The Devil's Duchess - Chapter 10: A mother’s wrath

I am currently re-writing the first chapters of this story. They are quite rough and bounce around a lot and I can do better. At some point, I will replace these with the better chapters.Sometime in 2024 Aethon Books will publish the first volume of this story on Amazon, KU, and audible. This will mean the story will be stubbed. I will notify people far in advance of that.In the dystopian world of the future, life is rough when you live at the bottom. Jobs are non-existent. Far too many people live in poverty, crammed into huge buildings called Habitats. With no jobs in the real world, many people can only find work online in VR worlds as servants to the very rich. And it's getting worse. The old internet is unusable and hacked to pieces. The new system needs AI to run things, but all but one of them were destroyed. The last sentient AI is ordered to create a new game world so the rich can have a playground, and the corporations that rule the world can have a new global market place. Everyone wants a piece of the new game. The guilds are competing to be the first to find the dungeons and kill the biggest monster. The corporations are claiming land and putting in their online market places. Ozzy and his friends just want a paycheck.Four friends sign five year contracts as virtual serfs in a small village, and can't go adventuring at all to gain money. They don't have many choices. They can work as a blacksmith, barmaid and shepherd for all those years....or they can cheat and find ways to take advantage of the system and carve out a section of the game world for themselves, and earn a fortune in the real world.When they give you a mop and not a sword, you have to find the loopholes and change the rules.

I was the Pope.I had ten years to save the world from destruction.I came close to death many times, saved the world, and finally returned to Earth…[Warning! If you do not reach the target number of believers within 90 days, your system will be reset!]“…Excuse me?”“What?”“…I’ve come to tell you about the good news of our Lord.”

Zhang Xuan, one of the most shameless MCs in Webnovel history, enters the [Source World], a plane higher than the Firmament. With the complete Heaven’s Path Library that contains the abilities of Heavenly Flaws, Heavenly Order, and Heavenly Nature, he embarks on a journey to dominate the world.Seeking fate, recognizing fate, understanding fate, establishing fate… While you all are still refining fate, finding fate, and borrowing fate, I, Zhang Xuan, possess eternal destiny!(A novel full of face-slapping moments. Even if you haven’t read “Library of Heaven’s Path,” you can enjoy this without reading barriers.)

But things seem to be different from the history that he knows.In this strange land, ancient legends walk the earth. Here Witches, Manticores, Vampires, Werewolves, Sirens, Dragons and Krakens are all terrifyingly real.As if that weren’t enough, this is also the age of legendary rulers—Baldwin, Saladin, and Richard the Lionheart —each destined to shape history in a new wave of Crusades.Amidst bloodshed and glory, Lothar must use his only advantage—his Gacha System—to build his territory, summon legendary units, and carve out his legacy in a world where ambition reigns and power speaks.