The war began.
Sunset Plains was clearly that broad expanse at the center of the Sandbox. When Lin Tuo turned his gaze back toward it, he realized that this war seemed to have already decided its victor.
The army near the Capital's direction collapsed with a roar, flooding across the land like a breached tide. Behind them came the Western Continent Army, mounted on warhorses and armed with rifles and machetes.
When Lin Tuo saw the dense gunfire and explosions, he finally let out a soft sigh.
"They ultimately managed to make firearms."
When he had entered the Sandbox and spoken of science, he had deliberately downplayed matters concerning military weapons.
Unfortunately.
As society evolved, under highly similar conditions, weapons for war had still developed naturally.
Though he could not make out the details.
Judging from the era, Lin Tuo guessed that these firearms had probably shed their earliest forms and could be classified as early rifles.
And after weathering the first Industrial Revolution, this seven-hundred-year-old nation had finally encountered a challenge from outside the Royal Family.
Governor of Xizhou...
He sounded like some sort of regional overlord. He seemed to have prepared long ago—perhaps he had been planning for years. Otherwise, he could never have defeated the Empire's army.
If one entertained a conspiracy theory, perhaps even the Emperor's death had not been natural.
"I'm afraid the Chi Kingdom is finally getting a new master." Lin Tuo sighed softly, a faint suspicion forming in his mind.
After hesitating briefly, he did not intervene. He merely used the Qi-Eating Method, attempting to absorb Aether, before activating Time Acceleration once more.
Lin Tuo's stance toward civil wars within the Sandbox had always been the same: unless necessary, he would never interfere.
After all, war was often merely an intense solution to social contradictions. It was itself a necessary part of civilization's development and evolution.
As for Aether, it was normal for it to decline during wartime. Once peace returned after the war, it would naturally recover.
And once Time Acceleration was activated, text began appearing in the Operation Log one after another.
...The Battle of Sunset Plains ended in a sweeping victory for the Western Continent Army. They subsequently marched northward. The Empire's court and populace fell into turmoil, while the Imperial Army suffered defeat after defeat.
At the beginning of the 704,149,000th year of world evolution, the Western Continent Army arrived at the Capital and surrounded it without attacking. Thirty-two days later, the city gates opened wide, and the entire city surrendered.
The Dachi Dynasty lowered its banner. The Governor of the Great Western Continent entered the Capital and established the New Dynasty. The Chi Dynasty's 741 years of rule came to an end.
Tucker Desert—the endless Great Wall cut off everything.
On this morning, while the research team was still trying new methods of exploration, no one knew that on the land just beyond the wall.
A dynastic transition was taking place.
"Dong! Dong! Dong!"
Capital.
Unlike outside the Sandbox, it was now the depths of winter, in February.
The New Year was not far away.
In previous years, at this time, as the center of the Chi Kingdom and the Empire's capital, it ought to have been bustling with activity.
Schools and factories gradually went on holiday, while shops lining both sides of the streets displayed all kinds of festive food and ornaments... the air brimming with celebration.
Yet this year, the whole Capital was filled only with a grim, murderous chill.
On the streets.
Everything was desolate.
Citizens shut themselves indoors. The few who walked outside looked listless and terrified, like small beasts that would tense at the slightest disturbance.
As the electric clocks in the city rang out, gazes emerged from within some of the shuttered houses on both sides of the street.
Then, a cavalry formation appeared in the distance, followed by an endless column of infantry.
Those soldiers had long since changed into bright crimson uniforms, looking completely different from how they had on the battlefield. Their leather boots gleamed, their epaulets were spotless, and they carried long rifles as they marched in unison along the Capital's main road toward the imperial palace.
"Dad, Mom... look... soldiers..."
Whenever a child made a sound inside one of the rooms, their parents would swiftly cover their mouth.
"Don't make a sound... That's the new king's army."
"...Where are they going?"
"The imperial palace." The tense parents carefully watched the soldiers. "Today is the day the new king enters the palace."
In the north-central part of the Capital stood a cluster of buildings that still retained their classical style.
Unlike the high-rise buildings now emerging throughout the Chi Kingdom, the imperial palace still preserved some of its old appearance—red-lacquered palace walls and white jade railings.
Only today, the spacious square before the hall had been filled with orderly ranks of soldiers.
Though the square had been washed, large patches of dark red remained. The corpses had long been dragged away, but the scent of blood still lingered in the air.
Before the army stood an entire formation of cavalry.
"Neighhh."
On this winter morning, the tall, sturdy horses clad in specialized armor flicked their tails and exhaled wisps of white vapor.
"So this is the imperial palace. I remember, the last time I came here, Feng Neishi led me through the palace gates. To see an Emperor, I had to cross eight thresholds—it was tedious as hell.
Back then, I thought to myself that when I came back someday, I'd tear down every last one of those thresholds."
At the forefront, upon a pure white warhorse.
The middle-aged man, the Governor of the Great Western Continent and the rebel leader, wore light battle attire. His gloved left hand held a riding crop while his right pointed toward the palace ahead as he laughed.
After a pause, he added, "By the way, where is Feng Neishi? Returning to an old place like this truly makes me miss him."
A Western Continent Army general beside him answered.
"When we took over the palace earlier, the Former Empress led the remaining handful of people into the rear hall and fought to the death without retreating... Feng Neishi was among them."
"Oh? Then he's dead?" The Governor of Xizhou raised a brow.
"Yes."
"How strange. Why did I never realize he had such backbone? Given the kind of man he was, I thought he would have been among the first to surrender." The Governor of Xizhou sounded somewhat surprised.
"Reporting to the Gover... Your Majesty, the situation then was somewhat unusual.
"From what we learned, the people in the inner hall seemed somewhat... strange.
"I mean... their determination was unnaturally stubborn. Their bodies were riddled with bullets, yet they seemed to feel no pain at all..."
"Such a thing happened?" The Governor of Xizhou frowned, suspicion stirring in his heart. But after thinking it over, he did not investigate further. After all, at this very moment, the diehards had already been completely eradicated.
He had more important matters to attend to.
"The time is about right. Enter the palace with me."
Glancing at his watch, the Governor of Xizhou spoke. Then he dismounted with his entourage, and a mighty procession of Western Continent officials and generals entered through the palace gates.
They entered the central hall.
Though the central hall of the imperial palace was not as large as the square before the main hall, it was still spacious. Since it was winter, the woods surrounding the courtyard were bleak and unattractive, and patches of unmelted snow remained on the ground.
At its very center stood a Statue more than ten meters tall.
Carved from white jade, it depicted a young man.
He wore a classical long robe and held a teaching whip in his hand. With a peaceful expression, he stood in the palace square, gazing into the distance as though looking down upon the entire Empire. His eyes were profound, seeming to conceal boundless wisdom.
"Lin Sheng..." Seeing the Statue, the Governor of Xizhou slowed his steps and softly uttered the name.
Yes, this was Lin Tuo's Statue.
Ever since he had left the Chi Kingdom over two hundred years ago, the ruler had ordered statues of the Sage erected in every city across the country. The one before them had been crafted by the Imperial Chief Artisan back then.
Over the past two centuries, Lin Sheng's image had long become a kind of spiritual imprint.
If an analogy had to be made, he was somewhat like Confucius on Earth.
In name, every Emperor throughout the generations had been a disciple of the Sage.
"How could another be allowed to sleep beside one's bed and lay a finger on it... I can't touch you yet, but just wait. Sooner or later, I'll tear you down too..."
Muttering softly, the Governor of Xizhou withdrew his gaze and continued onward.
Several nearby officials who had accidentally heard his words felt their hearts leap, but none dared say anything.
Beyond the Statue was the main hall.
It was also where the ministers were summoned to discuss state affairs.
At this moment, quite a few people were already standing inside the hall.
They were ministers from the various departments of the Chi Kingdom. There were not many of them, but neither were there few; among them were both new faces and old ones.
The moment he saw them, the Governor of Xizhou forced a radiant smile onto his face, like spring wind and gentle rain. He said, "I have kept you waiting, my ministers."
The ministers hurriedly bowed in unison. "We pay respects to Your Majesty."
The Governor of Xizhou's smile grew even brighter.
He strode to the Emperor's throne, drew a deep breath, turned around, and sat upon the dragon throne. Filled with towering pride, he waved his hand and said:
"My ministers need not be so restrained. I spent decades in the Great Western Continent, and I am unaccustomed to the Capital's etiquette. Nor do I enjoy talking nonsense.
"The great war has been settled. Next comes pacifying the people.
"I have summoned you here today to decide how we can restore peace to the realm as swiftly as possible..."
Within the palace, the discussion proceeded in an orderly fashion.
The Governor of Xizhou's so-called deliberation would more accurately have been called notification. The entire process amounted to him issuing orders unilaterally to the heads of every department.
The army guarded the palace outside, thousands of rifles trained upon them. Naturally, everything proceeded with the utmost smoothness.
Thus, officials could be seen leaving the hall from time to time, trembling as they crossed the square.
When the sun rose and dispelled the chill within the imperial palace, only one person besides the Governor of Xizhou remained in the hall.
He was a somewhat special "official."
The deputy dean of the Kyoto Research Institute, as well as one of the Empire's foremost scientists.
The Dean had taken poison and killed himself on the day the city fell, dying in martyrdom for the Old Dynasty.
By order of succession, he was now the foremost scholar of the Empire.
Compared to the other ministers, the Governor of Xizhou clearly valued him more highly.
He personally rose to his feet and amiably pulled the Chief Scholar over for some small talk before slowly saying:
"The Old Dynasty grew strong through science. I too understand the importance of science. I raised my army in Xizhou and came all the way here, killing many people along the road, but I never killed a single scholar."
"Your Majesty is merciful."
The Governor of Xizhou's smile deepened at those words. He made another round of promises, essentially asking the man to continue serving the New Dynasty.
Only at the end did he seem to remember something and ask about the strange state of the group of resisters in the rear hall earlier.
For some reason, he felt that the man before him likely knew something.
Hearing this, the Chief Scientist froze. A momentary hesitation surfaced on his face, but he ultimately sighed.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, I do indeed know about this matter... At the time, they should have activated the 'Secret Seal.'"
"The Secret Seal?"
"Yes. It is the result of the scientific research project with the highest level of secrecy in the nation."
After a pause, he added:
"A 'machine' capable of controlling people's hearts."
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