MTL - The Stepmother is Unkind - Chapter 38

The most dependable (sarcastic) assassin -- Gao Xuan.Developing himself with an inventory of powerful gear. A master of biding his time, backstabbing, and brutalizing weaklings.Don’t love me. Nothing would come out of this.I am an assassin without feelings.

What was originally an ordinary day, suddenly became a historical turning point. Enormous, mysterious Cubes appeared all over the world without warning and as if Judgement Day’s spears, inserted themselves into the blue planet.

From inside the enormous Cubes, endless streams of monsters gushed out alike raging tides, utterly defeating the unguarded armies of each state in the blink of an eye.

In order for humanity to preserve its final embers, the heads of states issued orders of retreat, to no longer attack the Cubes but rather to cling to remote cities, which they turned into self-sufficient survivor bases and around which they built 100-meter-tall Walls of Life!

Many years later, while bearing the heavy weight of history, the first expeditionary force brought back a world changing piece of information. The Cubes possessed exceedingly high intelligence and they regularly transmitted mission instructions to humans nearby. The mission rewards were incredible.

Since then, humans rushed out of the confines of the walls and once more set foot on the wasteland!

- Description from Novelupdates

The Last Touched is a haunting fantasy of bloodlines, broken fate, and the perilous cost of power.Elsbeth MoonChild is the last of the touched—the final descendant of a cursed lineage bound to the flame. As Alpha of the shattered 12th pack, she bears the ruin left by her father’s crime: the murder of the queen. Branded by his betrayal, hunted by her former chosen mate, and driven into exile with the last of her people, Elsbeth has one desperate path forward—to survive, she must stake her claim in the Rite of Queens, an ancient trial that demands strength, sacrifice, and the will to rule.But the Rite does more than test her body and mind. It pulls her backward in time, submerging her into the forgotten life of her ancestor—the first queen. As memories bleed into dreams and dreams into waking, Elsbeth begins to unravel a long-buried truth: the flame in her blood is not just magic. It is a weapon. A curse. A gift once traded in blood and sacrifice to end an age of chaos.And she is not the only one who carries it.Julia, her estranged sister—exiled, fire-born, and half-mad with hunger—is no hybrid. She is the living echo of the power their bloodline tried to bury. Ruthless, charismatic, and driven by the belief that the throne was stolen from her, Julia is building a gospel of grievance and flame. Her army grows in the shadows, fed by secrets and stolen children. And with each ritual, the ancient seal weakens, waking something that was never meant to rise again.Torn between duty and desire, Elsbeth clings to the one thing that keeps her tethered—Fen, her true mate, a being older than he appears, hiding a divine truth of his own. Their bond runs deeper than fate, but it terrifies her. To surrender to it would mean choosing love over the kingdom. And if she falls too far, the flame inside her might burn her from within… just as it did her father.As old gods stir and the fire in her blood begins to answer the call of something watching from beneath the ice, Elsbeth must decide: will she become the queen her people need? Or the weapon her blood was meant to wield?

Forge unparalleled mechs with the ambition of old age, and use the galaxy as a knife to smash the edge of the empire.

His name is Ji Xinghe. When he was 65 years old, he went to Alien Battlefield to avenge his son.

The old man is standing on the ground, his ambition is a thousand miles away, the old man wears armor, and fights to the galaxy, the old man drags his sword, it is not for glory.

- Description from novelbuddy