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

Pyongyang, the residence of Molizhi.

The spacious hall was filled with the finest silver-boned charcoal, which completely kept out the harsh winter cold.

Yeon Gaesomun, the de facto ruler of Goguryeo, was reclining on a large couch covered with a colorful tiger skin.

He was a burly man with a fierce face, and even had five short swords of different shapes hanging at his waist. This was his distinctive attire, a testament to his ruthlessness in seizing power through a bloody coup.

"Come on, have another drink."

Yeon Gaesomun roughly pulled a trembling Silla beauty into his arms and poured a cup of strong liquor into his mouth.

Both sides of the main hall were filled with high-ranking generals of Goguryeo.

They were clinking glasses and discussing how to divide the spoils of war from the Tang Dynasty, their atmosphere so enthusiastic that it seemed as if they had already conquered Chang'an.

"Lord Molizhi, I heard that the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty is so enraged that he actually wants to personally lead an expedition?"

A gaunt, one-eyed general was gnawing on a greasy leg of lamb, his face full of mockery.

"Back then, Emperor Yang of Sui brought a million-strong army here, but they were all frozen into ice sculptures by our winter."

"Who does Li Shimin think he is? Does he really think he can cross the snowy plains of Liaoxi by assembling a few broken-down carts for road construction?"

Yeon Gaesomun let out a thunderous laugh, which made the beautiful woman in his arms tremble.

"Li Shimin was so anxious he was practically blinded by rage."

Yeon Gaesomun pushed Mi-hee aside, stood up abruptly, and five short swords clashed together at his waist with a crisp metallic sound.

"His road construction and cotton planting projects in the Western Regions have nearly emptied the national treasury. Now that there's chaos in the east, what can he do besides bluffing?"

"I have ordered all the mountain towns along the route to hold their ground and not come out."

He walked to the center of the main hall and stepped on the map of the Tang Dynasty's territory that was laid out on the floor.

"As long as we can hold out until the dead of winter when heavy snow closes the mountains, the Tang army's supply lines will be cut off."

"I, Yeon Gaesomun, will build ten more mounds of skulls for the Lee family on this map!"

The generals raised their glasses, shouting "Molizhi is wise!" and dreaming of the impending victory.

Just when the crowd was in high spirits and it seemed that the outcome was already decided.

"Report—!"

A sharp, even distorted, voice announcing the news came from outside the main hall.

A Goguryeo naval scout, soaking wet and having lost his helmet, scrambled in.

With a thud, he knelt heavily on the hard bluestone slab, panting heavily, his eyes filled with undisguised terror.

"Lord Mo... Lord Molizhi! Something terrible has happened!"

The scout's voice trembled like a leaf falling in the wind.

"Traces of Tang troops have been discovered at the mouth of the Daedong River... off the coast of the Daedong River!"

The once noisy hall instantly fell silent.

All the generals stopped drinking and stared in astonishment at the scout who looked like he'd seen a ghost.

Yeon Gaesomun frowned, but he quickly regained his arrogant demeanor.

"What's the panic?"

Yeon Gaesomun snorted coldly and sat back down on the tiger-skin couch, his tone full of disdain.

"The Tang army came from the sea? What's so strange about that? They couldn't get through by land, so they were just trying their luck by sea."

He picked up his glass and took a sip with extreme arrogance.

"These people from the Central Plains are fine paddling small wooden boats on rivers, but when they get to the rough and windy Bohai Bay, they're a complete bunch of landlubbers!"

"How many dilapidated warships do they have? How many people can they hold? They'll probably be half-dead from vomiting before they even reach the shore!"

The generals below, who had just been startled, immediately relaxed after hearing Yeon Gaesomun's analysis.

"Exactly! What do people from the Central Plains know about naval warfare?"

The one-eyed general laughed so hard he almost fell over, and casually tossed the sheep bone in his hand aside.

"Lord Molizhi is right! They're sitting ducks at sea!"

"Our Datong River stronghold boasts five hundred warships, and Commander Gao Yanshou is personally overseeing it. If the Tang army dares to come, they're just handing food to the turtles in our seas!"

The atmosphere in the main hall became relaxed again.

The generals even started joking with each other, speculating how many Tang soldiers would fall into the sea to feed the fish.

"Send the order to Gao Yanshou!"

Yeon Gaesomun drew a short knife from his waist and slammed it into the wooden table in front of him, a cruel glint of bloodlust flashing in his eyes.

"Make him open the gates of the water fortress for me!"

"When those dilapidated Tang ships get close, sink them right there at sea! Leave no one alive!"

The scout kneeling on the ground looked at the group of generals who were still dreaming, and he was so anxious that he kept kowtowing, his forehead hitting the stone slab with a loud thud.

"My lord! No! It's not just a few dilapidated warships!"

The scout's voice was filled with deep despair as the image that had utterly broken him resurfaced in his mind.

"That...that's a mountain! A massive steel mountain that can move across the sea!"

"Their ships... are taller than our city walls! And they're billowing black smoke!"

"And...and..."

The scout swallowed hard, feeling his throat burning with dryness.

"And fog has rolled in over the sea! Such thick fog! They...they're sailing through the fog like ghosts!"

Yeon Gaesomun's face darkened.

A mountain of steel? Puffing out black smoke?

He was about to angrily rebuke the scout for being irritated by the sea breeze and spouting nonsense.

Just then.

"boom--!!!"

A terrifying, muffled roar, seemingly capable of tearing the earth apart, suddenly came from the very distant direction of the Taedong River estuary!

The sound was completely unlike anything from the human world.

It's more like some ancient thunder god beating the war drums of destruction in the sky!

The deafening roar was incredibly powerful, so much so that even Pyongyang, dozens of miles away, felt a very slight tremor in the ground!

The wine glass on the wooden table in front of Yeon Gaesomun was shaken violently by the tremor and fell to the ground with a "clatter," shattering into pieces.

"What was that sound?!"

Yeon Gaesomun suddenly stood up, and five short swords clashed violently at his waist.

For the first time, a look of seriousness and even surprise appeared on his fleshy face.

The generals in the hall looked at each other in dismay; their arrogance had vanished without a trace.

"Thunder? Why is it thundering in the middle of winter?"

The one-eyed general looked out the window in horror.

What he didn't know was.

This is the mouth of the Daedong River at this time.

A sudden thick fog, like an extremely heavy white curtain, completely enveloped the entire sea surface.

This was originally the best natural barrier for the Goguryeo navy.

But now, the thick fog obscures the extremely heavy and extremely cruel footsteps of death.

"Ugh—!"

A piercing steam whistle, seemingly emanating from the deepest hell, broke through the thick fog.

Deep in the thick fog.

Rows of dark, gleaming shipborne smoothbore cannons were aimed at the unsuspecting Goguryeo water fortress.

The roar of truth is about to descend from the thick fog.