Building a Modern Nation in a Fantasy World - Chapter 16 - : The Bribery Attempt

Welcome to The Last Step – A Tale of Fate, Power, and the Unforgiven.In a world where magic defines one's worth, three souls walk a path toward an uncertain destiny—each bearing a power that can shape the fate of nations.Lucas, the God’s Chosen Sorcerer, wields divine magic that bends reality itself, blessed by forces beyond mortal comprehension. A shining beacon of hope—or a harbinger of destruction—his path is riddled with expectations he never asked for.Celia, the Queen of Curses, commands a power feared by even the strongest mages. She carries the weight of a past filled with whispers and condemnation, but where others see a curse, she sees the strength to carve her own future.Kaiser, the Unwanted Void, stands apart. Neither blessed nor cursed, he is the anomaly that should not exist. In a world that measures worth by magic, he is a shadow in the light—yet, the abyss within him holds something far greater than mere sorcery.Together, they are bound by fate yet divided by their own battles. As war brews and forgotten gods stir, the lines between hero and villain blur. In the end, their choices will decide more than just their own lives—they will determine the very foundation of their world.This is their journey. This is their Last Step.

As long as hamster spirit Shu Shu can survive the lightning tribulation, then his cultivation will be able to turn him into a human. In the end, the lightning tribulation strikes him and he arrives in the… future?

Touching the hamster’s ear on his head, in order not to be seen by people and taken to be a monster, Shu Shu decides to dig a hole in the forest to hide and live, and as a result… a very big snake aaaahhhh! Please, don’t eat me!

The crown prince of the beast empire is seriously injured and becomes a beast that could no longer change into human form. He lives alone in the forest. One day, he sees a cute sub beastman deep in the forest. The sub beastman also sees him. At once, the sub beastman’s eyes roll backwards and he faints…. Scared to death?

Shu Shu: I have a unique technique of faking death.

- Description from Novelupdates

He was the powerful and influential heir of B City, the merciless head of the commercial world, but the divorce papers made him lose his cool.

“Sign the divorce papers, daddy,” said the 5-year-old boy.

This man had the divorce papers thrown in his face by his wife six years ago, and was now being pushed by his own son to sign the papers.

“That would make you a single-parent child,” said Gu Juexi coldly.

“Mommy said unicorns don’t exist but men like you do,” the boy leered at his father and said.

Gu Juexi’s face fell. ‘That damned woman.’

“You haven’t signed the papers,” the boy reminded as the man left. As usual, the door shut in his face.

Good lord… Dad and mom are not getting a divorce and are giving him a baby brother? How worrying!

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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