Lord of the Mysteries

“The Pirate 3: Crazy Adventurer”…

It looks okay, it should be the kind of popcorn flick that I enjoy…

I look around and make a preliminary decision. I quickly take out my phone and log in to the film review website to check out its score and reviews.

“The aesthetics are shallow…”

“The plot is simple and crude…”

“Other than the special effects and the few actresses, there’s nothing else…”

“The protagonist only knows how to act cool and has zero acting skills…”

“Nothing deep at all.”

“It’s a passable commercial film, but it’s only passable.”

F*ck, reviews like these… I like movies like this. I’m just watching it to kill time and don’t need deep, thought-provoking shows… I read the reviews and find that it isn’t that bad. I have a rough idea.

The giant middle-school student standing beside me in front of the poster has already left to buy the tickets.

“One ticket for The Pirate 3, the earliest time slot.” I go over only after the middle-school student heads elsewhere in the mall, I don’t want the contrast to be that apparent. It makes me feel inferior.

“There’s still 15 minutes to the next time slot,” the ticket sales staff informs me.

“That’s fine.” I don’t plan on shopping, so I decide to find a place to sit and wait. After all, they’ll allow entry inside very soon.

Of course, before that, I buy a medium-sized iced Coke and a serving of butter popcorn.

I obviously have to match a popcorn flick with popcorn!!

Otherwise, how can it be called enjoyment?

In the past, I rarely watched movies, just to stop myself from overeating!

And now, my weight has returned to my university days, and it’s very muscular.

This is the beauty of life!

Not long after, I enter the venue according to the signs and find my seat.

Even though it’s office hours, there are quite a lot of people in the audience. A large portion of them are clearly students.

Summer vacation. I also want a summer vacation… I take a sip of iced Coke and put on my 3D glasses.

At this moment, the two-meter tall middle-school student walks along the aisle towards me.

Under normal circumstances, the gap between me and the row in front is sufficient for a person to pass through. However, the figure before me is simply too huge, and it isn’t possible for me to grant him passage by just pulling in my legs.

I have no choice but to stand up and lean back.

The middle-school student successfully passes through. He turns his head and smiles sincerely.

“Thank you, Uncle.”

“…No problem.” I still think I’m young.

This interlude doesn’t hinder me from eating popcorn, drinking iced Coke, and watching the various trailers on the big screen.

Very quickly, The Pirate 3 officially begins. My smile only lasts for five minutes before it stiffens.

It’s not that the movie is worse than I expected, but that the male lead’s fortuitous encounter is from drinking a potion.

The potion gives me the feeling that it’s the Assassin beverage I drank before!

Man… The Assassin beverage is actually a potion? Who produced this movie? Hmm, I remember seeing the dragon logo just now… Hall Film Company? This can’t be a reflection of reality, can it? I instantly immerse myself in the plot, but there aren’t any other potions later in the film. Instead, it shows the serious side-effects of the potion.

My heart grows heavier as I watch it. I even feel like I’m the male lead.

After the movie, I can’t help but curse inwardly.

Is this guy that clueless?

Three beautiful female pirates are surrounding him, but in the end, he only took a silly boatswain with him!

Seriously! Where’s the treasure they promised, and them heading off into the sunset while accompanied by beauties? Yes, it’s all disappeared off into the sunset…

After watching the easter egg, I pick up my empty Coke and popcorn bucket and walk towards the aisle.

At this moment, a short girl who’s clearly less than 1.6 meters tall suddenly comes over and suppresses her voice.

“Someone is monitoring you.”

Monitoring me… Who? I subconsciously look around, but I can’t find the suspect.

And the woman who warned me has already followed the crowd and walked to the exit.

For real? I think for a moment and decide to leave the cinema first before confirming the situation.

There are too many people here, and it’s too noisy. Calling the police wouldn’t work!

…

At the same time, a train stops at a high-speed rail station in the city.

One of the carriages slowly opens, but there are only four to five people inside. They form a stark contrast with the crowd in the other carriages.

Those few people are dressed as if they’re going to a comic convention. After exchanging a glance, they stand up and walk out with heavy footsteps.

What they see is an extremely modern platform and crowds of people.

—End of the first Installment of the Lord of the Mysteries trilogy—

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This chapter is in a way the prologue to the second installment of the LOTM trilogy which will happen about 2 years from now when Cuttlefish’s new book—Embers Ad Infinitum—ends!

Advertising his book! Be prepared for a well-thought out and detailed apocalyptic, cyberpunk world with a setting superseding Lord of the Mysteries!

Take note that the beginning of the story is slow (maybe even slower) like LOTM, but make sure to unlock all available chapters with COINS so that the book is continued! Otherwise, it will be dropped in Trial Reads! Have faith in Cuttlefish! Also, please continue supporting Cuttlefish by unlocking chapters in Coins even if it’s continued!

Synopsis below:

Our protagonist, Shang Jianyao, is crazy—literally crazy, at least that’s what the doctors said. Living in a huge, underground building of Pangu Biology, one of the few remaining factions in this apocalyptic wasteland known as the Ashlands, he acts in unfathomable ways that’s head-scratching, comical, and shrewd. So is he really crazy? Probably.

He has a grand dream: to save all of humanity. Intricately tied to this dream is something everyone in the Ashlands believes in: Deep in a particular ruin buried away by danger and famine, a path leading to a new world awaits. To step into the new world, one only needs to find a special key and open that certain door. There, the land is bountiful, as if milk and honey flows freely. The sunlight is dazzling, as if all coldness and darkness are washed away. The people will no longer have to face desolation, monsters, infections, mutations, and all kinds of dangers. There, children are joyous, adults are happy, everything is fine as they are supposed to be.

Every Antiquarian, Ruin Hunter, and Historian roaming the Ashlands knows: That’s the New World.