The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 455 Final Battle
Liu Jin stood still, her gaze meeting An Ziyang's.

There's no point in running away.

The flames had already spread from the end of the imperial road, right under An Ziyang's feet. The speed wasn't too fast, but those officials in the crowd behind him who had never practiced martial arts would definitely not be able to escape this narrow imperial road.

He made a mistake.

An Ziyang, this notorious playboy, began building his "persona" from the moment he became famous in the underworld, and even now, despite having accomplished so many great things, this "persona" still plays a role.

If anyone else had done something like "frying juicy fried dough," Liu Jin would probably have suspected their motives. But when An Ziyang did it, everyone just took it for granted.

A small mistake can lead to a huge error.

He had a chance to seize the clue, but he missed it, and now he has to swallow the bitter pill.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom—

Flames erupted from the ground and stretched all the way to Liu Jin's front.

"Manufacturer!"

An official from the Eastern Depot suddenly appeared beside Liu Jin, lifted him up, and leaped onto the wall of the imperial road.

The flames spread into the crowd.

The scream was barely uttered before it was cut off along with the body. The crowd was pierced by flying debris, and charred blood splattered everywhere.

Liu Jin closed her eyes.

Because of a misjudgment of An Ziyang, the whole thing was lost.

If he cannot reach the pinnacle of his cultivation, An Qisheng will not engage in direct combat with Li Miao. Instead, he will leave the capital and return to Yingzhou, waiting for several hundred years until Li Miao dies before returning to the Central Plains.

And he will die meaninglessly, along with the Eastern Depot, and be buried here.

"Factory Master, Factory Master!"

Suddenly, the shouts of the Eastern Depot's celestial beings reached my ears.

"Look... the explosion has stopped!"

Liu Jin suddenly opened his eyes.

Smoke billowed up, limbs were severed, corpses piled high, and blood flowed freely. Those who were still alive were rolling, struggling, and howling on the ground, while many more lay motionless, mangled corpses—at least, that was the case in front of him.

The Eastern Depot's Celestial Being waved his palm and exhaled true energy, dispelling the smoke and fire before him.

The scene of the latter half of the imperial road was revealed to Liu Jin.

The panicked crowd surged toward the latter half of the imperial road, screaming, trampling, and shoving. But... just as the Eastern Depot's celestial being had said, the explosion stopped and did not cover the entire imperial road.

Liu Jin suddenly turned his head to look at the exit of the imperial road.

An Ziyang and Mei Qinghe have long since disappeared.

"I see."

Liu Jin murmured.

He realized that An Ziyang might have indeed made two preparations, but Li Miao had pushed the situation too fast and too hard. In fact, it had only been four days since Li Miao returned to the capital... No matter how hard An Ziyang mobilized his manpower, with the gunpowder production technology of Da Shuo, he would not be able to obtain enough gunpowder to cover the entire imperial road.

He had tricked Liu Jin into coming over not to provoke him, but to lure the crowd to the front before detonating the explosion. However, Liu Jin did not move, so he had no choice but to pull the rope.

Liu Jin waved his hand.

The Eastern Depot's celestial being immediately understood and flew to the latter half of the imperial road to intercept the fleeing crowd.

A short while later, the crowd was blocked and pulled back.

The eunuch from the Eastern Depot walked to Liu Jin's side with a grim expression and whispered, "Eunuch... we don't have enough men..."

"Although the explosion just now stopped midway, it still killed quite a few people. Now there are only two hundred people left, and there is still the last Fengtian Gate. At the very least, thirty or forty people will die... But An Qisheng needs at least one hundred and seventy or eighty people to recover his cultivation level..."

“We—we were still outmaneuvered by An Ziyang…” His face was somewhat ashen.

Who could have predicted that this struggle, which involved three celestial beings from four different directions, overturned the entire Da Shuo court, and resulted in the deaths of countless celestial beings, would end in the hands of a first-rate playboy?

He knew Liu Jin was about to die, and the Eastern Depot had almost lost everything. If they failed today, he, a high-ranking official of the Eastern Depot, would only have one outcome: death at the hands of Li Miao. How could he not feel dejected, regretful, and desperate?

He looked at Liu Jin, trying to find a trace of the same despair in this eunuch who had always been as cold and calm as a puppet, in order to comfort himself.

But when his gaze fell on Liu Jin's face, he froze.

Liu Jin's expression remained calm, showing no trace of despair or regret, just as it had always been.

A sudden glimmer of hope rose in his heart: "Master Eunuch, do you perhaps have a backup plan?"

Liu Jin nodded calmly.

"Yes, let's continue onward to the Hall of Supreme Harmony."

He didn't explain, but the Eastern Depot officials didn't ask any further questions. For someone who had lost everything, even a sliver of hope was enough to muster his last bit of strength.

"go!"

"To the Hall of Supreme Harmony!"

"It's right before our eyes... Once we reach the Hall of Supreme Harmony, everything will be settled. Everyone who survives will be rewarded! Whether they belong to a sect or a clan! The clouds will part and the sun will shine again!"

Under the encouragement and incitement of several members of the Eastern Depot, the crowd gradually calmed their fear, stepped over the smoke and corpses, and walked out of the imperial road under Liu Jin's leadership.

Liu Jin stepped onto the square in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

This is the last hurdle.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony was already in sight, no more than two hundred feet away, and separated from Liu Jin only by the Fengtian Gate.

Military formations stood in rows in front of Fengtian Gate.

The remaining Imperial Guards and Embroidered Uniform Guards were all assembled, their weapons drawn, swords and spears standing tall, exuding a menacing aura.

Several figures stood in front of the army formation.

An Ziyang, Mei Qinghe, Cao Hanyan, Gao Anyu, You Ziang.

Apart from Wang Hai, Xiao Si, and Zheng Yi, who remained in Nanjing to stabilize the situation, all of Li Miao's subordinates had arrived.

An Ziyang gathered the silk threads, and several iron boxes laid out at his feet unfolded. Countless Gu worms flew into the air from them, and the machine rotated, causing countless black iron cylinders to extend forward.

Mei Qinghe brought her sword to her eyes, her eyes tightly closed.

Cao Hanyan drew her sword and held it in a reverse grip. She clasped her hands in a fist salute to the martial arts practitioners in the crowd, then flipped the hilt in her hand, slowly extended her front foot, and held the blade horizontally to her ear.

Gao Anyu jumped a few times on the spot, pulled out the black ruler and held it in his left hand with his right hand on his left arm, and beckoned to Liu Jin.

Liu Jin stared at the group of people.

The final hurdle, how many people can get through the Hall of Supreme Harmony, will determine the outcome of today's battle.

Time seemed to stand still, and the snowflakes falling from the sky seemed to freeze in the air for a moment—until Liu Jin spoke softly, calmly uttering a single word.

"rush."

Along the way, the civil officials who were powerless to even kill a chicken have all been killed or wounded. Most of those who remain are martial arts practitioners, and they are the elite among them.

As Liu Jin uttered these words.

The four Eastern Depot deities charged out first, colliding with the remaining retainers of Li Miao's side.

Then, shouts of battle echoed outwards.

The two groups charged toward each other.

(End of this chapter)