Once Upon a Time In Hollywood - Chapter 338: reading comprehension

They call him Ghost.A name whispered in fear across warzones, black markets, and underworld circles.To the world, he's a phantom—a faceless mercenary who leaves no trace but bodies in his wake.To his enemies, he’s a death sentence.To his brothers-in-arms in Graveyard, he’s family.But to himself... he's a haunted man searching for a past stolen in gunfire and smoke.After a flawless mission deep in the Eastern Province, Ghost returns to the hidden forest base he's called home for sixteen years. Yet the victory is short-lived. His foster father, the commander delivers an unexpected order:“That was your last mission.”Now, Ghost—real name Miles Sterling—must step out of the shadows of war and into a world he’s never known. Guided only by a scarred letter, a fading memory, and the voice of a woman he hasn’t seen since the day everything was taken from him.But war forged more than his body and name.Behind the mask, behind the scars, Miles has another secret.One he’s kept hidden even from his brothers in arms.He’s not just a weapon.He’s a ghost with a fortune—a hidden empire he built in silence, across borders and black markets, forged in strategy and blood.A man of many names, and many shadows.Beneath the bullets, tattoos, and silence lies a truth buried in ashes.And Ghost is about to dig it up—one letter, one enemy, one memory at a time.

Deep below the earth's surface, a mystifying subterranean seascape lurks, an archipelago bathed in inky blackness where suspense and horror hold court. Here lie strange islands and even stranger monsters, far beyond the realms of human imagination. In this domain, mankind is far from dominant; instead, madness and death rule supreme.

Pleading for mercy from the unknown creatures of the deep only leads to a slow, tortured existence. The trapped survivors gradually distort, losing what made them human, both physically and mentally, to the gloom as they remain trapped in this eternal obscurity. Their only hope? A perilous expedition into uncharted sea territories.

Fueled by determination, Charles embark on this daunting voyage aboard his steamship, aiming to reclaim humanity's past glory. Together with his crew, they sought a way out of this hidden sea world, a path back to the sunlit world above, where humans once stood tall.

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I read a few comments from Chinese readers that compared this novel with Lord of Mysteries because of similar elements: Lovecraftian, western fantasy, first industrial revolution, and steampunk. However, I have yet to finish reading Lord of Mysteries to do any actual comparison, but I do think those who have enjoyed that novel would enjoy this as well. Also, the author of LotM, Cuttlefish That Loves Diving, also did a shout-out for this novel, so I guess he approves of it too?

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Qin Ran grew up in the countryside. She disappeared for one year and lost a year of high school.

One year later, she was taken to Yuncheng by her biological mother to attend school.

Her mother said: your stepfather is from a prestigious family, your big brother is a genius, your younger sister is a top student, you must not lose their faces.

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Everyone of status in the capital has received a warning from Cheng family’s Junye: Junye’s wife is from the countryside; she doesn’t understand the circle, doesn’t understand the current circumstances, doesn’t understand the financial markets. Her character is very… in short, please excuse me.

Until one day, Junye investigated a big shot, his subordinates looked at the sockpuppet that had come off her while she said she knew nothing about it… they sank into a bewildered silence.

It was probably a story of two big shots trying to hide their sockpuppets so that the other didn’t feel inferior.

Ren thought getting sacrificed and becoming a holy spirit was rock bottom—until he discovered his divine wife, the Goddess of Magic, is completely broke on faith power. That means his remaining soul would completely disappear.Turns out magicians are the worst believers ever!Ren has a crazy idea: if magicians won't pray willingly, make them pray to access the internet.Starting with a simple magic forum, Ren introduces this fantasy world to the addictive power of online connectivity. Want Q&A sessions on spell theory? Pray first. Need to livestream your dragon research? That'll be one prayer, please. E-commerce shopping for rare magical components? Prayer required for checkout.The moment Ren becomes the God of Technology, this world's whole vibe goes haywire.What begins as a desperate faith-farming scheme spirals into something far bigger. Soon dragons are running delivery services, apprentices are binge-watching magical tutorials, and even gods are competing for subscriber counts. Magic cars cruise the streets, magic trains thunder across continents, and when apprentices start wielding magic ray guns against seasoned magicians, everyone realizes this world has changed forever.From a simple forum to consciousness uploading and biological immortality—when technology crashes into magic, the explosion reshapes reality itself.After all, why choose between science and magic when you can have both?