MTL - Iron Powder and Spellcasters - Chapter 399 The game of fox and cat (below)

The protagonist, Punk, is a cautious, cold-blooded, and ruthless Mage.

His goal is always his top priority, over feelings or morality. When unnecessary, he doesn’t like to act like pigs to eat tigers; there are almost no life and death struggles, sometimes risky but steady progress. No strong enemy everywhere, Instead, Punk is always a strong enemy of others.

And he has a very keen interest in the secrets and teachings of the Netheril civilization.

A hundred years ago, Chen Qingyuan entered a forbidden zone called Sky Abyss, where his soul lamp extinguished, and everyone believed he had died. Today, although Chen Qingyuan has emerged alive from the forbidden zone, his cultivation has been completely crippled, and his spiritual roots are shattered. Faced with the remorse of lost love and the oppression of various sects, how should Chen Qingyuan proceed?“Chen Qingyuan, I'll give you two choices: one, marry me; two...”Inside Sky Abyss, there lives a girl in a red dress, with eyes like stars and a gentle voice.“I choose the second option.”Before the girl in the red dress could finish speaking, Chen Qingyuan decisively made his choice.(Main character with a dark belly + no system + humor + traditional fantasy + weak synopsis)

Worlds overlapped, and Alien Species descended.Strange entities emerged one after another, as the shadow of evil spread wildly.The calm of life was shattered, and Zhang Xiaoman, inside a fish's stomach, accidentally consumed a system named “World-saving Plan”.From then on, he became the only person among all humans with Extraordinary Power.…Inventing an ancient oath, he established a unique methodology, Cultivated Dark Energy, founded an organization, took Control of the Transcendent, and resisted invasions.Well, this is actually the story of how a Big Con Man bluffed his way into saving the entire world.PS: Contains elements of the behind-the-scenes, Cthulhu mythos.

This is a time of great powers: The vast Persia, Sparta that was founded by force, Athens with its trade and business, Thebes the rising star, The ambitious Macedonia, The twin heroes of the Western Mediterranean, The rising Rome and so on.

This is an era of brilliant stars: Agesilaus II – the last king of Sparta, Epaminondas – the Rising General of Thebes, Philip II – the founder of Macedonian’s hegemon, Dionysius – the tyrant of Syracuse, Camillus – the Roman dictator and savior…

This is an era of contention among a hundred schools of thought: Plato – the great philosopher, Antisthenes – founder of cynicism, Pythagoras – school of number, Democritus – the encyclopedia scholar, Hippocrates – the father of western medicine, Aristophanes – the great dramatist…

What will the hero bring to the world when he comes to this age as a humble mercenary through rebirth?