Comprehensive Anime: The End Begins by Playing the Hero King

Normally, he should have felt relieved in this situation.

In fact, he felt a strong sense of incongruity and intense unease instead.

If he could have described himself as a wolf hiding among a flock of sheep before.

Then now, he had the illusion that he was a sheep hiding among a pack of wolves.

Could it be that most of the civilians were actually soldiers in disguise?

But even if they were soldiers, something still felt off.

It was as if, yes, he remembered now, it was a nightmare he had once encountered.

He had once encountered the so-called living dead.

And the people around him gave him a cold feeling, like the living dead.

Was he among the living dead?

Chapter 046: All Living Dead?

What are the living dead?

As the name suggests, literally, they are monsters that look like dead people who are alive, like walking corpses.

There has always been a rumor.

The Tyrant Ying Zheng commanded a legion of the living dead, monsters that felt no pain and had no emotions.

As long as their limbs were not severed, rendering them completely immobile, these "people" could continue to fight even if their hearts were pierced or their heads were cut off.

And this tyrant caused a considerable amount of slaughter when he attacked the Six States, with some cities being completely wiped out.

In that case, wouldn't there be corpses all over the city?

The result was that no one could be seen in the city, and thus it was rumored that the bodies of those killed were used to create the legion of the living dead.

Therefore, the assassin didn't really believe the somewhat exaggerated rumors about the legion of the living dead.

But he believed in the existence of monsters like the living dead, because he had encountered one before.

Its body had sustained numerous fatal wounds, and its head was almost split in two, yet this person could still move.

Furthermore, no blood flowed from its wounds, which was truly terrifying.

So, at that time, he was so scared that he abandoned his companions and fled alone.

And now, at this very moment, he felt that the surrounding civilians were not living people, and he felt an increasingly similar, intangible aura to the living dead he had encountered before.

"Sister, do you feel these civilians..."

Lantigreese, one of the cross-temporal historical observers and a Valkyrie, also sensed something unusual.

These civilians were truly strange, having suddenly fallen silent at the exact same moment.

Considering that some people, blocked by those in front, couldn't see the gesture of the First Emperor raising his hand to signal for silence, even if they noticed that the people in front had suddenly quieted down, these people couldn't possibly have fallen silent simultaneously.

The silence should have spread from the group closest to the First Emperor outwards.

Those behind who couldn't see the First Emperor's gesture would react according to the reactions of those in front, so it was impossible for it to happen at the same time.

But this perfectly synchronized silence was truly abnormal, as if everyone had been—

"As if they were being controlled, right?"

Brunhilde finished her sister's thought.

To achieve such synchronization, it would require trained soldiers, but with such a large number of civilians, it was quite bizarre.

Therefore, Lantigreese suspected that this First Emperor possessed some sorcery to control all the citizens.

Is that possibility there?

It's not impossible.

Didn't they retrieve the souls of historical figures earlier and find that many souls couldn't be traced at all?

Didn't they also see Xiang Yu transferring his soul out of his original body?

So, it's possible that their souls disappeared, leaving behind an empty shell that the First Emperor controlled with some kind of technique.

In other words, the vast majority of people at the grand military review ceremony were likely controlled by the First Emperor.

And those who wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to cause chaos were probably already exposed.

The moment they made their move, they would be met with attacks from a legion of living dead.

But would the First Emperor really commit such a heinous act?

To extract the souls of countless civilians and turn them into puppets he controlled?

And did the Eastern gods not notice this situation at all?

Perhaps it was only after discovering this evil sorcery of the First Emperor that this powerful dynasty collapsed after only a dozen years.

It is rumored that the First Emperor did many things in pursuit of immortality, so is this act of extracting souls a part of his process to achieve immortality?

By experimenting with soul transfer, he could transfer his own soul to a more powerful body?

The mechanical body Xiang Yu had previously seen should be a product of this technology.

So why did such an out-of-place technology suddenly appear in this era?

Suddenly, war drums sounded, and the battle intent contained within them jolted Brunhilde, who was lost in thought, back to reality.

The Emperor began to review his victorious and battle-hardened army.

The soldiers, who had clearly endured countless campaigns, were arranging themselves in formation with perfect rhythm.

Judging by their marching, the way they swung their weapons, and their sharp gazes, Brunhilde felt it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call this army the absolute "strongest" in this era, in this entire world.

They possessed hearts that would never waver; with just one command from their king, they would dare to attack gods.

And they were not the Living Dead, but actual living people.

As the war drums grew louder, the army's morale sharpened to the point where it could pierce the heavens and alarm the gods.

The war drums beat faster and faster, their sound seemingly possessing a magical quality that pierced the barriers of time and space, disturbing Brunhilde's heartbeat and giving her a slight sense of unease.

As the drumming subsided—

"Why say there are no clothes? With you, the same robe. The King goes to war, sharpen our spears and halberds, and share the same hatred with you..."

Not only the soldiers being reviewed, but also the king, his subjects, and even the common people sang along.

Hm?

Brunhilde noticed that the assassins from the six nations, hidden among the populace, were finally about to make their move.

A short blade hidden in a sleeve was stealthily revealed, a glint of sharpness, and then it was ruthlessly drawn across the neck of a civilian in front of him.

Skin was torn, the trachea in the throat almost completely severed—it was undeniably a fatal wound.

Having finished this, the assassin didn't pay attention to what happened to the civilian afterward; he had already moved on to his next target.

The tip of the blade fiercely plunged into the chest of another civilian nearby, the location of the heart.

Then, he grew confused because the blade met an unexpected resistance. Had he just hit a rib in the chest?

He pushed harder, driving the tip in forcefully, then yanked it out. Blood should have gushed out.

But in reality, no blood flowed.

As the blade was pulled out, it seemed to have a nick on the edge, and it tore the clothing, revealing the chest wrapped by the garment, showing the pierced wound.

This wound left the assassin stunned. There was indeed no blood, and through the gap in the wound, he saw a scene that made his blood run cold.

There was no flesh and blood inside.

Furthermore, the other person completely ignored his actions and continued to loudly sing the war song.

Thinking of something, he turned to look at the first person he had slit the throat of and saw that they were still standing, emitting an inarticulate, abnormal sound from their throat.

At this moment, the assassin was terrified.

Not just him, but all the assassins were frozen in place, scared stiff.

Chapter 047 The World Was Replaced in an Instant?

All the personnel involved in this assassination attempt on the First Emperor were frozen in place.

The ordinary people they attacked first were meant to cause immense panic, but the abnormal phenomenon left them frozen in shock.

"Sister, could it be that all of them are—"

A slightly trembling voice escaped Lantigreese's cherry-colored lips.

Even she herself was a little frightened by the scene before her.

The ordinary civilians who were attacked did not bleed from their wounds because there was no flesh and blood inside.

Through the cut opening, mechanical parts could be seen.

This meant that most of these civilians were not human, but like Xiang Yu, their souls had been transferred to mechanical bodies.

Having become like this, they felt no pain from any attack, ignoring everything.

This scene was chilling.

At the same time, it made Lantigreese feel it was incredibly cruel.

She couldn't believe that such a vast number of civilians, almost the entire city's population, would willingly abandon their physical bodies and transform into such mechanical constructs.

They felt no pain, no, it seemed like all other emotions had also been stripped away, and they were being controlled?

Perhaps they had been brainwashed.

In that case, they had been completely stripped of their identity as humans, merely machine puppets without self-will.

They were even worse off than Xiang Yu; at least when Xiang Yu was seen, apart from his body being mechanical, he looked like a sentient and emotional human in every other way.

Upon closer inspection, some who hadn't made a move yet seemed to be ordinary civilians.

Some of these people were startled when those around them suddenly attacked, but they were even more terrified by the abnormality of those who should have been killed.

As for the others, although they hadn't witnessed anyone suddenly attacking, they had noticed that the people around them had become strange.

So, what was going on with these people?

These people must be from other places who knew about today's military review ceremony and came just to watch.

So, they are real, flesh-and-blood humans.

However, having witnessed such a secret, these people will likely meet the same fate.

Their souls will be forcibly extracted from their bodies, transferred into machines, imprisoned within machines, and become puppets controlled by the First Emperor.

It must be legions like these that are invincible.

Ordinary human soldiers could never defeat such fearless mechanical puppets that feel no pain.

"Don't rush to anger just yet, Lantigreese."

My older sister suddenly said, seemingly seeing through my thoughts and knowing why I was about to get angry.

"Try to recall carefully if there have been any changes from when the inspection began until now."

She also reminded me.

Could it be that the situation isn't what I thought it was?

Lantigreese carefully recalled the scene changes from the moment the First Emperor stepped onto the review stand.

Hmm? It does seem like there was a slight abnormality, a subtle fluctuation in the scene? A blur?

It was as if a playing video was experiencing very slight screen jitter due to some interference, but because the scene was dynamic and the fluctuation was very brief, it wouldn't have been noticed if one wasn't paying close attention.

But what's the problem with that?

Lantigreese couldn't discern any issues from such subtle changes.

No, Lantigreese found a problem again.

It's like if a person standing before me had a height of 175 centimeters, right?