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

One month.

On the banks of the moat outside the east gate of Chang'an City, a sturdy building with a defense level comparable to the Taiji Palace rose from the ground.

The enormous water turbines turned ceaselessly day and night in the turbulent river. The massive, breathtaking steam generators, connected by thick gears and belts, resembled docile yet incredibly powerful steel behemoths, emitting a steady roar within the factory.

Connected to this are straight cement utility poles erected every ten zhang (approximately 33 meters) along both sides of Zhuque Avenue.

Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival.

It should have been a traditional festival for moon gazing, eating sesame cakes, and strolling through lantern displays. But tonight, Chang'an was a bustling metropolis, filled with everyone from high-ranking officials to ordinary people, and even the envoys from all nations confined to the Court of State Ceremonial.

No one was in the mood to look up at the moon.

Because the rumored Tang Dynasty crown prince, who was said to be able to "wield the power of Heaven," had already spread the word more than half a month ago.

Tonight, he will dazzle the eyes of everyone in the world in Chang'an.

"Is the time almost up?"

On Zhuque Avenue, crowds thronged, shoulder to shoulder.

The Roman envoy Marcellus was squeezed in the crowd. He looked up, staring intently at the thick black line that stretched across the street above him, and the strange light bulb protected by a glass dome hanging from the utility pole.

"Lord Marcellus, do you believe what that Crown Prince said?"

The Persian prince Peroz gripped his sleeve tightly, his voice trembling slightly in the early autumn night breeze.

"He said he could make the whole street as bright as day without fire or oil. How is that possible?"

Marcellus took a deep breath; his eyes, which had seen the Roman Colosseum and the magnificent Byzantine temples, were now bloodshot.

"I didn't believe it until I saw that concrete jungle and that fire-breathing toilet."

"But the Tang Dynasty has already given me enough shocks over the past few months."

He swallowed hard, his voice filled with an almost desperate expectation.

"If he really did it, Peroz."

"Then we're no longer dealing with mortals."

As night fell completely.

The entire city of Chang'an was plunged into the darkness befitting this era. Only scattered torches and lanterns flickered faintly in the various wards and markets.

Sudden.

"Ugh—!"

A high-pitched steam whistle, louder than the clamor of the entire city, shot into the sky from the direction of the power plant outside the city!

Li Chengqian, who was standing at the highest point of the city wall, heard this signal.

He smiled slightly.

Those deep eyes reflected this ancient yet wildly vibrant metropolis.

"Close the switch."

Li Chengqian casually uttered two words.

Mo Ju, who was standing guard beside the large knife switch, pushed the extremely heavy pure copper knife switch up with all his might, like a fanatical believer!

"Click!"

In the blink of an eye.

An immense current, beyond description, surged at the speed of light into the thousands of incandescent light bulbs lining both sides of Suzaku Avenue, traveling along the thick copper main line!

"Whoosh—!!!"

There was no gradual lighting process.

A visual explosion that lasts only a moment!

Thousands of extremely stable and dazzling clusters of orange and pure white light bloomed simultaneously in the sky above Suzaku Avenue!

The entire magnificent street, stretching for ten miles and a hundred paces wide, was illuminated as brightly as day in an instant!

It's even more dazzling and pure than the daytime sunlight!

"Ah—! My eyes!"

Countless citizens of Chang'an let out extremely shocked screams and instinctively covered their eyes.

But then, with extreme greed and madness, they opened their eyes to welcome this supreme miracle belonging to the Tang Dynasty.

"Divine light! It's divine light!"

"Long live His Highness the Crown Prince! Long live the Tang Dynasty!"

The cheers of millions erupted like a tidal wave.

But this is not the end.

"Old Yuan, make those fancy 'glass tubes' of yours shine too."

Li Chengqian's voice rang out again.

Below the city gate, Yuan Tiangang, his face flushed with excitement, suddenly pressed another set of switches.

"Buzz—"

Beneath those glaring incandescent lights, inside the otherwise unremarkable transparent glass tube.

Suddenly, three extremely dazzling and magical lights—red, green, and blue—burst forth!

That was a rudimentary version of a neon light created by Li Chengqian using basic electrical engineering and an extremely rudimentary principle of gas discharge!

Although the colors are still quite limited, they are present on those huge shop signs and along the edges of those towering concrete buildings.

These intertwined streams of colorful light instantly transformed the entire city of Chang'an into an extremely cyberpunk and psychedelic realm of a sleepless capital!

"No...this isn't real...this can't be..."

Marcellus knelt down under the blinding neon lights in utter despair.

He looked at his hands, which were illuminated to the finest detail, and at the Tang Dynasty people around him who were reveling in the colorful light.

The proud Roman envoy finally broke down in tears.

"We Romans wouldn't even use the cheapest tallow candles freely..."

"The Tang Dynasty actually... actually plucked the stars from the sky and hung them in the streets!"

Prince Peroz also collapsed to the ground in utter despair, tears streaming down his face.

"Lord Marcellus, please stop looking... If you keep looking, I won't even have the courage to live anymore."

"This is not the mortal realm..."

"This is God's Kingdom! It is God's Garden of Eden!"

And at the highest point of the extremely noisy and magical Chang'an city tower.

Emperor Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty stood with his hands behind his back, looking down with extreme arrogance at the dazzling lights that seemed otherworldly.

His resolute face revealed no expression, only an absolute majesty that looked down upon the world.

The senior officials, including Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling, stood behind him with utmost respect.

But if someone gets closer to take a closer look...

You will discover something extremely strange.

Even though Chang'an is brightly lit in the dead of night.

This Khan of the Tang Dynasty had a pair of sunglasses perched conspicuously on his nose, made of dark brown glass...

Changsun Wuji rubbed his eyes in great confusion and whispered something in Fang Xuanling's ear.

"Lord Fang, what's wrong with His Majesty? Wearing black glasses so late at night, could it be that he was blinded by that divine light just now?"

Li Shimin, with his sharp ears, overheard the whispers behind his back.

He gave a cold snort with extreme arrogance.

"Blind? What do you know!"

Li Shimin casually adjusted his sunglasses on the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

"This light is too bright."

"I like it very much."