To say there's a lack of synergy is one thing—people can adjust over time and gradually smooth things out.
What’s truly concerning is when there’s resentment.
When there are barriers.
Or even personal grudges, with people dragging each other down.
And everyone has their own self-interest—forget about family or nation.
Everything is for personal gain.
If cooperation benefits everyone, fine. But if the distribution of benefits is even slightly uneven, the fallout can be terrifying.
...
Now look at our family.
We do everything ourselves.
It wasn’t like this from the start—who wouldn’t prefer collaboration over starting from scratch?
But there was no other choice.
Bit by bit, we pushed ourselves to become the strongest.
And it’s not just about strength—our vision and ambition operate on a whole different level.
While others are still squabbling over scraps of land,
we’re already looking beyond, toward extraterrestrial life and habitable planets.
Think about it—
If any other family made such claims, you could dismiss it as just another plan, nothing more.
But when it comes to us… when have we ever failed to deliver on our promises?
And our policies are seamlessly aligned.
So while others can only plan for the next decade,
we’re making thirty-, forty-, fifty-year plans… or even longer.
Just consider this:
Sealing off a desert’s borders took forty years—what kind of perseverance and administrative continuity does that require?
On this entire planet, we’re the only ones capable of that.
And the scariest part?
Not only did we persist, we succeeded.
Not only did we succeed, we perfected it.
Not only did we perfect it, we kept it so low-key that even after completion, the hype lasted barely a few days before fading into silence.
The sheer restraint is mind-boggling!
This level of discipline made Cao Cheng, lounging in his chair, admit that even with his "Sleeping Dragon" techniques and the "Slacker System"—no, the "Emotional Slacker System"—his self-control still paled in comparison to our family’s.
No.
He still had work to do.
He needed that discipline.
That’s right… just staying steady like this, and his strength would grow bit by bit.
Discipline!
...
...
Everything was moving in the right direction.
Most matters no longer required Cao Cheng’s direct involvement.
Including the Immortality Club.
All he had to do was periodically provide cutting-edge tech for trade and some barely-effective longevity boosters as rewards to keep the club running smoothly.
And the resources required? Minimal.
Yet the benefits reaped were immeasurable.
Take gold trading, for example.
Normally, countries friendly with certain global powers would need permission to sell their "yellow rocks."
Publicly, those powers held over 8,000 tons.
In reality? More than 20,000.
The details of those transactions weren’t for outsiders to know.
And some nations—well, some families—were just plain foolish, easily spooked into dumping their entire reserves of tens or even hundreds of tons at once.
What else could you call that but stupidity?
Then there were banks needing liquidity, like during the European debt crisis, when Cao Cheng quietly scooped up 200 tons.
All these deals and intel flowed through the Immortality Club.
Profits were shared.
No external channels involved.
Over time, it evolved into a self-sustaining ecosystem. Even though the club’s members included people of all colors—yellow, white, black—initial wariness and mutual suspicion gradually faded.
After a few years, relationships improved significantly.
Loyalty to the club soared, and members increasingly prioritized club affairs above all else.
It was a process.
And it took time.
But Cao Cheng was confident that soon—maybe in a few years, maybe a decade—everyone in the Immortality Club would see themselves as club members first, not as representatives of any family.
That was exactly what he wanted.
As for whether they’d become hard to control…
That was overthinking it.
As long as he held the key to their longevity, rebellion was off the table.
Besides,
given current trends, within fifty years, humanity might discover habitable planets beyond Earth.
And extraterrestrial life.
Exploring those frontiers would require these very people.
They were merchants, after all.
Where there was profit, they’d set sail.
Even if it meant venturing into outer space for opportunity, they’d charge ahead without hesitation—as long as eternal life was guaranteed, they’d do anything. Anything at all.
...
The Immortality Club was managed by the "Old Patriarch."
Cao Cheng just took his cut.
The same went for most of his companies.
Even his sisters weren’t overworked.
Each business had top-tier executives at the helm—even Fourth Sister’s entertainment company had a capable manager in place.
Third Sister? Even less to worry about.
In finance circles, her status now rivaled Cao Cheng’s.
She’d invested in countless industries.
While some credited "Young Master Cao" as the mastermind, most believed Third Sister Ren Yushang was the real driving force.
From the company’s earliest days, she’d been the one running the show.
Every major investment, even overseas expansions, bore her fingerprints.
Early on, she personally oversaw every startup investment over two million.
That’s how Miracle Capital grew under her hands.
Her reputation and standing?
At any financial forum, she was the centerpiece.
Even at provincial-level meetings attended by top officials, she commanded the spotlight—those high-ranking leaders sat as students, absorbing her insights.
That was Third Sister’s clout.
And in public, she carried herself with the untouchable aura of a goddess—not cold like Second Sister, but still celestial, beyond mortal reach.
Her warmth, it seemed, was reserved for Cao Cheng alone.
...
Second Sister had also leveled up.
Climbing steadily, faster and faster.
Whether the Old Patriarch’s connections played a role, Cao Cheng couldn’t say.
But he suspected they did.
No words needed.
Not even a glance.
Just the knowledge of Second Sister Ren Fanxing’s background was enough to rally momentum around her.
When the time came,
that momentum would lift her effortlessly.
Especially since she’d risen from the grassroots—capable, bold, and formidable.
Her promotions were simply the natural order of things.
...
But.
The hardest worker in this family?
That would be Eldest Sister.
Even when ill, she handled everything personally.
After recovering, she still did.
So what was the point of curing her illness?
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
