Chapter 72: Popularity Poll (First Update)
Two possibilities, but which one it was remained unclear for now.
Li Li continued flipping through, and the manga didn’t end here.
An Huyu gave all the subordinates and connections left by his brother to Rao Yue, then came to Zhusheng City with Yiming and the others.
The manga introduced brief information about Zhusheng City to the readers, including the city’s ruling Sang clan nobles.
As Yu Xiao had said, the entire city worshipped violence, combat, and bloodshed.
The arenas and coliseums were filled with roaring crowds, earning it the name of the Capital of Violence.
Under the guidance of locals, they chose a coliseum called Raging Fire, said to be the fairest and most just coliseum.
The following content depicted Yiming’s first time on stage, facing an opponent who was also a B-rank, spell-type ability user.
[This is Little Corgi’s first official fight after leveling up, right?]
[Here it comes, here it comes! Corgi shedding fur!]
[Go, Little Corgi!]
The manga artist was highly skilled at depicting fight scenes, with perspectives that carried a tangible sense of power.
On stage, Yiming threw himself into the battle, while below, the others displayed varied expressions.
[Cat Tang is truly a good daughter, always worrying about Little Corgi!]
[Ever since Crying Bird’s brother died, I can’t figure out what he’s thinking. What’s with that expression?]
[Probably analyzing the opponent’s moves?]
[The other two are focused on Little Corgi, but Yu Xiao, my dear, what are you doing? Counting cracks on the ground?]
In the panel, Tang raised a hand, stood on tiptoes, and smacked the back of Yu Xiao’s head.
“Don’t stare at the ground, look at Yiming!”
Yu Xiao, suddenly hit: “???”
[I don’t know why, but I don’t feel sorry for him at all and just want to laugh hahahaha!]
[Yu Xiao, hahahahaha!]
After the brief interlude below the stage, Yiming’s battle with his opponent reached its conclusion.
He narrowly won.
The referee blew the whistle, declaring Yiming’s victory.
The boy, who seemed to have grown up, hunched over, hands on his knees, head lowered, panting.
Then he raised a hand, wiping the bruise at the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.
“I can’t stay weak anymore.”
In the panel, his background showed his memories—being protected, powerless moments from the past.
Then came An Huyu’s exhausted face, telling him the person he was looking for was already dead.
His gaze seemed to pierce through the scene before him, looking toward the distant horizon, at the setting sun.
“I can’t tell if those things were real or fake, but I believe in you.”
In the background, a cold face appeared, the earring on the right ear seemingly glowing faintly.
The background, divided into three sections, showed three scenes: inside Twinborn, Li Baige waited behind a wall until Tang arrived to heal Yiming, leaving only after Yiming was out of danger.
In a park, Li Baige secretly protected Yiming, eyes fixed on Yan Changxiao, who was about to make a move.
At the Yue residence, Li Baige saved him, using a long blade to block Yue Qing’s attack, severing Yue Qing’s strike.
Yiming believed in that person because their actions left no room for doubt.
So, he looked into the distance, speaking to someone who couldn’t possibly hear: “I want to get stronger, strong enough to truly help you.”
The sun sank below the horizon, and the scene shifted.
Under bright moonlight, a black-haired youth wearing sunglasses sat atop a shipping container.
One leg dangled casually in the air, the other bent, foot resting on the container’s edge, arm propped up.
The straps of his trench coat fluttered in the night sky as he looked up at the pure white moon.
The next panel showed his back.
A man wearing a hood, eyes obscured, revealing only a sharp jawline, stood behind him.
Behind the container were people submitting to him.
Some were fearful, others terrified, in a silent scene where the air seemed frozen with the night.
But one thing was certain: they didn’t dare challenge that person’s authority.
The youth, casually sitting in front, had a back that seemed utterly indestructible.
In the dim night, this full-page scene, viewed from the perspective of the submissive looking up at the seated figure’s back, was marked with the location.
Lin clan nobles, District 3, Ranmu City.
In the next panel, the youth’s lips curved, and he jumped off the container.
A black grid appeared at the very end, and the manga concluded here.
[Aaahhh, it’s Heige!]
[He jumped right into my heart, throwing a wink!]
[Is Heige, the bigshot, switching places to keep kicking ass? So damn cool!]
[I don’t know if I should feel sad that Yiming was completely played or pity Heige, walking in the darkness.]
[Little Corgi, if you want to help Heige, you’ve got to be strong enough to solo an S-rank…]
[What did I just hear? Pity Heige?]
[Heige, the bigshot, is the strongest! Come at me if you disagree!]
[I’m Heige, the bigshot’s dog!]
Looking at the final scene of the manga, Li Li tapped her finger on the back of her phone, recalling which scene from last night this was.
She remembered.
After she and An Heyu quickly subdued those people with force, she jumped down to head to the next organization’s stronghold.
An Heyu soon followed, and there was nothing particularly noteworthy to her.
But what seemed like an ordinary moment of causing trouble in her eyes was drawn by the manga artist in a way that instantly made it grand.
“I’m so cool,” she sighed, a rare moment of self-admiration.
At the same time, her premonition grew stronger.
At the end of the manga, there was a line of text, a preview for the next chapter. When she turned the page, there was one more.
The entire page featured large text: “《Extreme Black and White》 First Character Popularity Poll!”
“The top three will receive mysterious prizes, and the top five will have official merchandise made!”
Looking at the colorful page and the various chibi character faces, Li Li slowly said: “As expected.”
This was the opportunity the manga artist had given her, as well as the final chance to determine her character’s role.
The villain or the protagonist, it all depended on the outcome of this vote.
Though it seemed like a tense and serious matter, Li Li, upon learning about it, didn’t rush or panic.
Instead, she leisurely started browsing the forum.
What was the point of being anxious? She couldn’t exactly hack into their voting system to change the results.
So, she might as well browse the forum and wait for class tomorrow.
The university finals were the deadliest.
As an active college student, Li Li deeply understood this.
Li Li briefly checked the forum’s trends, which were mostly about canvassing votes.
[Li fans! Vote for our male god! Maybe he’ll climb out of his coffin!]
[Isn’t Yu Xiao’s beauty worth a vote? Not a dumb beauty, a natural airhead beauty waiting for you!]
[I’ll be straight: Little Corgi, as the protagonist, needs some clout! Cast your precious vote for Little Corgi!]
[Cat Tang’s merch, I want it, so you guys get it, right? Who wouldn’t love a tsundere good girl?]
[This popularity poll is unfair to Crying Bird, who just joined the protagonist team, so friends, vote for him!]
[No hesitation, vote for Heige, the bigshot! Do we even need to think? Extreme Black’s strongest fighter, a wild and unrestrained powerhouse!]
...
Seeing this, Li Li couldn’t help but sigh: So lively!
Since this vote was online, each account that purchased the official Extreme Black manga had only one vote, making the competition fierce.
She glanced at the stage play chatroom she’d joined earlier.
As expected, the big-name doujin artist was campaigning for Li, while Han Zhi, who had cosplayed Heige at the comic con, was hyping up Heige.
The two argued as if they were the world’s greatest enemies, fighting tooth and nail for their favorites.
In short, one sentence summed it up: they wanted merch!
Li Li watched while shaking her head.
Her finger hovered between Li and Heige, hesitated, then didn’t vote for either.
She’d wait a few days, check the data, and vote for whoever was in the lead!
...
When she returned to the manga world, it was still daytime.
Li Li had used her ability to refresh her status the previous night, so she wasn’t tired or sleepy.
She wandered aimlessly through the streets of Ranmu City.
Recalling the cities she’d visited before, Jiao Huang was independent from the Empire, free of noble interference.
But the city lord was hands-off, only appearing for earth-shattering events.
The lower classes, resigned to their fate, were still oppressed and exploited by organizations like Qing Tong.
But now Qing Tong was gone, and Tide had fully taken over that city’s underworld.
The last time she was there, Jiao Huang felt safer than before.
At the very least, people like Qing Tong’s members no longer kidnapped ability users in broad daylight.
Four-Way City, on the other hand, was considered rural within the Empire.
The emerging noble Yue clan controlled it, and their territory’s development was a matter of pride.
For the sake of appearances, Yue Qing naturally managed it well on the surface.
But Four-Way City was overrun with bounty hunters, and bounties could be posted without review as long as there was money.
Compared to the territories of old noble families, it was still relatively peaceful.
The Qu clan nobles needed no introduction.
Qu Yan killed with blood paving his path, collecting skulls and taking pride in it.
Qu Ran reveled in slaughtering ordinary people, treating it as fun and caring nothing for their lives.
The Sang clan’s territory, as introduced in the manga, was steeped in violence and blood. Issuing a duel challenge meant it had to be accepted, and fights on the arena were to the death.
Strength determined social status, and the Sang clan nobles delighted in watching their subjects struggle and bleed to survive.
The Lin clan’s situation was currently unclear, but Ranmu City during the day truly lived up to its name as a city of order.
Li Li strolled around District 1 and arrived at the Ability Guild’s building in Ranmu City.
Unlike Four-Way City, the Ability Guild here exuded a ‘big city’ vibe.
Its exterior was coated in expensive biotech glass, polished to a spotless shine.
The building was massive, roughly twenty stories tall.
Androids stood guard at the entrance, refusing entry to all outsiders.
In Ranmu City’s Ability Guild, bounty hunters’ identities underwent strict scrutiny.
Commoners and low-rank ability users had no right to join.
Realizing this, Li Li recalled the original purpose of the Former Ability Guild: to unite ordinary people and low-rank ability users, fighting for their rights.
She gave a light laugh, withdrew her gaze, and walked away as if she’d just been passing by.
Coincidentally, a luxurious wing-horse carriage approached from the end of the road.
Slaves and androids flanked the carriage, and when it stopped, two people stepped out.
They had similar orange hair, and Li Li noticed one of them looked exactly like the orange-haired youth on the giant screen across the street.
Advertising themselves in their own territory? Li Li found it novel.
These people were definitely from the Lin clan, but a noble doing something like this was a first for her.
Then again, she hadn’t met many nobles.
She looked away and left.
...
At night, An Heyu continued his work, while Li Li transformed into a crow, soaring freely through Ranmu City’s Eternal Night.
Ranmu City at night was filled with firelight and violence.
Li Li occasionally saved someone on a whim, using her overpowering ability to breeze through and leave.
But when she flew to District 13, she noticed this area was different from the others.
It was too quiet, completely unlike the occasional explosions and screams in other districts.
Having spotted something unusual, she naturally had to investigate.
Li Li deliberately waited until ten minutes before 5 a.m., when Eternal Night would end, before taking action.
The black crow descended from the sky, transforming into human form.
Li Li adjusted her sunglasses, switched to a silver-edged mask that didn’t obstruct her vision, and walked along the boundary of District 13.
Then she lifted her foot.
The moment her toes crossed into District 13, a heavy pressure descended.
“The pressure here should be 1.3 billion pascals.”
A familiar voice came from the darkness.