Chapter 384 - 326: Trouble in the Imperial Capital

The drone carrier’s speed was so fast it was almost frightening.

Chu Bamboo was distracted for only a moment, and by the time he looked again, the drone carrier was already bearing down on Beizhili.

"Warning! Warning!" The Hive interface on his phone suddenly flashed red, a giant exclamation mark nearly popping off the screen. "Locked on! Locked on!"

"They’ve issued a warning: Return immediately! Do you wish to return..."

Chu Bamboo froze for a second before it dawned on him, his expression growing complicated. "Of course!"

’I almost forgot, the Imperial Capital was... a major center in the previous civilization. Under these circumstances, it’s normal for it to have leftover defensive measures!’

’Wait, then what about Jinghai City... Could it be because of the Imperial Capital’s unique status? Were the defenses installed there more numerous and advanced... so many of them survived even after all this time?’

For a moment, Chu Bamboo couldn’t be sure. His mind raced. In the end, his expression turned grim as he ordered, "Send out a portion of the medium-sized drones as a diversion! Use them for suicide-run impacts... Do whatever it takes to cover the drone carrier until it’s over the Imperial Capital, then execute the bombing plan."

The Hive went silent for a moment before slowly speaking, "This order violates protocol... BZZT... Commander identified as highest Authority! Amending relevant statutes... Forcing command through."

"Please reconfirm the order!"

"Confirmed," Chu Bamboo said without hesitation.

"Executing command!"

Panels on the drone carrier’s fuselage slowly opened, and medium-sized drones flew out one after another. The carrier began to slow down—these smaller drones couldn’t possibly keep up with its top speed.

Finally, something appeared in the distance... Huh?!

Chu Bamboo instinctively rubbed his eyes, staring at the figure on the screen. It was an old eunuch in a Python Robe. His hair was white, his back was hunched, and he coughed intermittently. But he was walking on air, and his eyes held a sinister chill.

"...Grand Ancestor?!" Eunuch Huang suddenly blurted out. At almost the exact same moment, an inscrutable look on his face, Chu Bamboo murmured a name: "Su Buqun."

Eunuch Huang: "???"

’Wait a minute... How do you know the Grand Ancestor?’ Eunuch Huang was stunned. Even he only knew the old man’s surname was Su, not that his name was Su Buqun... He didn’t even have a clue how long the Grand Ancestor had been alive...

Eunuch Huang had a terrifying thought. ’Don’t tell me... our Grand Ancestor has been alive since the founding of the dynasty?’

’So... does this man, who might be the Founding Grand Ancestor himself... know him?’

Chu Bamboo stared grimly at the screen. ’Su was the dynastic surname of the current Imperial Court! Of course, that didn’t mean the old eunuch was a member of the Royal Family... It meant he had performed such meritorious service protecting the Su Family dynasty that he had been granted the name.’

Chu Bamboo was no stranger to this old man... If he had to elaborate...

In one of the past, reset timelines, he’d tried to pull a classic move, cozying up to the old man like a sycophant in some drama. "If you don’t mind... I’d like to take care of you in your old age!"

Of course...

In the main timeline, the identity Chu Bamboo had assumed after faking his death didn’t involve taking care of the old geezer, but it was still closely connected to this Grand Ancestor... In fact, the only reason he’d been able to make contact with the Heavenly Monarch back then was by first getting on this old man’s good side...

But...

’This is absurd...’ Chu Bamboo didn’t know what kind of face to make. The same question that had surfaced countless times before rose in his mind again... ’Just how many absurdly powerful hidden masters have I run into over the years?!’

A flush crept onto Eunuch Huang’s cheeks. He stared nervously at the screen, his eyes a mixture of apprehension, fear, and anticipation.

’On one side, the Kunpeng... and on the other, the Grand Ancestor. Who was stronger?’

And then...

The Grand Ancestor slowly raised his hand. The next instant, the Taiyin Aurora surged forth.

The image on the screen was instantly annihilated...

A dead silence fell over the room.

Eunuch Huang: "...?"

’What just happened?!’

Eunuch Huang’s expression froze. The reality of the scene was so far removed from his expectations that his brain short-circuited for a moment...

Hu Kaikang, once he processed what had just happened, felt the corner of his eye twitch violently. ’???’ He forced himself to calm down and glanced cautiously at Chu Bamboo. When he saw Chu Bamboo looking calm and collected, he breathed a sigh of relief. ’It looks like this was all part of Chu Bamboo’s plan...’

And then...

Chu Bamboo bit down on the poison capsule hidden in his molar, and then... his eyes rolled back in his head.

"???"

"!!!"

Both Hu Kaikang and Huo Qiming were completely stunned. They could feel Chu Bamboo’s life force fading rapidly, and their minds went blank.

Their first reaction wasn’t even to try and save Chu Bamboo... It was to try and process their thoughts, to repeatedly ask themselves what had just happened. Even when they understood... their minds still instinctively refused to believe what they were seeing...

The next moment, time began to reverse.

...

Chu Bamboo slowly opened his eyes. He found himself looking at his own fist, which had just struck the Imperial Capital on the light-screen map. "..."

’Uh oh, have I already given the order to attack the Imperial Capital? Is it too late to retract it... Or should I just kill myself again?’

Chu Bamboo’s eyelid twitched. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down as he replayed the previous events in his mind. ’Su Buqun... that Grand Ancestor of the Royal Family! He was obviously an incredibly powerful Transcendent...’

’I don’t know exactly how strong he is! But the drone carrier alone definitely can’t handle him...’

’What should I do?’ Chu Bamboo was torn. ’Should I kill myself again, return to reality, leave a message, and see if I can get a couple more Antimatter Bombs? Or a whole pile of them... Or maybe...’

Hm?

Suddenly, a thought struck Chu Bamboo. He looked pensively in Eunuch Huang’s direction...

’?!’ A chill ran down Eunuch Huang’s spine. He pursed his lips, forcing an expression of unwavering resolve onto his face.

Chu Bamboo nodded thoughtfully, having finally untangled the mess in his head. "I see!"

’What ’I see’?’ Eunuch Huang was bewildered. He hadn’t said a word... ’?’ As he noticed the suspicious gazes from the people around him, Eunuch Huang’s eye began to twitch. He shot a vicious glare back, only to see that while some people looked away, others had expressions of dawning realization, some looked mocking, and one even glared back just as fiercely...

Realizing what they were all thinking, Eunuch Huang felt genuinely wronged. ’What’s with that ’looking at a traitor’ expression... Wait... what just happened?!’

Chu Bamboo’s eyes glinted as he carefully weighed his words before issuing a command, "Hive... pilot the drone carrier through densely populated areas! And fly as low as possible... Make sure a large number of people can see it!"

’Eunuch Sun didn’t attack the drone because there were too many witnesses in the military camp... So, does that mean the Grand Ancestor attacked so recklessly because the drone carrier was flying too high for anyone to see, leaving him with no reservations?’

’Sigh, I have no idea if this will work! But... is this rule really binding?’ Chu Bamboo couldn’t quite figure it out.

’To be blunt, the Emperor probably doesn’t actually care about the lives of his subjects, does he?’

’Unless what’s restraining him isn’t the Imperial Court, but something with more... compulsory power... something like a fundamental Law or a rule!’

After a moment of silence, Chu Bamboo looked over at Little Mushroom Head. Little Mushroom Head tilted their head.

"...It’s nothing." Chu Bamboo patted Little Mushroom Head’s hand and turned his attention back to the map. ’This is another test!’

’If I can figure out what that compulsory force is... I might be able to exploit it!’

Just as Chu Bamboo had planned, countless commoners saw the drone carrier along its flight path. Many even fell to their knees, kowtowing in terror.

Just like before, the lock-on warning blared.

Chu Bamboo repeated the same sequence of actions as before... And this time, the Grand Ancestor actually didn’t appear before the drone carrier.