Apocalypse King: The Return of Lucian - Chapter 2: The Hunt Begins

A relaxing story of a business tycoon who, sick of machinations and struggle, returned to the medieval world and married into a merchant family to become a “zhui xu,” a husband that lives in the wife’s home. Even though his intentions were not so, he could not avoid the matters of family, country and world.

“There was once a person that stood at the top of the golden pyramid,

with the innumerable cheap jealousy and envy of people,

he walked this road escorted by tens of thousands of people,

yet he could not escape the long and lonely sleep under the gravestone. ”

- Description from Novelupdates

[TRIGGER WARNING: Mature Content + Dark Themes]EXCERPT:“Axel, no. We… can’t do this!” I jolted back when he pulled up my skirt.As if to retaliate, he grabbed my wrist and yanked my body to his. “We can do whatever I say we can do, María José.”“I’m your brother’s reject. Do you even hear yourself right now? He didn’t want me, Axel. What does that make me to you?”“I don’t care about Álvaro’s foolishness. It's his loss for losing a woman like you.”“Okay, I must confess. I'm not worried about him either. It's Rosa… you're getting engaged to my sister in a month!”“Let me remind you, María José—I don’t give a fuck about that, either.”No matter how hard I jerked, he wasn’t letting me go. And part of me—so, so foolishly—didn’t want him to.______Having spent her life avoiding the spotlight, María Jośe never imagined she’d be the one to bring shame to her esteemed De la Vega family. With beauty as captivating as a field of lilies, she is the prized daughter of an ambitious father who cares more for his reputation than his children’s happiness.When Álvaro Montenegro, the arrogant heir to the Alpha title, sets his sights on her as his chosen Luna, María Jośe is desperate for a way out.But everything changes when the Moon Goddess answers her prayer in the most unexpected way: María Jośe discovers she is an Omega—wolfless and the lowest rank in the pack. Once held in awe, she is now shunned; a source of shame to her father and a target for ridicule in the pack.As her life turns upside down , María Jośe's hatred for the pack grows. The only solace she finds is in her growing, forbidden bond with Axel Montenegro—Álvaro’s older brother, who has turned his back on the pack to live as Beta.These two developed a love-hate friendship born from their shared disdain for the pack’s cruelty, which slowly evolves into a passionate, secret romance.But when Álvaro discovers Axel’s interest in María Jośe, jealousy ignites within him and he suddenly wants María Jośe as his own.Love, vengeance, and betrayal all brewed into a whirlwind of drama, desires, and deadly comebacks. Will María Jośe rise from the ashes of her former life, or will she be consumed by the power struggles of the pack she despises? Will she give in to the oldest brother who is scared of commitment or the younger one who fiercely seeks redemption?

The first time I realized that I ‘couldn’t die’ was during a practical training exercise in my third year as a hero cadet.A beast suddenly leaped out of the bushes and tore into my neck.‘How did I come back to life?’Yes, I came back to life. I didn’t die.And now, after hundreds, even thousands of years, I was still alive. Only I had survived.“But now… it’s finally over.”After wandering for millennia, I thought I could finally put an end to this long existence…“Dale! Dale Han! How dare you sleep during my class? You’ve got some nerve, don’t you?”“…Huh?”But what awaited me at the end of my long existence wasn’t a period, but a repeat sign.

Shen Xi was the daughter the Jiang family had mistakenly taken home. After their real daughter, Jiang Xue, returned, Shen Xi’s foster mother asked Shen Xi to stay, hoping she could help Jiang Xue get used to life in the city as Jiang Xue had been living in the countryside all this while. Alas, everyone claimed that Shen Xi was clinging to the Jiang family because she refused to part with the family’s wealth. Her foster parents didn’t clarify this accusation. Then, Shen Xi’s fiance ended up getting engaged to Jiang Xue instead.One day, Jiang Xue killed someone when she was driving. Shen Xi’s foster parents knelt before Shen Xi, begging her to take the fall for Jiang Xue with tears in their eyes. Shen Xi agreed to their request to repay their kindness for raising her. However, she didn’t know that the person Jiang Xue had killed was her foster father, in other words, Shen Xi’s biological father! While Shen Xi was in prison, Jiang Xue even indirectly killed Shen Xi’s biological mother! In an instant, Shen Xi became an orphan.After experiencing her foster family’s ruthlessness and persecution, Shen Xi exposed the sinful deeds the Jiang family had committed over the years and Jiang Xue’s crimes after being released from prison! Then, she detonated a bomb, sacrificing her life to take revenge for her biological parents.However, after the bomb exploded, Shen Xi was shocked to find herself returning to many years ago when Jiang Xue was first found, and Shen Xi’s identity of not being the Jiang family’s real daughter was about to be exposed. During this time, she was still a rich young lady dressed in expensive clothes as she sat in the Jiang family’s car on the way to her fiance’s birthday banquet. Shen Xi’s lips curled up slightly. A good show was about to begin.She wanted to change her fate and her biological parents’ fates. However, she never expected that both her parents were heirs to a large financial group. Also, the renowned movie star, a young genius doctor, and a domineering CEO were all her biological brothers! She, who wasn’t loved in her past life, was being pampered in this life! Then, the paparazzi caught her on camera, entering a hotel with a rumored bigshot. The crowd gasped. Was this bigshot Shen Xi’s brother as well? The bigshot hugged Shen Xi’s waist and kissed her. “Nope. I’m her lover!”