After writing her notes, she received a call from her producer.

"How are you KM? Have you recuperated well? Are you up to continuing our filming today?" bombarded questions to her by her producer.

"I'm fine thank you and yes, I'm up to continue our filming." direct to the point answered KM.

"Okay then, let's meet up at the studio and from there, we will altogether go at a particular place where we will shoot our filming," ended the producer.

"Okay, I'll be there!" ended KM. She quickly put on jeans skirt and sleeveless multicolored printed blouse and put on her white rubber shoes. She put some light make up and brought her maroon slingbag then riding with her lemou and with her 2 bodyguards Gabe and Zach, she arrived at the studio with great enthusiasm.


"I'm back!" KM curved her lips into a wide smile.

"Welcome back!" Everyone turned to greet her and some of them hugged her as welcoming back.


Mero did not hug her, instead he got her hand and kissed it and and said, I'm happy to have you back!" with his warm, gentle and masculine voice, he then released his glowing smile.


KM was taken a back and somehow touched by the gentleman gesture of Mero. She questioned herself, "Is this the sign that I asked from God? Think... Oh it's not an impossible situation, so this must not be it!" She subconsciously shook her head, of which Mero took notice of her expressions.


"Anything wrong?" Mero asked.


"No, I just... I just remember something about my Dad. No worries," lied KM not wanting to expose her thoughts, and she smiled back at him.


"Oh okay. If you're good, then I'm good too."


"Let's go!"


And they altogether ride on vans together with the rest of the crews going to the site where they will shoot their film on one of the scenes.


The setting was a night scene. Mero and KM was strolling holding hands in a bay, while they are filmed. Their acting were like natural, like they were real life lovers. They were talking and whispering sweet nothings to each other with glowing smiles, and all goes about smoothly.


While still filming the scene, all of a sudden a wind carrying with seemingly gray dirts started pouring on them.


KM shreiked, "What's this? Is this still part of the film?"

"No idea. Cut! We will pack up!" quick respond of the director.

No sooner than the director spoke, they all heard a big pounding sound of the ground and quickly cracked the ground that separated Mero from KM. They were all shocked and could not utter any word coz they were all scared of what's happening.

Moreso, the ground that KM was standing, suddenly shaking and she immediately fell on the God knows how deep was the sinkhole she have fallen into. She couldn't even cry for help out of shock.
She found herself in the dark deep sinkhole with some bruises she felt. She started checking on her body if she have injuries other than the bruises, and none so far. Although she also felt itchy from the ashes that poured on her earlier before she fell down into this sinkhole but that's not her focus now.

Her only problem now is how to climb up or how could she get out from that sinkhole?

She was still in the middle of contemplating when suddenly, a man standing on a seemingly scooter typed machine with lights hovered and appeared in front of her. She was blinded by the sudden lights shining on her, so she could not see clearly who is that man.

"Am I dead? Who...l are you?" KM exclaimed in a scared tone.

"KM, it's me, Michael. And you're not dead. Come quick and ride on my hover with me. I'm rescuing you from this sinkhole. I'll explain further along the way!" Michael extended his arms towards KM.

"Michael? Oh, Okay thank God you're here." She reached her hands and accepted Michael's gentle arms.

"Are you hurt?"

"No... I mean not much. Just some bruises."

"Good!" Michael then gently lift her up a bit and guided her to step on the hover to ride with him. And they quickly flew up from that sinkhole.

As they were up around 5 feet above the ground, Michael could not find a safer place for them to land as they could see that there were a lot of cracks and sinkholes all over the ground and there were people who were either injured or dead. Michael's hover does not have enough space for more people to ride with them, so he decided to bring KM with him and teleported back to his homebased laboratory in New Zealand. 

With just a quick push of some sort of a button thing, in just few minutes, they were back at Michael's laboratory.


"What's this place?" KM asked Michael as she slowly stepped down from the hover with the assistance of Michael.


"This is my laboratory. We're here in New Zealand."


"You brought me here? How come?" KM uttered only those 2 questions out of many questions she have in her mind.


"I will answer all your questions then, but at this moment, you need to get washed. As these ashes that fell on you might create further injuries if it will be absorbed by your skin. These ashes, were ashfall from the erupting volcano in the not so far from the place where you were filming." Michael explained while he was gently dragging KM to be put in a small isolation room.


"What's this you put me into?"


"Just trust me okay? This might startle you a bit as air pressures will help wash away the ashes from your body, but just stand still and try to be steady."


"Oh, okay!" KM, understood and just obeyed silently. She closed her eyes and started recalling the incidents and realized that this was the signs she asked from God. This was the seemingly impossible and yet Michael have managed to save her from the sinkhole out of the blue.


She felt the air pressures that was blowing on her body to wash away the ashes from her body, but she didn't move an inch. For her mind was focused on her realization now, that it's definitely Michael was the one, her answered prayer from God...

True love...could it be possible in online dating? In the world today, we are surrounded by many people who are either just pretending to be good or with wrong motives. It's hard to really pinpoint who are the pretending to be good, the bad, pretending to be bad, and the genuinely good people. How can you possibly find your true love in online dating, when it's even harder in her real world she's in? That's the delimma our MC is experiencing in her life while she's even being pressured of when would she get married when she's already in her 30's...
She couldn't help but doubt herself of finding her true love online...


Finally, Karl decided to pop up the question to Mj.
Karl's facial expression became serious all of a sudden.

"Mj, I love you so much and I can't continue to live a life without you. Will you marry me?"

Mj was in a great shock. Wait...What did he say? Her heart skip a beat. How is this possible online? Questions bombarded quickly in her mind. What will she answer then?

"Mj?" 
She snapped out of a daze when she heard him calling her name. 

"Will you marry me?"

"Yes!...But how? We are thousands of miles apart, Karl, you know that!"

"I'll come there to your country to marry you! But I'll have to save up yet for maybe 2 years so I can come there." 
"Promise?"
"Promise!" 

"You will have to promise me that you will wait for me until I come there."

"I promise, I will wait for you Karl, because I love you very much too!"

As we unfold her story and her struggles she's experiencing in between, will she be able to really find her true love? we shall find out...


This is my original story and not translated.

this book cover is all credits to valeriex
thank you!

Fang Zhao had not meant to scare Zuo Yu, but neither was he talking nonsense. He was seriously listening. It was just different from what Zuo Yu imagined. The sounds that Fang Zhao heard were converted into a sort of language deep within his brain—music.
Emotions, scenery, and sounds were sources of inspiration. Although back in Yanzhou, Fang Zhao's walk in the cemetery had provided him with a rough draft, he had still felt that there was something lacking. Now he was looking for it slowly.
Muzhou's cemetery gave Fang Zhao a different feel. The emotions, scenery, and sounds were all different. The melodies playing in his mind were different too. As Fang Zhao listened, he adjusted the melodies in his mind until they suited his ideal result.
However, as Fang Zhao was in the process of soaking in all the inspiration, Zuo Yu was different. He would subconsciously examine his surroundings for anomalies then turn back in the direction of the tombstone to see if there were any changes. He had doubts about having accepted the job of "assistant." Perhaps he felt that he did not suit this profession, or perhaps, after having spent some time beside Fang Zhao, he had become crazy too?
Each time Fang Zhao walked a little, he would stop to listen. Sometimes he would listen for an extended period, other times he would only listen for a short while.
When the time came for them to leave Muzhou, Zuo Yu let out a sigh of relief in his head. He was relieved to finally leave this place. However, when he thought about having to visit the cemeteries in other continents, he felt a little disheartened.
If it was as Zuo Yu expected, for the following continents, they would head straight for the Cemetery for Martyrs in each continent. Unless it was late or there were sudden weather changes, only then would they stop to rest. As the destinations were rather clear-cut, even if there were any delays, it would only be for a short while.
Xizhou, Tongzhou, Jizhou, Lazhou, Azhou, Rongzhou, Mazhou, Jinzhou, Leizhou and Huangzhou, every continent they went to was the same circumstances. Zuo Yu had the same experience in every continent, repeating it ten times up till the point where he could remain calm and enjoy the scenery whenever he saw Fang Zhao "appreciate" the mysterious sounds of the cemeteries.
On Feb 25, Fang Zhao and Zuo Yu returned to Yanzhou.
As Fang Zhao walked into the virtual projects department on the 50th floor, Zu Wen and the others were all there. They carefully observed Fang Zhao's facial expressions. They were worried that Fang Zhao would get angry over the results of the online voting for the endorsement deal.
For the endorsement deal for "Battle of the Century," according to the votes of the public, Polar Light remained in third place, losing to first-placed Mi Yu by only 300 votes. With the huge number of voters, this was a tiny disparity. But still, even losing out by one vote was a loss. Losing was just losing, there was no doubt. Now, the results of the voting were still on the internet.
They might have received assistance from Leizhou voters, but the other two companies were not going to sit idly by. They had also campaigned intercontinentally for votes. Thus, Zu Wen and the rest were worried that Fang Zhao might be moody from losing the vote. If the superiors were in a bad frame of mind, the underlings would be out of luck.
Fang Zhao knew the results of the vote, but he did not express anything. First, this was just an online vote organized by the media and not one officially organized by Fiery Bird. It was only a disguised inquiry to see public opinion and would not yet decide who the spokesperson was. Second, operations and publicity had been in charge of this matter. Fang Zhao had only completed the tasks he was required to. He had left the other matters in the hands of Silver Wing staff.
"If there is nothing else important, do not disturb me," Fang Zhao said, going into his office.
Watching the door close, Zeng Huang said, "Is Big Zhao going into isolation again? Seems like this time he gained quite a lot."
"Indeed, he gained quite a bit." Zuo Yu pointed at the Muzhou specialty products that were placed to one side. "This is all that we gained. Free of charge."
Zuo Yu briefly recounted their experiences on this trip, placing added emphasis on Fang Zhao's unusual behavior when he was at the cemetery.
Zu Wen sympathized and patted him on the shoulder. "Get used to it. You just have to know that the mind of an artist is not something normal people can understand. Anyway, up till now, I still don't understand him."
Fang Zhao did not know that the people outside were discussing him. He did not have the time or mood to take notice of them anyway. He organized all that he had gained from this trip and turned on the miniprojector given to him by Fiery Bird's sound effects deputy head You Chuan. He started making amendments to his scoresheet, which he had adjusted many times before.
The next day, after a night without sleep, the musical piece was finally completed. Fang Zhao made a call to Duan Qianji. "We can arrange for the recording."
The storage card that he had given out for photographs had already been returned. Now, all that Fang Zhao needed to do was record the completed piece, fit it with the animation, and store it onto the card.
Feb 28.
Huangzhou, Fiery Bird Headquarters.
Sound effects department head Hua Li knocked his forehead with his fist and took a few deep breaths. After that, he plucked out his earpiece and asked You Chuan beside him, "What do you feel about this?"
What they had just been listening to was the eleventh demo piece. It was not yet completed, just a portion. The final draft had not yet been submitted. Given Hua Li's and You Chuan's capabilities, they could naturally deduce how the completed piece would sound just from the demo piece and the first draft.
You Chuan also pulled out his earpiece and shook his head. "If the final draft does not have many changes, then it is just like that. If you hear the tune on its own, it seems quite good. However, if you add it to the animation, just like the previous few, there is just something lacking."
Hua Li sighed deeply. Pondering awhile, he asked, "Is there still no news on the other eight invitees?"
"Seven masters have replied. Two of them will submit their demo piece and first draft by tonight. Five others have said they tried their best but were unable to come up with anything. They will return the card and projector to us."
"Isn't there one more?" Hua Li asked. He had sent You Chuan to deliver 19 invites and they only had 18 replies now. Where had the last one gone?
"There is still one more, Fang Zhao. Until now, there has been no news from him," You Chuan replied.
"Fang Zhao? That freshly graduated twenty-something fellow?" Hua Li knew who Fang Zhao was, because amongst all the great masters, a youngster like him had appeared and that left a lasting impression. There were still the four movements of the "100-Year Period of Destruction," something that Hua Li listened to everyday.
"When we went to invite him, he personally agreed to it. It's just that there has been no news at all," You Chuan answered.
"Let's wait a little while more." When Hua Li finished speaking, he heard a new message notification from You Chuan's side.
"Eh?" You Chuan was surprised. "Fang Zhao replied saying the recording went somewhat smoothly. The completed piece together with the final draft have been stored inside the card. He has already contacted our Yanzhou division, and they will send it over to Huangzhou very soon."
"Completed piece?!" That was what Hua Li paid attention to. After pondering for a while, he said, "Ask who is in charge of the storage card at Yanzhou's side. Get them to send the contents over through an encrypted channel."
You Chuan was also curious. He contacted the Yanzhou person and requested they send the card's contents right away.
"Listen, listen!" Hua Li put on his earpieces once again.
You Chuan put on his earpiece and broadcasted the music file that he had just received.
At the start, both of them did not have any expressions, but as the tune hit the twenty second mark, excitement could be seen on their faces, and their expressions became rather serious.
After one minute, both let out a deep breath.
When the broadcast reached the one-and-a-half-minute mark, Hua Li pressed the pause button and yanked his earpieces out. "To the sound effects studio!"
You Chuan had the same intention. The both of them hurried to the sound effects studio and turned on the opening scene animation before broadcasting the received file at the same time.
Outside the studio, the rest of the people from the sound effects department were guessing what had happened after both the head and deputy head had hurriedly rushed in. Thinking back to how they had been recently discussing the accompaniment music for the opening scene, they wondered which great master had sent a new piece that satisfied the two.
Thus, the entire sound effects department began discussing why the two heads were rushing and which great master had just sent in their work.
Inside the sound effects studio. The best audio and projection equipment in the entire Fiery Bird company was installed right here. 
Both the head and deputy head watched the opening animation and listened to the musical composition over and over.
After completing their fifth time, Hua Li clapped his hands on the table and exclaimed, "This is it!"
"Just like that? Are you not even going to consider the other pieces?" You Chuan asked. He had the same opinion as Hua Li. It was just that some of the others had not yet sent in their final drafts. Were they really going to come to a decision now? Wasn't it too early?
"No need. Just this!" Hua Li knew that there were others that had not yet sent in their final drafts, and there were even two that had not yet sent in a demo piece or a first draft, but Hua Li had dealt with these people for many years already. He knew the styles of these people; there were no big surprises.
"I have no idea how those from the music industry would evaluate this. I'm just looking at this as a game from a sound effects department head's point of view. It is just 'perfect,' it is the most suitable accompaniment for the opening animation. It fits perfectly!" Hua Li said. "Composing, arranging, remixing, directing... producer of Polar Light virtual projects team."
Hua Li looked at the information on Fang Zhao. Back when he had first seen it, he had been shocked and not been able to believe it. But now he had no doubts. He had heard this phrase before. "In this world, there will always be an omnipotent crazy fellow."
Sighing ruefully, Hua Li got up and left the studio. "Contact Fang Zhao, we can begin discussions."


"Every time background music plays in my head, I feel like there is nothing to be afraid of." —Fang Zhao
Toward the end of the apocalyptic period, Fang Zhao lost his life. However, instead of dying, he found himself 500 years later in the body of a young and aspiring composer who shared the same name. Having received a second chance at life, Fang Zhao sets out to achieve the previous owner's dreams.
Armed with the experience of living through an apocalyptic age and his profession as a composer before that period, Fang Zhao uses his talent, wits, and knowledge to make his mark in the entertainment industry of the future.

Cal went back inside and organized her sketchbooks from the trip. She had books covering the better part of a wall in the room she used as a studio when she was home. Except for the ones her father had out, these represented all the years of Cal's art. She left one book out and took it over to her desk. The entire book was filled with her attempts to recreate the drawing she'd burned on the Kestrel. The task was made more difficult because she had no idea what it represented or what the scale of it was. She looked through the book, then closed it and sighed. Maybe Pentam could make something of it. Chemistry was his expertise; he might be able to figure something out.
Another book lay open on her desk. It overflowed with drawings of airships. Renditions of what she remembered of her first sighting a couple of years ago, to her imaginings of what she might build. Her notes covered the gamut from materials to the equations telling her the ratio between the size of the airship and how much it could lift. It would have to float in the air like the Kestrel floated on the ocean. She'd seen paper lanterns which, lit by a candle, floated away into the sky. Cal went to get the book where she'd drawn one in detail and added it to her idea journal. How on earth could she heat the volume of air needed to lift an airship?
Beth, their cook and housekeeper, knocked on the door and called her down for lunch. With her father still working in his office, she was alone.
"Sit down and join me." Cal waved a chair. "It's just us." She served up a bowl and placed it in front the woman who was family in Cal's mind if not in hers.
"He's been working harder on his book." Beth tasted her soup and nodded absently. "Except when Hans or I drag him out of there, he hardly moves. I think he'd sleep there if we let him."
"Maybe he'll let me read more of his book." Cal took a bit of buttered bread and closed her eyes. Such simple things she missed on board her ship.
"Oh no, he won't let anyone see it." Beth frowned. "He was furious one day when he thought I was trying to peek at it. I haven't touched anything in his study since."
"That doesn't sound like Father." Cal looked over at Beth. "He said he's fine, but something doesn't feel right. Keep an eye on him, will you? Make sure he eats and sleeps properly."
"I will, Miss."
***
The carriage dropped Cal off in front of Lord Carroway's. The steam carriage had been acting up, so she'd hired an old-fashioned horse-drawn vehicle.
Lord Carroway's butler took her wrap.
"Welcome back to Anglia, Lady Shillingsworth."
"Thank you, it is good to see different faces for a while."
A maid guided her to the ballroom and left her at the door. Cal walked through into the crowded room where an orchestra played music in the background. Ladies in fine gowns walked about the room with fingertips on the arms of their men, looking like peacocks beside crows.
Cal wandered over to chat with a woman who was a casual friend of Crysabel's; maybe she'd know how her friend was doing. The woman saw Cal coming and turned her back. All around other men and women were turning away from Cal, leaving her in a bubble of isolation in the room.
"My dear Cal." Lord Carroway appeared beside her and took her elbow. "Come with me a moment." He frowned at the people around him. "I never thought." Cal looked down at him and thought he was on the edge of tears. "I'm sorry, there is a horrible person talking about you."
"Lord Sifton." Cal's stomach clenched.
"He's hinting at things..." Lord Carroway put his hand on his chest. "I don't believe a word he says, but some are easily influenced. Scandal is the hobby of the nobility."
"I see." Cal forced the acid burning in her gut down. "I survived most of my life being a failure as a Lady, I expect I can survive this too."
"Lady Shillingsworth." Lord Sifton's voice dripped venom.
Cal turned and pasted a smile on her face.
"How good to see you. I'm glad the Embassy was able to help you."
"You mean after you turned tail and ran, leaving me behind without a second thought? I had to take a train across the continent to get home."
"If that is how you wish to describe it." Cal shrugged. "I long ago ceased to care what you thought of me."
"I've lodged a complaint with the merchant's board, breach of contract, cowardice." Lord Sifton smiled. "They were quite concerned."
"I can imagine." Cal walked over to help herself to a glass of wine. She needed something in her hand to keep her from smacking the man. "My employers are also very concerned. They are examining the log book and the cargo. The Zithayan's did a customs inspection on every ship in port. They opened all the crates in the hold. It was that or have them seized. Imagine my employers' distress at learning, not one held anything remotely connected to the expedition you told them you were planning."
     


Author:
Alex McGilvery has been reading since before he can remember, and writing almost that long. He has published 18 books and is author and editor at his imprint Celticfrog Publishing. He lives in Kamloops with his dog and the stories clawing their way out of his head.

They’re chasing a myth in the name of science.

Calliope works for her explorer father as an artist, recording what he brings back from his journeys in her sketchbooks. When she’s given a chance to go along on a trip to capture a sea serpent she doesn’t hesitate.

Life at sea isn't what she expected, and she ends up fascinated by the engine room of the steamship HMRV Peregrine. A tragedy makes her assistant engineer, but Pentam, her father’s protégé, is even more determined than her father to make Cal a fine lady. That means protecting her from danger, even if it drives her crazy.
When science and legend collide, Cal is the one who must take up the challenge of survival, even if it means risking her new-found feelings for Pentam.

"... the young master of the Yura Clan hired us to capture the elf woman who travels with you. Besides the paid, we were told that we could keep the other women as compensation". The God was speaking without hesitation assuring Reynolds of the veracity of his words.

He frowned and remained thinking for a moment noticing that Catherine was trembling slightly, he shook his head and released a sight. "Catherine, give your mask to Rosarie. Wife would you please engrave, on that mask, a stealth array that limits its reach to block her bloodline from leaking?" Rosarie smiled and walked towards Catherine waiting for her response, but after hesitating a moment she took off her mask and gave it to Rosarie.

Reynolds spoke to her again. "After you get your new mask, you will change the appearance of your body... I think that your way of hiding is too obvious". He was not asking, it was an order, and she understood it as well. He felt that she was putting his family in danger and all of that could have been avoided if she has just told them what is so special about the elf family.

His attention returned to the prisoner and asked. "Tell me about the Yura Clan. Who is their most powerful combatant? Where is the main location of the clan?" His voice was business-like, but that seemed to work better for the trembling God who stopped begging for death to answer the question.

"The Y-Yura Clan is one of the main families on the Jade Float Mountains, and they rule over one of the most important c-castles. The P-Patriarch is rumored to be a 7-star Fiend, but his identity is kept as a mystery". Reynolds frowned again as the information did not seem quite useful, but he was not really worried about a clan under a 7-star Fiend.

He directed a look at the begging God who instantly turned into ashes leaving a divine spark and an interspatial ring on the ground as the only evidence that he had once existed. Reynolds bound the ring with his blood to check that the God would not have another avatar that might have reported their location already.

He was thinking if killing his way towards the Yura Clan Castle and killing everyone would be a good way to establish his prestige and avoid similar situations on the future, but he did not know if the 7-star Fiend had the support of another powerful entity. Perhaps adding an array to their metallic life form to ensure its invisibility to sight and divine sense would be a better approach. They could leave this place without getting into conflict and continue their travel with leisure.

He will have to ask Rosarie about this idea, as he was sure that it might take him a few decades just to select and arrange the runes needed to create the array. He sighed a little annoyed, but he found himself motivated by the idea of working on such array and wondered why this kind of array was not used on metallic life forms.

Still, he decided that the first thing to do was to kill these hunters as they will soon find out that one of them was missing. If he kills them the Yura Clan might think that they had escaped and would avoid, at least for a time, a complete swept of the forest to look for them. He looked up and found that many of the hunters were already together discussing what to do, he smirked and floated in their direction.

Terak was frowning as his instincts were yelling at him to leave this cursed place, but the leader had refused to listen to him, suddenly he startled as he noticed that all the Gods were turning into ashes and that the Highgods were holding their heads with their hands while screaming in pain and one by one they turned into ashes as well. Then to his horror he felt that his soul defense artifact was crumbling, and he mustered his greatest speed to escape while looking with horror at a God with purple hair wearing a black long coat that was looking at him curiously.

Terak was cursing his look, this demon looked like the Burning Fiend and now that he was thinking about it, the man on the recording that could only be seen in the distance was wearing a black long coat as well.

Reynolds hesitated for a moment, but then he smiled thinking that it would be better to let one of them escape and be sure that they know who they were dealing, that way he could better understand the situation. The God had said that the recording orb only showed his image at the distance as if making sure that his face was not visible, the images recorded focused mainly on the women. 'Perhaps someone tried to use me to destroy the Yura Clan?' He frowned at this thought and returned to the camp after collecting all the divine sparks and interspatial rings.

On the distance, a group of Highgods frowned as they watched the events unfolding. "He let him go... I think that things just got complicated, and we need to report back... perhaps we need to abort this mission". The blue haired man said while the others frowned waiting for his explanation, he looked at them and understood their unwillingness.

"It took a while for him to attack after one of the Gods entered his camp, I'm guessing that he tortured the God and obtained information about the Yura Clan and perhaps he also noticed that the recording orb they were using to identify their victims avoided showing his appearance. He might be already suspecting a third party trying to use him".


The rest of his group frowned and a few sweat drops were forming in their foreheads, that idea was terrifying. "I will report to the Lord Prefect immediately". They nodded and waited.

Reynolds returned to the camp and noted that Rosarie was working on engraving an array into a medallion instead of using the mask, he nodded in appreciation. It will be a better disguise to change Catherine features with divine power instead of using a mask. After all, the medallion will block her bloodline from being recognized and a mask would indicate that she was hiding something.

He took a seat next to the river and started concentrating on the array he and Rosarie would engrave on their metallic life form, he sighed realizing that they might end up living here for a few decades instead of a few months and felt a little guilty thinking on the happy face Talia sported every time the idea of exploring the continent was mentioned.

---

A beautiful blue haired girl walked in good mood thinking about how annoyed her cousin had looked within her isolation chamber, she even chuckled before returning to her expressionless face. She entered her grandfather studio and looked puzzled at a saint that waited patiently on her grandfather, then she looked at the Lord Prefect and found, to her great amusement, that he was frowning and smiling at the same time and could help but chuckle startling him out of his meditation.

"Oh, why would my favorite granddaughter would come to visit me? You already managed to throw your cousin into an isolation chamber for the next thousand years, aren't you becoming greedy?" His comment made her blush and frown for a moment thinking how to answer to that.

"I was just curious on how you were dealing with that new 7-star Fiend". She mumbled in embarrassment making the Lord Prefect laugh satisfied. "Well, Donaro was explaining to me that this kid turned out to be more resourceful than we expected and might have already figured out that a third party is trying to guide his movements. We suspect that our current plans will not work out as we had expected". He seemed to be talking to himself but the young woman seemed to be highly interested on the situation and asked for details from Donaro while her grand father started pacing the room while thinking.

---

On a luxurious hall, a muscular man with dark red long hair was frowning while waiting for his disappointing son to enter the hall. He had ignored him for nearly 400 years and this was the first time they met, he was not happy to see him.

The young man entered the hall, bowed respectfully to him while and greeted him. "Lord Patriach". The muscular man seemed satisfied at not being addressed as 'father' and his anger quelled a little. "Speak". His tone did not permit disobedience and the young man knew well about this.

"Lord Patriarch, I think I have caused trouble for the clan. I received a recording orb with images of a group of Gods on which a female elf was traveling on the outer areas of the forest below. After knowing that there were no Highgods with them, I sent a group of hunters to capture the elf".

The muscular man was interested on the elf woman and was waiting to know what the problem was, the young man did not make him wait. "It turns out that I was tricked, there were no Highgods among them... but the only male on the group turned out to be the Burning Fiend. He killed the hunters only allowing one to escape, he might already know of the Clan as it seems to have captured one God for interrogation before attacking".

The muscular man was angry and still hasn't given up on capturing the female elf. But there was more important things to understand first. "Who gave you the recording orb?" His voice was cold as he understood that somebody had used his useless son to create a conflict with a powerful adversary, one that he was not sure he could best.

"Coiling Dragon" fanfic - What if Reynolds decided to work hard from early age? What if he was blessed by Lady Luck?

WARNINGS - 
1. This novel is set up on a world where the strong eat the weak, so non-politically correct situations will be common as the story progresses.
2. This is a fanfic, so don't expect to relive all situations from the original novel as the MC will not follow Linley around all the time and their meetings will be reduced as the story progresses.
3. I'm not a native speaker, so don't expect grammar perfection.

I don't own either the cover picture or the characters of "Coiling Dragon".

patreon.com/_Vlad_

A purple iris tattooed on the lower back of one of the three girls when she turned forced a chuckle out of him; he wondered if the art was intended to look like a female reproductive organ with two of its petals extending to the either sides of her ribcage. Whoever came up with that idea must have been the reason behind that porn star's steep success. But, for Shawn the picture had the opposite effect; he didn't want to look at that tasteless tattoo anymore. The sixth video in his 'favorite' list was of a European woman kneeling down under a fully extended manhood, looking up at its keeper with lustful eyes. That should do it for now. The shoot was cancelled for the day because they had a last minute mix-up with the studio schedule. Good for me. He was all alone in his rented office; in the sixth floor of Allura. It had taken a while to get that space just for him, which had meant cutting a room out of their editing department but Jacob had made it possible.  

There was a rehearsal scheduled for three in the afternoon, he had an hour to kill and rubbing one out was his go-to resort in situations like these- privacy, lack of sex for two days, an hour to kill, and no piano or a guitar around. The nineteen minute long video started with the bare woman slowly crawling toward the cameraman. Her hazel green eyes had jet black liner around them, and long luscious hair of the same shade hung daintily from her shoulders, covering the better part of her bust. Picture perfect beauty. Shawn had been with a lot of women in just four years of his dating life than a score of men would do in their lifetimes but none had been near this perfection that virtually stared up at him. It was an impressive figure, something he hadn't planned for to happen, nor was he going to keep up the tally. He had yet to be in a relationship, let alone fall in love. In a way, it was something that he could look forward to. He had a lot of fun, sexual experiences; the time with six times in a night after taking a strong buff was one to never forget. He remembered little of the girl, but the fun of multiple releases in a few hours was clear in his memory. 

The actress was in the middle of giving her best oral performance when the top of his phone screen flashed his sister's name; any allusion to any of his family members when he was aroused was a tacit blow to his little head. 

The hardness forming in his pants had sheathed back to its resting position, and he felt the blood now travelling up into his muscular chest. He was driven with annoyance that as it raised higher started turning into anger. He wanted to ignore the call, and continue, but the sentiment was lost and the anger was palpitating. Shawn hated how easily his sister got him mad even with her name. Maybe it was the vulnerable situation. Any other person calling at that hour would have annoyed him. It was possible, yet he knew his sister had a special effect on him.  

'What happened?' He chose to keep a neutral tone, filtering his irritation entirely just so his sister didn't have any follow-up queries. He wanted her to say whatever necessary and leave without nudging a conversation. 

'Where are you?' Dina as usual sounded like she was on the verge of a flip-out. The woman couldn't help it, he wasn't sure if she even knew she talked weird. 

'I'm on the sixth.' 

'Sixth? What are you doing there? That floor was under renovation. God, do you have air-conditioning there yet?' 

Shawn sighed. 'Tell me, what happened? It's all set here. Don't worry.' Part of the editing floor was indeed under a makeover but his exemplary private room, all white and grey, didn't need any changes. It was much too complete with a bed, a couch and a forty-two inch flat screen on a wall, and served its purpose-isolation from the rest of Allura. 

'Are you having a girl up there?' 

What was up with this woman? She was way too nosy. He wasn't going to fuck where he worked. Parking-lot was fine- he felt an upward curve forming on his lips- but not inside the building. He had some work ethics that he proudly followed. No getting angry when someone criticized your music. No signing any documents without the consent of your manager. No bumping uglies where you work. The last one was hardest to keep, but so far he was doing just well. If this room ever saw a naked curvy ass, it'd better be of his wife, nobody else. 

 'Huh?'  

Dina ignored her brother's obvious effort at sounding innocent. 'Team's ready, get down now.' 

'Why now? I was said to be there at three.'

'Yeah, well I told them you'd like to get it over with sooner.'

'Why'd you do that?'

'They can't hog you for an hour without notice. That's not professional and they needed to know that. So, I made sure to tell them.'

When she wasn't being irksome, Dina had her uses. She knew exactly how to convince people of their shortcomings or maybe they just gave up from irritation. That was so possible. 

'Hmm. I'll be there.'

Wife.

He was thinking way too ahead of himself, ten or maybe even fifteen years into the future. He wasn't against the thought of one fanny for the rest of his life, but finding the right one was going to be a hell of a ride. He had slept with so many; none of them had struck a committing chord in his heart. He had yet to find out how it felt when he was in love. And when that happened, she was going to be the most loved woman in the world. 

That was the plan.

"How is she?"
"She is fine now."
"Why did she faint in the first place?"
"Uh… erhm… She fainted due to tiredness and…"
"Tiredness? Don't you give them day off? You should always give them day off. Do you want them to die because they work for the hotel? You want them to lose their precious lives."
It beeped thrice before she could discover herself.
Manager Fu looked down on the phone in her hand then sighed.
He said I can give them day off… But how am I going to do it? I can't give them all day off, or can I?
She stood up and headed to the workers room.
*****
"Sir, everything's been settled. She's been given the day off to go rest."
"Have you gotten all that I asked of?" The man asked with a booming voice.
"Yes sir,"
Zhaolin looked away from the document he was reading and stood up. "Let's go."
Riuwen nodded and followed behind him.
Thirty minutes later, they arrived at a very cool environment. The sun shone down on them both as they strode into the mansion.
"Welcome sir," the guards at the door greeted.
Zhaolin nodded in response.
Inside the mansion, Yuxi turned and turned with her mouth wide open. She examined the beautiful sitting room and her eyes popped more.
What in the world is this? Am I still on Earth? How come I don't know about this family riches? Oh my, they are so wealthy… And because of that, the old woman is still so strong, money makes people young! Oh yes, it does!
"Yuxi?" The old woman called, "come sit over here! And check out these dresses."
The door opened and two men in suit strode in.
"Zhaolin!" The old woman exclaimed with excitement. "Linlin, how are you child?" 
"I'm…" Zhaolin paused and looked straight at Yuxi. "What are you doing here?" 
The footsteps coming from up the stairs seemed to had halted.
Yuxi seemed surprised but still answered, "I'm Shen's new secretary." The moment the answer came out the maids turned to see who dared called the young master with his name.
She eyed Riuwen. "Riuwen?"
Zhaolin turned a bit to take a look at Riuwen. Riuwen didn't have any reaction on his face, "Yes miss."
"Are you…"
"Do you know each other?" The old woman interrupted Yuxi. "Do you know these two?" She asked Yuxi.
"Yes. I know Riuwen and this young master… Xing Zhaolin."
Old woman: "How come?" She asked excitedly. If Shen doesn't want her… I will keep her for Zhaolin.
"No granny." Zhaolin started. "Stop imagining things. Why did you leave the house so early in the morning?"
The smile on her face vanished. Her thoughts had been read aloud by Zhaolin. "I went out empty handed but came back with her… Don't you see? I need to go out more often. I will find one assistant for you, too. This one here is for Shen."
Zhaolin looked away from the old woman to the stairs… He had heard footsteps.
At that instant, Shen came down. Dressed in stripped pants and hoodie. He looked nothing like the man on guaze mask.
Yuxi mouth dropped. "So you are Shen? Woah! You are handsome just like Zhao…"
"Young master Zhao," the head maid corrected instantly.
Yuxi pouted then smiled. "I'm sorry,"
The old woman giggled, "It's alright."
Zhaolin and Shen shared a look for some moments before Shen looked away.
Qiangshen strode straight to the door without saying hi to Zhaolin.
At the door, "Are you not my assistant? What are you still doing standing there? You are meant to follow me."
The old woman's jaw dropped.  "Yes, she is but she can't start today." 
"Today or never!" Qiangshen said and strode out. 
Yuxi was left in the middle. He has such a nasty character… Now, do I follow him or wait till tomorrow?
"Go along." Zhaolin  said. He feels unsecured. He smiled. 
Yuxi couldn't take all the dresses that the woman got for her as she rushed towards the car.
"Bye," granny waved at Yuxi. "Where to you on her from?" The old woman turned to Zhaolin. She no longer looked like the same always smiling old woman. Her eyes sharp and directed at Zhaolin. "If you want, I can call her back. She can become your assistance…"
"No granny! It's okay."
"Really?" She asked then turned to Riuwen. "Who is that promising young lady? Do you have his set for her?"
Riuwen jaws dropped. Now me? Oh my. "No granny. I just happened to know her and that's all." 
Five minutes later, the car came to a stop in front of a very rough looking building. It looked deserted and lonely. Yuxi stared with her mouth open, "where are we?" She couldn't help but ask.
The driver got down and opened the door for his master, he walked over to open Yuxi's.
Yuxi looked up at the driver, "is this some mad house?"
"Step down, miss."
She got down and walked around to Shen's side, because she had her eyes on the building, she didn't see a little pothole and stepped into it. Yuxi lost her balance instantly. "Ahhh!"
"Watch out!" The driver shouted.
Yuxi closed her eyes waiting to reach the interlocked ground.
Qiangshen made a smooth move and caught her just in time.
Yuxi peeked, then opened her eyes fully. Him? "Thank you," she stood up immediately but bumped head with Qiangshen. "Ahh!" She growled in pain. "Oh my, I'm sorry! Really sorry!"
He didn't have any reaction on his face. He let her go and walked away into the dark elevator.
Yuxi rushed forward, towards him.
They both used the elevator.
After some seconds the elevator beeped and parted ways for them to come out.
Qiangshen unlocked one of the doors and turned on the light. 
A studio? What is it for? Yuxi wondered. There was no much thing inside but it contained a sofa, a chair for the tune setter, a microphone and a headphone.
"What are we doing here?" 
He said nothing but turned to her.
Those striking black pupils looking straight at Yuxi made her swallow her saliva for some moments. "I… I shouldn't have asked."
"You don't know me, do you?" Qiangshen asked.
"No," Yuxi replied without thinking.
He smiled, "You're so useless then."
"Hunh?"
He said nothing again then sat on the sofa with his phone in hand, he dialled a number. "Come take her home."
"Hunh?" Yuxi asked again. "Come take her home. Who? I hope it aren't me because I'm not going anywhere!" 
He hung up, not sparing her a single look and went into the isolation room, picked up the sheets, then he started studying them closely.
Yuxi watched him with her face scrunched up. 


Her eyes covered with mist, flickered open.
Bai Xueyan could still feel the throbbing pain from the beating she had received from her two classmates all over her body.

Her stomach hurt the most because she had been kicked uncountable times.
Tears fell uncontrollably as she heard the students laughing and some criticizing her.

They wouldn't stop bullying her.
These evil people was sent to torment her.
—
She bolted up from the bed covered in sweat Xueyan turned to look at the little cutie beside her, sleeping soundly.
—

Life had been good for her till eight years ago.
Calamity had befallen her previous school and she with her siblings were meant to change school.
She entered a prestigious school only to be greeted with violence.
She was bullied nonstop and couldn't file a report because they were the poorest in the school.
—
Eight years ago was an unforgettable experience.
The same year she was raped by an unknown person, an unknown man.

She hadn't completed her studies because she had been dropped out.
—
Now eight years later and everyone from the past has returned to give her a hard life.
But one thing they didn't know was that this  wasn't eight years ago.

She has learnt her lesson.
—
Xing Zhaolin, is the current president of FW.
His employees love, admire and look up to him.
The Four Wheels isn't a company formed out of his own sweat but originally belongs to his grandfather.
—
It's time to atone for his crimes and there's no backing down. 
-
The question is, "Will she find and have happiness at last?"
Join Bai Xueyan on this journey of love and vengeance.
—
HELLO THIS IS MY FIRST CHINESE STORY
THEY MIGHT BE MISTAKES IN SOME AREA SO YOUR CORRECTIONS ARE WELCOMED

                    I'M ALSO THE AUTHOR OF:

ONE NIGHT TOGETHER

                    THE HIRED FIANCÉE

ANNIE'S PERFECT HUSBAND

                  XIAOFAN and the EMPRESS

HAVE FUN READING AND LEAVE YOUR SUGGESTIONS ON OUR DISCORD CHANNEL https://discord.gg/PJ3yyj
—

As soon as the Flagrant Swordmaidens transitioned into FTL, a preplanned series of actions took place.
First, every ship except for the Jaded Sword and the Shield of Hispania effectively trashed their quantum entanglement nodes. They decisively trashed a score of the expensive, fragile devices worth at least 100 million bright credits for the cheapest versions.
Ves had to wince at the thought. Trashing so much quantum entanglement nodes meant that both forces needed to spend billions in bright credits to replace the modules after they returned from the frontier.
"It's a good thing we raided the Castle Breakers. Selling their surviving ships and mechs should earn us more than enough to compensate for the cost of replacing the nodes."
Because each ship traveled through FTL, they had no way of communicating with each other outside of exiting FTL. A new set of protocols came into force. Something like martial law came into effect where servicemen needed to be more careful of what they blathered out of their mouths and where the officers began to enforce discipline more strictly.
They were truly alone in the stars, at least when the ship plunged into the higher dimensions of FTL travel. Strange things happened when ships became isolated for long stretches of time. Even if the vast majority of the rank and file were never allowed access to the galactic net, the thought that their higher ups still let the rest of the galaxy know they were alive served as a comfort to the Vandals.
Losing this safety blanket made the Vandals nervous and restless. How would you think if you were stuck on a boat that was flung across many lightyears away from the nearest human-occupied star system?
Isolation bred madness. Everybody knew that. Sure, the Vandals could cope by socializing with each other, but their nerves and their anxieties might grow to an uncontrollable level. Illusions and hallucinations might start to settle in among their worst. The darkness of space might creep up to them, surrounding them in a miasma of terror and the endless black night.
Darkness. Empty. Alone.
"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is the fear of the unknown."
A common superstition among spacers and the spaceborn was that terrors lurked in the dimensions that most physicists thought was empty or filled with formless energy. The dominant form of FTL travel that their race stole from the aliens worked by breaching beyond the four material dimensions.
Though many smart people claimed to know what happens in these higher dimensions, nobody truly knew. It wasn't as if they could take a recording from the observation deck, because what was visible from inside the ship simply couldn't be perceived by human or electronic eyes.
It might be that every vessel that plunged into FTL was blissfully swimming in a dimensional sea surrounded by enormous planet-sized alien horrors, each possessing enough power that a single sneeze was enough to snuff the life of a star!
Though these figments of imagination sounded silly to a sober person, long isolation in space tended to lead spacers into darker train of thoughts.
These space horrors didn't exist, did they?
...did they?
A shudder ran through his back. Just because they couldn't prove the existence of these gigantic alien space tyrants, didn't mean they never existed. Maybe human means and technology simply hadn't developed yet to the point where they could force these sleeping terrors into view.
The act of waking them up from their endless slumber may in fact announce the end of the existence of the human race.
The insatiable curiosity of humanity for the unknown would ensure such an event came to pass.
Death. Lifeless. Nonexistent.
"That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die."
BONK!
"Ouch! What was that for, Ketis?!"
Ves turned around his spinny chair to face the naughty little Swordmaiden, who guiltily withdrew her offending fist that had playfully bumped against his skull.
"You were daydreaming or something, teach. There was a funny look on your face and all, and you started muttering about death and crap like that. That's not funny at all."
He sighed. "Don't call me a teacher if you don't intend to treat me like one. Haven't you learned how to respect your teachers?"
She shrugged. "Hey, when I'm feeling energetic, I sometimes hit up Mayra for a spar or two. She doesn't look like it, but she's a nasty kicker with her legs."
Ves palmed his face. This time, it was safe, since they both shed their extravagant suits of armor and returned to their normal uniforms. Ves in his dark green mech designer uniform, and Ketis with her vacsuit and exobeast pelt combo.
"I'll have to add some extra lessons to your schedule, then. I know it's a faint hope, but I hope you can get around to living like a mech designer from civilized space."
A snort escaped from her nose. Her sneer made it abundantly clear what she thought about the soft and weak nerds who spend every waking moment of their lives in some stuffy design studio drafting endless sketches or performing complex mathematical calculations for their next simulations.
Such an image hardly appealed to her at all. Ves knew that he had a long way to go before he could drag her kicking and screaming towards the light.
He looked down on his comm, which faintly displayed a clock. It is almost time for the general meeting. They're finally going to tell us what this operation is all about. I've been told that you're not allowed to attend, so you're going to have to fend for yourself for now.
"Who told you that?!"
"Just sit here and wait for me to bring back the news. I'll pass on anything to you that isn't classified."
Ves left the scowling Swordmaiden mech designer behind and marched over to the conference room. It was packed to bursting this time, and because almost every quantum entanglement node was down, every person present was a living breathing human.
Because the conference room couldn't possibly fit the entire crew, not to mention that it would have been reckless gathering each and everyone of them in a single vulnerable location, the rank and file would be informed of the essentials by their immediate superiors who were currently present in this room.
An unprecedented air of serious fell among Major Verle and the Vandal cadre.
The import of the situation dawned upon each of them. None of the Vandals present were stupid. They saw the hints of what was coming, and might have extrapolated what might be in store for them. There couldn't be that many reasons why the battered and diminished Verle task force needed to be sent to the frontier instead of the frontlines of the latest Bright-Vesia War.
"Ladies and gentlemen, fellow Vandals," Major Verle began. "The time has come for you to learn the nature of our clandestine operation. I have carefully held this secret close to my chest along with a small number of officers because of the sensitive and outlandish nature of the mission. Even now, I am only allowed to illuminate a small part of what we are after and why we must enter the frontier."
The conference room dimmed, and a projection came to life.
Ves knew this image. He knew it well.
"T-That's a CFA battleship!"
"She's an old one." A ship officer said. "I recognize this style. She's several hundred years old. They don't make battleships like they used to these days."
The bold lettering on her sides revealed the august name of this venerable creation.
"The Starlight Megalodon." Someone whispered. "Isn't that an old wife's tale? The missing battleship? She's gone off the deep end two or three hundred years ago."
The Starlight Megalodon. A fully-fledging capital ship whose main guns could crack a moon and whose superweapons possessed enough might to fracture a terrestrial planet. This was not just a weapon of the stars. It was a weapon capable of bringing enough firepower to match the flare of a star down on a single target.
She was a hammer in the hands of the Common Fleet Alliance, meant to hammer down the nails that represented the stubborn alien races that lived in the periphery just outside human-occupied space.
Just like other human ships, her hull was shaped like a fish or a reptile without limbs or fins. Long, perhaps a little fat, but not wide enough to present a huge profile when facing the front, the battleship ranged at least eleven kilometers long.
Her main cannon emplacements jutted out from almost every direction. No matter what direction she faced, she could at least bring a single main cannon to bear upon her opponent.
Her armament layout might not have been the most efficient in terms of offensive power, but she was built like a cosmic brick. The most amazing feat was that her entire eleven-kilometer exterior was clad in the highest-quality compressed armor plating!
The sheer amount of medium and high-grade exotics used in the mass-fabrication of the armor plates would have been enough to upgrade every mech in the Bright Republic with high-quality compressed armor!
And that was just one estimate. A more ridiculous estimate stated that the Starlight Megalodon carried enough compressed armor to clad the Friday Coalition's entire mech roster with the substance!
These unfounded estimates illustrated the sheer extravagance put into their construction. With a strong emphasis on defence, the Starlight Megalodon served as a defensive bulwark as well as a battering ram to any fleet centered around her presence.
Major Verle smoothly picked up after the alarm died down. "This is the CFA's Starlight Megalodon. Let me tell you why this missing battleship is relevant to our operation."
Their commanding officer briefly described what Ves already heard or derived from Calabast's spiel. Nothing in their explanation diverged very much. They both stated that the Starlight Megaladon had long been presumed missing, but that descendants in FTL-capable shuttles randomly popped up in the frontier for some reason.
The major skipped the part about the encrypted data chips and their necessity in tracking down the current location of the derelict battleship. He simply stated that the Vandals and the Swordmaidens combined possessed the means of navigating towards that hidden treasure.
Everyone still sat stunned in their seats as the revelations surpassed every rumor that had been bandied about by bored spacers with an overactive imagination.
The major finally came to the part where he declared their actual objective. "Make no mistake. The Starlight Megalodon is a vault of technology that the Bright Republic still hasn't mastered despite several hundred years of progress. If we can obtain a smidgeon of their tech library, we can advance the Mech Corps by leaps and bounds! Our primary objective for this excursion is the Starlight Megalodon's primary data banks!"
Pretty much everyone bought it hook, line and sinker. If Ves hadn't heard the cynical truth from Calabast, maybe he would have fallen for it as well. Right now, Ves faked an expression of shock and puzzlement on his face. It wouldn't do for the Vandals to find out he already knew the dirty details well before the rest of the crew got to learn the truth!
"The foundation of human civilization is the technology that we master. Yet is it fair for the CFA, MTA and the first-rate superstates to hoard their technological superiority from us?! Just because we are situation near the edge of the galaxy doesn't make us the refuse pit of the human race! We deserve a fair share of the technological spoils, and if the galactic center is too conceited to give us a leg up, then we will take it from their forgotten ship! Do you know why? Because we are the Flagrant Vandals, and we take what is ours!"
"We take what is ours!" The rest of the crowd echoed the motto.
Ves refrained from joining in. He wasn't a genuine Vandal, after all. The rest would excuse him for holding back while the rest were swept up in the fervor of robbing a derelict battleship from the CFA.
He keenly noted that Major Verle never mentioned anything about the life-prolonging serums and medicines even once. The topic of side objectives that boarding parties would grab as 'targets of opportunity' was the most he had to say about that.
The mech officer couldn't let the rank and file know they were about to risk their lives so that some old geezer back in the Republic wanted to life a few hundred years longer.


Humanity has conquered half the galaxy and the Age of Mechs reigns supreme!

Ves Larkinson lacked the genetic aptitude to become a famed mech pilot. Fighting against his fate, he studied mech design in order to express his love for mechs as a builder instead of a soldier.

When Ves graduated from college, he returned to a new but empty boutique. Left with a small, newly founded mech workshop that his father painstakingly built with a mountain of debt, Ves somehow needs to make ends meet with the bank breathing down his neck.

In the midst of his despair, he found salvation from another legacy his father had left.

"Welcome to the Mech Designer System. Please design your new mech."

--Join The Mech Touch's unofficial Discord server: https://discord.gg/APB5KCU

Hao Ren certainly had experience in larger-scale relocations and rescue operations. Whether it was the relocation of the one billion Aerymian Elves or five hundred thousand citizens of Helcrown, the population sizes were many times more than Inferno's indigenous people. However, Inferno had a unique problem, which posed a challenge to the migration operation; its civilization was very backward.
The people there did not have global communications, no high-speed transportation, no census, and no system of address. They did not even have cities and other fixed settlements; tribes were scattered all over the prairie and mountains. Only a loose union relationship existed among the different tribes. They merely communicated with each other a few times a year through messengers. Information and traffic occlusion were the challenges. No matter what Hao Ren wanted to do with the planet, the first hurdle he had to overcome was communication. He needed to establish a communication network so that he could contact everyone on the planet. It was to enable the elders of other tribes to hear Vivian's orders and carry them out in their respective tribes.
Gezer had quickly gathered enough messengers before Hao Ren, who was now setting up equipment near the tribal village.
He took out some portal-building and communication equipment from his Dimensional Pocket. They were portable equipment for emergency use. Though limited in functionality, they were perfectly suitable for the situation at hand. Five portals were lined up across the ground; their silver casings appeared shiny under the skylight. They each had a blue light, which indicated that they were on standby mode, in the gap between the metal panels. Vivian looked at him curiously. "You're asking the messengers to use the portal?" she asked.
"You don't expect me to send them one by one by car, do you?" Hao Ren smiled. "The tribal villages are scattered all over the world; we need to contact them as soon as possible before the world changes."
"Okay, but do you know their locations?"
"Remember the probes that I released earlier?" Hao Ren nodded. "They've completed their mapping of the planet and sent back information of more than 30 villages of various sizes. That's more than what Gotarug knows. Some tribes have been in isolation for very long, and they've lost contact with other tribes, but they're still alive. The probes will be location beacons for the portals."
Gezer's voice came from the side. "The messengers are here."
Hao Ren turned around and saw dozens of young as well as robust tribal members standing behind him. Their faces were painted in the colors and patterns of the Wind tribe's special envoy while colorful ribbons around their waists acted as proof of their identity. They all looked motivated. Standing at the front was Bonia, the saintess of the Fire tribe. She was going to return to her tribe to deliver the message.
Hao Ren nodded to Gezer. "Well, except for the little girl, they're all great guys; it's just that their physical strength isn't up to par. Are they the most eloquent?"
"They're the smartest young people in the tribe." Gezer put up an innocent smile on his face. "I'm sure they'll be able to bring the message of the goddess to the destinations."
"Not only to convey the message of the goddess," Hao Ren said as he shoved a silver device the size of a cigarette box into Bonia's hand. "I want you to learn how to use this object."
Bonia fiddled with the little box cluelessly and put it in her mouth. Hao Ren grabbed the box from the little girl and warned, "Don't do that. It's a communication device. I want you to bring this back to your village. Can you see the two buttons here? Press them and we can talk to each other even though we're thousands of miles away."
Bonia was wide-eyed. Hao Ren just spoke to them briefly, not going into the details, "Treat this as a miracle. Now, I'm going to assign each of you a destination; these portals will send you directly to your destinations."
There was one good thing about primitive society; the people were very obedient. The devout tribal messengers did not have two minds when it came to the will of the goddess. They just stepped into the portals and never questioned if the thing called the "gateway" was safe or not.
After the messengers left, Hao Ren looked up at the sky, sensing something.
A blue light swooped down from the sky, and the MDT's voice rang, "Hey, buddy! Your spaceship has arrived!"
The MDT descended on his shoulder. The blue light, from which the MDT came out of, oscillated and gradually enlarged to a few hundred meters tall with a buzzing sound. Then a silver spacecraft emerged from the spatial rift. In that world, the Petrachelys was a monster.
Hao Ren quickly approached it to alleviate Gotarug's fear for the excitement was too much for him to handle.
"It's a miracle!" Gezer and other tribal warriors stared with their jaws dropped to the ground. It was beyond their comprehension. Though some of them may have heard legends of magic-driven, flying warships of the Sun Dynasty, the spacecraft's appearance was beyond their imagination. The Petrachelys emerged from the spatial rift and looked like a magnificent temple to them. It gracefully adjusted its angle before it descended slowly and hovered less than one meter above ground just right next to Hao Ren. The captain's happy voice could be heard. "Hey, Hao Ren! It's been a long time!"
It was Nolan.
"Long time no see, Nolan!" Hao Ren smiled. "How are you doing?"
"Great! I think I've gotten used to my new body," Nolan said in a pleasant tone of voice. "I've waxed the lower deck. Do you mind?"
"Umm, not at all, not at all."
The MDT buzzed into Hao Ren's ears. "Let me tell you, she's a tough lass. You won't believe what I saw. When I found her in Andromeda Galaxy, she was racing there."
Hao Ren was startled and looked up at Nolan a.k.a the Petrachelys. "Racing? With who?"
Nolan flashed the bow lights. "A neutron star. The other spacecraft were too afraid to race me."
Hao Ren jumped to his feet and said, "Holy crap! This is an official ship! An official ship of the highest level! Have you ever seen anyone racing with the police before?"
He buried his face in his hands, screaming, "Oh my gosh! Did she violate the rules?"
The MDT comforted him, "It's okay. Nolan was driving 'herself'; it wasn't a violation of the rule. The only problem is that you're famous now."
"Shut up!"
While Hao Ren talked to his spaceship, Hessiana and her two sidekicks stood still like fossils in awe. It was only after a long while that Turcan said, "Mistress, don't you think this thing looks like the one in our studio?"
Suddenly, Hessiana ran into Vivian's arms. "Lady Vivian! Men like to fool around when they have money! Look, this man called Hao Ren has an evil motive; he's trying to impress you with this ship! Don't fall into his trap!" she said.
Hessiana's sudden action startled Vivian. When she finally came to her senses, she grabbed Hessiana by her head and hauled her a dozen meters away. "What are you doing? Please behave yourself!"
Hao Ren watched as Hessiana received a good slap from Vivian. He shrugged and finally said, "That's enough! Do all of you want to come aboard my spaceship to have a look? I'm going up to the clouds."
Hessiana was the first to raise her hand. "I'll go!"
Vivian woke Gezer, who was still in awe. He boarded the spacecraft with Hao Ren. Soon, the silver spacecraft slowly lifted off and disappeared into the air in a flash of light. The tribal people on the ground exclaimed in awe and bowed to worship it.
"The goddess has ascended to heaven! The goddess has ascended to heaven!" some of them exclaimed.
Fortunately, Vivian did not hear it.


As a person who is down-to-earth as well as a good Samaritan, Hao Ren desires to live the rest of his life as a benevolent landlord. Stumbling into a curious yet mysterious lady, he began his journey of “collecting” abnormal and supernatural tenants. 
His life only became more chaotic when he receives a labor contract from “God”. Discover the many races, myths and worlds that lie beyond what humans define as normal! This bizzare fantasy full of fun is sure to bring you on a crazy rollercoaster of emotions!

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