ShipCore - Chapter 168Book 4: : Tactical Decisions

#Rated 18-Mature ThemesViolet’s life was never her own—her father’s crushing debt made sure of that. But when the debt collector kidnaps her as payment, she takes a desperate deal: become a servant and spy on the mysterious and tyrannical Lord Cain, the ruler of her Werewolf district.There’s just one catch: Lord Cain only permits male servants in his house.Disguised as a boy, Violet cuts her hair, flattens her chest, and dons a voice-altering band to pull off the deception. Everything goes according to plan—until Cain, a man known for his cold personality starts to take a peculiar interest in her.Violet’s disguise becomes a prison as she battles her own growing attraction to him. But this is no love story. Cain’s obsession to her is dangerous. Beneath his icy gaze lies a mind fractured by years of affliction by a curse.A curse made by Violet's biological mother: A powerful witch.*************“TAKE IT OFF!”Violet’s knees nearly buckled at the thunderous command, her chest tightening with panic. The raw anger in Cain’s voice was as sharp as a blade.“My lord! I-I’m a man!” she stammered, gripping her shirt tightly, her fingers trembling as they clung to the fabric.“I don't like other men!” she cried, a desperate plea in her voice since the second she took her shirt off and he discovered that she was a woman was the moment she died. Painfully.Cain’s glare was unyielding, his voice dropping into a growl. “Don’t insult me, You think I do. You kissed me!”Her breath hitched as he stepped closer, his presence suffocating. “If you don’t take it off,” he said, his tone low and dangerous, “I’ll rip it off myself.”Violet’s mind raced, panic threatening to overwhelm her. She couldn’t let him find out—he’d kill her. Painfully.Glancing away to avoid his gaze when she caught the undeniable bulge in his trousers. Heat flushed her face, her thoughts spinning in desperation at the only idea she could think of to make him back off.'This has to work. It has to!'

The labyrinth that swallowed humanity. Four choices were given to them.

Easy Mode, where anyone can survive. Normal Mode, where only those who fight survive. Hard Mode, where only 1% can survive. And the Solo Mode, where only one person survived.

The strongest returnee of humanity, Kang Taesan, was an Easy Mode player.

He heard countless times,

“What if you had chosen the Hard Mode, or even the Normal Mode?”

Regretting his cowardly choice while dying amidst destruction, he gets another chance to choose.

“This time, I won’t make the wrong choice.”

The strongest Easy Mode player has returned.

【Follow the Ship】【I'm a Marine on My Own】【System】Ike thought he could convince Luffy to give up being a pirate, but instead, he ended up joining the Straw Hat crew. To make things even more awkward, he awakened the Justice Marine System—but luckily, he had a letter from Garp appointing him as a Private Marine. This meant that all the good deeds done by the Straw Hat Pirates would count as achievements for the Private Marines.Arlong: “So what if the Straw Hats defeated me? It’s not like I’m wanted.”Ike: “Huh? We’re a Private Marine crew. We just fly the Jolly Roger, but we’re not pirates. Why would we be wanted? One call, and the bounty is gone.”Crocodile: “The Straw Hats are in Alabasta. Why isn’t the Marine arresting them?”Marine officials: “Huh? They’re Private Marines, not pirates.”World Government: “The Straw Hat Pirates destroyed Enies Lobby! Arrest them immediately!”Ike: “Who said that? It was clearly that idiot Spandam who pressed the Golden Den Den Mushi, and the Buster Call wiped out Enies Lobby. Our Private Marines were just there to eliminate Spandam—the real culprit behind the destruction.”

Kai was a 17-year-old dropout. A NEET. A background character in real life with nothing to his name but bitterness, novels, and guilt. After his parents died, he gave up on the world. People were fake. Dreams were pointless. And that one novel he kept reading? He hated it especially the main character, June. Perfect, noble, always standing tall. Everything Kai wasn’t.Then, one night, a voice asked: “What if you did meet June?”He said yes, half-asleep and half-mocking.Now he’s trapped in the novel. Isikeid. But he’s not June. He’s not a hero. He’s not even in the main cast.He’s an extra in the background of a world he knows too well and he’s had enough of watching things play out the same way. This time, he’s going to change everything. Whether the world likes it or not.