jian understood. Her peers in the competition had been turned into such cruel remains to be used as a provocation. Although Ye Zheng was intelligent and ambitious, as a young girl who had not seen much of the world, it was inevitable that she would be frightened.
He knew what Ye Zheng wanted but didn't answer immediately, merely staring at the girl's pale, fragile face.
Perhaps it was because the recent, sensational Bloody Demonic Domain was so similar to the one from all those years ago. Looking at the tall girl standing below, Wen Jian recalled a small, blurry figure.
A short, chubby little girl, a bit heavy to hold. Upon seeing the blood-red Demonic Domain, her round face had turned as pale and fragile as a sheet of paper.
Perhaps because she looked so interesting, squeezed into the crowd at a complete loss, he had kindly rescued her from the doomed mob. Speaking of which, that was one of the few truly good deeds he had ever done in his life out of genuine kindness.
Ye Zheng saw the middle-aged man suddenly smile as if he had thought of something amusing. She neither understood nor wanted to probe, looking away with a sense of disgust.
"Assisting the Crown Prince is not easy, but you don't need to belittle yourself. Your abilities are necessary. If you need anyone, just give them orders in my name. I know you are a smart and sensible child."
"Thank you, Your Holiness. I will do my best."
The girl bowed gratefully. The Pope's expression was much better than when he had arrived, and it seemed both were quite satisfied with their meeting.
The Pope was sometimes surprisingly tolerant and generous with her. Ye Zheng was still pondering this as she walked out of the church. Besides her ability that granted some degree of immunity to Sykes's power, did she have some other special value for the Pope to exploit?
Perhaps the fact that her [Stream] could immunize even a little of Sykes's [Destruction] was extremely valuable. Following this line of reasoning, the Pope also harbored a certain degree of fear towards Sykes.
The girl's figure gradually receded into the distance, leaving the Pope standing alone, staring thoughtfully at her back.
After a long and exhausting day, Ye Zheng finally returned home. She changed out of her long white dress and into soft pajamas, then threw herself onto the bed, her posture less refined than usual.
After resting for less than half an hour, she opened her clear eyes again and picked up her phone from the bedside table.
[Rest a little longer.]
[You had consecutive confrontations with two major villains today. Even the protagonist isn't as busy as you.]
The system felt tired just watching Ye Zheng. In its view, Ye Zheng didn't need to work so hard to live well in this world.
"Mmm, I'll be done after I send this message."
She had almost forgotten to tell Percy that Zhao Mei could rejoin the team. They had to remember to bring him when entering the Demonic Domain.
Even without seeing any spoilers, Ye Zheng could guess that given the personality of the Cloud-Soaring Squad and the inertia of the plot, the protagonist's group would definitely enter that Demonic Domain on their own initiative. Wu Shu might go in as well, given how fixated she was on scoring points.
Ye Zheng was extremely curious. What kind of plot had the creator arranged for them in that Demonic Domain that so closely resembled a blood flower?
After sending the message, Ye Zheng stared at her phone screen and suddenly asked, "System, you've been gone for quite a while these past few days. Did something happen?"
The system hemmed and hawed.
"Did you go on vacation? Your world must have many interesting places to visit."
[I wasn't off having fun. As the system in charge of you, I was very seriously assisting the number one capitalist royalty of King of the Demonic Domain, the top female celebrity who brings storms of blood, the world's most pitiful baby in the eyes of Zhengzheng's mom fans...]
"Ah, you have to be responsible for so many people?"
Ye Zheng lay in bed, rubbing her eyes with one hand and letting out a quiet yawn.
[...I told you to rest properly. You're not even fully awake, are you!]
"I'm awake now. Tell me, is there any new activity in your world?"
[King of the Demonic Domain is about to release a new batch of merch, and you'll likely be included this time.]
"What is merch?"
Ye Zheng had often seen this word on the forums but never quite understood it.
[Merch means ACG merchandise. It's about making badges, prints, and other things with your image on them to sell for money, milking the fans.]
"Badges, prints? They don't sound very useful. Will people really buy them?"
Ye Zheng, a paper person who grew up in a dangerous manga world of material scarcity, didn't quite understand the existence of such things.
[As long as you're popular enough, a single badge can sell for hundreds or even thousands. Don't underestimate the ACG world!]
"Instead of impractical badges, I would rather the people who like me use that money to live a good life."
Ye Zheng thought about it. If the official manga publisher really released such things, she would go to the forums to warn everyone not to fall into the trap of greedy merchants.
[Owning your merchandise also brings happiness to those who like you. Sometimes, the spiritual value provided by a paper person is beyond imagination. Besides, if your merch sells well, the platform will see your commercial value and consider giving your character more room to develop.]
[It's a pity, though. This batch of merch is based on a group popularity poll. Only the top two most popular groups will get merch made.]
"Group popularity?"
[For example, Percy, Roy, and Yin Kong are in one group. Sykes, Yu Tianming, and Ryan are in another. And your group is with female characters like Lucy and Bai Muqing.]
[Percy and Sykes are good-looking and very popular, so their two groups will probably win.]
The system's tone was regretful.
"By the way, what about Zhao Mei?"
Ye Zheng was curious. The character Zhao Mei seemed to be quite popular too.
[I almost forgot. "Zhao Mei" and "Ye Zheng" are in the same group, which has been jokingly nicknamed the "genuine babe girl" group. It's an official nisu...]
The system said, its tone a little strange.
Ye Zheng laughed. "Then I think this group has a good chance too."
["Ye Zheng's" popularity is quite good right now, especially with the latest plot update. There's a lot of new speculation about you on the forums. But the overall popularity of female characters is a bit lower...]
"It was updated again?"
Ye Zheng caught the blind spot in the system's words.
The system just remembered and explained sheepishly.
[Because the plot is about to enter the Bloody Demonic Domain arc, the creator updated a transitional chapter. Although it's quite short, you have a lot of screen time.]
Although it involved bumping into Percy again and being scared by the things in Sykes's room, such plot points would normally get a character flamed for being a decorative tool, just like the original Ye Zheng.
But for some reason, perhaps because this Ye Zheng had always exceeded readers' expectations, people were used to making all sorts of deep speculations about her character.
Ye Zheng's disguise was seamless in front of the people in this world, but the readers' perspective was focused and limited, which ironically allowed them to uncover some interesting things.
Author's Note: I came back to school today and found my dorm was all moldy. After spending a long time cleaning it up, I could only manage to update this one short chapter...
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