Ark - Volume 18 Chapter 8

Our protagonist, Xu Yi, is born with a silver spoon in his mouth, able to live a happy and worriless life. However, he wasn’t able to enjoy this life for long, as the revenge of his family’s enemies quickly caught up to him.The enemies are much more powerful than Xu Yi; therefore, he has no choice but to be obedient. However, forbearance is not always a good policy. The enemies take advantage of his passiveness and bully him even more. These little sparks of anger have finally become an uncontrollable fury for Xu Yi, compelling him to seek revenge.

Can't a man maintain his dignity while preparing for the end of the world? Is that too much to ask?

The Tower was all I knew... all any of us knew, and just like that, it was gone. Monsters the likes of which I'd never seen ravaged the land of my ancestors. They burst through the outer walls and stormed the city. No one could have been ready for that. But now... Now I have a second chance.

After the collapse of the known world, I woke up to find myself on the First Floor of the Tower. I was young and healthy, 18 again, and sitting in the same classroom that marked the worst days of my life. Confused and excited, I accepted this gift, deciding to use my vast knowledge of the future to climb the Tower in preparation for the end of the world.

Maybe I'll help some folks along the way? Who knows. Survival comes first.

The clock is ticking, and I'm left with only a century to build a Deck powerful enough to survive the end. Things to do... What's first? I need Essence, and I need power. I'll have to climb the Tower to acquire both of these. Some of the zealots will try to stop me, need to look out for those. What if-

“Hey, kid! Hand over the pouch or-”

Stab

Sorry, where was I? Ah... there's a spot of blood on my suit. What a lousy morning.

In this world of blood and fantasy, century-old Rowan Wilder has to not only survive, but thrive as he powers his way to the top of the Tower. The Demonic Plague that has twisted the creatures on the upper Floors is the least of his worries. Cane in hand and Summons by his side, he'll have to tear his way through the monsters, as well as the humans who want to stop his ascent. Of course, he can maintain a sense of decorum while he faces these trials, right?

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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Superpowers descended upon the world. This was a world where everyone awakened to superpowers.

Some people awakened to abilities at the lowest F rank. They could only work the most difficult jobs for their entire lives. Meanwhile, some people started off with S rank powers and skyrocketed to fame.

In this age where talents determined everything, Ling Feng awakened the clone ability, which was ranked second last in the F rank powers.

The crowd mocked him, “That is one of the most useless talents. After one awakens this ability, they can create a clone of themselves. However, their strength is halved in the process. Aside from running errands and making deliveries, it is useless.”

However, very soon, Ling Feng discovered that something was off. That was because his talent could level up from the lowest F rank up to the SSR rank! He had unlimited clones and unlimited evolution!

Many years later, half of the superpower users in the world were Ling Feng’s clones.