Sweet Nostalgia of the 80s - Chapter 70 - Can’t Step Down

Whenever our ship encounters a tenth-level storm, my comrades-in-arms will not have the slightest worry, because they know that I still have me on board.

- Description from Uukanshu

Kai’s life was small—coffee-stained mornings, cracked recipes, and a system in his head that tweaked toasters and dough like it was nothing. Then the sky shattered. Aliens—Skraiths, jagged and brutal—invaded, tearing his city apart with green-glowing weapons and relentless claws. Superhumans rose to fight back, fire and lightning blazing through the chaos, but Kai’s world crumbled with them.Hiding in his apartment, Kai stumbles on blood—human and alien, smeared on his wall after a superhuman battle. His system, once just a tinker’s tool, awakens, offering him a choice: mimic their powers, temporary and wild, through the blood itself. Desperate, he takes it—stealing pyrokinesis, then electrokinesis, then kinetic energy, each power burning through him, fading fast. But it’s not enough. Armed with a humming Skraith weapon and a body tougher from alien blood, Kai joins a ragtag crew of enhanced fighters—Liv, Rylan, Jace, and Tucker—scraping to survive in a warzone where every shadow hides death.As Skraiths swarm and the city burns, Kai’s system pushes him deeper, analyzing, integrating, crafting minor enhancements—durability, strength, sparks of power that could make him a target or a savior. Government factions, rogue scientists, and the aliens themselves start sniffing around, drawn to his strange tech and blood-stolen abilities. By the time Kai crafts his first super-powered enhancement—an artificial strength boost—he’s no longer just a tinkerer. He’s on the edge of something bigger, something dangerous, where blood and sparks could forge a hero—or break him entirely.In a world unraveling, Kai’s fight for survival becomes a desperate race to master his system, outrun the Skraiths, and confront the truth: the power he’s chasing might destroy him—or remake the world.

A Deadly Secret, also translated as Requiem of Ling Sing and Secret of the Linked Cities, is a wuxia novel by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). It was first published in the magazine Southeast Asia Weekly (東南亞周刊) and the Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao in 1963. Its original Chinese title was Su Xin Jian before Jin Yong changed it to Lian Cheng Jue. The story revolves around the adventures of the protagonist Di Yun, an ordinary young peasant, who is imprisoned after being framed. In his quest for vengeance, he accidentally acquires the Liancheng Swordplay manual (連城劍谱), an ancient artifact not only prized for the skills detailed inside, but also for containing a secret leading to a treasure.

Chen Luo’s transmigration story starts at a mourning hall.

This is a world where reading can help you obtain enormous powers.

Reading Confucian classics trains you to the path of righteousness

Studying Taoist doctrines will help you grasp the source of everything and the ultimate principle underlying reality.

Understanding Buddhist Scriptures will make you comprehend the essence of rebirth and karma.

But contrary to what is expected, why does Chen Luo’s cheat only give him books for leisure reading!

….

What? 《Strange Tales from A Chinese Studio》is now being treated as the bible of the Monster Country?

What? 《The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils》opened the world of martial arts?

What? 《The Plum in the Golden Vase》….

Don’t panic, don’t panic, these are all small details!

This scholar, have you ever heard of the book 《Tales of the Three Kingdom》 where gallant generals and cunning strategists are a dime a dozen?

That Taoist priest over there, ever read 《Investiture of the Gods》? You people from the Taoist sect are outdated!

Hey, please halt high priest, I have a copy of 《Journey to the West》 here, are you interested?

- Description from Novelupdates