MTL - Pirates: Steel Chain Fingers - v2 Chapter 421 Steel Chain Finger Requiem

A conversation with a handsome stranger leaves Ariane chained in a cellar with a strange affliction. She soon discovers that the darkness of the nineteenth century’s Deep South hides many dangers. Mages, wolf shifters and the humans who hunt them play a risky game where to stumble is to die, all under the amused gaze of the apex predators of the supernatural world: vampires.

It is never healthy to attract the gaze of the aristocracy of the night. It takes much to survive in this merciless world, but Ariane will not let that deter her. The southern belle has a bite, and she is willing to learn and to grow in this hostile new world. She will use whatever means necessary to reclaim her freedom, be it guile, charm, or those intriguing new instincts that make blood so delectable.

This is a story of vampires as I believe they should be, with their strengths and weaknesses, with their remnants of humanity and the beast inside. Updates every Friday. Mind the tags.

Cover by Antti Hakosaari: https://www.artstation.com/haco

Special thanks to Svensonsen for getting me started, as well as Omi Nya, Hesketh, Rhaegar, Yaksher, Selkie and Raven for proofreading my stuff. Thanks to my patrons and you dear readers, for the support. I could not do it without you.

Journey is on Amazon, both in ebooks and audio. here is a link to the first one:

https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B08DK6G8Y8

The story probably exists in your local marketplace as well of I can tempt you.

There was a man in the modern world that built his business empire from scratch. He was hailed as a genius by his peers and was respected worldwide due to his contributions to the world.If it is not only for that unfortunate accident that led to his death. He was a man who could potentially change the world with his mind that still stores a plethora of ideas.But—fate had others plan with him. He found himself in another world, what’s more, it’s primitive and technologically backwards compared to his last world. And what’s more, he turned into his younger self, and in this world, he was an orphaned boy.For him to survive, he must use everything that he had at his disposal, and that was all in his head.

In the past, there was a small cannon fodder who wholeheartedly dedicated herself to the medicinal path.

Only after dying once did she learned that even if she was brilliant, she could only be an insignificant side character used to emphasize the female lead’s limelight. Any relationship with the male lead and other supporting male characters would bring her bad luck.

When going out to collect some medicinal herbs in Qingfeng Valley, she kindly rescued a male side character. The man woke up and saw the female lead and became eternally grateful to her instead. He thought that the monster that hurt him was brought by the small cannon fodder so she was punished.

The cycle repeated and eventually everyone she saved blindly loved the righteous female lead. Ultimately she was killed by one of the men who was entangled with the female lead.

……

So after her rebirth, she began to firmly adhere to the principle of ‘pay me first, then I’ll cure you’.

Male cannon fodders who love the female lead, charge them triple fee!

Male side characters who ambiguously entangled with the female lead, charge them 10 times!

Male lead, the most important one, charged him 100 times!

She single heartedly insisted on using money to distance herself from those men and drew a clear boundary between them. But her ability was too high, that the male lead and side characters from all over the world always came to her for help…

She finally became the richest person in cultivation world!

Angel Johnson was a waitress struggling to make ends meet when an unexpected contract with Tryson Bliss, one of City Y's most powerful and ruthless billionaires, changed everything.Tryson needed a fiancée to appease his demanding family, and Angel, desperate for money and a way out of her humdrum life, agreed to play the part.What began as a calculated arrangement soon evolved into something neither of them expected—an intense and forbidden connection.But when Tryson's family uncovers Angel's true motives, they cast her out with venomous disdain.Humiliated and heartbroken, Angel's last hope is confronting Tryson. But instead of an apology or a chance at redemption, she finds herself shattered when he declares that he has chosen his first love, Riley, the woman he was preparing to marry.Devastated and with only her pride left, Angel walks away, determined to rebuild her life alone.Two months later, Angel is lost in the pulse of the music at a dark, crowded bar, seeking refuge in anonymity.A hand seizes her from behind, and her breath catches as she turns to face the man she can't forget—Tryson.His eyes, once cold and calculating, are now stormy with raw emotion, and he pulls her into his orbit, holding out the contract she once signed. “We haven't finished our work, Angel. The contract says you have a year left to be my fiancée. Don't tell me you're planning on breaching it now.”With no choice but to comply, Angel moves back into the house that once rejected her.But to her surprise, the family she once loathed now welcomes her with unexpected warmth and kindness.As she navigates this unsettling shift, Angel is left to wonder—what has changed, and why?What secrets do they hide that could alter everything she thought she knew about Tryson and his family?And as Angel's heart begins to thaw, she's confronted with the hardest question of all: Can she keep the secrets she's hidden from Tryson?And will Tryson fight for her love a second time, despite everything that has come between them?