Little Pink Starfish

Yuan Yuanyuan suddenly recalled an episode of South Park. There was a boy named Butters.

In one episode, Butters became the spiritual leader of the Mexican people. Every move he made would cause Mexicans around the world to exclaim in awe.

Later, Butters gained a superpower — whenever he raised one arm, Mexicans around the globe would collectively go, “Ooooh—,” no matter where or when.

But Butters… wasn’t quite right in the head. The kid was kind of dumb.

Sitting in her chair now, Yuan Yuanyuan felt like she had become Butters. Not to brag, but she really felt like if she just lifted an arm, the crowd below would erupt in cheers — no matter the place or time.

This realization left her a little bewildered.

She sat above, gazing at the monsters below. Only after hearing one monster speak beside her for quite a while did she suddenly realize: the ones in front of her had all come after reading the latest issue of Yao Ji.

Yuan Yuanyuan also, at this moment, realized the same issue Qiu Ling had — and was momentarily stunned. Honestly, she didn’t want the Mask Organization to grow this big. Such expansion wouldn’t benefit her at all, especially since she was still secretly the leader of the anti-war organization.

But standing on someone else’s turf, of course she couldn’t say that out loud. She looked at the monsters before her and thought the world had truly become a fantasy novel.

Just a while ago, they were all calling her a traitor, and now — after a single manga chapter — a whole bunch had shown up to become traitors alongside her… Are monsters all this fickle?

Sitting there, Yuan Yuanyuan felt something was off. She turned her head and noticed people from the real leader’s faction. They were watching her with strange expressions — ones that held some vague, hard-to-read emotion.

Even without words, Yuan Yuanyuan could sense something wrong. She was, after all, just a figurehead. And now suddenly, the camp was full of monsters shouting her name… How could this not seem suspicious?

She lowered her head and thought for a while, then shrugged. “Whatever. Not my problem.”

She stood, walked proudly into her room, shut the door, and cut herself off from the noise outside.

That night, still under the guise of Yuan, she went to the tavern and told the tavern owner about what had happened that day.

“There were so many people today,” she said. “They’re all here because of the latest manga chapter?”

“After all these years, you’re still just as terrifying,” the tavern owner said, lying half over the table as she looked at Yuan Yuanyuan. “No wonder they erased your name back then. Turns out that was the right choice.”

Yuan Yuanyuan scooted a little farther from her. Let’s keep it conversational, not cultish.

After thinking for a moment, she said, “I honestly don’t feel good about this… So many monsters are joining the Mask Organization — just for me. That’s kind of weird. I never intended to recruit them.”

“So what do you plan to do?” the tavern owner asked.

“I was thinking…” Yuan Yuanyuan turned to look at her, the words ‘reveal my identity’ on the tip of her tongue — but she didn’t say them.

Still, the tavern owner had already guessed. After a moment, she said, “I know what you’re thinking. But I don’t recommend doing that right now.”

“Why not?” Yuan Yuanyuan asked.

“It’s not the right time,” the tavern owner replied.

Yuan Yuanyuan relaxed a little. So… when was the right time? Jiuchiu hadn’t given any instructions yet, and she didn’t dare act rashly and risk blowing everything up.

“It really feels like the old days,” the tavern owner suddenly said. “Don’t you think?”

“Huh? Like the old days?” Yuan Yuanyuan blinked. “When?”

“When you were still a lieutenant general,” the tavern owner said, nostalgic. “But your fame in the army kept growing, and every time you showed off… Eventually, the King of the Hundred Demons set their sights on you.”

“…That won’t happen this time,” Yuan Yuanyuan replied after a long silence.

It was only now that she truly realized… her current situation was almost identical to Seventeen’s back then.

And only now did she understand why those people had looked at her with such strange eyes — in their view, Yuan was clearly on the same path.

That joke from earlier issues — “Yuan cut a bloody path through the chaos and became the leader” — was no longer just a joke. It looked like it was about to become reality.

For a moment, Yuan Yuanyuan even wanted to lean into it. But then she remembered how Seventeen had died before he could finish what he started, and her courage faltered. She didn’t know the full truth — if she had, she would’ve realized that Seventeen’s death had more to do with being caught off guard than with fate.

So she didn’t push any further. She kept going to the Mask Organization, but this time, she deliberately held back. She made sure Yuan wasn’t too prominent.

Whatever — she thought Yuan’s presence was already too hate-inducing. And the manga kept fanning the flames.

As Qiu Ling had said, Tang Shi was already losing her mind. And next issue would only make things worse.

Now even humans knew the textbooks were all written by Yuan.

To humans, the idea was still a bit hazy — but their reactions showed they were starting to realize: this was like finding a founding father.

It was just like when humans joke, “Newton’s coffin can’t stay shut,” and now monsters were shouting, “Yuan’s coffin can’t stay shut!” — same vibe.

In no time, the internet exploded with discussion.

【Why not just kill this kind of character off?! If he were dead, he’d be a perfect tragic icon. Why bring him back?!】

【We suddenly have an all-powerful villain… Ever since Bleach ended, I haven’t seen a baddie with this vibe. It’s giving me life.】

【I actually really like this character, but… how did the author come up with Yuan’s design? What kind of brain creates someone like this?】

【As a villain-lover, I think this is awesome. He’s literally the founder of the craft. And that fake master-disciple tension with Fa Ning? Delicious. But they’ve had almost no interaction! Where’s the fanservice?!】

Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t pay much attention to the comments. She was starting to understand what “not the right time” truly meant — and there were lots of reasons.

One of them was the problem of what to do with all the monsters who had defected. The tavern owner had discussed this with her: if Yuan’s identity was suddenly revealed now, what would happen to all those monsters? Even if Yuan Yuanyuan said it was fine, chaos would erupt — there were simply too many of them.

Better to keep quiet for now. Wait until the endgame is settled — then drop the truth like a bomb.

Besides… the tavern owner hinted at another idea: the real boss had started to grow wary of Yuan Yuanyuan. If she had the means, she might as well eliminate him — then she could control the whole game herself.

Yuan Yuanyuan was genuinely tempted by this second option. It didn’t require a single soldier — no war, no mass conflict.

She hated fighting. But if there was even a sliver of a chance to avoid war, she’d take it.

Recently, the human anti-war organization had reached out again — initiating a second round of contact with the monsters. They brought a whole shipment of supplies — all quite useful to the monsters.

Humans were clearly loaded. Yuan Yuanyuan suspected there was even government backing involved — this wasn’t something a grassroots group could manage.

Standing in front of the pile of resources, arms crossed, she suddenly felt ambitious…

Then a man stepped out behind her and asked, “Are you satisfied with everything here?”

Yuan Yuanyuan nodded. He continued, “I’ve heard things are getting worse… Yuan’s reputation is growing again. More and more monsters are joining the Mask Organization.”

Seeing she didn’t respond, he pressed on, “Yuan… that monster… He once organized a spy division. And now it really looks like war is coming. If it does, and humans lose — what kind of world will that be?”

Yuan Yuanyuan thought for a moment. First, bloodline-based discrimination would probably return. Monsters like her — trying to rent a place — might face serious trouble, especially with her half-monster identity.

And as for the humans… If they lost, all the previous agreements would be void. Monsters would be free to invade human homes like in ancient times. Her old classmates, teachers, friends — they could all become victims…

“We’ve long had one major fear,” the man said. “That Yuan, as commander of the Blood Jade Demon Army, still knows the Blood Jade Demon Technique. We’re terrified he plans to revive the army. If that technique spreads again… humans are doomed.”

He looked at the red-clad figure of Yuan standing silently, not knowing what she was thinking.

After a long while, she finally spoke:

“Don’t worry. I won’t let that happen.”