Chapter 386 - 328: Imperial Palace and Grand Ancestral Temple

Chu Bamboo was dazed for a moment. He saw a vision of Vice President Xin standing before him, blocking a resplendent light. "..."

Expressionless, Chu Bamboo quickly composed himself, drawing on past experience.

A moment later, he had the drone carrier head toward the Imperial Capital again, but this time, he didn’t choose to enter the main urban area directly.

The ’Kunpeng’ circled the Imperial Capital. Countless citizens could see it, and their reactions were varied.

Whenever it encountered laser fire, Chu Bamboo would maneuver the drone carrier back a certain distance. It took a full half-hour for the drone carrier to probe and identify a safe zone...

’...And now.’ Chu Bamboo paused in thought, his fingers swiping gently. "Deploy!"

The many medium-sized drones that remained after the earlier missile barrage shot out from the drone carrier’s belly at extreme speed, then streaked toward the horizon...

But this time, the drones were all flying at an extremely low altitude, practically scraping along the streets—

This ultra-low altitude completely eliminated the possibility of laser attacks! After all, the surrounding buildings provided the best cover.

"By order of the Official Family, the entire city is under martial law!"

Cavalrymen galloped through the streets, barking harsh orders and even cracking long whips, wantonly driving the people away.

In response to this...

Upon seeing this, Chu Bamboo didn’t hesitate to have his drones reward the cavalrymen with their favorite little treats: bullets.

"Commander Huo, is this the Daqian Imperial Court you swear allegiance to?" Hu Kaikang raised an eyebrow.

"..." Seeing this, Huo Qiming started to speak several times but stopped himself, finally letting out a sigh.

And then...

"?? Commander Huo?!" Eunuch Huang shrieked. "Th-th-this... Is this right?"

Huo Qiming: "..."

’He had a slight suspicion that Hu Kaikang had done that on purpose. But... Huo Qiming didn’t refute him, nor did he try to cover anything up. He felt completely listless, or more accurately, utterly disheartened... ’Let it be.’’

’In truth, he had always known what this world was really like... He had just been lying to himself. Or perhaps, it was that the Heavenly Monarch of the past had never shown such a cruel side. These recent actions truly confused Huo Qiming...’

’But after thinking it over and over, who else besides the Heavenly Monarch could be giving these orders?’

At this very moment, however, Chu Bamboo was pondering another problem.

’Are they... trying to keep the public from seeing, to lay the groundwork for the Transcendents to make their move?’ A suspicion formed in Chu Bamboo’s mind. His expression tightened as he thought to himself, ’In that case, even if I have countermeasures... Right, I need to speed up the plan I’ve prepared!’

Chu Bamboo made his decision. In a calm and serious tone, he said, "Hive, dispatch three combat drones to Yangxin Hall and commence bombing... Oh, and bomb a few of the surrounding palaces while you’re at it!"

’Chances were, the Emperor had already sensed something was wrong and might have already left the hall!’

Chu Bamboo thought for a moment, then issued a new order. "Dispatch another three to the Grand Ancestral Temple! No bombing... Hmm, I want to take a look at Nuwa’s old home."

And then!

It wasn’t long before the drones that penetrated the Imperial Palace were destroyed.

The final image from the drone before its destruction... was of an expressionless eunuch.

That was the relatively good outcome...

Because the drones that entered the Grand Ancestral Temple just vanished inexplicably. From beginning to end, there was no telling how they disappeared!

’...Although I’d already guessed as much.’ Chu Bamboo sighed internally. ’Just as I thought. A great horror lurks within the Grand Ancestral Temple! It’s far more terrifying than the Imperial Palace...’

Then, Chu Bamboo’s gaze suddenly turned resolute. "In that case, we’ll execute the original plan!"

Chu Bamboo’s finger drew a circle over a location on the map. "Commence bombardment!"

The Imperial Capital was protected by the Imperial Forest Guard, the most elite army in all of Daqian. Thirty percent of its officers were descendants of princes and nobles, and all its soldiers were sons of good families. Most importantly, they rotated every three years to the Northern Border to fight a great enemy.

One could say that even with princes and nobles constantly finding positions for their own people, this rotation system ensured that the Imperial Guard’s baseline combat effectiveness was extremely high.

Especially... when they were equipped with the most elite weapons available!

"...Nuwa No. 17!" Chu Bamboo suddenly commanded. Just as in Jinghai City, the Imperial Guard’s barracks were located outside the city, so there was no need to worry too much about a large-scale drone bombing run triggering the laser defenses...

"My apologies. This unit does not have the authority to interfere with mechanical constructs in the Imperial Capital region. Please proceed to the Imperial Capital to unlock the relevant permissions." The Little Mushroom Head’s voice had a slight robotic texture.

Chu Bamboo was stunned. "..."

’In other words, I have to enter the Grand Ancestral Temple and get to the mainframe... Only then can I gain control?’

Chu Bamboo laughed, but it was a laugh of pure frustration. ’If I could get into the Grand Ancestral Temple... would things even be like this right now?’

’I would have long ago found out what great taboo Nuwa was holding! And seen if I could use it to hit the Emperor with something truly vicious...’

"Fine, forget it. Hive, if they interfere, just shoot them down!"

The Hive’s combat module allowed its drones to fight with an artistic flair... whereas the Imperial Guard’s drones, being individually piloted, seemed rigid and robotic by comparison.

Of course, the most important thing was...

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Sparks erupted!

Vast quantities of artillery shells and gunpowder in the supply depot were ignited by the small bombs carried by the medium-sized drones.

The drones began to assassinate the Imperial Guard’s officers, precisely targeting the list of identities Chu Bamboo had entered earlier—

The Hive’s goal, or rather, Chu Bamboo’s goal, had been from the very beginning to completely destroy the entire Imperial Guard.

Chu Bamboo had actually discovered something very interesting. Although the Daqian Dynasty was, on the surface, a centralized feudal empire, the major sects each held their own territory. This situation, without a doubt, greatly weakened the authority of the Daqian Imperial Court...

Thus, as Chu Bamboo continually pondered the basis of the Daqian Imperial Court’s power, he eventually had a keen insight: the Imperial Guard was crucial to maintaining the balance of power in all of Daqian.

Without the Imperial Guard, the Imperial Capital would be stripped of its defensive and offensive capabilities.

It wasn’t that it couldn’t be rebuilt... but rebuilding such an elite force was by no means something that could be accomplished overnight!

Thinking from this perspective, at this most critical moment when the Imperial Court’s core army was lost—

What would be the thoughts and attitudes of the other state garrisons, which still retained considerable power?

Would some... death-defying faction emerge and start a rebellion?

These were all very interesting possibilities!

The strategy Chu Bamboo was currently executing was to weaken the Imperial Court’s power to the greatest extent possible. If he could maintain a relatively controllable state of chaos, and ensure the failure of the Imperial Court’s centralized power... then it would create the possibility for him to lie low in Jiangnan and quietly accumulate his strength.