Beyond the Apocalypse - Chapter 71: Fighting an Abyssal (II)

Xia Zhijun got the title ‘study god’ after scoring first place in the whole city. He’s the model of a good student in a teacher’s eyes: good grades, good manners, and quiet. When he wasn’t smiling, his entire body emits a cold abstinence aura. The girls only have the guts to look from afar and not get close.
Later, it was rumored throughout the entire school that even the study god would fight and hit on girls. Whoever dared to provoke his girl, he would teach you how to be a person at every minute. The night of the graduation ceremony someone saw him blocking Gu Siyi in the corner. He didn’t stop kissing even when she cried. He bit her lips and said in a raspy voice, “I’m going crazy…”
During college finals, Gu Siyi almost bursted out crying, “I’m such a failure. I won’t be able to find a good job in the future…And if I can’t find a good job, I can’t provide for myself…”
Xia Zhijun played with her pink earlobe and remarked, “I’ll take care of you.”
After they graduated, Xia Zhijun created a research company and Gu Siyi became the boss’s wife.
The commercial rocket, “Star of Siyi” was successfully launched. So everyone knew that the new technology superstar, Xia Zhijun has a wife who he spoils a lot.

- Description from Novelupdates

When a fantasy kingdom needs heroes, they skip the high schoolers and summon hardened Delta Force operators.Lieutenant Cole Mercer and his team are no strangers to sacrifice. After all, what are four men compared to millions of lives saved from a nuclear disaster? But as they make their last stand against insurgents, they’re unexpectedly pulled into another world—one on the brink of a demonic incursion.Thrust into Tenria's realm of magic and steam engines, Cole discovers a power beyond anything he'd imagined: magic—a way to finally win without sacrifice, a power fantasy made real by ancient mana and perfected by modern science.But his new world might not be so different from the old one, and the stakes remain the same: there are people who depend on him more than ever; people he might not be able to save. Cole and his team are but men, facing unimaginable odds. Even so, they may yet prove history's truth: that, at their core, the greatest heroes are always just human.

Deep below the earth's surface, a mystifying subterranean seascape lurks, an archipelago bathed in inky blackness where suspense and horror hold court. Here lie strange islands and even stranger monsters, far beyond the realms of human imagination. In this domain, mankind is far from dominant; instead, madness and death rule supreme.

Pleading for mercy from the unknown creatures of the deep only leads to a slow, tortured existence. The trapped survivors gradually distort, losing what made them human, both physically and mentally, to the gloom as they remain trapped in this eternal obscurity. Their only hope? A perilous expedition into uncharted sea territories.

Fueled by determination, Charles embark on this daunting voyage aboard his steamship, aiming to reclaim humanity's past glory. Together with his crew, they sought a way out of this hidden sea world, a path back to the sunlit world above, where humans once stood tall.

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I read a few comments from Chinese readers that compared this novel with Lord of Mysteries because of similar elements: Lovecraftian, western fantasy, first industrial revolution, and steampunk. However, I have yet to finish reading Lord of Mysteries to do any actual comparison, but I do think those who have enjoyed that novel would enjoy this as well. Also, the author of LotM, Cuttlefish That Loves Diving, also did a shout-out for this novel, so I guess he approves of it too?

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