Steel and Sorrow: Rise of the Mercenary king - Chapter 431: Among the ants (1)

Noah is a handsome but struggling high school senior burdened by his family's poverty and his father's illness. He finds comfort in his girlfriend, Layla, until one day, a surprise visit to her house reveals her betrayal.Just as Noah is about to confront her, a mysterious robotic voice echoes in his mind:[Ding! Congratulations to the host binding the Ultimate Choice System!]Option 1: Enter the room, she will kick you out with a green hat on your head. [$100 Reward and a green hat]Option 2: Leave like you did not hear anything, and break up with her. [Rolls Royce Phantom and Basic-Driving Skill Reward]Option 3: Marry her Mom. [Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, Intermediate-Driving Skill and 10,000$ Reward]Looking at the options, Noah couldn't help but smirk.

At the peak of her career, A-list actress Song Ning announced her withdrawal from the entertainment industry for love, shocking the nation.Everyone thought that she must have found her ideal home. That was why she was so determined.At first, Song Ning thought so too. For the rest of her life, she would not be a celebrity. She would only be a virtuous and virtuous woman who would take care of her husband and children at home.However, on the night before their wedding, she found out that her fiancé was having an affair with her best friend.Enraged, Song Ning found a random man to register their marriage at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau.She originally wanted to take revenge on her scumbag fiancé, but she did not expect that the man who registered his marriage with her was the heir of nation's largest financial group, Mu Chen.After they got married, Mu Chen doted on Song Ning and protected her in every way possible. He didn't allow anyone to bully her.Song Ning always thought that she would be happy for the rest of her life and live the best life she wanted.That's right, she got it. It was just a little different from what she had originally imagined. The person who gave her everything was someone else.Many years later…Song Ning looked at Mu Chen affectionately. "I'm really lucky. Thank God I met you and saved me from hell."Mu Chen smiled faintly. “Yes, thank God.”However, Song Ning would never know. Mu Chen wasn't talking about thanking God for letting him meet Song Ning. He was thanking God for letting Song Ning's fiancé cheated on her so that he would have a chance.There was no such thing as an accidental encounter. It was just a premeditated pursuit.That day, he waited for Song Ning outside the Civil Affairs Bureau for ten hours…

When a terminally ill young man awakens in the world of his favorite childhood game, he realizes he isn’t the protagonist, the destined hero, or even a major side character. Instead, he has become an extra—a disowned noble barely clinging to relevance in a world where strength determines everything. Worse, his fate in the game was to die an early, meaningless death.Armed with only his knowledge of the game’s storyline and a common system that tracks his stats and skills, he is determined to survive. But mere survival isn’t enough. He remembers a hidden easter egg from a long-forgotten anime collaboration: the Mangekyō Sharingan—a power limited by game mechanics but unrestricted in reality.With Kamui as his trump card, he walks the fine line between fate and freedom, seizing power from the shadows while avoiding suspicion. As the protagonist and his allies battle against demons and unravel the game’s grand destiny, he secretly builds his own strength—manipulating events, mastering forgotten arts, and even forging ties with villainous factions.Will he remain a footnote in history, or will he carve his own legend in a world that was never meant to be his?

As Mingguang Sect’s esteemed Immortal Master, Yi Ning had never experienced much heartbreak and suffering. He had always expected his life to be smooth-sailing, and was only waiting to ascend before marrying his disciple with whom he shared mutual affection.

However, he had never expected that on a rainy night, his disciple brought back a childhood friend.

They were close and intimate, to the point… of sharing a bed.

Standing before the bed where they were entwined, Yi Ning’s heart was as cold as sunken ice. He had wanted to end it all cleanly and straightforwardly, yet had never expected that his disciple not only wanted his childhood friend, but wanted his Shizun too.

His disciple shattered his spiritual core and laid down a hex, throwing him into the main hall to await nightfall to consummate their relationship.

Just as he had fallen into despair and wanted to end his life, he unexpectedly discovered a strange book. The book detailed his life, and the him it described, from beginning to end, was nothing more than a tool used to satisfy his disciple’s desire to conquer, lowly and wretched as a cultivation furnace.

Yi Ning’s head spun, and his heart gave birth to a strong hatred. He dragged his wrecked body to the back of the mountain and released the Demon Venerable Yan Xuan, who he had personally sealed nine years ago.

In return for undoing the seal, Yan Xuan would aid him in escaping.

After the man heard the reason why, he leaned against the wall and smiled with a hint of mockery. Yi Ning had thought he was going to ridicule him for having deserved it, being betrayed by an ingrate who bit the hand that fed him.

Yet, what he never expected was for Yan Xuan to reach out and tug him into his embrace, and the words that left his mouth were instead:

“You fool, I’ll help you take revenge.”

After this, he killed all those who wronged him, and cradled him close to his heart.

He wants to shatter your cultivation and mangle your limbs, to turn you into a bird in a cage, free for him to humiliate.

Yet, with this lowly and dirty heart of mine, I want to pull you from the swamp and cut down the heavens for you.

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