Crown of Thorns - Chapter 29

“Here you go, this is your wage for the week.”After passing over a small pouch, the woman with her legs crossed behind the desk casually made a 'Check' in a notebook and then, without looking up, waved her hand to dismiss him and said:“Remember to file your taxes... Next!”“Wait a minute!”After pouring out the coins from the pouch and looking at the eight large and one small, totaling nine filthy coins in his palm, Leon couldn't help but widen his eyes in shock, almost wanting to pounce on her and fight to the death right there and then.“Damn it! I just repelled the evil god who was trying to erode the world this Tuesday! You bastard even wants to deduct the salary of the savior?”

When natural disasters ran rampant, with extreme cold and storms spreading endlessly…When the world mutated, zombies surged like tides, and eerie horrors emerged…When the apocalypse descended, massive Devouring Abysses hundreds of kilometers in diameter began appearing around the globe…When people looked up at the atmospheric cloud layers and saw the slowly emerging corpse of a colossal evil god…From that day, people began to notice that daylight was arriving later and later, until the sun no longer rose, plunging the world into an unending polar night.For survival, on that day, the Apocalypse Radio made its final broadcast to the world:“Everyone, flee eastward—escape to dawn!”…Lin Xian awakened the [Mechanical Heart] ability. He could devour machinery to gain various mysterious skills, scan machines to obtain blueprints for manufacturing, and even use his thoughts to achieve unified control of different machines.Thus, he found a 200-ton heavy gas-powered locomotive, towing specially modified storage, planting, production, medical, and living carriages, and embarked on a 320,000-kilometer journey along the planetary orbital rail—charging eastward toward the dawn!

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.

People called him a genius—but Agares never believed it.Tired of expectations, he abandoned everything to live an ordinary life, working just to survive in a cruel world.But fate had other plans.A sudden transmigration took Agares into a world of swords and sorcery—a land ravaged by demons, ruled by power, and merciless to the weak.To his shock, he awakens as one of the Chosen Heroes. Sounds like a dream come true?Wrong.“That's a cursed job!”“He's no hero—he's a demon in disguise!”“Kill him! For the sake of the world!”[DING! Congratulations, you have obtained a Job.][Name: Agares][Job: Saber]Hunted by the empire he was meant to protect, feared for the power he never asked for, Agares finds himself branded a threat to humanity. All because of a job he didn’t choose.Just as the noose tightens, a red-eyed woman named Liel offers him a different path:“You were born to be more than their hero.”“The empire betrayed you. Humanity rejected you. Even nature turns away.”“Why not embrace what they fear —and become the successor of the Demon Emperor?”Now, Agares has a choice: run, or rise.This is the beginning of his war.A war not just for survival —but for vengeance.