Chapter 147-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation

 Demonic Domain 47 - Amber Lake. After three hundred years of mining, its resources have been exhausted, and its core monster, the Deep Blue Giant Eel, riots frequently. The official notice states that thirteen workers have lost their lives in the past three months.

Ye Zheng knew the management's tricks well; the actual death toll was at least double that.

This Demonic Domain no longer had value for existence. The core monster, the Deep Blue Giant Eel, having been suppressed for three hundred years, posed a low threat level, so it became the trial content for the competition.

Ye Zheng first passed through a forest and stepped onto a mottled flat ground. She scraped the ground with the tip of her shoe. This place should have originally been a forest. To facilitate mining, this land was razed to the ground. Sparse footprints were still imprinted on it. The officials had withdrawn all the workers, and now only they, the contestants, remained.

At the end of the flat ground was a boundless lake, reflecting a pale blue sheen under the clear sunlight.

Ye Zheng walked to the shore and peered into the lake. She was surprised to find the water very deep; the bottom wasn't visible. There wasn't a single ripple; beneath the calm and peaceful surface was a blue abyss like a sheer cliff.

The others also approached the lake. Ryan looked troubled. His ability could scout the activities of Demonic Domain creatures, but this lake was too big, and he couldn't sense anything for a while.

Sykes glanced at the boat prepared by the Organizing Committee on the shore and said, "Let's go look on the lake surface."

To increase the difficulty of the competition, the management of Amber Lake released the suppression on the Deep Blue Giant Eel. It could roam freely in Amber Lake. For the contestants, finding it would be a very difficult task.

Ye Zheng had no objection to Sykes's proposal. She didn't care where the giant eel was right now, her heart alert to any movement around her.

Once on the lake surface, her ability would be even more in its element. No matter what Wen Xiaoxing's ability was, she was confident she could deal with him.

The four of them got on the boat. Sykes stayed alone in the cabin, while Ryan and Ye Di scrambled to figure out how to sail the boat. Ye Zheng stood by the gunwale, gazing at the pale blue lake surface.

Her five fingers gripped the gunwale tightly. [Stream] poured down from her fingertips, silently merging into the vast lake water.

Ye Zheng closed her eyes, feeling the information transmitted by [Stream].

It was very calm underwater. The ores buried below occasionally had weak energy fluctuations. Aside from that, there were no signs of activity from any Demonic Domain creatures. It seemed that the giant eel was not nearby.

In the manga spoilers, she and Percy were on a boat together. Ye Di stood at the bow intending to attack. The manga's long shot showed a forest of yellow-leafed trees. Ye Zheng gazed into the distance but didn't see any similar scenery.

"Hey Ye Di, which direction are you actually driving towards? We need to go to the center. They said that giant eel has always been suppressed in the center."

"Idiot Ryan, if you were released after serving a three-hundred-year prison sentence, would you be happy to stay in the same place?"

"Once we reach the middle position, I can expand my ability range to find that big fish. Don't you want me to help the Crown Prince find it, Ye Di?"

"Alright, Ryan. It's not like I don't know your level. Tsk."

The two deliberately lowered their voices to argue, but Ye Zheng heard them clearly. She couldn't help but laugh. These two guys were submissive in front of Sykes, but they had quite a temper when facing a teammate of equal status. Ye Di had even said Ryan was his friend.

"Wait, Ye Di, don't talk! I seem to have detected..."

Hearing Ryan's hesitant voice, Ye Zheng's smile faded. She rubbed the water line in her hand and found no anomalies.

"Where?"

"In the East... no, in the South. Wait, it seems there's one in the North too?"

Ye Di said impatiently, "What do you mean? There are monsters in all directions? Wake up, Amber Lake only has one Demonic Domain creature!"

"It must be that the distance is too far, I..."

Ryan's voice became smaller and smaller, as if he felt stupid by his own words, unable to continue under Ye Di's disdainful and mocking gaze.

Ye Zheng, listening silently by the gunwale, looked stern. The Deep Blue Giant Eel was a monster suppressed three hundred years ago. Information about it had gone missing quite a bit during the process of building the Amber Lake industry. For example, exactly how big and long was this giant eel?

Ripples appeared on the calm water surface. Ye Zheng almost immediately used [Stream] to condense an extremely fast water beam underwater, shooting towards one direction like lightning.

Just as the water beam was about to touch something, the calm water surface suddenly churned up waves. The boat rocked, and Ye Zheng instinctively stabilized her body. The connection from [Stream] was cut off instantly.

But she didn't need to probe anymore. She knew where the giant eel was—

Its massive and slender body had unknowingly surrounded this area of water, wrapping around the entire water area along with the boat like a city wall!

"What happened?"

"Damn it! It must be that eel!"

The hull bumped violently. Ye Di, having recovered his wits, used the water plants underwater to barely secure the boat. Sykes, who was sitting in the cabin, came out holding the gunwale, looking at the lake surface with a terrible expression.

The originally tranquil pale blue lake surface was now rotating water currents at an alarming speed. Spiraling, it formed a huge vortex. The powerful suction force seemed ready to swallow this flimsy boat in the next moment.

Ye Zheng grabbed the gunwale with both hands to stabilize her body. Looking down, she found the deck shaking and trembling, already showing a tendency to crack.

Even though Ye Di could use water plants to fix the boat, the hull couldn't withstand the intense bumping.

That giant eel was at least hundreds of meters long. Its body was at a certain distance from this boat. It cleverly didn't advance rashly but swam quickly surrounding this water area. The center of the water area formed an inescapable vortex.

As expected of the core of an S-rank Demonic Domain, powerful and cunning.

In such a chaotic situation, Ye Zheng's [Stream] also couldn't make the water surface defy natural laws and calm down. Ryan had already started dry heaving amidst the violent shaking. That giant eel was too far away, beyond the range of his ability to control mutant beasts. Meanwhile, Sykes looked gloomy; his [Destruction] also had no way to cause damage from such a distance.

Ye Zheng didn't panic. She had a natural affinity for water. The vortex alone could only destroy the boat and drag them into the giant eel's underwater world. Then the main body of the giant eel would definitely approach them, and it wouldn't be hard to counter-kill it in the water.

"Ye Zheng, find a way to drag that giant eel over here. I want to finish it!"

Sykes's face turned pale, his brows furrowed tight. His voice, trying to stay strong, revealed a few hints of unnoticeable weakness.

Ye Zheng stared at his face and suddenly realized. No wonder he wanted to stay in the cabin as soon as he got on the boat; it turned out the Crown Prince got seasick. The violent bumps made it even more unbearable for him.

The vortex was like the body of a python constantly tightening, strangling the prey that fell into the encirclement. Ye Zheng stood on the deck that was about to break apart, looking towards the undulating distance. The giant eel was the monster Sykes and the others should solve right now, but she didn't need to waste great effort for the giant eel.

Moreover, she had promised Wu Shu.

It wasn't the first time Ye Zheng was slacking off, and in the Royal Academy team, she slacked off even more with a clear conscience.

She turned her body slightly so Sykes could see that she was pulling the [Stream] in her hands. At the same time, she lowered her brows and eyes, bit her lip tightly, and revealed an expression of trying very hard but being powerless. This was already her greatest respect for the Crown Prince.

Seeing this, Sykes, who was enduring nausea and dizziness, almost lost his composure and vomited. It wasn't like he hadn't fought her before; this fellow Ye Zheng actually dared to brush him off right in front of his face!

Sykes strode forward. His pale face gained some color from anger at Ye Zheng. Just as an internal war within the Royal Academy team was about to erupt, Ye Di's cry of surprise rang out.

"The vortex seems to have disappeared... Someone is coming!"

Sykes, flushed with anger, looked down and found that at some point, the shaking amplitude of the nearly cracked deck was getting smaller and smaller.

In the distance, on the lake surface that was gradually returning to calm, a boat was slowly approaching.

Ye Zheng turned her head, staring unblinkingly at the gradually approaching boat, until she met those emerald green eyes again. Her suspended and swaying heart finally settled down, just like the Amber Lake that had returned to peace.

"I didn't expect the invincible Crown Prince would get severely seasick."

Percy stood on the deck, swept a glance at Sykes holding the gunwale, and mocked faintly.

Sykes sneered, "Say one more word, and your team will be thrown by me to feed the fish."

The powerful vortex had almost destroyed the Royal Academy team's boat, making it impossible to sail further. Noticing the commotion from afar, the Cloud-Soaring Squad attacked the giant eel from the periphery. The giant eel fled, and facing the Royal Academy team who had lost their boat, they still invited them aboard.

After all, if they didn't invite the Royal Academy team up, Sykes would absolutely be capable of throwing them down and then taking the Cloud-Soaring Squad's boat with a clear conscience.

Percy pinched the center of his brows with a headache. He didn't really want to face Sykes, but he wanted to face another person from the Royal Academy team even less.

He turned his blue eyes to glance at the other end of the boat. Two boys of similar height were standing at the bow, backs to him, chatting about something unknown.

Ye Zheng was confusing enough for him, and now came another mysterious Wen Xiaoxing, especially since Wen Xiaoxing had specifically mentioned Ye Zheng with an unpredictable attitude.

The boat carrying eight people sailed peacefully on the Amber Lake where undercurrents surged.

"We meet again, Saintess, we really are fated."

Wen Xiaoxing leaned back against the gunwale, turning his head to look at Ye Zheng's profile as she gazed at the lake surface, greeting her enthusiastically.

Ye Zheng merely turned her eyes to glance at him once and didn't reply. Wen Xiaoxing wasn't annoyed; instead, he revealed a look of admiration and leaned even closer.

"When we first met, I said I looked forward to seeing you. That wasn't just polite talk."

"From the moment I was born, I have looked forward to this day."

Ye Zheng finally turned her head to face the boy's countenance properly. His eyes were large and round, the corners slightly drooping, looking very well-behaved. The green eyes were like grass leaves in full spring, clear and full of enthusiastic vitality. Aside from the gaze being too direct, he really looked like the Zhao Mei she pretended to be.

Oh right, there was another point that wasn't quite alike, but not unlike Zhao Mei—rather, a bit unlike a human.

"Remember to blink every five seconds."

Ye Zheng kindly reminded him.

Wen Xiaoxing finally blinked, and then Ye Zheng saw a scene that could be called horrifying. He blinked rapidly, his eyelids opening and closing constantly, almost forming an afterimage, like a sophisticated machine suddenly twitching.

"Thank you for your guidance, Saintess."

After a good while, Wen Xiaoxing stopped the bizarre behavior. His eyes began to blink at a normal frequency, recovering his well-behaved and exquisite face.

"Wen Jian didn't have time to teach me more things before he couldn't wait to let me out to deal with you."

Ye Zheng was not surprised to hear Wen Jian's name. Only he could create this kind of monster.

"He must have spent a lot of effort to create you. To kill me, he really is willing to pay the price."

Wen Xiaoxing scratched his head. "Creation was okay, it's just maintaining me is quite troublesome!"

"Maintaining you?" A trace of probing flashed in Ye Zheng's gaze.

"Let's not talk about him. You hate him too, right? Why should we discuss people we don't like?"

Wen Xiaoxing skipped this topic with a grin. Ye Zheng stared at him with cold black eyes, and suddenly a trace of a smile passed through them, like the gentleness of melting ice and snow.

"Then let's talk about things we both like—for example, what is your ability?"

Ye Zheng lowered her head slightly, her tone like coaxing a younger brother to take out his hidden candy. A long time ago, she had indeed coaxed Ye Di like this.

"Fate Singularity!"

Wen Xiaoxing was not only not vigilant but his tone became excited.

"Fate... Singularity? Is it the 'strange' singularity?" [Pun on 'Qi' (奇怪, strange) and 'Qi Dian' (奇点, Singularity)]

Hearing Ye Zheng's inquiry, Wen Xiaoxing's green eyes burst with light of surprise. "You know about singularity?"

"Singularity, I heard it is the point of the world's origin, penetrating time and space until the end of this world."

Ye Zheng half-lowered her eyes. This was what Qin Lu had told her. Qin Lu could occasionally dig out some strange books from corners, recording strange names and knowledge so profound it was unintelligible. Often Qin Lu couldn't understand either, but it didn't stop her from excitedly sharing with her students.

The reason Ye Zheng had a deep impression of "singularity" was probably because she herself was very interested in the origin and destination of the world.

"Ah, as expected of the Saintess, smarter than those idiots. My ability is precisely related to singularity, the universe, and time and space—"

Clang!

Wen Xiaoxing's excited voice suddenly jammed. He fell forward awkwardly, hitting the ground with a muffled thud.

Immediately after, the gunwale behind him shattered. Surging waves squeezed onto the deck from the breach, wrapping around his body.

"It's the vortex again! Everyone stay steady!"

"Damn it, the giant eel is acting up again. Think of a way to attack its main body!"

Cursing and panicked voices rang out on the deck, but the bow was very quiet. One person stood upright on the shaking deck, while the other was pinned to the ground by water currents, forcing his head to look up strenuously.

Ye Zheng looked down at Wen Xiaoxing from above, her voice light as a feather, uttering ruthless words.

"Truly sorry. No matter what your ability is, you are going to die in the giant eel's mouth."

Wen Jian sent someone to infiltrate the competition to kill her, wanting to use a competition accident to cover up the assassination.

But she could also use the competition to let Wen Xiaoxing die in an accident.

Ye Zheng originally didn't want to act so quickly, but this guy was just too annoying. She didn't want to endure him anymore.

The others on the boat were busy securing the hull. Ye Zheng's position happened to block Wen Xiaoxing's figure, so no one noticed the other end of the boat for the time being.

"It's not the giant eel, it's... it's the vortex you caused!"

Half of Wen Xiaoxing's body was dragged into the lake water. His hands tenaciously clung to the breach in the gunwale as he looked up at Ye Zheng.

No wonder Ye Zheng had been absent-minded all along. She was secretly brewing her ability, mimicking the giant eel's methods to manufacture an "accident" for him!

Ye Zheng looked down, too lazy to even give a smile to this monster. She lifted her foot and kicked the struggling Wen Xiaoxing mercilessly!

Wen Xiaoxing's hands loosened, and his whole person fell into the turbulent lake water. Amidst the chaotic noise, Ye Zheng took out her gun and fired several shots consecutively at Wen Xiaoxing, who was bobbing in the water.

Blood gradually spread. Ye Zheng looked at the lake surface and saw her own reflection, as well as Wen Xiaoxing's corpse dying with eyes wide open.

He no longer had that annoying playful smile. His head hung low, and his large green eyes stared at his chest, as if wanting to see the fatal wound with his own eyes.

He died ugly. [Stream] would send the dead Wen Xiaoxing into the Deep Blue Giant Eel's mouth within the vortex she created, leaving not even a corpse.

Just as Ye Zheng was about to drag Wen Xiaoxing's corpse completely into the water, she caught a glimpse of Wen Xiaoxing's eyes and felt inexplicably uncomfortable in her heart.

Before she could sort out this strange emotion, suddenly, a dazzling white light flashed before her eyes—it was something on Wen Xiaoxing reflecting light!

The intense white light flashed, and Ye Zheng closed her eyes in stinging pain. In the instant she closed her eyes, a strong sense of crisis welled up in her heart.

Back in the lounge, a white light had also flashed before her eyes.

The sound of rolling waves, the shouts of the boys, all sounds retreated like a receding tide into the distance.

A breeze carrying the fragrance of the forest brushed her face. Ye Zheng opened her eyes again and found herself stepping on soft soil.

"Is this, Fate Singularity?"

Ye Zheng's face became stern.

← Previous Chapter Next Chapter →