Return of the Swallow - Chapter 552.1: Parting Ways

Bizarre clouds billowed by in the sky, as if in a hurry.

During an anti-drug operation in the city of Gongzhou three years ago, a chain explosion had gone off on site due to a mis-judgement made by the Commander-in-Chief Jiang Ting, and caused the anti-drug detachment team to suffer great casualties as a result. Three years now, Jiang Ting, who was supposed to have already been killed in the line of duty with not even a body left to bury—miraculously woke up from a coma.

His heroic soul had never been at peace. He returned from Hell back to the living, to give everything he had to bring the bloody and bizarre truth back to light.

- Description from Novelupdates

Born into a lower middle class family, Ace Lander grew up being told there was a simple formula for success: get an education, graduate, and work hard to build a prosperous future. But that formula failed him during the final stretch of his senior year when a local gang targeted him, putting everything he had and was building towards at risk.Trapped and desperate, Ace felt his life spiraling out of control—until Ria Hart, a fellow classmate, discovering Ace's innate aptitude to become a Curse Master, a being capable of wielding curse energy and abilities but haunted by Curselings, took pity and introduced him to the secret world hidden beneath the mundane surface of their world, the World of Curses.Awakening as a Curse Master, Ace discovers he possesses an extraordinary innate curse tool: the Cursed Toybox. This tool comes with a unique class, Toymancer, granting Ace powers unlike any curse master the world has seen before. The Cursed Toybox allows him to animate and actualize toys, transforming them into powerful, living beings bound to his will.From overpowered heroes to legendary gods, any toy that falls into Ace's Cursed Toybox springs to life with powers beyond one's imagination but bound to him in eternal servitude. Armed with his Toy Summons, Ace must navigate the perilous world of curses, protect his loved ones, and reclaim control of his destiny before the gang—and the darkness of the hidden world—consume him entirely.[ — Status Screen —> Your Cursed Toybox is animating the doll 'Silicone Sailor Stella' as a toy summons…> Your Cursed Toybox has animated the doll 'Silicone Sailor Stella.'> Toy summon 'Silicone Sailor Stella' added to your toy space.> Toymancer can now summon Sailor Stella.Summoning Toy Summons...Name: StellaRace: Curse ToolClass: Toy summonTitle: Silicone SailorDurability: (100/100)Enchantment: 1-StarIndividuality: (100/100)Curse Energy Consumption: 5 units per hourSkills: Toy Actualization, Seamanship, Armed Security, Adult Gratification.Toy Actualization: Bring Toy Summons' original character design and skills to existence when they are animated based on their individuality stats.Addition Effect: Toy Physiology.Seamanship: Expertise in navigation, sailing, and ship handling alongside wilderness survival, first aid, and emergency procedures.Armed Security: Proficiency in the use of small arms and other naval weaponry with training in close quarters combat, surveillance, and counterintelligence.Adult Gratification: Creatively addressing emotional, mental, and physical needs of Toymancer till gratification.]“Cursed armies, Curselings, and Curse slaves are nothing—I've got a Toy legion of overpowered action figures and unrealistically beautiful silicone goddess.”~ToymancerJoin the saga of the Toymancer's rise to become the Strongest Curse Master.

[Main Plot Completed]A love doomed from the start, a lost cause, a losing battle—and yet, neither hearts are willing to let go until the very end.-----Arlan Cromwell, the epitome of the perfect Crown Prince. All he wants is to live a normal life of a human but the life of a dragon is anything but normal. He has but one goal—to find his runaway betrothed and behead her. What happens when he discovers that the woman who has snagged his heart is the one he vowed to kill?Oriana, a Black Witch, disguising herself as a man, has spent her entire life on the run without knowing what she is running away from. When the mysteries of her past slowly catch up to her, she has no one to turn to…except Arlan. But when she learns that the man she has given her heart to is the same man who wants to kill her, how can she accept the cruel card life dealt her?Two people with secrets to keep, identities to hide, and answers to find. When the certain darkness threatens to take Oriana away, will the Dragon be able to protect his mate?-----Excerpt-“If I knew you were my betrothed, I would have killed you the very first moment we met.” Arlan's gaze darkened with hatred.“If I knew I was betrothed to you, I would have killed myself before you even killed me!” Oriana mirrored the same emotions as him.He pulled out a dagger and offered it to her. “It’s not too late. Just slit your throat with this and you'll bleed out painlessly.”She accepted the knife, her fingers clutching its handle tightly. The next moment, he was pressed against the wall and the knife was on the right side of his neck. “How about I try it on you first, my betrothed?”“Feel free to try. But when you fail, this knife will first taste your grandpa's blood, then yours.”Anger rose in her eyes, and the next moment, blood was flowing through the right side of his neck. She cut deep enough to severe an important blood vessel.“You should not have challenged me,” she sneered and stepped back, waiting for him to collapse.He simply smirked and brushed his finger along the deep wound on his neck. “Seems like you failed.”She watched the wound on his neck heal on its own and felt shocked to her bones. “You.. what are you?”“Guess?”

Have you often come across a game where you start with a bonfire, surrounded by ice and snow, with resources all manually transported, and monsters attacking at any time...Xia Hong wakes up to find himself in such a world.The ice and snow rage on, beasts rule the land, civilization is lost, and all people and things that once existed have been invaded into powerful and bizarre entities, leaving humans as a humble race surviving in the shadow of winter, on the brink of extinction.Fortunately, Xia Hong possesses a camp system that can upgrade infinitely.[Small Bonfire]—[Iron Furnace]—[Solar Cauldron]...[Wooden Post]—[Training Ground]—[Martial Arts Hall]...[Bamboo Fence]—[Black Soil Wall]—[Iron Wall]...[Monument Stone]—[Notice Board]—[Hero's Monument]......As Xia Hong slays the beasts and exterminates the bizarre entities, gradually gathering humans, dispelling the winter, and opening up territory, the mysterious veil of this world is slowly unveiled in its entirety.