Deposed? I couldn't be happier! I wouldn't even be a dog to the crown prince.

At the exit of the underground palace, the cold air emanating from the cracks in the stone bricks instantly covered the surrounding vegetation with a layer of white frost.

Bai Qi slowly stood up.

His tall, thin body was encased in dark red heavy armor covered in knife marks, and with every movement, the grinding sound of the armor plates seemed like countless wronged souls grinding their teeth.

The eerie weapon called "War Scythe" was stuck diagonally behind him, exuding an evil aura that made the living flee and the dead tremble.

"You must be really feeling cooped up, right?"

Li Chengqian stood in the moonlight, his small figure appearing somewhat frail in front of the long underground palace passage.

But the indifference in his eyes gave this Lord Wu'an, who had conquered the Warring States period, a strange sense of connection.

Bai Qi didn't speak, but simply reached out and touched his pale, paper-white face.

He took a deep breath of the outside air.

Although it carried the chill of winter, compared to the deathly silence of the underground palace, the air here was filled with the scent of "life".

And then there was the faint, lingering smell of blood drifting from the far east.

"Goguryeo, Yeon Gaesomun."

Li Chengqian casually tossed the blood-stained battle report at Bai Qi's feet.

"He killed my envoy, dug up the remains of the Sui army from thirty years ago, and built a mound of corpses on the banks of the Liao River."

"He felt that the lives of people in the Tang Dynasty were stones he used to flaunt his power."

Bai Qi glanced down at the battle report, his withered eyebrows twitching slightly.

He forced a stiff smile, as if he hadn't smiled in centuries and his facial muscles were necrotic.

"A mound of bones?"

Bai Qi's voice was hoarse, with a metallic, abrasive quality.

"Piling up corpses to form a high platform—this old trick from hundreds of years ago is actually treasured by some people."

He looked up at the east, his dark pupils reflecting the cold moonlight.

"Your Highness, in my eyes, that's not a mound of skulls. It's just a pile of fertilizer that hasn't been filled into the pit yet."

Li Chengqian walked to his side and patted Bai Qi's cold shoulder guard.

"I said, I will repay a hundredfold."

"Take your three thousand Iron Eagle Warriors and set off tonight. I have no interest in the empty fame of conquering new territories."

Li Chengqian leaned close to Bai Qi's ear, his tone as calm as if he were instructing an old neighbor to go buy groceries.

"What I want is that once you set foot on that land, there will be no Goguryeo person left who can stand and breathe."

"I want the name Goguryeo to be completely erased from the history books."

Upon hearing this, Bai Qi's eyes suddenly blazed with red light, and the murderous aura emanating from him caused the surrounding Donggong guards to retreat.

He suddenly knelt on one knee, and the huge scythe emitted a humming sound as if it were thirsting for blood.

"Your Highness, rest assured, digging pits is my specialty. That land in Liaodong is perfect for burying people!"

With a low shout from Bai Qi, the three thousand Iron Eagle Warriors vanished into the dense forest of the Eastern Palace like drops of ink falling into the night.

They didn't need provisions, supplies, or even warhorses.

They are the purest killing machines in the world; as long as there is blood, they will keep killing.

Li Chengqian stood on the hilltop with his hands behind his back, watching the receding shadows.

"Your Highness, are three thousand men... enough?"

Xu Xiao, who had been waiting in the shadows, slowly walked out, his single eye filled with worry.

"Goguryeo claimed to have 600,000 soldiers and a fortified mountain fortress complex."

"Although Lord Wu'an is strong, he is still no match for many opponents. If he gets surrounded, he may suffer losses."

Li Chengqian did not turn around; he remained staring eastward.

However, his gaze passed over the mountains of Liaodong and was cast towards the vast ocean further south.

"Old Xu, do you really think I'd rely solely on Bai Qi to fight head-on?"

Li Chengqian sneered, stretched out his hand, and made a grasping motion in the air, as if he wanted to crush the entire world into his palm.

"Bai Qi went by land to drive those rats out of their burrows and, incidentally, demolish that unsightly mound of skulls."

"That's bait, and also the sharpest boning knife."

He turned around and looked at Wu Meiniang.

"Meiniang, have you finished compiling the data on the eastern coastal ports that I asked you to collect?"

Wu Zetian immediately nodded and handed over a thick scroll.

"Your Highness, the shipbuilding workshops in Dengzhou, Laizhou, and Jiangdu have all been placed under the surveillance of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"As you instructed, large quantities of fine steel and timber are being transported to the seaside."

Li Chengqian took the scroll, a mysterious smile curving his lips.

"My father always felt that cannons and trains were the ultimate truth."

"He's still too conservative."

Li Chengqian's gaze became deep and crazed.

"Does Yeon Gaesomun think that because he's surrounded by the sea and mountains, there's nothing we can do about him?"

"That's because he doesn't know that when truth comes from the sea, all geographical barriers are just a joke."

He looked up at the night sky.

In that empty system space, millions of reputation points accumulated over a long period of time were jumping wildly.

[Ding! Host's desire for an expedition has been detected.]

[Unlock the Advanced Version of the Shop – Ocean Overlord Edition!]

[Note: Dimensional reduction in attack isn't just about firepower, but also about completely transcending the tactical level.]

Li Chengqian took a deep breath and pressed the exchange button in his mind that he had never touched before.

"Land routes are too crowded; sea routes are the shortcut."

"Old Xu, get the car ready, we're going to the beach."

Xu Xiao was taken aback. "Your Highness, what are we going to the beach for?"

Li Chengqian narrowed his eyes, his gaze flashing with the greed of a predator.

"Go and wake up someone who can truly lead the Tang Dynasty into an era where the sun never sets."

"By the way, I should also have those short, ugly Japanese people's epitaphs made in advance."

At this moment, the storm on the eastern sea gradually subsided.

A red sun rose from the horizon, turning the sea a blood-red color.

In Li Chengqian's mind.

A man holding a star map, wearing official robes, and with eyes as firm as iron, slowly turned around.

That man's name once commanded the submission of the entire West.

Zheng He, the eunuch known as the Three Treasures Eunuch.

The suspense reached its peak at this moment.

Li Chengqian looked at the sea and said quietly:

"Since we're going to fight, let's turn this sea into the Tang Dynasty's foot bath."