MTL - Pirates of the Dead - Chapter 443 Flowers and Trees Bound

“The harder I try to hate you, the deeper I fall for you.”

His presence irked her to the core, but whenever he got out of her sight, she missed him?!

….

A tyrant, known to be the city’s infamous playboy.

As an executive assistant, she was forced to work under him by the most cruel twist of fate.

If losing her job overnight was a nightmare, then working under a boss like Desmond Fort was hell. He was an arrogant narcissist with an ego bigger than the whole of Imperium city, but that was not what angered her the most.

The most infuriating fact was that despite his constant assholery, her heart seemed to stupidly skip a beat every time he gazed at her with those devilishly charming eyes.

She knew she was making a mistake but that didn't stop her from sinking deeper and deeper into his charm.

All she wanted now was to leave! But leaving hell was not nearly as easy as getting in.

Japan – National News BroadcastThe polished news anchor sat upright, her gaze sharp as she adjusted the stack of papers before her. The newsroom behind her hummed with quiet urgency, the weight of the moment settling over the broadcast.“Authorities are baffled by a sudden and unexplained surge in sleep-related deaths across Japan,” she began, her voice steady yet tense. “More and more citizens are passing away in their sleep without any prior health concerns. Experts are working tirelessly to determine the cause, but no clear explanation has emerged. Authorities urge the public to remain vigilant and report any unusual symptoms before bedtime.”A graphic appeared, displaying the spike in fatalities over the past month. Behind her, unsettling photographs flickered across the screen—blurred images of individuals found in their beds, their faces frozen in expressions of terror.The anchor’s tone shifted. “Health officials recommend citizens avoid excessive fatigue and maintain healthy sleep habits. More updates will follow as investigations continue.”---United States – Paranormal PodcastIn a dimly lit podcast studio, the host leaned forward, his eyes wide with curiosity. Across from him, a rugged man in a worn flannel shirt, gripping a faded photograph in one hand and a beer can in the other, leaned back in his chair.“So, you're telling me you saw this creature firsthand?” the host asked, clearly intrigued.The man scoffed, shaking his head. “Damn right, I did. Ugly thing had wings bigger than my body—slow but sneaky. Thought it could steal my pigs again, but I was ready this time—camera in one hand, shotgun in the other.”He slammed the table for emphasis, then shoved the blurry image toward the host. The photograph depicted a small, red-skinned humanoid figure with large, bat-like wings, its eyes glowing faintly in the darkness.“Spit, the thing didn’t know what hit it when I fired!” the man chuckled, his voice full of excitement.The host held up the picture to the live chat. “Alright, what do you think? Mothman? Demon? Or is our friend here just seeing things?”The chat exploded with theories—some skeptical, others eager for the investigation to continue.---China – Liangyuan Street MarketSurveillance footage from a bustling night market in China captured a chilling scene. A woman in a red qipao walked gracefully through the crowd, her figure striking in the soft glow of lanterns.Suddenly, she paused. Her body flickered—like a glitch in a video—before vanishing completely, as though she had never existed.The footage zoomed in, replaying in slow motion. In the final frame before she disappeared, her face distorted unnaturally, her eyes hollow and empty.The screen cut abruptly to black.

One day, Luo Jian woke up from his sleep and found himself in a locked chamber where the door and window were all sealed. A note with a few lines written on it was tacked to the wall: “Escape from this room within an hour, otherwise, you will die.”

There is a sequel called Reincarnation Night (轮回之夜) that takes place in the same universe but has different main characters

- Description from Novelupdates

As a boss with space plant abilities in the apocalypse, Lu Yao once traveled to the future, became the director of a nursery school that was about to close down, and became a rare animal human on the verge of extinction.
The food she made at random can cure the genetic disease of the cubs in the welfare home. She punched the cubs’ scum fathers and scum mothers, and kicked the remarried families who abandoned the cubs.
It is such a good kindergarten successor dean, who is attracted by that single cool imperial marshal!
Since then, the barrage in the live broadcast room has become:
Imperial Citizen A: Dean A, I really want to marry.
A certain big black dragon: Shut up! This is your marshal’s wife!
CP: Dean Lu Yao, who is extremely protective of short-sightedness and loves cubs, X the imperial marshal Helanjia who loves Shang Yunxi more than cubs
Brief: There are no bad cubs, only bad big ones.

- Description from novelbuddy