Desolate Era - Book 6, Chapter 3 - A Tempest Outside the Straw Hut

“W-w-w-welcome to the simulation zone.”“New user recognized.”“Proceeding to register...”“Please wait...”“Register complete.”“Welcome, user number 4956: Evan Rotewed.”In a world of mana, those without reserves for it gets left behind. Rules and regulations are set to categorize everything into neat piles, each promising the highest potential a person with mana can get. Starting his life at the rock bottom, Evan Rotewed swore he will rise above it all, even if he had to break the ironclad system the entire world holds close to its chest. Wave a hand to the broken reflection beyond the mirror of ones and zeroes. System Discord.

Kai’s life was small—coffee-stained mornings, cracked recipes, and a system in his head that tweaked toasters and dough like it was nothing. Then the sky shattered. Aliens—Skraiths, jagged and brutal—invaded, tearing his city apart with green-glowing weapons and relentless claws. Superhumans rose to fight back, fire and lightning blazing through the chaos, but Kai’s world crumbled with them.Hiding in his apartment, Kai stumbles on blood—human and alien, smeared on his wall after a superhuman battle. His system, once just a tinker’s tool, awakens, offering him a choice: mimic their powers, temporary and wild, through the blood itself. Desperate, he takes it—stealing pyrokinesis, then electrokinesis, then kinetic energy, each power burning through him, fading fast. But it’s not enough. Armed with a humming Skraith weapon and a body tougher from alien blood, Kai joins a ragtag crew of enhanced fighters—Liv, Rylan, Jace, and Tucker—scraping to survive in a warzone where every shadow hides death.As Skraiths swarm and the city burns, Kai’s system pushes him deeper, analyzing, integrating, crafting minor enhancements—durability, strength, sparks of power that could make him a target or a savior. Government factions, rogue scientists, and the aliens themselves start sniffing around, drawn to his strange tech and blood-stolen abilities. By the time Kai crafts his first super-powered enhancement—an artificial strength boost—he’s no longer just a tinkerer. He’s on the edge of something bigger, something dangerous, where blood and sparks could forge a hero—or break him entirely.In a world unraveling, Kai’s fight for survival becomes a desperate race to master his system, outrun the Skraiths, and confront the truth: the power he’s chasing might destroy him—or remake the world.

Chen Qizhao was reborn and returned to the age of 18 when he was still the wicked little overlord of the Chen family.

At this time, his brother hadn’t experienced a car accident while his parents were in good health and weren’t seriously ill. The Chen family was still the prosperous Chen family and everyone thought he was a good-for-nothing who was useless and easily taken advantage of.

“He only knows how to quarrel with his older brother every day. He is arrogant and willful!”

“He looks good, but unfortunately, he is an idiot.”

“Isn’t he a useless person? Just serve him well.”

“It is a pity about that child of the Chen family.”

There were the group of scoundrel friends who were full of thoughts, the rats eyeing him covetously and the old, cunning people who were secretly scheming.

Chen Qizhao put on a mask of arrogance again. ‘Do you like acting so much? Why don’t we act together?’

It wasn’t until later that everyone discovered that at the end of the play, they would either go bankrupt or be imprisoned.

- Description from Novelupdates

Every drop of this family bloodline is stained with sin. They are the embodiment of contradiction; calm yet maniacal, with great memories yet often forgetful. They pledge themselves to their dreams yet often compromise, are angels that are also devils… It’s why I hate them. And also love them.