Chapter 129-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
Ye Zheng half-lowered her eyes, her fingers deftly toying with the continuous rain lines.
Perhaps due to rising air currents, the lingering white mist in the valley had coalesced into rain—a rain utterly advantageous to her.
This rain was accidental, yet fated. When Zhou Yun implanted the dragon bone and released the dragon-bodied humans' restraints, choosing to expose the evil truth, destiny had already been brewing an unknown downpour.
When the first raindrop fell onto Ye Zheng's hair, she had made her decision. Compared to the misty drizzle like tears, she believed this world needed a world-shaking torrent more!
The fragile rain lines were suddenly yanked taut by her. Percy, holding his breath in focus, seized the opening—his right hand morphing into a two-meter silver spear that pierced the unbroken rain curtain.
Percy's face drew nearer, the spear unstoppable, though his eyes betrayed a flicker of hesitation.
In the past, Ye Zheng would have gladly chatted and connected; the male protagonist's vulnerable heart lay bare before her. Even with the so-called manga world will's constraints, she could easily find loopholes to guide his actions.
But at this moment, she found words too feeble.
The raindrops that should have pooled into dead puddles on the ground rebounded instead upon landing, like threaded needles stitching heaven and earth, forming an impenetrable white veil.
Ye Zheng's figure vanished behind the white veil in an instant. Percy's motion hitched imperceptibly, his eyes narrowing as his spear plunged into it.
At first, he felt no resistance, but as he pushed forward, the arm-turned-spear sank into bottomless quicksand. A supple, unbreakable force dragged at him—Percy realized his mistake immediately.
He tried to pull back, but a sudden scalp-tingling sense of death rushed over him. He instantly metallized his heart, neck, and other vitals.
In the next breath, a grating scrape against metal assaulted his eardrums. Percy looked down to see his shirt torn at the chest, exposing metallized skin.
Percy's pupils contracted in tension—Ye Zheng truly meant to kill him!
[Warning! Deducting 100 action points!]
Another harsh scrape, and Percy staggered aside. This time, the lethal water line nearly severed his ankle!
No, he had to create distance from Ye Zheng. Unable to free his right arm trapped in the water veil, he metallized his left as well. After a moment's hesitation, he gritted his teeth and severed his right hand before the next threat struck!
He had just leaped away when a hail of needle-rain descended, pockmarking the ground with countless tiny holes.
[Warning! Deducting 150 action points!]
Percy endured the agony fiercely; the second hand-loss in short order spiked his heart rate to impossible levels. But this time, he couldn't rewind again.
He needed to end this fight quickly and find a healing ability user to reattach his arm.
In his darkening vision, Ye Zheng emerged from behind the rain veil. She tilted her head, eyes intent, as if the clash just now hadn't sated her fully.
Percy propped himself up, metallizing the stump to staunch the bleeding, his mind racing: What were Ye Zheng's ability's traits? How could he defeat her?
Staring at that figure, he found it all the more absurd. Once, she had been his most trusted healer; now, she could personally sever his arm, and he would never seek her healing again.
How had they reached this point? Percy couldn't fathom it—there had been no conflict between them!
"Ye Zheng, what exactly are you trying to do?"
"Save them."
Ye Zheng halted, replying concisely.
"...I promised Aunt Mingyue I'd end their inhuman suffering. Ye Zheng, why are you so fixated?"
"What if I said there's a way to turn them back to normal?"
Percy widened his blue eyes, stunned for an instant before asking, "Are you certain?"
"I'm not certain, but as long as the possibility exists, they shouldn't die."
Percy parted his lips, seemingly about to say more, but Ye Zheng cut him off.
"Percy, death isn't the only way to end inhuman suffering. Are you sure they truly want to die?"
A sharp screech whistled past his ear, like a dying, unwilling roar. Percy bowed his head, suddenly struggling to breathe. He rasped, " ...But they're causing deaths right now, Ye Zheng. Have you considered the massive harm they could inflict if you let them loose?"
"You're the Empire's noblest, kindest Saintess. You want to save everyone—I’ve always admired that. But does your so-called salvation truly save more people, or harm more? Do you truly understand?"
At Percy's questioning, Ye Zheng chuckled lowly, head bowed.
"Percy, haven't you noticed?"
"Your logic is identical to Kiran's—to the Hope Project you despise. Such righteous justice—yet why must they be the sacrificed few?"
Percy froze, shaking his head as he retreated a step, his face incredulous.
"No—this kind of choice is the most rational consideration..." Midway, Percy trailed off, realizing Kiran had said something similar to him.
Ye Zheng softened her gaze; the gentle rain veil plated her black eyes with a layer of soft light. She picked up the severed limb from the ground, approaching Percy. Under his dazed stare, she pressed it to his mangled right arm, activating her healing to reattach it.
Percy's expression grew even more chaotic, like an overloaded machine. He watched Ye Zheng's profile until she lifted her head and smiled at him.
"By the way, none of my abilities have anything to do with the Hope Project... I told Kiran that before he died."
"We were never the same kind."
Percy's eyes snapped open. His heart jolted violently as he looked down—a water-forged blade pressed to his heart.
When she'd seen Percy hesitate against the dragon-bodied human, Ye Zheng had considered pulling this male lead into her plan.
Until Sykes appeared and obliterated that dragon-bodied woman who seemed to know Percy.
Witnessing that, Ye Zheng nearly laughed—laughed until tears nearly welled.
On the surface, Percy embodied justice, Sykes evil. In truth, they were two sides of this manga's world will. The creator knew that if Percy killed that dragon-bodied woman, the righteous protagonist would seem too cold-blooded. Yet she had to die to flesh out Percy's logic and add depth to his complex life.
Thus, Sykes "coincidentally" appeared.
The creator subconsciously knew how hollow such justice was, so they offloaded the cruel, cold parts onto the convenient tool Sykes—who faced little backlash, being the villain, his evils all too expected.
Yet the creator's endorsement of such acts hid perfectly in the hero-villain interplay.
It was all as absurd as the Hope Project—as the Blood Flower Incident ten years ago: pristine, glorious robes stained with dripping blood!
—Justice, how many evils have borrowed your exalted name!
She gripped the water blade tighter, the frantic heart dangling on the tip. Ye Zheng drew a deep breath, enduring the agony as she drove the blade forward—deeper, deeper—
[Warning! Deducting 50 action points!]
[Warning! Deducting 100 action points!]
[Warning! Deducting 200 action points!]
[Stop, Ye Zheng! They won't let you continue!]
The System warned sharply.
[Percy is this world's anchor—they won't allow this world *****]
The System's voice soon devolved into meaningless noise.
As if someone stirred her brain with a knife, Ye Zheng bit her paling lips until blood welled. Percy, shocked nearly strengthless, had his limbs bound fast by water lines; he could only concentrate all force at his chest, metallizing to resist the encroaching blade.
The tip was corrosive! Somehow, Ye Zheng had infused it with a corrosive liquid that fiercely eroded his protective metal!
Their eyes locked—Percy's nearly bloodshot, Ye Zheng's black eyes suppressing madness. Their figures nearly overlapped, death's scythe swaying between them, inching inexorably toward Percy.
Suddenly, a fierce gust struck, even slanting the rain. Ye Zheng stumbled, forced to withdraw a step to steady herself.
Percy seized the moment, breaking free of the water lines and pulling away from Ye Zheng.
"Ye Zheng, what the hell are you doing?"
Sykes frowned, striding over.
Ye Zheng glanced at him, unangered, accepting the reality without surprise: today, she was fated not to kill Percy.
Merely attacking him had action points deducting wildly; once her strike posed a fatal threat, an external force churned her brain in agony. Ye Zheng had anticipated this, but she had to take this step.
Sooner or later, she would fully stand against this absurd tale.
The gray drizzle pattered on. Sykes stared at her, demanding a reasonable explanation: why wasn't she helping stop the monsters but instead infighting with Percy here? Even if he disliked Percy, he needed answers.
"Ye Zheng, come to think of it, you were the one who incited me to come here from the start. You knew about the Hope Project, these monsters' existence?"
"The Curia is deeply entangled in this experiment—what role did you play? What's your goal?"
"Is it the roya—"
Sykes's questions flew rapid-fire, but suddenly, his golden eyes widened.
Ye Zheng's face was deathly pale, her posture still ramrod straight—like an inorganic doll in the gray rainy day. She abruptly raised her right hand; pale blue water lines snaked upward from her palm, climbing ever higher until they burst in the sky!
The splashing pale blue lines erupted like fireworks, blooming with cold brilliance in an instant. Everyone looked up involuntarily.
It wasn't just humans drawn by the water fireworks—a dragon-bodied human hurtled from behind Ye Zheng. Sykes and Percy's faces changed simultaneously, as if to warn her instinctively. But Ye Zheng yanked her hand upward, and the black shadow was instantly bound.
The water lines tightened relentlessly, posing a fatal threat. The massive dragon body flailed its wings and claws; the human female torso at the top emitted a shrill scream.
In the next moment, the water lines slackened. The dragon-bodied human broke free with a mighty struggle, shrieking as it soared over Ye Zheng's head, its passing claw leaving a deep gash on the back of her hand.
Sykes was momentarily at a loss for reaction, only to see Ye Zheng turn to them, displaying the fresh bloody mark on her hand's back with a gentle smile.
"You ask my goal."
"As they struggle to live, I'll carry them forward—that's my goal."
At seven years old, she had watched her loved ones forced to their deaths, her steps feeble and cowardly halting beyond the crimson Demonic Domain.
Now, she would never falter again.
Ye Zheng curved her eyes, gazing at the two youths before her, their faces shocked.
"...Madwoman!"
Sykes cursed, striding forward as if to seize her. But suddenly, his vision darkened; sensing the anomaly, he halted and peered into the distance.
In the gray valley, countless black shadows took wing. They ceased tangling with prey, all surging toward the forefront.
The sky-darkening horde swept over everyone's heads, alighting on the massive white relic at the front.
As if suddenly summoned, Sykes watched the flock settle on the white object, then turned to stare at Ye Zheng.
"Is this the Curia's method handed to you? A way to control these monsters—no wonder the base kept them."
He didn't need confirmation; he was certain Ye Zheng had controlled the flock.
"Not my control."
"It's an instinctive call—they'll do what they wish."
Ye Zheng answered unflinchingly.
Percy paled, shaking his head. "No, Ye Zheng—you can't let them go! They'll bring catastrophe to ordinary people!"
Ye Zheng regarded the two, unwilling to explain, nor seeing the need.
She spread her hands, flashing a sly smile.
"So what?"
From now on, they would no longer be victims to embellish tragic heroes' glow, nor tragic backdrops to deepen the story's pathos.
They would be, like her, unadulterated villains—
But so what?
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