SHAMAN PROTOCOL - Chapter 54: Effigies of Power

The top student from the Agricultural University, Qiao Mu, was digging in the experimental field when her hoe struck through to the godforsaken Tupo Village.No money, no rice, no tall, rich, and handsome guy, the aunts and the older female cousins pecked at her every day, making her meals less than satisfying with constant bread rolls, leaving her so hungry she felt faint.Luckily, the Heavens took pity and rewarded her with a tall and handsome man, who was enthusiastic and bold. His debut move was to climb straight into bed, sparking rampant gossip in the village: that Qiao girl, the third daughter, is nothing but trouble at such a young age, shamelessly bringing some wild man into her boudoir to fool around – absolutely shameless!Muniang looked to the sky and bellowed, “Alpacas! You think I'm Hello Kitty when I don't show my claws?”Make a fortune, become rich, fight off the scum, raise a husband – life became increasingly lush.

One day, a villainess came to the orphanage.“I absolutely can’t stand children!”“How can someone my age have a child? It doesn’t make sense!”“What’s so great about these little creatures that tire you out all day long…”Setting aside her dislike for children…Somehow, after she arrived, the children started gaining weight.“It’s all because of the contract, you know?”That’s what she says.While personally feeding them sweets she made herself.

At the movie premiere, a curious reporter notices the marks on Xia Siyu’s neck. “What’s that?”

Xia Siyu flicks her hair carelessly. “A mosquito bit me.”

After returning home, Bo Yan pins her against the wall, his voice teasing yet dangerous.

“A mosquito? Do I need to bite you again?”

Xia Siyu gains weight easily and is always fat shamed with words like being “as fat as a pregnant woman”. One day, she is mocked so harshly that she appears on the top searches. While everyone thinks of it as another joke, the movie star, Bo Yan, replies unexpectedly, “Thank you for your well wishes! Our baby is already three months old.”

In a world ravaged by radiation and the remnants of war, Dylan is far from a classic hero. A lieutenant with a tainted past, he's just trying to survive the ruins of a dying world... until the day he wakes up bound and surrounded by the mutilated corpses of his comrades.Captured by monstrous creatures, he soon realizes he’s been transported to another world. A world far more dangerous, far more brutal—where only the strong survive, and even monsters are hunted. Saved in extremis by Maggie, his commanding officer, he begins a desperate escape. Their only hope may lie in their encounter with Élisa, an elf abandoned by her kin, and their discovery of a mysterious power: anima gems—stones imbued with spiritual essence that can enhance body and soul, and unlock the path to awakening.No One under 18 admitted