Ember Dragon - Chapter 148: Dragon Rule

Once she transmigrated over, Li Haitang, an elite female doctor from the big city, is demoted to a pitiful little cabbage whose parents have both died. She is surrounded by extreme jackals, wolves, tigers and panthers family and relatives. What? She is sold to a half-dead body that is going to be buried in the ground. Has she been sold to an old man with a heavy taste? The only way to escape from the arranged marriage is to pack a bundle wrapped in a cloth! Who would have thought that on the way to the wedding, she meets a wild man who is feared by everyone in the village? The wild man has three treasures, he is hardworking, spoils his wife and has good stamina! His pectoral muscles, abs and mermaid’s line are all there.

Deep below the earth's surface, a mystifying subterranean seascape lurks, an archipelago bathed in inky blackness where suspense and horror hold court. Here lie strange islands and even stranger monsters, far beyond the realms of human imagination. In this domain, mankind is far from dominant; instead, madness and death rule supreme.

Pleading for mercy from the unknown creatures of the deep only leads to a slow, tortured existence. The trapped survivors gradually distort, losing what made them human, both physically and mentally, to the gloom as they remain trapped in this eternal obscurity. Their only hope? A perilous expedition into uncharted sea territories.

Fueled by determination, Charles embark on this daunting voyage aboard his steamship, aiming to reclaim humanity's past glory. Together with his crew, they sought a way out of this hidden sea world, a path back to the sunlit world above, where humans once stood tall.

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I read a few comments from Chinese readers that compared this novel with Lord of Mysteries because of similar elements: Lovecraftian, western fantasy, first industrial revolution, and steampunk. However, I have yet to finish reading Lord of Mysteries to do any actual comparison, but I do think those who have enjoyed that novel would enjoy this as well. Also, the author of LotM, Cuttlefish That Loves Diving, also did a shout-out for this novel, so I guess he approves of it too?

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The Synders and Thornes had always been the closest of friends. So when Kyra Thorne and James Synders both lost their parents in an accident, twenty-year-old James swore to protect ten-year-old Kyra as though he were her uncle.Twelve years later, Kyra had not only blossomed into a beautiful woman, but she also could no longer ignore the feelings she’d developed for James at nineteen. After three years of struggling to suppress them, she was finally ready to confess.However, what Kyra didn’t know was that James had long discovered her feelings—and had devised the cruelest way to reject her.But, what happened when James unintentionally crossed a line?One thing was certain: Kyra Thorne always got even, even if it meant destroying them both.

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