Mr. Xiao’s Unconditional Love - Chapter 257: Overestimating Yourself

This is a ‘rebirth’ story where Chen Rong, the heroine, finds her second chance at life after burning herself to death. Set in the Eastern Jin era when bureaucrats and their lofty yet equally hypocritical and oppressive ideas once ruled the empire, Chen Rong is made to use her past life’s experience to survive and hopefully find happiness this time around.

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Seventeen-year-old Aiden Rivera’s life changes forever on a dark, quiet night when he's attacked while returning from a bookstore. Just when all hope seems lost, a mysterious stranger emerges from the shadows—swift, powerful, and deadly. He saves Aiden and disappears just as quickly into the night. That stranger's name? Aiden doesn’t know. But from that moment, Aiden can’t stop thinking about him.Determined to find his silent guardian, Aiden scours the internet, describing every detail he remembers. To his shock, a face match reveals the stranger's name: Ryker Kane, heir to a powerful corporate empire… and a student at an elite, almost mythical academy. It’s not quite a high school, not quite a university—more like something in between. Something hidden.One of Ryker’s photos contains a strange symbol that leads Aiden to an encrypted link. It makes a bizarre demand: a drop of blood to apply. Aiden laughs at the absurdity of it—until curiosity wins. What could one drop of blood hurt?He sends it, expecting nothing.A week later, an ornate envelope arrives. He’s in.Eager to reunite with Ryker, Aiden travels to the secluded academy… only to step into a world straight out of a fantasy novel. Students with glowing eyes. Talking animals. Ethereal beings with pointed ears. Some even arrive through portals.Suddenly, Aiden isn’t just the new kid. He’s the only human in a school that isn’t meant for people like him. And all he can think is:What the hell did I just get myself into?

Depth-Dwellers are long extinct.All except for a single one..Waking up after being dragged by the pressuring tides, Cetas finds himself in the middle of an unfamiliar ship, greeted by a distinct group of pirates.Without any knowledge about humanity at all, he traverses the seas with the unknown band of pirates and learns about their culture and speech. In a world where 'Zeal' serves an essence for humanity's power, Cetas must learn to ascend the ranks to protect those that he cherishes.For when the mysteries beyond the fog arises, the Dreadspawns begin to wreak havoc, and the Leviathans rise up into the world..'Would Cetas become a 'human' worthy of saving those that he loves?'

Childhood, upbringing, family background, social relations, traumatic experiences…

We keep reviewing and seeking out the motives of criminals, exploring the subtlest emotions driving them. It’s not to put ourselves in their shoes and sympathize, or even forgive them; it’s not to find some reasons to exculpate their crimes; it’s not to kneel down before the so-called “complexity of human nature”; nor to introspect social conflicts, much less to alienate ourselves into monsters.

We just want to have a fair trial – for ourselves and for those who still have hope for the world.

A seme thug specialized in dealing with various kinds of disobedience vs. a cowardly and dissolute uke descended from a rich family

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