Chapter 287-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
Ye Zheng had been absent from the manga's storyline for nearly a month.
Ever since Percy and company embarked on the Dragon Bones collection arc, Ye Zheng had barely appeared on-panel. Readers could only piece together her movements behind the scenes through clues scattered across the protagonists' storyline.
[There's a girl I really miss.]
[Who exactly blacklisted Ye Zheng? Whose cheese did she move?]
[Girls, don't panic—I have a feeling Ye Zheng's next appearance is going to be a showstopper. This woman knows how to make an entrance.]
[Ye Zheng either doesn't act at all, or every move she makes is the killing part~ (Ye Zheng wink sticker)]
[Here we go again with Zheng fans' fantasy hour. King of the Demonic Domain is wrapping up—what kind of good ending could this villainess possibly get?]
[Incels sure love setting up reverse flags for Ye Zheng (stifled-laugh emoji)]
[King of the Demonic Domain is wrapping up, and Ye Zheng's already killed off most of the major male characters. Feels like the other half are on their way out too.]
[Everyone who likes Ye Zheng must be some antisocial super-aggressive woman, right???]
[Time once again for men's slurs to get a workout... Didn't the guys swear months ago they were dropping the manga? How come they're jumping even higher now?]
[Because the manga is optional, but Ye Zheng—who dared to offend their fragile male egos—absolutely must be cursed out. Wouldn't be surprised if one of them keeled over in front of his computer from sheer rage one day.]
[LOL, who'd actually get triggered by a fictional woman? Nobody cares, okay? It's just annoying that the creator keeps dragging the plot without dealing with her. But looks like she's on the way to getting axed by the MC anyway, so even less reason to care.]
[Okay, we get it—you care a lot, you roadside dog.]
Tang Mingxi waited week after week. In the meantime, she edited five Ye Zheng fan videos, participated in three internet flame wars, organized a non-profit Ye Zheng group buy, accompanied a friend to a major anime convention, and squeezed in some preparations for studying abroad.
Ye Zheng was the only fictional character she followed. She didn't recognize most characters at the convention, but she spotted several cosplayers dressed as Ye Zheng, giving her a real sense of Ye Zheng's offline popularity—satisfaction well worth the ticket price.
Whether it was the approaching graduation season or the fact that King of the Demonic Domain had clearly entered its final stretch, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was about to say goodbye to many things.
That was precisely why Tang Mingxi poured her passion out even more fervently, leaving no regrets.
Whenever she saw comment sections speculating about the manga's ending or analyzing how Percy would defeat Ye Zheng and reclaim his savior's glory and status, a pang of gloom and loss would lodge in Tang Mingxi's chest.
Ye Zheng was a character with real soul, but the manga was drawn by someone behind the screen. Once the creator stopped cherishing this character, Ye Zheng couldn't exactly seize the artist's pen and draw herself the ending she deserved.
Not to mention the manga's protagonist slot plainly read "Percy," and the creator's favoritism was obvious to anyone with eyes.
The closer the ending drew, the more anxious the Zheng fans felt. They probably wouldn't be able to fully relax—or fully give up—until the very last chapter dropped.
Tang Mingxi sat at her computer color-grading a video, staring at the footage and finding every adjustment unsatisfying. What was wrong with this old dude? Even the art style had become unstable lately. Was this manga about to lose its only advantage besides Ye Zheng?
Last week's plot was even more infuriating. Percy's group had actually set their sights on Ye Zheng's Dragon Bones, wrapping themselves in the banner of justice to pass judgment on Ye Zheng—speculating that she'd surely use the Dragon Bones for evil, fabricating claims that Ye Zheng would awaken the Demon Dragon and destroy the world...
They couldn't produce a shred of solid evidence. No matter how Tang Mingxi looked at it, the protagonist squad was just making excuses for their own actions.
They resented Ye Zheng, coveted the glory that would come from destroying the Dragon Bones and saving the world, and Ye Zheng stood in the way of their bone-collecting crusade—so they had to concoct a righteous pretext to justify seizing them.
Simply because Percy was the story's male lead, many readers adopted his perspective and naturally treated Ye Zheng as an obstacle, reflexively dismissing everything she did.
At the end of the previous chapter, the protagonist squad had finalized their plan to infiltrate Ye Zheng's Knights Order base and steal the Dragon Bones during the aristocrats' raid on the East District. Tang Mingxi's face contorted with rage in front of her screen.
The Zheng fans had chain-posted hundreds of messages in their group chat: "Percy, you'd better fail!"
Today was Friday again. Tang Mingxi had been so absorbed in creating fan content that she'd lost all track of time. Ever since hosting the Zheng fans' offline event, she'd discovered a newfound love for the sense of accomplishment that came with producing content, and it energized everything she did.
Tang Mingxi hadn't opened the anime or manga updates in time. By the time she snapped out of it, it was already ten at night.
She picked up her phone. The screen showed dozens of unread messages. Tang Mingxi suddenly grew nervous, dreading news that Percy had successfully raided Ye Zheng's base.
Heart pounding, she opened the messages. Li Yixin's screaming—well beyond the bounds of human language—immediately filled the room. Tang Mingxi hurriedly turned down the volume, pressing her ear to the phone for a long time without understanding a single word of what the other girl was howling about.
Tang Mingxi decided to just go see for herself.
Ten minutes later.
"AAAAAAH—"
"ZHENG GODDESS!"
Tang Mingxi's ecstatic shouts filled the entire room.
The forum.
[Percy, you can crush Ye Zheng underfoot, right?] [HOT]
[#1: Percy, you can crush Ye Zheng underfoot, right?]
[#2: Percy, you can, right?]
[#3: Percy, why aren't you saying anything???]
[#4: Hello, are you still there? @Percy]
[#5: Got washed away by the flood. Do not resuscitate.]
[#6: And that's how we Zheng fans started getting cocky (blasts of electric guitar)]
[#7: Kids, I thought getting her identity revealed and her sword snatched by Ye Zheng was peak humiliation for the MC, but when it comes to embarrassment, this male power fantasy lead never sets limits for himself.]
[#8: And just like that, Percy became the "undefined" male power fantasy lead. What man wouldn't look at this and say: now THIS is a true love-the-male-lead masterpiece!]
[#9: Screenshot from the forum next door—the incels are losing it again with their incoherent ranting (screenshot)]
[#10: When it comes to doing herself proud, Ye Zheng never sets limits. Certain people out there are smashing their phones in rage and then paying to repair them out of their own pockets.]
[#11: What exactly are you Zheng fans celebrating? It's terrifying. Ye Zheng killed innocent people and is about to destroy the world, and you're supporting her? Do you have any moral compass at all?]
[#12: "Fictional characters have no human rights." "Being a moral guardian in a virtual world is a mental illness." "Stanning a character ≠ endorsing their views." "Moral-policing women for what they like: literally zero men are harmed." "Policing what women like actually hurts zero men."]
[#13: Sis, that last formula from the post above is wrong—liking Ye Zheng actually does hurt a lot of men in both 2D and 3D. Guess we really do need regulation now.]
[#14: The "innocent people who were killed" wouldn't happen to be Prince Roy and his aristocrat raiders, would it?]
[#15: Percy fans seem to be just as dim as Percy himself. Roy's dead, so that automatically means Ye Zheng did it? Don't project that much malice onto Ye Zheng, please.]
[#16: Our girl Zheng already said she didn't do it. Even if she did, so what? A villain killing a few people is only natural (beckoning finger)]
[#17: Can we all just support Ye Zheng wiping out the protagonist squad, unleashing the Great Flood, and beating up the entire world?]
......
[#164: This amazing girl truly moved me to tears. Every time I'm convinced—just like Percy—that Ye Zheng is about to lose, she always delivers an unexpected surprise. Her vitality reaches through the screen and inspires me.]
[#165: Casual reader here. Watching Ye Zheng's resurrected Demon Dragon burst out of the water—I felt an inexplicable sense of emotion I can't quite put into words.]
Tang Mingxi scrolled through the forum for a good while, her excitement still uncontainable—in fact, it only grew.
In the manga's latest chapter, Percy had infiltrated the base during the aristocrats' assault, intending to steal the Dragon Bones. Ye Zheng, absent for so long, calmly caught him on the spot, as though she'd seen it coming all along.
From that scene onward, Tang Mingxi finally let go of her worries and broke into Ye Zheng's signature smile. She understood now: everything about to happen would be entirely under Ye Zheng's control.
That was simply who Ye Zheng was—for her, something was either 0% or 100%. There was no in-between.
Despite her total confidence in Ye Zheng, what followed still exceeded her threshold of excitement. She watched the entire thing with her eyes wide open.
The aristocrat army assaulting the Holy Journey Knights Order was routed step by step. Percy seized an opportunity to escape the base, only to return to headquarters and find the building ablaze, filled with corpses burned beyond recognition. From fallen accessories and body shapes, he identified what appeared to be Roy among them.
Grief-stricken and furious, Percy immediately concluded it was Ye Zheng's doing. Following a powerful energy signature, he found Ye Zheng at Divine Plaza in the city center.
Ye Zheng showed not a trace of guilt. She brandished the badge taken from Roy, containing every Dragon Bone they had possessed.
[You killed Roy, dragged all these people into it, and now the East District's residents can't leave because of the Demonic Domains. Even so, you're going to press on?]
[You'll get tens of thousands of people killed!]
Under the manga protagonist's righteous, anguished condemnation, Ye Zheng smiled with her usual composure—then hurled the badge and bracelet sealing the Dragon Bones with all her might!
The Dragon Bones materialized out of thin air and toppled the plaza's divine statue. Atop the ruins, Ye Zheng replaced the fallen statue as the sole figure standing at the center of the plaza.
By this point, Tang Mingxi was so thrilled she'd gone speechless. The only words in her head were "Zheng Goddess descends." Yet the scenes that followed moved her to the verge of tears.
The Emperor's ability-user squad closed in to eliminate Ye Zheng. Facing the condemnation of thousands, Ye Zheng didn't waver for an instant. Her bearing and words—more resolute than anyone's—sent the squad leader into a flustered panic.
Battle erupted. Everyone swarmed her at once, each of them determined to kill the legendary Pope now branded a criminal.
But they became the fuel for Ye Zheng's ultimate ability. Using her second power, [Mother of All Things], Ye Zheng drained every ounce of energy from everyone present—including the protagonist Percy. All they could do was lie prostrate on the ground and watch helplessly as she unleashed a world-shattering deluge!
A close-up shot: Ye Zheng's dark eyes burned bright, carrying a hint of cunning, self-assured amusement—as if she were looking straight through the screen at the readers, telling everyone: Watch this!
Ye Zheng calmly plunged into the raging torrent she'd created. The towering waves swallowed the massive Dragon Bones along with her.
An entire page showed nothing but calm floodwater, as if it had devoured the whole East District and fallen silent.
On the next page, a majestic black dragon burst from the water, its presence staggering, radiating a fierce, surging fury—as though it were about to wage war against the entire world!
By the end, Tang Mingxi's eyes had reddened without her realizing it. She gently traced the screen with her fingers. She didn't know why Ye Zheng had done this, why she'd resurrected the Demon Dragon... but in her heart there was an indescribable sadness and relief, along with genuine joy and anticipation.
"Ye Zheng, congratulations—you did it."
Tang Mingxi wiped the moisture from the corner of her eyes. Not a shred of worry or doubt remained. She believed with absolute conviction that Ye Zheng would lead them to victory to the very end.
*
The latest chapter once again ignited massive discussion. Even those who disagreed with or were puzzled by Ye Zheng's purpose in resurrecting the Demon Dragon found themselves won over by the masterful control, the effortless dominance, and the fearless, audaciously enviable attitude she displayed.
With this, Ye Zheng became the universally acknowledged most charismatic character in King of the Demonic Domain—a consensus both within the fandom and beyond.
You didn't have to like Ye Zheng, but no one could deny that behind every ten thousand who cursed her stood tens of millions who loved her.
The latest chapter also cemented Ye Zheng's position as the final villain of King of the Demonic Domain.
This was what many Ye Zheng detractors had been hoping for. Previously, Ye Zheng's actions had been too arguable—at times even more righteous than the protagonist's upon closer inspection. But they could no longer view Ye Zheng fairly. The name "Ye Zheng" had come to symbolize far more than the character herself.
Ye Zheng had to be evil, despicable, hypocritical from head to toe, and unworthy of love—only then would those who despised her not look quite so much like raving lunatics throwing baseless tantrums.
But this chapter drove the Ye Zheng haters into a groundless frenzy, making them look even more absurd.
Because in the manga's final panel, Percy—the symbol of "justice" and their will—was swept away in the flood like a ragdoll, while a different figure stood before Ye Zheng's deluge looking far more like a true protagonist.
—Bai Muqing. A female side character they'd never once cared about.
[Percy, you want to be the righteous knight who stops the evil Pope? You're not worthy.]
The manga's protagonist didn't even qualify as Ye Zheng's opponent!
Author's Note
No need to worry, everyone. Getting raided by sewer creatures is nowhere near as emotionally devastating as when I missed my favorite idol's fan signing. Bookmarks have been climbing a lot these past two days and the rankings are going up too. The harder my haters try, the luckier I get.
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