The Strongest Dandy in the City - Chapter 348: Pride Must Be Backed By Ability

“You must take her place... Just tonight!”****Aria Thorne is an Omega—lowest in the pack and lowest in her own home. Abused by her mother, hated by her twin sister Celeste, and treated like nothing more than a burden, Aria’s life has been nothing but pain and survival. But everything changes the day the Alpha’s royal guard arrives with a scroll in hand and a single, shocking message: the new Luna must come from Aria’s family… and she must be a virgin.Celeste can’t qualify. Aria does. But instead of celebrating her fate, Aria is forced to impersonate her sister in a cruel scheme—just to save her own skin and earn a sliver of love from the mother who blames her for the death of an unborn child. Dressed in her sister’s skin, Aria is sent to marry a powerful Alpha she’s never met. But what happens when the Alpha senses something’s off... and ends up claiming the wrong Luna?What starts as a lie soon sparks something deeper. A connection. A bond. A war.Can Aria survive in a world built to break her? Will the Alpha protect her once the truth comes out—or destroy her like everyone else ever has?

From humble beginnings, he ascended, overcoming every obstacle and living life on his own terms—until death took its toll. Yet destiny had a different design. Reborn into a world of greater splendor and majesty, he is granted a fresh start and boundless opportunities to rise again. This time, his journey begins from an entirely new vantage point, as he is reincarnated as the son of the most powerful woman in the universe. Follow his path of ambition and indulgence as he forges a new legacy and leaves his mark on an even grander stage.

The Peng Society for Gentlemen — a secret friend-making club for the homosexual men of the Great Xia Dynasty. Its services were designed to help its members along in their quest for their lifelong partners. Upon paying a monthly fee of fifty coins, members could get themselves listed in The Pengornisseur after providing a self-portrait, a mailing address, their age and hobbies, as well as a self-introduction. All members would receive a copy of the monthly publication, and they could communicate with one another in private using the information in The Pengornisseur.

Wu Xingzi, a bachelor about to turn forty, worked as the adviser to the magistrate in Qingcheng County.

Qingcheng County was a place with barely any resources. In other words, it was poor. In the list of counties of the Great Xia Dynasty, it had been ranked at the bottom for the past two hundred years.

Wu Xingzi felt that his life was hopeless: not only was he a homosexual, he was also a virgin. Even his retirement fund was lacking. Worse still, his looks were… forgettable.

He might as well die.

Hence, Wu Xingzi decided to commit suicide on his fortieth birthday. However, he was unwilling to remain a virgin to death! And so, gritting his teeth, he joined the Peng Society for Gentlemen and received The Pengornisseur. It was very painful; after all, fifty coins were the sum of his daily expenditure for ten days! He would only pay it once, and he was determined to succeed on his first try.

I am currently re-writing the first chapters of this story. They are quite rough and bounce around a lot and I can do better. At some point, I will replace these with the better chapters.Sometime in 2024 Aethon Books will publish the first volume of this story on Amazon, KU, and audible. This will mean the story will be stubbed. I will notify people far in advance of that.In the dystopian world of the future, life is rough when you live at the bottom. Jobs are non-existent. Far too many people live in poverty, crammed into huge buildings called Habitats. With no jobs in the real world, many people can only find work online in VR worlds as servants to the very rich. And it's getting worse. The old internet is unusable and hacked to pieces. The new system needs AI to run things, but all but one of them were destroyed. The last sentient AI is ordered to create a new game world so the rich can have a playground, and the corporations that rule the world can have a new global market place. Everyone wants a piece of the new game. The guilds are competing to be the first to find the dungeons and kill the biggest monster. The corporations are claiming land and putting in their online market places. Ozzy and his friends just want a paycheck.Four friends sign five year contracts as virtual serfs in a small village, and can't go adventuring at all to gain money. They don't have many choices. They can work as a blacksmith, barmaid and shepherd for all those years....or they can cheat and find ways to take advantage of the system and carve out a section of the game world for themselves, and earn a fortune in the real world.When they give you a mop and not a sword, you have to find the loopholes and change the rules.