Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord - Chapter 208: The Slowly Moving Steel Behemoth

“I was nothing... and now, I have one chance to steal everything.”In his previous world, Ethan was just another failure. No talents, no dreams, no hope.But death wasn’t the end it was a new beginning.He wakes up in the body of “Valerian Lucard,” the son of a great family... but the weakest among them. Neglected, shunned, broken.But this time, things are different.He has an unbelievable ability:Fate Theft.Skills, talents, future opportunities... he can steal them, but at a heavy price.And the worst part? What’s stolen... never lasts.Now begins his race against everyone: the elites, the geniuses, the chosen heroes.Not because he's strong, but because he refuses to be nothing... ever again.In this world, either you steal glory... or everything gets stolen from you.

Han Sheng Li is the Crown Prince of the Great Han kingdom. Since the age of fourteen, he mostly went to the wars with his father, Han Wenji, the great emperor of the Han Kingdom. He's the most favored child of his father but, is the cruelest and ruthless among all of his seven half brothers.

The Strongest Magic meets the Mightiest Mecha.

I have stolen Golden Mechas from the deepest vaults of the most tightly guarded fortresses in the world.

I have personally destroyed more armies than the top three superpowers have in the span of the Absolute War - combined.

I burned down the terrorist megacity of Habon.

I was expelled from the Union of Heroes at a younger age than people are allowed in.

I have talked to Ancient Gods, loved women, and devoured mechas that would make superpowers cringe in fear.

I have faced demons head on in moonless nights others fear to speak of during the day.

I am deified in a thousand cultures, and labelled as the devil incarnate in the rest.

I am the Mecha Emperor.

You may have heard of me.

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Excerpt from Chapter 1

This is where it all began.

A junkyard.

Oh no, this isn't your clean, mechas-only junkyard that was the 'starting point' of many mecha geniuses out there.

I have seen and heard my share of rags-to-riches stories, and many of them claimed that they had started from 'junkyards' and slowly grew to be where they were right now.

From Zero to Hero, they declared.

You can do it too, they said.

As long as you work hard, everything is possible, they claimed.

I call bullshit.

Life doesn't work like that.

On the eve of their wedding, Yan Changsheng brought back a girl and publicly called off the marriage.Only then did Shen Qinghe realize that Yan Changsheng was the crazy male lead from a book, and the girl was the irresistible female protagonist.As for her, she was just early cannon fodder fated to die, and her elder sister was the malevolent female supporting character whom everyone wanted to beat up.Tsk, the plot is just freaking ridiculous!After awakening, Shen Qinghe busied herself with cultivation, protecting her elder sister.Yet, unknowingly seizing the female protagonist's luck, she attracted several crazy male leads, each of them forcibly taking what they wanted from her.She thought Dongfang Wuya was relatively normal, but who knew he was crazier, actually seizing the position of Heavenly Emperor and then forcibly marrying her to become the Heavenly Empress!**As the high and mighty belle of the cultivation world, Dongfang Wuya had countless admirers and fans. Yet he was devoted to cultivation, treating love as if it were dirt.Initially thinking Shen Qinghe was deeply in love with him, he sternly advised her, “Focus on your cultivation, do not get distracted by romantic entanglements!”Later, irked by her dedication to cultivation, he pressed her into his arms and kissed her, seductively coaxing with a playful smile, “Be my Daoist companion, and I'll aid you in cultivation, hmm?”[Asura Field, Cremation Ground, Male Rivalry, Su Wen]