Chapter 1454 - Cas-trat-ed!

Translator: Legge Editor: Legge

…

Shanghai.

The team of a Japanese singer.

“Zhang Ye came back?”

“Damn, why does he have to choose this time of all times!”

“Then about our concert?”

“Why don’t we wait a little before holding it?”

…

Guangzhou.

The team of a Korean celebrity.

“This—”

“Everyone, be very careful.”

“Yeah, let’s keep a low profile over the next few days.”

“Right, we better stay far away from this hooligan.”

…

On Weibo.

A lot of people started analyzing and discussing this news.

“Zhang Ye’s restriction order hasn’t been lifted yet?”

“Not yet. The Japanese and Korean authorities don’t seem to have any plans of doing so either.”

“I thought that Teacher Zhang would only come back after the restriction order got lifted.”

“Yeah, the situation he’s in right now is a little complicated.”

“Fighting might bring him some popularity. But if he wants to use that to get to the top of Asia, he’ll still have a long way to go.”

“He deserves it for taking such a long break. He was away for a few months, so all the food is cold. Didn’t some news outlets report that Zhang Ye was preparing to make a push into the Asian S-list before the end of the year? Which month are we in now? If he keeps going on such long breaks, he won’t even get there by next year!”

“Face-smacking Zhang always manages to stir up some trouble whenever he goes on a break. But who’d have thought that he didn’t do so this time? Did that fellow really take a proper break this time? That can’t be!”

“I find it unusual too.”

“Lord Zhang, quickly show us your power!”

“Yeah, we’re pinning our hopes on you to take down another Asian S-list spot for China. You’re the only person who is closest to one right now.”

“Without getting the restriction order rescinded, don’t even think that Zhang Ye will ascend to the top. He’s totally incapable of penetrating into the Japanese and Korean markets.”

“Pfft, did you guys really think that he could achieve that?”

“It’s already a miracle that his popularity didn’t drop.”

“Let’s observe and see what actions Teacher Zhang will take.”

“Haha, I’m also waiting for it.”

“You guys can wait all you want, but I’m off to watch my animation.”

“Has One Piece been released?”

“The latest episode just came out.”

“Wow, I’ll go and watch it as well!”

“Same here. Has the new chapter of Detective Conan’s comic been published yet?”

“Not yet.”

The people were waiting.

The media was waiting.

The industry was waiting.

Countless people across Asia were all waiting to see what actions Zhang Ye and his studio would take.

And Zhang Ye could indeed live up to those nicknames of his. He did not disappoint and made an earth-shattering move on the very first day of his return. This move was not only unexpected by the people, the media, and the industry, even the staff of Zhang Ye’s Studio were caught unawares by it!

…

Noon.

In the private room of a restaurant.

Zhang Ye was treating everyone today, and the entire studio was present.

“Come.”

“Cheers!”

“Everyone, let’s toast.”

“Cheers!”

They ate and drank.

All of a sudden, Ha Qiqi said with a light smile, “Oh yes, Director Zhang. Detective Conan’s new chapters are due tomorrow. Have you sent in the manuscript yet?”

Zhang Ye was taken aback. “What manuscript?”

Ha Qiqi was also startled. “The comic manuscript for Detective Conan of course.”

Little Wang exclaimed, “Don’t tell us you haven’t finished drawing it yet?”

Little Zhou was getting anxious. “Aiyo, then what should we do? The manuscript is due tomorrow. Director Zhang, why don’t we stop eating so that you can go back quickly and rush out the drawings. Let’s not delay the proper business.”

Zhang Ye was stunned. “Why would I draw it?”

Zhang Zuo was dumbfounded. “Then how are we going to submit the manuscript? The other side is already rushing us.”

Zhang Ye said, “Submit the manuscript? Why would you still submit the manuscript?”

These three answers of his had dumbfounded everyone.

Little Sun said horrified, “W-What do you mean by that?”

Zhang Ye looked at everyone. “Heh, I thought that you guys understood what I meant. What is our purpose in doing all of what we did this time? It’s to take the initiative and attack! To get behind enemy lines!”

Ha Qiqi said in a stunned manner, “Yeah, we understood that. We have successfully broken into the Japanese market and even spread that out towards the whole of Asia. So what’s left is to draw the comics well and accumulate our popularity before waiting to announce that you’re actually the author behind them on the day the restriction order gets lifted. Or if we’re afraid that something might change midway, we can also wait until the comics have ended to announce it. It’s all the same anyway, isn’t it?”

Zhang Ye shot back, “I can only draw three chapters a day if I have nothing to do all day. Now that I’ve returned to work, where would I find time to draw them every day? Be it One Piece, Naruto, or Detective Conan, how could any of them be completed without taking several years to a decade at least?”

Little Wang was stupefied. “That’s right, so what do we do?”

Zhang Ye rolled his eyes. “When did I say that I was going to finish drawing them?”

Pfft! Rice spewed out of Little Zhou’s mouth!n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Zhang Ye laughed. “Do you guys know what it means to cause a wave?”

Everyone dropped their chopsticks and stood up in shock!

“Ah!”

“Director Zhang!”

“Don’t, dammit!”

“Can you not cause such a big stir!”

“Heavens, my heart can’t take this, Director Zhang!”

“You’re…surely you’re not…right?”

They felt like they were about to crazy!

They all knew that something big was going to happen this time!

What did it mean to “cause a wave”?

They did hear Zhang Ye mention this since the beginning, that they were going behind enemy lines and infiltrate the comics industry to “cause a wave” to gather the popularity there. When they heard that phrase being mentioned, they didn’t find anything wrong with it at first. It wasn’t until this moment that they finally understood what Zhang Ye’s “causing a wave” truly meant!

Causing a wave meant causing a wave!

There wasn’t going to be a second wave!

Nor a third wave!

Nothing else would come after it!

…

Japan.

Shōnen Publishing.

The editorial department was in a jubilant mood.

“One Piece’s sales figures have set a new high!”

“Well done, let’s bring Naruto down!”

“We’ll definitely bring them down!”

“What is Naruto and Dragon Ball to us? How dare they try to compete with us!”

Everyone was chatting.

Then, Kyoko Seto suddenly came running in. “This is bad! Something bad has happened!”

All the editors looked at her and said with a laugh, “What is bad? Did Dragon Ball’s standalone volume sales figures surpass ours?”

Kyoko said with a stunned look, “It’s One Piece! One Piece has been placed on indefinite hiatus!”

The editorial department blew up in an instant!

“What?”

“Holy fuck!”

…

POO Studios.

In the office of the editorial department.

Someone suddenly yelled.

“I just received some news! It’s all over for Shōnen Publishing!”

“What happened?”

“One Piece’s serialization has stopped!”

“What did you say?”

“Hahahahaha!”

“Well done!”

“This is awesome! This is so awesome! Aoi, that freak, finally can’t persist!”

“I’m dying of laughter! Four chapters a week? He might as well just go and die!”

Then Fujiwara Koji received a call. Afterwards, he stood up dumbfoundedly and said to the cheering editors, “Naruto has been stopped too!”

With that, the group of celebrating editors fainted in shock!

…

Shūkansha.

“Something big has happened!”

“What happened?”

“Pfft, hahahaha! I just heard that Naruto and One Piece have both stopped updating!”

“Is that true?”

“This is a cause for celebration!”

“Well done! Well done!”

“We’re gonna be on fire! Who can compete with our Detective Conan in the future!”

Outside, the overseeing editor for Detective Conan ran in. Because he was running too fast, he stumbled and fell flat on the ground. Even so, he didn’t seem to feel the pain nor did he get up. He simply shouted angrily while lying on the floor, “Fuck his sister! Teacher Hatano says that he won’t continue drawing Detective Conan! He’s going on an indefinite hiatus starting today!”

Everyone’s smiles froze on their faces. They gasped and nearly vomited blood!

…

Similar scenes were happening within many of the comics magazine publishers!

At Dragon Ball’s comics publisher.

At Gundam’s comics publishers.

At Slam Dunk’s comics publishers.

At Doraemon’s comics publishers.

Countless editors were cursing and swearing loudly!

“Aoi, fuck your grandma!”

“Ozawa, your grandpa!”

“Go! Quickly go! I want everyone to find that Muto even if you have to dig three feet underground to get him!”

“What happened? What the fuck happened?”

“Why? How could the seven of them suddenly stop publishing their chapters all at once!”

The comics publishers were in chaos!

The comics world was in chaos!

Indefinite hiatus!

What did that mean?

In Japan, it meant that the series was going to be taken out of serialization!

In China, it was what the netizens affectionately described as—cas-trat-ed!