WorldCrafter - Building My Underground Kingdom - Chapter 142: Moving Pieces

Xue Xi is forced to fall in love at first sight with this dangerous man on their first meeting. With death being the only other option, she makes the first move:

This is a world where Awakened beings and Mutated Beasts coexist.Zhang Ping was fortunate enough to become one of the Awakened, but his abilities were classified as useless.Unwilling to live an ordinary life, he boldly swallowed a Contract Gem that most people avoid like the plague, and made a contract with himself.From that moment on, the entire world opened up to him.Ever-changing superpowers, endless Mutant Beasts...

The Apocalypse is in full swing. Defiled - powerful creatures corrupted by the Great Collision - prowled the lands in search of prey. Unfortunately for them, the human race had long since retreated behind the secure walls of the Sanctuary of Everlast. During one of his regular excursions outside the Sanctuary, Alden is separated from Celeste. - his childhood friend and crush. In that moment, he came to regret never summoning the courage to confess. Somehow managing to survive thanks to some trickery, Alden awakens as a mage. Instead of receiving a normal power, he gains the ability to decay. What’s more, during his ascension, he received a vision from his future self advising him not to trust the Asterons - celestial beings who had saved his race from inescapable doom. Normally... such a revelation wouldn’t faze Alden. However, there was only one major problem with the declaration, though. Celeste was bound with an Asteron. And not just any normal Asteron... She had made a pact with one of the Divine Sovereigns.