The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary - Chapter 229: Tempted by Strange Thoughts

“Evil God of the Universe, You are in every space and time. Present in every dimension of reality and govern the darkness of our world.Oh, almighty Atticus! Hear our plea and grant us your presence tonight, awaken my Lord!”The rain had completely stopped and the strong gale had subsided into the fading raindrops. The night had turned eerily silent and only the sizzling and cackling of the fire entered their ears.Suddenly, they all felt like floating from their feet despite setting foot on the watery, hard ground, as if they were traversing into space. The darkness of the night gradually turned darker, enveloping them, morphing into everyone, like a void eating them slowly. Sequentially, their breathing turned oddly slower. Despite exaggeratedly inhaling air to breathe, it was to no avail, as if a higher entity was limiting them from breathing.Nolan felt his throat and tried to open his mouth to gasp more air but failed. Everyone but him was in a state of indignation and panic as they struggled to breathe to fill their lungs with air. Nolan tried to calm his heart. He closed his eyes and stopped inhaling air in pure panic, instead, he put his heartbeat and breathing into a rhythm. It was hard at first, but after a minute, he found his breathing gradually went stable.His whole being was in pure anticipation of what was going to happen next.After a couple more minutes, the storm completely subsided, the night turned to normal. Nolan remained standing, taking in his surroundings with his eyes closed. Everything turned silent. The eerie atmosphere and the crackling of the fire from the hay figure didn’t even enter his ears. Nolan waited for a couple more minutes, his breathing turning normal. He was reluctant to open his eyes, afraid he might ruin their ritual.“It’s alright now, Young Master. You can open your eyes now.”Nolan’s breathing hitched. He jolted on his feet as he fluttered his eyes open.“Atticus? W-why are you here?”The butler, standing in front of him, a raincoat hung on his arm, smiled. “I am everywhere, Young Master, in order to best serve you.”****Atticus, a demi-god from the underworld, was cast out of his parents' realm and banished to the human world. The reason? He had yet to give them any grandchildren.Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction and is purely the product of my imagination. Any resemblance to real people, events, or beliefs is entirely coincidental. The intention is not to disrespect or diminish any faith or tradition, but rather to explore ideas within a fictional context. Reader discretion is advised.

_ _ _ _ MXFXF relationship. Please read the note. Please add it to the collection then and support me. All feedback will be appreciated. Check my profile for more workShe was not the heiress, the eldest, or the youngest. She just existed in the family, keeping her head down and letting herself wash away until she could leave.“I tried standing out, staying quiet, and even voicing my thoughts. But no matter what I do, I am never acknowledged. Does my existence even matter? After all, it's not like anyone in this family even likes me.”Rika Goodwill was the shame of her family. Born the middle 'beta' child of a prominent Alpha-Omega couple, it was natural for her to be neglected compared to her perfect Alpha brother and sweet Omega sister.Her situation outside of her family was no better. People avoided her because of her mafia family and judged her nature without a second thought.Her only friends were the 'sweetheart couple of the century'. But Rika had somehow become a third wheel between their bickering and frequent breakups.Over the course of her 17-year-old life, Rika had come to accept her fate and move on. After all, no amount of complaining would ever change her situation of being a third wheel.Collage was supposed to be her big break. It was supposed to be the time Rika had for herself, where she could feel like herself, so she applied for a place where no one knew her.This was supposed to be her lucky break! Rika was supposed to get away from her worsening life.But neither her family nor her 'friends' were ready to let her go, and it did not take long for her peaceful life to turn sour.

“Look, boss, that red dragon lacks dragon's might, and it doesn't even know how to breathe fire. Let's take it down and make a fortune,” said one of the adventurers.At that moment, the lethargic red dragon opened its eyes, looked at the adventurers appearing before it, drew a forty-meter sword, and deployed techniques such as Sword Mastery, Samadhi True Fire, Eighty Nine Mystical Powers, and Law Heaven and Earth...The world became quiet again, and the red dragon rolled over and continued its nap.This is the story of a red dragon who, after years as an overworked employee, finds himself reincarnated in another world.Devoid of the intrinsic knowledge and natural abilities of dragons, it wields other formidable skills.

He is Monkey D. Luffy, but not the original Monkey D. Luffy, because in this world, that one is Lucy, his blood sister, while he had a peaceful childhood with his other three brothers. They all ended up following different paths since he didn’t have his memories. It was only when he entered a barrel lost at sea to save himself that he finally began to regain all the knowledge he had of this world from his past life. On top of that, he realized he could use this knowledge to his advantage to acquire everything he needed on his adventure. He was given four chances to summon people to start his journey, and more importantly, he finally received his two devil fruits, becoming powerful from the very beginning, with a plan that stretched to the end of his adventure.This story is the adventure of a man called Monkey D. Luffy, with the goal of becoming the emperor of all the seas in the world. For that, he will find the One Piece and destroy the World Government, for they cannot coexist. Be it the Marines, government agents, CP units, Tenryuubito, Holy Knights, Gorosei, or Im, Luffy will walk over a mountain of corpses.“I want you in my crew. Together, we will change the whole world and turn it upside down.”“Hahaha. Don’t worry, I believe in your potential, that's why I want you in my crew.”“My swordsman already fought you and lost. Now let’s see the strength of the world’s greatest swordsman too, right, Yamato? I hope you don’t mind fighting two rookies at once...?”“Awaken... Awaken my power... and destroy all your enemies...”“It’s good to see you after so long, Grandpa... and you, sister.”“Monkey D.? The most dangerous family in the world!”“Isn’t it a beautiful scene? Two Shichibukai and a Vice Admiral as my trophies! Come on, take a good picture and put it on tomorrow’s newspaper cover!”“I declare this kingdom my territory!”“Enel, you’re nothing but an idiot with a god complex. If you’re a god... then I’m a god slayer.”“As you said, Teach, people’s dreams never end! And if people’s dreams never end, why should I stop?”“Doflamingo... Jake... you’re so far from home. I hope you don’t regret this.”“You narcissistic woman, how can someone be so annoying and arrogant?”“What did you say, you damned man?!”“I now declare you husband and wife.”“It's time to return to the Blue Sea, after all, we have a world to shake.”“CP9? What a disappointment, Sengoku. I want money for them and Doflamingo... I want 2 billion berries at Enies Lobby in a few days.”“Enies Lobby was completely destroyed...?”“I've fought Mihawk, Jimbei, Crocodile, Doflamingo, Hancock, and Moria... you're the only one left, Kuma...”“It seems we've finally met, Rayleigh...”“Let's invade Impel Down!”“I came here to find you, sister, it's time for you to join my crew... Joygirl...”“It looks like we've finally arrived at the war.”“Sengoku... you tried to arm yourself to execute my brother, so I'll make an example of this Tenryuubito for the whole world.”“You can't do this...!”*BANG!*“He actually did it, that bastard....”“Your chains are loose, move your ass and get out of Marineford!!”“Saturn!!! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!”“I couldn't kill you last time, Akainu... but I'll make sure to do it now.”“Destroy the rest of Marineford.”“Let's get out of here. When you return, you'll take over this country for your family, Rebecca.”“No matter if we're on opposite sides... I will always love you, grandpa.”“It's time to start our training.”“Let's begin. Now, let's head to the New World, capture territories, and grow our fleet.”“Is the entire Straw Hat fleet ready? Now let's head to Wano, after all, we have a war against two Yonkou!”