The Duchess and the Devil - Chapter 42

He was supposed to die in the academy dungeon.Instead, Earth’s greatest war hero opens his eyes as Velorum’s most hated student—the “villain” everyone expects to be executed by midterms.Swordsmen duel, mages burn, saints bless, tamers command beasts. He, unfortunately, practices the one art people fear most: necromancy. He doesn’t want a throne or revenge; after a lifetime of medals and funerals, he wants something scandalous for a villain—to live well. To laugh after curfew, to taste street food, to keep the friends who chose him alive.But the church wants a heretic, the crown wants a scapegoat, and the academy’s golden hero can’t explain why the “villain” keeps winning.Call him monster, call him traitor—he’ll carve out a life worth living, and smile while he does it.

Richard Maddox, a once-promising football prodigy, dreamed of becoming a star. But just as his dream was within reach, it was abruptly shattered when he banged his head on the goalpost, fracturing his skull. Forced into early retirement, Richard vanished from the public eye.People thought Richard Maddox was done for. However, no one expected that during his unconscious state, his spirit detached from his body. He drifted through time, witnessing the world of football from the perspective of a ghost. It was strange, unpleasant, yet exciting. No need for tickets or travel—he could simply fly.England, Italy, Spain, Germany—the best football countries in Europe—and even the passionate South America, the energetic Africa, and the growing Asia—Richard observed the rise and fall of football giants, all from the sidelines.However, watching football from the other side was quite different from experiencing it live. He missed the cheering, singing, and chanting with the other fans. No one could hear him now. No one could watch football with him. He was... alone.Just as Richard was about to be bored to death, his soul was sucked back, and he realized that only an entire year had passed.'Interesting,' he thought, laughing. “I could bet, invest in companies that will succeed in the future, and get rich. Bitcoin, I'm coming, baby.”but who could have guessed that Richard would dive so deep into the world of football—From owning a single share to testing the waters as a scout, trying his hand as an agent, and eventually stepping into the world of coaching, before finally diving into the realm of football club ownership.It has truly been a full spectrum of football, the highs and the lows. Join us as we welcome Richard Maddox!

He went from an ordinary student to a god-level master in manufacturing.
Continuously progressing, processing range from hundreds of meters to tens of atoms, processing precision from microns to nanometers to atoms and molecules, everything was possible.
Wassenaar Accord? The embargo against China? What we have banned are technologies that China doesn’t care much about. Most of the member states have to import technology from China, shouldn’t the member states have a meeting to discuss and bring in China as well?
Forbidden chip sales? Is there a mistake? We barely managed to maintain our low-end market with a large amount of subsidies, it’s already good enough that China didn’t initiate an anti-dumping investigation. President, are you sick?
Hmm, it seems like living cells can be processed precisely as well. Do you need to refine the cancer cells that you are spreading out?

- Description from Novelupdates

He took her as payment.He never expected to fall for her fire.When Mira Valente’s brother vanishes with cartel money, the mafia comes knocking—and she’s the price.Cold, ruthless, and untouchably powerful, Jace Romano doesn’t need a wife. But Mira? She’s defiant, sharp-tongued, and everything he wasn’t prepared for.Forced into a marriage she never wanted, Mira enters a world ruled by silence, blood, and shadows. Jace may own her freedom, but not her soul. She refuses to break, even as the lines between hate and desire begin to blur.But when secrets surface, betrayals cut deep, and war brews on all sides, Mira and Jace must choose: destroy each other—or fight to survive something neither of them ever saw coming.A slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers mafia romance filled with power, passion, and the kind of love that could ruin them both… or make them unstoppable.