Rumble! The earth shook, sending countless birds scattering into the air.
The nearby guards stared in astonishment as the enormous palace hall began to sink slowly.
"What's going on? What happened?"
"Why is the hall sinking?"
"It looks like... someone activated the palace's emergency shelter system!"
"The emergency shelter system? Impossible! That thing hasn't been activated in centuries. Are there invaders?"
"There's no sign of an invasion at all! Could someone have activated it by mistake?"
"How could that happen? Only His Majesty has permission to activate the palace's emergency shelter system..."
Chaos erupted outside the hall, and inside, the situation changed just as abruptly!
Hum! Dozens of golden pillars of light suddenly rose, forming a golden cage around Nie Yun.
At the same time, everyone present could distinctly feel themselves falling, while the light from outside rapidly dimmed.
Although Nie Yun couldn't hear the princes talking in the distance, their panicked movements made it clear that this sudden turn of events had caught them off guard too.
He looked at the emperor on the throne in astonishment.
Nie Yun truly hadn't expected him to choose this moment to make his move.
The entire palace around him was accelerating toward the depths of the planet.
No! It wasn't merely descending!
As the palace descended, its course shifted at noticeable angles. It was clearly making turns and changing direction, tracing a path like a child's scribbles.
An enormous network of underground passages lay beneath the Imperial Star!
"This is the palace's emergency shelter system. Whenever we face an outside invasion we cannot withstand, the entire palace sinks deep into the planet.
"More than ten identical palaces also travel along tracks through the labyrinthine shelter passages to confuse the invaders.
"So unless those outside destroy the entire Imperial Star and locate