Under the Oak Tree (Web Novel KR) - Chapter 11: The Duke of Croix (1)

“Devouring Lifespan to grow stronger!!”When Ricky Stormwind—a washed-up office worker—drank himself to death, he expected eternal nothingness. Instead, he awoke in a new world… as a mosquito.Weak as an ant. Fragile as a piece of paper. Prey to everything.But this world is no ordinary one. Magic, monsters, and powerful beings dominate the land, with ruthless forces waging war for supremacy. And Ricky? He possesses a terrifying ability—he can drain lifespan from any living creature and use it to evolve.A single bite can grant him hours. A feast?..... Years!!Now, in a forest filled with predators and beside a village on the brink of destruction, Ricky must climb the evolutionary ladder—from insignificant pest to a calamity that could devour the world itself.But when his first real meal triggers a mass sacrifice, the world mistakes him for a rising Demon Lord. Bounties are placed on his head. Armies march to hunt him down. And lurking in the shadows, a forbidden power calls to him, promising a path beyond mere survival—one that could reshape reality itself.In a world where everything is prey to something greater, something horrendous… he will rise to become the apex.

Title: Trillionaire Student: The Art of Corporate WarfareGenre: Cyberpunk Corporate Drama / Tech RomanceSetting: Near-future Shanghai (2045) where blockchain dynasties and AI oligarchs dominate global finance.Protagonist:· Ye Chen: A 22-year-old financial prodigy with military-grade neural implants. Orphaned and self-made, he accidentally inherits trillion-yuan assets tied to a cryogenically preserved heiress.· Su Ning: A “frozen elite” heiress resurrected from cryostasis. Her trauma-encrypted mind holds the keys to her family's blockchain empire.Core Plot:When Ye decrypts suicidal patterns in Su's neural data, their forced partnership to upgrade her emotional firewall exposes:1. Corporate Espionage: Rival tech giants weaponize celebrity scandals as NFT commodities.2. Family Conspiracy: Su's mother audits her memories like hostile mergers.3. Hidden Protocol: A blockchain ledger tracking physical intimacy as corporate liability.Key Westernized Elements:· Boardroom duels in holographic Hunger Games-style shareholder arenas· Romance through shared neural hacking of trauma encryption· Memetic warfare where viral tweets manipulate stock marketsThemes:· Capitalism 2.0 (emotions as crypto assets, SEC-regulated marriage contracts)· Cybernetic identity (childhood trauma rebuilt as AI firewalls)· East-West fusion (Tang poetry as quantum encryption keys)Cultural Bridges:· “Black Swan Fund” → “Quantum Contingency Fund”· Neural interface battles styled as The Matrix meets Game of Thrones· Food metaphors: Xiaolongbao dumplings as encrypted data carriers

Mysterious gates appeared all around the world a few decades ago. Beings emerged from the gates and brought disaster upon humanity. Humanity called them Demon Spirits. It wasn’t until the advent of Demon Suits and Demon Suiters that humans stood a fighting chance.For some perplexing reason, the world’s number one Demon Suiter, Li “God” Xiu abandons his identity to start over again as a newbie trial-taker. He enters the gates to participate in all sorts of trials, in a bid to seek out the reason that enticed his best friend into becoming a trial-taker.These trials weren't the run-of-the-mill dungeons, ranging from game sports (soccer, basketball, baseball, etc) to athletics. Just as fortune favors the brave, what would Li Xiu obtain on his quest?“Are you telling me he’s a greenhorn?” the other trial-takers frustratingly ask while watching Li Xiu's feats that prove why he's the number one Demon Suiter.

The Cheng family finally found the real daughter who had been wandering the streets. Cheng Ling, the fake daughter who had been wrongly adopted for eighteen years, instantly became the family’s joke.

The real heiress was very domineering and the fake heiress was soon despised by the family.

Many people were waiting to see the fake daughter make a fool of herself, but they realized…

The world’s top medical expert: “May I know where Miss Cheng Ling, who was kicked out of the house, is? I begged her for a long time and she finally agreed to give me a chance to meet her.”

International idol Best Actor Tang: “Miss Cheng Ling, can you sell me another grape? Just one will do. After eating your grape, my voice is getting much more beautiful.”

The famous godfather of the Mafia said, “Miss Cheng Ling, can you sell me one of your cucumbers? I was seriously injured in my early years and it’s hard for me to recover. Only your cucumbers can save me.”

Soon, everyone realized that almost all the rich and powerful families in the world had a favor to ask of the fake daughter, Cheng Ling. As long as she said a word, those rich and powerful people would be willing to do anything for her.

That was because Cheng Ling had a piece of divine soil in her hands. The fruits of vegetables grown from divine soil had all kinds of magical and powerful effects.

Third Master Qin, who was feared by all the aristocrats in the world and was rumored to be extremely cold and ruthless, pretended to be pitiful in front of Cheng Ling. “Ling Ling, my chest hurts. Come, come, come. Stay here tonight. When I take off my clothes, you can take a good look at me…”

Cheng Ling: “Stay away from me, don’t get in the way of my farming.”