One Piece continued to be popular.
Comics.
Cartoons.
In the periphery.
It was shockingly popular!
Zhang Ye's plan to infiltrate the enemy's rear was progressing smoothly and quietly. But perhaps because it was too quiet, the Chinese citizens and media were not used to it.
…
On Weibo.
"Has Teacher Zhang really taken a break?"
"Yeah, he's really not doing anything this time."
"I'm not used to it."
"Lord Zhang, come out and show your face!"
"Face-smacking Zhang hasn't smacked faces for so many days that I don't even have any gossip to read."
"Although major events often happen in the entertainment circle, they're nothing compared to when Zhang Ye is around."
"Isn't Teacher Zhang trying to break into the Asian S-list? Is it really alright to rest for so long? Although his Asian popularity hasn't dropped, it hasn't moved for many days, right? If this goes on, reaching the summit of Asia will be a long way off. At least, it won't be possible this year. "
"I don't think Zhang Ye can reach the summit of Asia. Although I quite like Zhang Ye, compared to those celebrities who have reached the summit of Asia, Teacher Zhang is still too strange. He can't possibly reach the summit by scolding them, can he? This sounds interesting, but it doesn't seem feasible at all. On the Asian Rankings Leaderboard, it gets harder the higher you go. It's already a miracle among miracles that he managed to get to where he is by fighting. Right now, Lord Zhang's reputation in Asia is too bad. Although this fellow's previous playstyle was effective, it's a goddamn self-destructive playstyle! "
"I think that Lord Zhang has reached his limit."
"Zhang Ye, stop cooking. Hurry up and make your comeback!"
"Do you want to reach the summit of Asia? Come back quickly! "
The people were discussing.
The experts joined in.
Everyone was discussing this topic with great interest.
There were a total of 15 seats in the Asian S-list rankings.
Five of them were Chinese celebrities, one was Japanese, and the remaining nine were all Korean celebrities.
This was the ceiling of the Asian entertainment circle. Those who could reach the summit were all people with excellent reputations, great influence in their works, and a wide fan base. Historically, these three factors had always been indispensable. But what about Zhang Ye? He was still doing well in China, but in the Asian region, be it his reputation, his works, or his fan base, none of them were good enough. He did not have any of these three factors, and none of them had anything to do with him!
If he could reach the summit like that?
Many people in Asia were going to vomit blood!
But for some reason, even though they knew it was unrealistic and impossible, many of the Chinese people still felt an inexplicable sense of anticipation deep in their hearts. They were really looking forward to Zhang Ye making everyone's jaws drop. Perhaps this was the mentality of watching a good show and not minding the matter from getting bigger!
The media also joined in on the fun.
"When will Zhang Ye make a comeback?"
"The Chinese citizens look forward to Zhang Ye's return!"
"This year, the Asian S-list rankings may not change!"
"Who will be China's next Asian Heavenly King (Heavenly Queen)?"
…
In the afternoon.
At home.
Old Wu went to take a nap.
Zhang Ye was in the study having a video conference with the studio's staff.
On the other side of the computer, Ha Qiqi said, "Director Zhang, the money has been transferred. The income from the comics, animation, and the figurines and artwork have all been received. I didn't dare let them know that the money was transferred to our account. Instead, it went through Little Sun's side and was transferred back to our domestic account."
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Is it a lot of money?"
Ha Qiqi said happily, "Now that you mention it, it's really quite a lot."
Zhang Zuo quipped, "It's time to hand out the bonuses, Director Zhang."
"That's for sure," Zhang Ye said decisively.
Little Wang suddenly said, "Director Zhang, have you gone online? A lot of people are discussing whether you have a chance of reaching the summit of Asia today. A lot of people aren't optimistic about your chances. "
Little Zhou giggled and said, "That's because they don't know how amazing Director Zhang is. Who could have expected that Director Zhang would quietly take down Japan in these few days of rest?"
Zhang Ye laughed and said, "What do you mean quietly? I'm just catching them off guard."
Ha Qiqi thought for a moment and said, "But the problem is that they don't know that One Piece is your work. We just took a look at it and found that our Asian popularity score has stagnated. It's just slightly above the middle of the Asian A-list rankings. Now that One Piece has become popular, I think it's about time we announce it? Hurry up and take back this wave of popularity that we've lost? It's almost time to raise it. "
Zhang Zuo said, "But the restriction order hasn't been lifted yet."
Ha Qiqi said helplessly, "That's true."
Zhang Zuo said, "The restriction order is still in place. If we announce that the work is Director Zhang's, who knows what the Japanese side will do? They wouldn't cut our comics, would they? "
Everyone expressed their opinions.
Some agreed to announce it.
Some objected.
Zhang Ye did not participate at all. When they finished speaking, he laughed and said, "It's not time to announce it yet. We've only just started."
Everyone was taken aback. "What do you mean?"
Zhang Ye smiled. "This is just the beginning."
No one understood. "Just the beginning?"
After ending the video call, Zhang Ye sat in his study and drank some tea. The studio's staff all thought that making One Piece popular across Asia was the ultimate goal. But in reality, no one knew that this was just the first step of Zhang Ye's plan. When he did something, he would either not do it, or he would do it big!
How much popularity could a comic garner?
Advance another two spots on the Asian A-list rankings? Three spots?
It was quite a lot, but it was still far from enough!
His goal was to reach the summit of Asia. He wanted to be one of the top 15 spots in the Asian A-list rankings. This bit of activity was naturally not enough to satisfy him. In addition, with the restriction order still in place, if he were to announce it at this time, even if he could garner a huge wave of popularity, he wouldn't be able to do anything in the future!
He had to do something big!
He had to do something earth-shattering!
One Piece was already on the right track, and there were a lot of drafts ready. There was no need for him to worry about anything else. In that case, the second step of his plan could also be put on the agenda now.
Through his observation and understanding over the past few days, Zhang Ye had become much more familiar with the Japanese comics world. He had also read a lot of their classic works and discovered a lot of things. Actually, in his previous world, One Piece was not a work that became popular right from the start. It only got more and more popular as it went on. Zhang Ye didn't remember this wrongly. But in this world, One Piece had displayed an astonishing level of praise and popularity right from the start. As such, Zhang Ye was very surprised by this. Through his understanding, he realized that there was a lack of comics in this world. It wasn't that there weren't many comics, but that there weren't many top-notch ones. For example, the most recent recognized national cartoon in this world had to be traced back to six years ago. Therefore, this was a hungry market. As long as there was a high-quality work that could be produced, there was almost no need for much preparation or accumulation to stand out.
What a great era!
What a great market!
If he didn't do something big, how could he let it go?
One Piece's popularity was still there and wouldn't run away. In fact, it would only get higher and higher. It didn't matter when he collected this wave of popularity. What Zhang Ye needed to do now was to release as many comics as possible and accumulate as much popularity as he could. He would create as much of a commotion as he could, and then finally, all of it in one go!
What kind of concept would that be?
What kind of scene would that be?
Just thinking about it made Zhang Ye feel like he couldn't hold it in anymore!
As for how it would turn out, Zhang Ye didn't care at all. This fellow was still complaining that the commotion wasn't big enough. How to clean up the mess wasn't something he needed to worry about!
What should he draw?
What should he bring out for his next comic?
Zhang Ye naturally wouldn't be interested in normal comics. If he was going to draw something, he would draw the most popular one.
In the drawing studio.
Zhang Ye walked in circles with his hands behind his back.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
Alright, it's you then!
Suddenly, he had an idea. He sat down in front of the computer and took a deep breath. His eyes narrowed as he picked up the pen and lightly drew on the screen.
Come on out!
"Naruto!"
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