Chapter 116-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation

Ye Zheng was sitting on the cold, hard bench in the confinement room. She tried to move her hands bound by the black ring—her strength was still there, but she could no longer feel the power of her ability.

She raised her hands and examined the black ring closely. It wasn't unfamiliar to her.

The black ring was forged from the precious heterogeneous stone, a tool the Empire specifically used to deal with dangerous ability user criminals. Due to the extreme rarity of heterogeneous stone, very few criminals had the "honor" of wearing one.

She never imagined that she, as the Empire's Saintess, would one day receive such "courtesy."

Ye Zheng stared at the black ring in frustration. It was bound too tightly—even dislocating her thumb wouldn't allow her to slip it off. That method was out.

The best approach, of course, would be to use the key to unlock it. If her ability were still intact, the precise control of [Stream] might have allowed her to pick the lock. But after putting on the black ring, all she could muster from her fingertips were a few tiny water droplets.

It was somewhat fortunate that, aside from the black ring and the confiscation of her gun, those people hadn't searched her body. Even her sword still hung at her side.

An hour ago, after rescuing Lucy, she had planned to take Lucy back to the room along the original route. But someone in the base had already noticed the disturbance, and the White-Clad Knights were pursuing "Saintess Ye Zheng"—she had been disguised, and Dean Annabelle had tacitly approved her actions. They shouldn't have locked onto her so quickly.

Unless there was someone else in the base, someone in a high position who had been watching her all along. Ye Zheng didn't know many people in this base. Based on her current knowledge, the first person who came to mind was Kiran.

Ye Zheng leaned her head back against the wall, gazing at the dim ceiling.

By her calculations, Kiran and the others should have arrived at the base around the time she rescued Lucy. No matter how clever Kiran was, it was unlikely he could have learned of her actions in the base in such a short time.

There was only one possibility: Kiran had been maintaining some form of contact with this base all along. But if he had such communication means, why hadn't he reported the West District situation to the Empire in a timely manner? Was it the fog calamity outside that restricted communication range, or—

"Zhou Yun kidnapped a full fifty thousand people..."

Kiran's words echoed in her ears once more.

Ye Zheng suddenly stood up, her black eyes darkening. Perhaps it wasn't Zhou Yun blocking the communications at all—maybe Kiran had cut off the West District's external links himself, all for the sake of his so-called hope, concealing everything!

She strode quickly to the tightly shut iron door and slammed her bound hands against it, creating a resounding thud.

"Let Kiran come see me."

Footsteps soon sounded outside. One of the knights guarding the door left, but Ye Zheng knew there was more than one person watching her from beyond.

This time, it was her miscalculation.

At the time, she couldn't guarantee she could escape the pursuit with Lucy unharmed, so she had Lucy disguise herself as one of the girls in the base and go find Annabelle. She herself had deliberately appeared before the knights capturing her, putting an end to the search.

She had written a note, which Lucy took to Annabelle. Without a doubt, the dean would agree to help her leave the base. Once Lucy entered the thick fog, Zhou Yun would see the note she'd written. She could collaborate with Zhou Yun from inside and out to end all this—after all, one person alone couldn't completely destroy this place.

Originally, Ye Zheng had been quite confident that Zhou Yun would agree to cooperate.

Ye Zheng paced a few steps in the narrow confinement room, her brows furrowed tightly, a rare hint of anxiety seeping through.

After Kiran had unilaterally sabotaged the possibility of negotiations, would Zhou Yun still trust her, a fellow member of the Curia, as the Saintess?

Zhou Yun's rationality might have already been worn down by Kiran.

With their perspectives diverging and Kiran controlling all external information, Zhou Yun—already filled with anger and despair—would only grow more impatient and stubborn: destroy the base, kill Percy, Sykes, and the three boys representing hope. Since Kiran refused to negotiate, she might even kill the fifty thousand ordinary people under her control along with them.

In this light, Zhou Yun teleporting her to this base might not have been out of belief in her words about "making Kiran die in the most agonizing way." It could simply be a sense of ceremony—destroying her, this group with Percy, and the base together in a grand ritual.

To achieve a sufficiently shocking and perfect revenge.

—She shouldn't have let Lucy take that note to Zhou Yun.

"System, is Zhou Yun the main antagonist of the West District plot?"

[From the plot setup, yes, the big boss of this arc is Zhou Yun.]

The system answered.

"Let me guess: the next part of the plot is Percy and Sykes teaming up against Zhou Yun, rescuing the fifty thousand people, and then killing Kiran?"

The system hesitated for a moment before prompting:

[The latest chapter has updated, and the manga spoilers have too. You can check them out.]

Ye Zheng then remembered there were manga updates. She'd been too busy these past few days to keep up, and she had no idea how the creator was portraying her actions in the base—perhaps some readers would find them unacceptable.

No time to check the forums now. With her bound hands in an awkward position, she awkwardly retrieved her phone from the inner layer of her clothes and placed it on the small table before opening the manga app.

She quickly skimmed through the latest updated chapter. She hadn't guessed wrong: Kiran had indeed obstructed the West District's communications, disregarding the lives of fifty thousand people, all for the sake of his grand achievements. Percy and Sykes had learned their true origins from him and were completely spun around by his rhetoric.

Was it because they were too foolish? Ye Zheng wondered. Perhaps it was simply that their hearts weren't angry enough.

They wouldn't be her allies.

Ye Zheng blinked her dry eyes, which hadn't closed for a full day, and scrolled down through a large blank page until she finally reached this chapter's manga spoilers.

On the screen, a blue-haired man radiating a holy aura stood amid a sea of flames, the grand base burning fiercely behind him. Yet he showed no trace of worry or fear, instead spreading his arms as if calmly welcoming the reaper's procession.

[Kill me. Let me perish with this base—so you will have no stains left.]

Staring at Kiran's satisfied smile on the screen, Ye Zheng's gaze grew colder. She let out a chuckle.

This man had lied so much that he'd even convinced himself.

Dying with the base was probably his ultimate plan all along. That's why he'd concealed the negotiation terms from the Empire to Zhou Yun—he even hoped the entire West District would be buried with it, covering up the bloody past. Only then would the "godchildren" created by the Hope Project be flawless, without a single shadow.

"He wasn't creating hope for humanity at all. He was making gods—turning himself into one."

Ye Zheng's commentary carried a faint mocking tone.

Kiran thought of himself as a tragic hero sacrificing strangers, families, friends, and even himself for humanity's future. In reality, he was just overly dramatic and egotistical, desperate to leave his indelible mark on the world through this method.

"Every clown I've seen in plays is less ridiculous than him."

The boy's critique grew sharper.

[In fact, after he takes his own life, his popularity will skyrocket. Many readers will be moved by this character, seeing him as a richly layered gray figure. That scene will be hailed as a classic moment in King of the Demonic Domain.]

The system's voice sounded somewhat helpless.

"Fine, I'll retract the 'ridiculous' label. He's clever—succeeding in deifying himself in any world."

Crisp applause echoed in the cramped space. Ye Zheng clapped with her bound hands, drumming up applause for Kiran. The system watched her cold expression and didn't dare say that she looked a bit like a seal clapping indifferently right now.

"He's clever. He could have lived out his life perfectly according to plan—but unfortunately, he met me."

[What do you plan to do?]

The system asked, its tone lacking curiosity, as if it already knew what Ye Zheng's next move would be.

"Shatter his beautiful dream and fulfill my promise to Zhou Yun."

"Make Kiran die as a failure, in the most despairing way, to atone for his sins."

[Now?]

The system asked hesitantly. Without a doubt, Ye Zheng was at her lowest point: confined, her ability suppressed, and a group of stern, powerful guards waiting outside the door.

The dim light in the room flickered. Faint footsteps filtered through the gap under the iron door, tapping gently at her ears. Seated on the bench, Ye Zheng adjusted her posture slightly, facing the iron door directly.

Of course, the most troublesome part was that White-Clad Bishop. He controlled the entire base and possessed formidable gravity ability. Apart from his penchant for dreaming, he was an undeniably intelligent man.

Ye Zheng clasped her hands together on her crossed right leg, her bent knuckles tapping rhythmically, syncing with the approaching footsteps outside.

When she'd boasted to Zhou Yun about killing Kiran, it was based on the premise of allying with her—not in her current isolated state.

But she had to kill Kiran now.

Zhou Yun's suspicions toward her might endanger Lucy—perhaps even the fifty thousand people. She had to do something to prove to Zhou Yun that she was trustworthy—

Like bringing her Kiran's head.

With a creak, white light suddenly poured in, illuminating the cramped room. The White-Clad Saintess sat on the chair, her head slightly raised, her pale face like the merciless gleam of a blade.

Her seated posture lacked the usual prim propriety of a Saintess, carrying instead a casual air of control. Her black eyes even held a hint of amusement. If not for the sight of her hands bound by the black ring, one might think she was the interrogator.

Kiran's ever-present smile at the corners of his mouth flattened. For some reason, he retracted his left foot that had stepped into the confinement room and stood at the doorway, blocking the light.

He watched his shadow fall over the seated girl and spoke in a gentle voice: "Is it uncomfortable staying here? If you need anything, I can have someone bring it in."

"I'm a bit thirsty. Please have some water brought."

Kiran sighed and instructed the person behind him to fetch water. Then he walked in and casually closed the iron door behind him.

In the cramped space, the handsome and affable white-robed man reached Ye Zheng's side in just a few steps. He bent down and whispered softly in the girl's ear.

"I know you want to kill me. Even though you've already killed quite a few people in the base, the one you want to kill most is still me, right?"

With that, Kiran straightened up and looked down at Ye Zheng, shaking his head with a smile.

"As I said, once everything is over, I will atone for all my sins. You really don't need to rush."

"Zhou Yun isn't a good choice for you. She's gone mad now. Yuan Yuan would be heartbroken to see her like this. The chaos she's causing is the priority we need to address first, isn't it?"

"You're right. Then let me go with Percy and the others to persuade Zhou Yun. We're all the Empire's hope, aren't we?"

Ye Zheng mimicked Kiran's tone, advising gently.

Her body shifted slightly, and Kiran immediately pressed down on her shoulder. "No, child. You don't need to help. Staying here quietly is your greatest contribution."

Faced with Ye Zheng's indifferent gaze, Kiran suddenly sighed.

"Really, is my personal charm not as good as Wen Jian's? How did he convince you to become a Holy Vessel—or did he not tell you at all and just use you for experiments?"

"I didn't know about the Holy Vessel, nor did I know implanting the dragon bone would be dangerous."

Hearing Ye Zheng's response, genuine anger appeared on Kiran's face. "That guy Wen Jian! Relying on being up in the Upper District to abuse his power, deceiving people who know nothing—truly scum!"

Ye Zheng found it somewhat amusing to listen to Kiran denouncing Wen Jian.

"No wonder you have such a strong bias against our Hope Project."

Kiran's expression toward the girl softened even more. "But look, you obtained the divine sword left by the God of Hope. To be fair, Ye Zheng, before this, you were just a Saintess in name only. Didn't your legend truly begin with the implantation of that dragon bone?"

"I admit the plan is cruel and unspeakable, but its results have brought dawn to the Empire!"

"Ye Zheng, you are the most beautiful ray of light brought by the Hope Project—"

Kiran's face lit up with agitation and rapture. Ye Zheng heard a cautious knock at the door and ruthlessly interrupted him. "Please pause for a moment, Bishop Kiran. The most beautiful ray of light is thirsty."

The white-robed man stopped mid-sentence, showing no annoyance at the interruption. Instead, he seemed amused, chuckling as if her words were humorous. He appeared so affable and good-tempered.

He turned and opened the door. The guard outside handed him a cup filled to the brim with water.

Standing at the doorway, Kiran raised the nearly overflowing cup toward Ye Zheng, then tilted his wrist—

The water spilled out in a cascade, splashing onto the floor in insignificant droplets. Ye Zheng watched as the cup emptied until only a thin layer of water remained.

With a bang, Kiran closed the iron door and handed the cup to Ye Zheng.

His eyes held an apologetic glint. "I'm very sorry. You have a water-based ability, and even with the black ring, I can't afford to be careless with you."

"You're thinking too highly of me, Kiran. My ability is almost completely suppressed. Could I possibly defeat you with a single cup of water?"

Ye Zheng took the cup, the corners of her mouth curling in faint sarcasm, as if mocking Kiran's overcaution.

Kiran stared at her until Ye Zheng drank the pitifully small amount of water in the cup, her throat moving slightly with the swallow. Only then did he look away.

"I can only be sure that even the child the Hope Project is most proud of couldn't kill me with one or two sips of water."

Kiran chuckled with a sigh, then turned and pushed open the door once more.

"Rest assured. Once everything ends, I'll give you the chance to kill me."

Ye Zheng watched Kiran's retreating back. As if wiping away water stains, she rubbed her bound hands across her mouth.

Kiran was right—this amount of water couldn't kill him.

But perhaps it could pick a lock.

Through day after day of extensive healing activities with [Stream], what she'd improved wasn't just her healing ability, but also her precise control.

Author's Note: I've recently gotten hooked on commissioning art—ended up ordering a bunch of Zhengzheng pieces at once...

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