Rise of the Godking - Chapter 156

Chapter 156 - Exciting News! New WDS like Webnovel! Is It Set In The Same Universe As WDS?

Hi everyone!(you can find this chapter of RotGk after this update below)

First of all, thank you so much for the all the heartwarming comments. I can't even begin to tell you how much they've helped.

I'm doing better, but I'm still not at the stage where I can come back to WDS full time. Instead, I've found an alternative!

I've hired a ghostwriter, and together, we have started creating 'Rule or Die'. It is a story about a cold criminal who is ripped away from his life, dropped into a new world and ordered to Rule or Die.

Here's the blurb:

"Rule or Die," said the Voice, and Luke opened his eyes in a new world.

At the age of 12, he was a beggar. By the time he turned 15, he ruled the streets. At 18, he took control of his first gang.

Now he is 24, and he all but rules a state in the U.S, while on the verge of devouring more.

Yet on his 25th birthday, the Voice chose him, and he was thrust into the world of Bloodmagic in the body of a common soldier.

He is given a simple order: either take command of his city, or die and be graced with endless torture.

His lust for power is unrivaled. His greed is legendary. His selfishness is the stuff of whispered stories. He seems like the perfect man for the job…but in a bloodstained world that has been on the brink of destruction for decades, is he capable enough to succeed?

All he wants is to get back to the life he worked so hard for and the only people he cares about: his family.

Will the journey change his belief and his principles, or reinforce them? Will he be crushed, or rise? Will he rule…or die?

I'm plotting the entire story and editing it. The ghostwriter is even a tad bit better than me at writing, so the chapters will feel much more polished. This is an adult story. Adult themes(violence, sex, etc.) will be prominently displayed from the beginning. I've grown as a writer since starting WDS, and honestly, if I were starting it now, this is the way I would have chosen to write it.

Now, then, onto what I was hinting at in the title. Is it set in the same universe as WDS? Does the entity who gave him the order have any relation with the system, and Daneel's transmigration? Are people like Daneel and our MC in Rule or Die being dropped into these worlds for a singular motive? If so, what is it? 

Hint: I wouldn't be asking all these questions if there wasn't a reason behind asking them...

Updates will be 1/day, more or less. We are still adjusting our schedules, but the ghostwriter is an assiduous worker, so I expect him to crank out chappies regularly and quickly. I'm taking a lot of time to edit them and make sure they're up to the mark, so you can be assured that this will be one of the best works from the KillerHemboy stable.

Comment if you have any queries. Thank you again for everything. Hopefully, I'll catch you all in the comment section of the new book!

Chapter 1

"Mr. Lucas, can I ask you something off the record?"

The reporter switched off the recorder she was holding. Pocketing it, she bit her lip, holding Luke's gaze while he tapped his knuckles.

Many had said that the coldness in his eyes was enough to crack even the most hardened criminal. He just stared back unblinkingly without his expression changing one bit, but sweat started to form on her face.

He laughed suddenly, and she jerked her head back, as if escaping the jaws of a prehistoric predator. Luke nodded, and she took in a deep, shuddering breath.

'The bravest reporter in California. Tcheh. What a joke. And here I thought this sudden interview would be fun.'

She was wearing a bright red coctail dress with a plunging neckline and a slit that exposed her left leg. While he waited for her to gather herself, he idly wondered whether he should consider taking her out to dinner, but he discarded the idea quickly.

'She'll try to dig out information from everything I say. Not worth it. Better to look for Nancy tonight…she's always down for an after-party, and I have just the right place in mind.'

The sounds of a party in full swing drifted through the partly-open door, along with a cold breeze and the scents of sizzling meat. The massive hall was well-lit, but mostly empty; he had just moved in, and a few companions had gotten the idea to throw a housewarming party/25th birthday celebration.

They were fools. But they were useful fools, so he had to oblige them.

Feeling an anticipatory tingle in his spine as he recalled the private spot beneath an oak-tree right at the very edge of the three-acre property, Luke smiled and got up, buttoning his suit.

"I've been fascinated by you ever since your file came to my desk. Everyone knows about your past. You were a beggar on the streets of Mexico. Your father took you on a trip and abandoned you. Most kids your age would have sought out help. Instead, you worked your way up, committing petty crimes until you took control of those same streets in three years. Since then, your rise has been meteoric. Money laundering, extortion, murder, kidnapping…you've dabbled in them all. You came back to the U.S and invested your money in the right companies. Rumors say that you already have experience in politics, that you helped three senators and four congressmen win. Now, at just the age of twenty five, you are all set to start a political campaign that will propel you to the White House. A poll has already begun on facebook, pitting you against a few others for the title of 'Most Dashing Contender in California'."

She ticked off the facts on an imaginery notepad, all while looking straight at Luke without an ounce of the fear she had shown before.

'Hmm. Interesting.'

Her bravery had earned her the right to some of his time, so Luke sat back down. A lazy smile played on his lips. He studied the reporter's face, looking for a hint of any hidden motive behind her curiosity, but he found nothing.

Under his scrutiny, a lovely blush entered her cheeks. In his mind, her face replaced Nancy's the moment he identified the mix of emotions in her eyes.

"If someone read just these parts, they would be convinced you're just a gangleader turned white-collar criminal. But you're not that simple. You fund numerous charities liberally. You are regularly seen helping the needy. You have initiated funds to help rehabilitiate children with troubled backgrounds. My question is…who are you? Are you just someone with a good heart who was pushed into the wrong side of the world? Or is all the philanthropy a farce, and you're rotten to the core?"

The last words shot out of her mouth. She had obviously meant to phrase that part differently, but she had spoken her mind. She raised her hands to her lips, eyes blinking rapidly as she tried to gauge Luke's reaction, but his smile just widened.

'I like some fire in my woman. And if it's too much…what's more fun than what comes after it's been doused?'

"If I answer, will you have dinner with me tonight? There's this spot in front of a lake on the property that I've been told just perfect for a picnic. The view should be mesmerizing…especially if you get down on all fours."

She caught the hint, and the blush deepened while she nodded, a sultry smile quirking up one corner of her full lips. For a moment, Luke wondered whether she was saying 'yes' just to get the answer, but that flare of heat in her eyes had been too genuine.

He stretched back, resting on the sofa while he gathered his thoughts. He wrestled with the idea of holding back and being careful even if this was off the record, but in the end, he found no way in which she could use what he was about to say. Besides, he hadn't really had much success in the past whenever he tried not be cocky in front of woman.

"My dear, I'm the biggest villain in the world, and I'm going to be president. It may take five years, it may take ten, but eventually, I will reach my goal. You know why? Because I never. Give. Up. And I'm always ready to do anything necessary to win. Anything. All that charity is just a way to rehabilitate myself. The truth is that I'm the perfect bad boy, and you know what they say about he effect we have on women…"

She didn't respond to the suggestiveness in his tone or words, this time. Instead, she frowned, as if she was confused.

"I thought the same thing. But something doesn't add up. You give away every penny you don't need to the charities. You actively spend time to check whether your money is being spent well. I did some digging, and it turns out that even in your past life, you only ever went after cruel opposing leaders or rich criminals. You searched for your family for a long time, and only found them a month back. All this tells me that you're either lying to me, or youself."

Her tone was perfectly flat. Luke heard a roaring in his ears. His jaw clenched, his fists tightened, and  a vein bulged on his forehead.

'She's been playing me. She was acting afraid to make me underestimate her. She's not interested in me; she just wanted to distract me and make me answer. Can't believe I fell for it.'

He shot to his feet. "You're wrong. Softness only brings death in the world I was forced into when I was just twelve. But that world molded me into the person I am, and that person has no weakness. And definitely no stupid penchant for kindness. I wanted to know if I should take precautionary steps for any genetic diseases I might inherit, so I looked for my family. That's all. I need no one. No one."

He breathed hard, stopping the torrent of words that had spilled from his mouth. The reporter's lips stretched into a knowing smile, as if she had found her answer.

"So that is the reason for an eighteen year old to begin the search, and to keep pouring money into it even when he fell on hard times? You've been looking for people you can really form bonds with for a long time, Mr. Lucas, and it looks like it's finally time for that wish of yours to come true. Congratulations!" she drawled, and Luke raised a shaking finger, ready to defend himself even further.

He stopped himself at the last moment, recognising the glint in her eyes as that of victory. She had provoked him to make him speak in anger, and although she had succeeded, he wasn't going to give her any more material to add to his expose.

"This interview is over. Get off my property." He growled, turning away.

'She's dangerous. Better to keep an eye on her. She can be a very troublesome opponent…or a very useful ally.'

Plans formed in his head as he started to walk away. Just as he was about to open the door and return to the party, his body froze.

"Lucas Haldoff. You have been chosen. Your target is Crodale City, Bloodmagic Empire. Rule or die."

A disembodied voice spoke in his mind, echoing through his body, reverberating through his very soul. His surroundings shimmered, then disappeared. For a few seconds, he heard nothing, saw nothing, and felt nothing. He wanted to scream, but he had no mouth. He wanted to run, but he had no body.

Finally, like a blindfold had been removed suddenly, a field strewn with dead bodies entered his vision. Agony burst to life in the body he could suddenly feel, and a frantic voice shouted in his ears.

"Luke, get up! My Blood's running out! We have to get out of here! We lost! The captain has called the retreat!"

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Below is this chapter.

Noraldin's eyes twitched as he gazed at the wooden chest placed in the very center of his most secure vault, surrounded by items whose value definitely eclipsed its contents by many hundreds of times. At least, he thought this was the case as he couldn't understand why anyone would want to place something precious in the hands of someone who could simply open the box and take what was inside, and the more he pondered on it, the more perplexed he became.

After an entire minute, with a start, he came to the realization that he had once again forgotten the true identities of the three that he was dealing with. He almost chuckled hoarsely to himself, then, but he held it in as he was supposed to be very irritated at the moment.

Their knack for theatre really had to be applauded as he had completely started to believe that they were who they said they were. They had carried off the sheer arrogance and pomp of the Ushanbos down to the very fiber of their being, and he was confident that no matter who was asked about them, they would never show even the slightest amount of doubt regarding whether they might not be who they looked like.

He had already figured out that this must be the reason behind all that gaudiness. He knew that something sinister was going to happen, so he could tell that the objective was to muddle the details as much as possible so that whoever was investigating would be given a headache, and nothing else if they tried to delve into the contents of this case.

He felt a bit of pity for the investigator the Garbonors would send, but at the same time, he felt a faint tinge of panic for himself. He was knee-deep in the middle of it, and even though he knew nothing about the plan, the very knowledge that the three were, in fact, the rebels who had managed to infiltrate his vault before could implicate him and destroy everything he had been working for all this while.

With a shudder, he firmly told himself that nothing of the sort would happen. He was still too important a piece in the game to sacrifice on just a suspicion, and no matter who arrived, that was all they would have. He had heard of Mindmasters on the Mainland who could ferret out information without damaging the psyche of the target, but Noraldin was pretty confident that such individuals must be too costly for the Garbonors to tap for a case such as this.

By the end of the day, he was going to be poorer by quite a margin. He felt no despair, though, as after all, the wealth belonged to the family, but he still hoped that the three would not go overboard.

He still remembered precisely how their leader had looked, and he once again told himself that although the boy had appeared young, his mind had a maturity to it that he trusted would make the right decision at this juncture. Marillein wasn't new to robbery. Of the five times they had occurred, two had actually gone unsolved and he had often heard the mages who were sent to keep an eye on him grumble that it must be because the thieves guild from the Mainland must have targeted the islands in desperation. Hence, the best thing that could happen was that today's instance would join those ranks, leaving the culprits free to enjoy their wealth.

The wooden chest had been delivered a day before, and he was currently waiting for another audience with the Ushanbos where the money would be paid. He had already anticipated that they would be late, again, so he had simply given a servant the duty of informing him when they arrived.

The hidden clock at the very top of the inverted pyramid of his home chimed, and surprisingly, he heard a knock behind him, indicating that someone was waiting outside. Once again remarking on how incredibly fortunate it was that no mage had been set to replace the one who had died, Noraldin reveled in the privacy that he could now enjoy. The task of coming to Marillein was always looked down upon by most of the disciples of the master in charge of him, but most of them did enjoy dogging his heels and making him as uncomfortable as possible wherever he went.

Opening one of the huge wooden doors a sliver, he raised his eyebrows when he saw the servant he had talked to before sweating there, his feet shifting about as if he was tempted to run. The words spilled out of his mouth a moment later, and it was all Noraldin could do to understand that the Ushanbos were here, and they had indicated that heads would roll if they were made to wait.

With a nod and a command that the man should just go home for the day which was accepted with a huge sigh of relief, Noraldin made his way to the same waiting room in which the tour de force had played out before. The moment he stepped in, he was blinded by the shining, metallic purple robes of the leader, who had chosen to make only this single change to the main body of his dress.

Purple was much more impressive than the gold of the day before simply because the latter was common, but Noraldin made no such comment and sat down, adjusting his beggar's rags in a manner that had become familiar to him years ago. Glancing to his right, he saw two small chests, each the size of a small coffee table.

Walking to them without saying a word to his guests, Noraldin kicked their lids open to find the diamond sparkle that belonged only to the incredible items call vajrams. He made a quick count, and with a pleased smile, he sat down in front of the Ushanbos and said, "Payment received. Guards! Take them away."

Nothing was uttered when the chests disappeared. After the doors closed, Noraldin said, "As you know, we will be testing each Vajram to ensure that their value is present in full. There have been many cases of energy being absorbed from them, just a bit from each one, causing the final tally to be quite far from how much it was supposed to be. Until then, you cannot leave the islands. When you depart from this room, I will give the order to bar you from the exits, although I doubt that you would try and make a scene. It's protocol, so I have no choice in the matter."

The leader of the Ushanbos, who was Dan, of course, said nothing, making Noraldin feel puzzled. He had practically insulted the man, and he still remembered being chastised for even trying to speak a day before, so he had expected an outburst, of sorts, during which he had been looking forward to watch even more of the perfect act that the three were putting on.

Chalking it up to even more eccentricity that was meant to mess up the task of whoever would be trying to pinpoint their character, he bent forward and poured two cups of wine. It was Ushanbo culture to finish a deal in such a manner, and after raising his glass and toasting his guests silently, he downed it in one gulp.

The man in front of him mirrored his actions. The moment the cup hit the table, he stood up, sweeping his two trains behind him once again in such an impressive manner that Noraldin didn't know how Dan had managed to learn it in such a short amount of time.

Turning to the door, he even took a step, but suddenly, he paused when they opened on their own to usher in the same sweating messenger who had just informed Noraldin about the arrival of his guests.

On observing the man, Noraldin frowned when he saw that he wasn't sweating just because of exertion. His robes were singed at the corners, and although this was enough for the horrific truth to dawn on him, he still waited to hear it with his own two years.

Taking a deep breath, the man shouted what he had come to say while all four in the room looked at him as if he was speaking a different language.

"FIRE! Fire in the main vault! EVERYTHING IS BURNING!"