Little Prodigal Alliance Head (and Cook) - Chapter 419.1: Rootless Grass’s Flower

Lady Dawn expected to die.After casting her soul to the wind, taking a one-in-a-million chance to escape the wretched dungeons of Taegrin Caelum, the once-caged songbird of the Asclepius wishes nothing more than to find her Hearth and warn them of the coming danger. Instead, she’s found herself a shade, anchored to a young man who knows far too much—and with far less hope than she’d started with.Toren Daen, for his part, only wanted to make it home safely. Now he’s in a world taken straight from the page, questioning what is real and what is fiction, and scrambling to make something worthwhile. And with his foresight, there’s only one way that Toren can see to keep this new world safe: prevent the descent of the Legacy. But those in power will not make it easy: Nico Sever is in a league of power all on his own, and Arthur Leywin bears the burden of Fate a continent away. In this familiar-yet-not world of mana, monsters, and looming deities, any misstep along the roads of Alacrya and the High Sovereign’s Dominion could lead to a Fate worse than death.But what is death to a phoenix? With a burning secret in his mana core, knowledge of the future, and a maelstrom of fears and questions, Toren might just survive to be more than what Lady Dawn expected him to be. He might just survive to waylay the encroaching tide of death in the proxy war between raging asura clans.More than all of that, he might just live.

Facing extinction, humanity seeks salvation in the Astral Verge, a dangerous dimension accessed via portals that threatened to wipe out the entire planet.Few years later, aspiring recruit Daniel Vance enters the Verge for his final assessment, hoping to Awaken a Talent and secure his future. While others gain common abilities, Daniel secretly Awakens the mythical SSS-Grade Talent: [Soul Assimilation]. This allows him to absorb essence, enhancing gear, gaining stats and EXP from slain creatures, and crucially, absorbing attributes and skills from fallen Awakened.Witnessing the swift death of the arrogant Jaxon Rex, Daniel makes a grim choice: he assimilates Jaxon, gaining his first skill, [Kinetic Pulse]. This sets his path: scavenging the aftermath of others’ battles. He enhances gear and, after achieving his first kill on an injured beast, waits patiently to assimilate two more fallen recruits, acquiring [Quick Step] and the invaluable passive [Aura Sense].Starting as average, Daniel rapidly gains power in secret, enhanced gear, multiple skills, and boosted stats , far exceeding his peers while remaining outwardly unremarkable. He navigates the lethal Verge alone, using its inherent dangers to fuel his growth, wrestling with the moral cost of his unique, overwhelming power.

Ye Chen, the desperate fisherman in Riverland City, could catch anything but fish. He even registered a livestreaming room.Swish! Ye Chen caught a cremation urn as a bait box, hoping to change his luck with it.But as soon as someone sat down, a big fish was caught!Ye Chen was almost infuriated to the point of spitting blood!Just when he couldn't take it anymore, the system finally awakened...However, the system's achievements left him dumbfounded. Salvaging military weapons, saving people from the river, encountering floating corpses at night...[The host can catch a fish in 5 minutes]After 5 minutes, a rotten fish was hooked.Ye Chen was stunned.All the viewers in the livestreaming room were also stunned.[If the host continues fishing, a mysterious item weighing 76kg, worth 200,000, can be obtained]Ye Chen exclaimed, “Holy crap! Why can I catch everything except fish?”

The Shao and Cheng families have been sworn enemies for generations, though few outsiders know the exact details of their feud.

What is known to all is the Shao family’s three cardinal rules:

The Shao family must not cooperate with the Chengs, must not intermarry with the Chengs, and must never appear with the Chengs at any public event.

One day, an adorable little girl looking like a doll, wearing a puffy pink dress, pink hair clip, and pink backpack, walked into the lobby on the first floor of the Shao Group building.

The receptionist thought she was some child who had wandered away from home. But the little girl solemnly said, “I want to see your Shao Group CEO, Shao Chengze.”

Seeing the girl’s pink outfit, the receptionist knew she must be from a wealthy and noble family to dare to address their CEO by his full name. She couldn’t be the daughter of some high-ranking Shao Group executive?

Smiling warmly, she asked, “Little one, could you tell me your parents’ names?”

The girl tilted her head. “My mommy is Cheng Jinlan.”

Cheng…Jinlan?!

Second Miss Cheng Jinlan of the Cheng family?! She never thought she’d see the day a Cheng would set foot in the Shao Group building. What a miracle!

“As for my dad, I’ve come today to get some of Shao Chengze’s hair for a DNA test. Once I have his hair, I’ll know if he’s my dad or not.”

The girl’s crisp words rippled outwards from the front desk through the bustling first floor lobby. Everyone who heard froze in shock, jaws dropping.

Everyone except Shao Chengze, who had just stepped out of the elevator surrounded by a group.

He looked at the girl in pink through narrowed, fox-like eyes.

Cheng Liqi recognized Shao Chengze and covered her mouth in an “ah-oh”.

She decided that even if Shao Chengze wasn’t her dad, she’d have to help Cheng Jinlan get this man. She liked his eyes.

They were just like hers.

So pretty.