Pirate Kingship - Chapter 11 - 10: Balun Offers a Strategy: Raise the Sails!

In a world where fate is dictated by prophecy, heroes are chosen by the gods, and Dark Lords are doomed to fall… Lucian Draeven refuses to play along.Once feared as the greatest Dark Lord in history, Lucian had the world under his iron rule—until the so-called Chosen Hero struck him down in a blinding flash of divine justice. The kingdoms cheered. The world rejoiced.Too bad Lucian isn’t actually dead.Having faked his demise and gone into hiding, Lucian watches from the shadows as a new Dark Lord rises, more reckless and incompetent than ever. Worse, the gods have selected another overly enthusiastic, sword-swinging Chosen Hero to bring “peace” once again.The problem? Neither of them have a clue how to actually rule the world.As kingdoms crumble, wars break out, and the balance of power teeters on the edge of collapse, Lucian comes to a horrifying realization:If the world is going to survive, then it’s up to him—the so-called villain—to secretly fix everything from the shadows.But there's just one little catch…Lucian’s legendary Dominions are still sealed, and the only way to regain his strength is by playing the role of a villain once more—spreading fear, manipulating his enemies, and pulling the strings behind the scenes.Now, as the oblivious Hero and foolish new Dark Lord battle it out, neither realizes that the true mastermind is watching their every move.Because if the world wants a villain…Then Lucian will be the greatest villain it has ever seen.

This is the story of a modern man who transmigrates to 16th-century India in a parallel world after dying to save his first crush on a date. He regresses as a lowly-ranked soldier in the camp of Hemu, the last northern Hindu king, who is fated to lose and die at the hands of the Mughals.With his modern knowledge and past experiences, the protagonist alters the course of history, forcing the Mughals to surrender and retreat beyond the Ravi River, which is in modern-day Pakistan.As a reward, he is granted trading rights and becomes the emperor’s personal attendant. Using this opportunity, he sets out to reshape the empire. By promoting private enterprise, establishing trading company, and creating opportunities for the lower communities, he begins to shift India’s economy away from the feudal system toward modern capitalism.Despite fierce opposition, these reforms not only unify the majority of Indians but also position the empire as a rising power in global commerce, transforming India into an economic force.His journey is filled with trials, including internal turmoil, political strife, and the looming threat of invasion from the Mughals in the west and the Dutch and Portuguese in the south. As the emperor’s trusted aide, the protagonist not only rescues the crumbling empire but also forges his own path, eventually claiming the title of emperor himself.Join him on this incredible journey of empire's ascension, as he explores how India could have been in the 16th century if history had taken a different course. With just one battle's result, the fate of the entire world is transformed.

When the cosmic tyrant Frieza detonated Planet Vegeta, home of the Saiyan race, a twist of fate sent a lone infant—placed in an escape pod by his mother—hurtling through the void toward an unknown destiny. The pod's trajectory led him to a desolate world: Titan, a planet ravaged by catastrophe and long stripped of life.Beneath the shadowed skies of this barren realm, the watchful eyes of Thanos, the self-appointed director of the universe's population balance, beheld an unexpected sight—a child, the sole survivor of Titan’s forgotten civilization... a child with a tail swaying behind him.“A survivor of Titan... From this day forth, you shall be my son.”

Lao Chen was just an old, underpaid security guard in a rundown apartment complex, living a miserable life under a stingy, ungrateful boss.His wife left him, his daughter wanted nothing to do with him, and poverty was his only constant companion.In the end, death came in the form of a drunk driver, leaving him broken and forgotten on the cold pavement.But fate wasn’t done with him. In his final moments, he prayed—desperate, pleading to any deity who would listen.And someone did.The God of Wealth and Love took pity on his wasted life and granted him a second chance.Wake up again as Zhao Yiming, a 25-year-old gambler and alcoholic drowning in debt with nothing but a good face and a strong body to his name, he was given the Affinity Money Maker System—a mysterious power that let him gain wealth and influence by forming relationships, whether as lovers, friends, or even enemies.Before he knew it, he had stumbled his way into unimaginable riches.But things never go as planned. One moment of recklessness—one affair with the wrong woman—led to an unexpected murder.Now, the system has thrown him onto a new path: The Villain Route. With a negative perk that keeps the police off his trail but tightens the noose around his future, Zhao Yiming is faced with an impossible choice.Will he claw his way to the top and become the billionaire he was meant to be? Or will his second life end behind bars, just as tragic as his first?