This villain is too popular.

Chapter 21 Becoming the Strongest in the Audience's Heart

The audience was not surprised by Chen Kong's sudden change of heart.

After all, if Chen Kong continues according to his performance in the previous episodes...

They simply couldn't understand why he was chosen as the lead actor.

Therefore, what truly surprised the audience was that even in the highlight that belonged to the protagonist Chen Kong, the shadow of the Heavenly Dao still appeared.

Even the audience felt that Chen Kong was able to 'awaken' at this moment.

That statement about the Way of Heaven accounts for at least 50% of the credit.

'Wow, Heaven's Dao is definitely involved!'

'The false protagonist is Chen Kong, the true protagonist is Tian Dao. It is suggested that the title be changed to "The Legend of Tian Dao: The Stars".'

'Caroline, Chenxing, Yunmeng, Jing Liuli—so far, aside from Yagami Rin who just appeared, Tiandao is basically connected to everyone else. Tiandao is indeed the true protagonist.'

Amidst the discussions in the live chat, Chen Kong not only awakened his own bloodline ability.

It also pointed out his uniqueness.

That is, he has an additional ability compared to the other children of the stars.

It is equivalent to the existence of two star cores.

The appearance of this information immediately prompted the viewers in the live chat to start speculating.

'Wow, everyone else only has one star core, but you have two! No wonder you're the main character!'

After watching four episodes, the main character is finally starting to look like a protagonist.

'To be honest, even though this guy has two star cores, his "ordinary" characteristic feels like a foreshadowing by the development team. He'll probably be another protagonist who has some kind of cheat code, but uses it as if he doesn't have one at all—a truly weak character.'

Just as Chen Kong on the arena had awakened his 'Void Mark'.

The scene suddenly shifted to Tiandao standing by the arena.

"Oh? It's finally gone?"

"Disappear? Disappear what?"

"That's obviously the disappearance of the weakest one."

"After all, if the weak want to survive in this cruel world, they have to take advantage of the contempt of the strong, don't they?"

"???"

Looking at the unfathomable Heavenly Dao, Caroline didn't understand what he was saying, but as an audience member with God's perspective, she immediately understood the meaning conveyed by Heavenly Dao.

This discovery felt like a new continent to them.

"Huh? Does Tiandao mean he actually guessed Chen Kong's abilities a long time ago?"

"All of this was foreshadowed. After all, I remember the Heavenly Dao saying before that Chen Kong's star core was very special, and he even made a bet with Chen Xing about it, which shows that the Heavenly Dao had seen through everything long ago."

'Is it because of the Heavenly Dao's special azure eyes? Otherwise, why would the Heavenly Dao be able to see things so early on that others couldn't?'

'He's been plotting this since the very first episode? This man is terrifying.'

'I suggest checking if the Heavenly Dao is a time traveler.'

'The false protagonist: a difficult awakening; the true protagonist: an elegant spectator'

The reason why the audience had such a strong reaction was because of what Tiandao said at that moment, and the confident attitude with which he said everything was under control.

It was as if he and the other children of the stars, like Chen Kong, were never on the same level from the very beginning.

He was looking down on the people around him from an almost God-like perspective.

This strength lies in both mindset and strategy.

It instantly gave the audience goosebumps, as if his joking and playing around with the people around him was just a pretense.

In reality, he simply viewed everyone around him as cute, harmless little animals.

This detached mindset, coupled with the series of groundwork laid by the Heavenly Dao, is what truly sets things apart.

Instantly, everyone naturally assumed that Tiandao was the 'strongest being' in Stellaris: Ember.

After all, anime and reality are different.

Viewers cannot predict the course of reality, but they can predict the direction of the anime series and vaguely understand the meaning the production team wants to convey. This is why even though the current Heavenly Dao is not the ceiling of combat power in the series.

But they all firmly believed that the Heavenly Dao would eventually grow into the pinnacle of combat power in the series.

Because of Tiandao's series of actions and his current role in the drama, he is undoubtedly moving towards the 'ceiling of combat power'.

Once this concept is established in the minds of the audience, Tiandao's goal will be achieved.

After all, he never forgot from the beginning that he was in an anime world.

At the same time, he did not forget what his biggest goal was.

That is to seize the position of the 'ceiling of character combat power' in the hearts of the Stellaris audience, a position that is unique and irreplaceable.

Therefore, all his previous designs and arrangements were merely serving this one goal.

Inside the cafeteria, Tiandao watched as the audience flooded the screen with "?" comments after he finished speaking.

He realized that his two-year-long plan had been completely accomplished.

Yes, the Way of Heaven never needs to be the strongest in the actual sense.

He just needs to become the strongest in the eyes of the audience.

"Caroline, I'm finished eating. You can continue eating. I'm going back now."

"Oh well."

Tendou picked up the dessert from the dining table and turned to walk towards his dormitory.

Furthermore, during this process, he directly turned off the virtual screen of the popularity system and stopped paying attention to the follow-up content of the fourth episode of "Stellaris: Ember".

Because he understood that when the production team chose to release the words he had said to Chen Kong during Chen Kong's awakening storyline, it meant that...

No matter what amazing things Chen Kong or other characters do afterward, it will not affect his position in the audience's mind.

Simply because the audience will fill in the blanks with their own imagination.

And the imagination is the most domineering and unreasonable thing in the world.

This can be seen from the current comments on the screen.

'Although the protagonist's dual-star core ability is incredibly overpowered, I feel that the Heavenly Dao must also possess its own special abilities, after all, it's the only being who saw through the protagonist's talent long ago.'

"What was said before is correct. Chen Kong's current changes are indeed surprising, but the fact that Tian Dao already knew all this makes me feel even more terrified. I even wonder if the protagonist's side's strength is a bit too overpowered if Tian Dao doesn't become the villain. After all, I really can't imagine what kind of enemy would be needed to put a character like Tian Dao in danger."

"Hey, I suddenly have a bad feeling. The current version of Tiandao is clearly too overpowered. Do you think the development team will force a plot-driven death for Tiandao to balance things out? After all, Tiandao's popularity completely surpasses that of the protagonist, Chenkong. With him around, how can the protagonist possibly stand out?"

"Stop talking about the people before me. If the production team really dares to do that, I'll definitely send them razor blades!"

"Don't worry, what kind of fool would kill their most popular character? I don't believe such a person exists."

Tiandao, who had already turned off the dimensional screen, was unaware of the discussions on the screen at that moment.

Because his attention had long since shifted away from the plot of the final assessment.

Tiandao returned to his room and looked down at the substitute bracelet hanging on his wrist.

"With one Level 2 Star Envoy and several Level 1 Star Envoys, and knowing their weaknesses and characteristics, as long as I make good use of this six-month window of opportunity, I am still very confident that I can take them down with me."

"However, in order to make this fireworks display meet my expectations, I need to further improve my skills."

"Sigh, I'm always borrowing new money to pay off old debts. When will I ever be able to pay off this popularity debt?"

Tiandao raised his head and began to scroll through the system's popular shop.

He plans to wait until he has accumulated enough popularity points before acquiring the special item that can greatly enhance his strength.

With that special item, and the Star Source called 'Vector Control' that he will obtain tomorrow, he can acquire it.

That day, Dao was confident enough to improve his strength by several levels in just six months.

At that time, he will be at the end of the first season of Stellaris: Ember.

It presented everyone with a magnificent yet poignant display of fireworks.

P.S.: In the end, I still couldn't do it. My promise at midnight has been postponed again. Maybe I can do it tomorrow.

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(End of this chapter)