Embers Ad Infinitum - Chapter 921: Cooperation

After retiring from the National Team, Qi Yue devoted herself to the study of agriculture.At a certain gathering, someone instigated a challenge, proposing that whoever lost at the shooting game would have to be kissed by Qi Yue.Seeing Qi Yue in the test fields, carrying a hoe, covered in mud and planting potatoes without any care for her appearance, turned everyone’s faces green with unease.Everyone scrambled to aim for the bullseye, terrified of being penalized.The final result was that the male god of University A, Gu Huai, raised his hand and shot a zero.The second time they met, Gu Huai was being maliciously provoked and overwhelmed at the Fencing Gym.Qi Yue couldn't stand by and was compelled to intervene.The third time they met, Gu Huai was homeless on the streets.Qi Yue spent all her living expenses for three months to help him.Years later.Qi Yue looked at the world shooting records certificate, the fencing championship trophy, and the dozen or so real estate certificates, all bearing Gu Huai's name, and fell into deep thought: “......”

In the land of the Xia Kingdom, every human being is born with what is known as a ‘resonance’, either to a specific element or a powerful, mythical beast. Unfortunately, Li Luo was born with an incredibly rare condition known as a blank resonance – as the name suggests, he doesn’t have one! Normally, this would be utterly crippling, but at least he has the advantage of being the young master of the mighty House Loulan, one of the five Great Houses of Xia. Unfortunately, his parents, the powerful masters of House Loulan, have gone missing for many years, and the other Great Houses are beginning to eye their holdings quite hungrily. For that matter, plenty are also eyeing his talented, beautiful childhood friend and fiancee Jiang Qing’e, who has been leading House Loulan in his parents’ stead! Li Luo would much rather keep a low profile and wants to call off the engagement – but Jiang Qing’e has flatly refused. What’s a ‘useless young master’ to do?

Adam, who mysteriously transmigrated to the Marvel universe over a decade ago, has established the powerful Umbrella Corporation. Now, he's unleashing a new era of viral evolution. The Progenitor Virus, T-Virus, C-Virus, and G-Virus are just the beginning of his sinister plans.As heroes and villains struggle to contain the chaos, new threats emerge: the Blacklight Virus, Z-Virus, and the dreaded Cthulhu Virus. Adam's shadowy influence grows, pushing the Marvel universe to its limits.

I am currently re-writing the first chapters of this story. They are quite rough and bounce around a lot and I can do better. At some point, I will replace these with the better chapters.Sometime in 2024 Aethon Books will publish the first volume of this story on Amazon, KU, and audible. This will mean the story will be stubbed. I will notify people far in advance of that.In the dystopian world of the future, life is rough when you live at the bottom. Jobs are non-existent. Far too many people live in poverty, crammed into huge buildings called Habitats. With no jobs in the real world, many people can only find work online in VR worlds as servants to the very rich. And it's getting worse. The old internet is unusable and hacked to pieces. The new system needs AI to run things, but all but one of them were destroyed. The last sentient AI is ordered to create a new game world so the rich can have a playground, and the corporations that rule the world can have a new global market place. Everyone wants a piece of the new game. The guilds are competing to be the first to find the dungeons and kill the biggest monster. The corporations are claiming land and putting in their online market places. Ozzy and his friends just want a paycheck.Four friends sign five year contracts as virtual serfs in a small village, and can't go adventuring at all to gain money. They don't have many choices. They can work as a blacksmith, barmaid and shepherd for all those years....or they can cheat and find ways to take advantage of the system and carve out a section of the game world for themselves, and earn a fortune in the real world.When they give you a mop and not a sword, you have to find the loopholes and change the rules.