Apocalypse King: The Return of Lucian - Chapter 20: A Crack in Perfection

Book I: Lost ThingsTristan Abrascal is a thief, one of many making their living under the perpetual twilight of the greatest city in all of Vesper. Quick wit and a contract with a capricious goddess have always kept him one step ahead, until one night he crosses a line by accident that burns all the bridges he had left. But not all is lost, as his mentor offers a way out of peril that turns out to be more than a simple escape.It is also an opportunity to get even with the infanzones, the nobles he’s lived under all his life, and it so happens that Tristan has a full ledger’s worth of scores to settle with them.Lady Angharad Tredegar has fled halfway across the world, leaving behind a ruin of a life: her family butchered by a ruthless enemy, their estate torched and their nobility revoked. Yet no matter how far she flees the blades of assassins follow, and she finds herself growing desperate for any protection. She has one relative left to call on, her estranged uncle, but she finds that the safety he offers comes at a cost.Angharad has sworn revenge, however, and her honour will allow for no compromise. She will do what she must to survive so that one day bloody vengeance can be visited upon her enemies.The paths of the two take them to the doorstep of the Watch, but for desperate souls like them enrolment is a lost cause. They will have to do it the hard way instead, by surviving the trials on the isle known as the Dominion of Lost Things.Where every year many go, and few return.Book II: Good TreasonsThe trials of the Dominion are over.The four survivors have become students of Scholomance, enrolling together as a cabal, yet even on those infamous grounds they soon learn none are beyond the reach of their pasts.Angharad Tredegar is returned to a semblance of the world she left behind, but finds her honor sorely tested by bargains offered - every bit as tempting as in the stories and even deadlier.Tristan Abrascal needs answers. Mysterious enemies keep trying to abduct him, his classroom does not exist and he’s now had several conversations with dead people. Worst of all, his carrots keep dying.Maryam Khaimov is going mad, which would worry her less if it were happening on schedule. More frightening yet is the possibility that she is not, and there truly is someone else going around wearing her face.Song Ren must forge the others into a functional unit, all the while fending off enemies on all sides: rival cabals, vengeful countrymen and the deluge of implacable foes her companions simply cannot seem to stop attracting.Failure is not an option, for Song must bring back honor to her family’s name whatever the cost: it is the only way to keep their disgrace from literally eating them all alive.And as the four chase shadows in Scholomance, in the distance looms the greater test awaiting them in the Asphodel Rectorate. Asphodel is a faded power, the rotten carcass of what it once was, but under that rot looms darker things - of which monsters might just be the least dangerous.Besides, is treason really such an evil when you have the best of reasons for it?

In a future where humanity has already conquered the galaxy, a whole new realm of mystery and horrors beyond human comprehension opens up to them, the Primordial Expanse.For as long as he could remember, Alex worked in the mines of an asteroid so desolate it didn't even have a name. But to him, this was home.He knew that his future held nothing for him and he would die a lonely and forgotten death just like everyone else stuck on this godforsaken rock.That was, until one day he wakes up to the realisation that he would die soon, as the Primordial Expanse called for him.This mysterious realm is a place of promise and opportunity for many, but for people from the slums of society like Alex, it was only a curse that almost always guaranteed death.Follow Alex on his journey though the Primordial Expanse as he navigates his way through battles, trials and enemies to carve out a space for himself at the peak of the universe.***[WSA 2024]This novel is purely a work of fiction, any names, locations and characters are all made up and do not depict or represent the real world.

**Mature Content**[I hope the day never comes when I can’t find a reason to keep loving you, for you are my every reason.]*********************Yoon Haeun, a quirky 27-year-old chaebol heir and who runs a game company, is often pestered by his unconventional mother about settling down and having children. As an omega who has never experienced his heat cycle, Haeun is constantly set up with alphas by his mother. Unfortunately, the pheromones of these alphas usually make him nauseous and disgusted.Everything changes when Haeun meets Cheon Yeongsoo a third-generation heir whom he has previously disliked. When Haeun encounters Yeongsoo’s pheromones, he is unexpectedly enveloped in a sense of safety and comfort—a feeling he’s never experienced before. As Haeun’s heat cycle arrives, he finds himself irresistibly drawn to Yeongsoo.Three days later, Haeun wakes up disoriented in Yeongsoo’s bed, his mind racing with confusion and a surge of panic. The room is unfamiliar, and the scent of Yeongsoo’s pheromones is overpowering. He tried to piece together the fragments of his memory from the night before, only to realize the gravity of his situation. The man he’s long disliked is now his unlikely savior, and the last thing Haeun wanted was to admit how much he had grown to need Yeongsoo.**Excerpt**Haeun looked up at Yeongsoo with a pout, his hand resting on his pregnant belly. “Will you still love me if I weigh 200kg and become very ugly?”Yeongsoo chuckled, pulling Haeun close and gently hugging his bulging stomach. “You’re already displeasing to the eyes, so it doesn’t really matter.”Haeun’s eyes welled up as he looked at Yeongsoo,obviously hurt. “Are you saying I’m ugly?”Yeongsoo’s smile softened as he held Haeun, brushing his fingers through his hair. “Whether you weigh 200kg or become ugly, you’ll always be the prettiest person in my eyes. Why? Because I love you. You’re my everything, Haeun. And no matter what, that won’t ever change.”Haeun’s heart swelled, a tear slipping down his cheek as he snuggled closer. “You really know how to make everything feel okay.”Yeongsoo kissed his forehead tenderly. “That’s because being with you is the best part of my life.”

Qin Mian opened his eyes and found himself lying in a leaky thatched room. The problem was that he was still in his family’s villa beforehand! What’s more, there was another man lying next to his leg in the quilt!

“You, you, who are you?”

The man sat up quietly, his upper body exposed as looked at Qin Mian for a moment before he carried a worn out bowl with a cracked corner from the low table at the head of the bed. The man said in a muffled voice, “Wife, drink water.”

Qin Mian’s eyes rolled backwards and he passed out.

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TN:
Title explanation: 勉为其男 [miǎn wéi qí nán] have the same sound as 勉为其难 [miǎn wéi qí nán] which means to do something reluctantly. 勉 [miǎn] is also part of MC’s name: Qin Mian.  Also, 其[qí ] sounds the same as 妻 [qi] means wife. So, there are words plays. Basically, Qin Mian reluctantly becomes someone’s man [wife] after he transmigrated.