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

"I'll give you 100,000 credits to swipe ten 'Cyber ​​Arrows' for Hatsune Miku!" A wealthy businessman from Jiangnan, his eyes bloodshot with fervor, frantically tapped the payment terminal on his wrist.

The crisp system notification sounds rang out continuously amidst the rolling noise of the city that never sleeps.

Lu Zicheng's breathing became heavy and labored due to his loss of control over his emotions.

He pressed hard on the specially made dark bracelet on his wrist, which he had obtained through the black market.

The cold light from the virtual screen shone on his oily, sweaty face, and the fine sheen of oil swayed slightly with the twitching of his facial muscles.

Beside him, several stewards of the Cui family of Qinghe also formed a tight circle.

Everyone craned their necks, their bloodshot eyes glued to the slowly scrolling virtual honor leaderboard high above the city that never sleeps.

"Master, that nouveau riche silk merchant from Jiangnan is coming up again!"

Cui Hua shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice strained and hoarse.

"That nouveau riche has already spent 300,000 points! Our ranking on the leaderboard has dropped to fifth!"

"Useless! A bunch of useless trash!"

Lu Zicheng slammed his hand on the broken wall beside him, and the rough brick fragments instantly pierced his palm.

A trickle of blood seeped through his fingers, but the rage and frustration in his heart had already numbed him to physical pain.

In this cyber entertainment industry built by Li Chengqian.

The powerful family heads who were originally suffocating under the oppression of the digital central bank in reality.

It seems that in that millisecond, they found a distorted sense of power that they could vent and regain control of everything at will.

In reality, they dare not wear gold and silver, for fear that the audit code of the Tian Shu system will instantly detect their watches. They even have to be careful when going on a long trip.

In the virtual live-streaming rooms of this city that never sleeps, as long as they are willing to invest those anonymous, hidden assets, they can become supreme beings admired by thousands.

The title of "Top Ranker," which gleams with pure gold, is no longer a simple virtual symbol in their eyes.

That was the only family totem and social dignity that these ancient clans could preserve in the face of the digital wave.

If even virtual actors on the internet look down on them, then the Cui and Lu families have truly become stinking dog shit that everyone can step on in the new era of the Tang Dynasty.

This morbid rebellious mentality, born from the complete challenge to their class dignity, plunged these old guys into a quagmire of mutual destruction through a display of wealth.

"Transfer all the liquid funds from the third black market in the West Market to me!"

Lu Zicheng's eyes were bloodshot, and the corners of his mouth were twisted into a terrifying arc due to excessive ferocity.

"Tonight, no one will surpass the Lu family of Fanyang in reputation! Get us to 500,000 points!"

Meanwhile, deep within the Taiji Hall of the Daming Palace.

A deep blue light enveloped Li Shimin's tall figure completely.

This "chairman" of the Tang Dynasty was sitting cross-legged on the dragon table in a completely undignified manner.

He was holding a specially made golden back scratcher in his hand, and was happily scratching his spine.

On the holographic disc in front of him, which spanned half of the main hall.

The data curve representing the national treasury's entertainment tax revenue and tipping revenue is shooting wildly toward the top of the sky in a terrifying arc that would make any mortal's blood vessels burst.

Whenever a virtual arrow bursts into the sky above the City That Never Sleeps, the back office of the national treasury in front of Li Shimin will emit a pleasant "beep" sound.

The strings of numbers jumped so fast that they left blurry afterimages in the air, gleaming with a greedy green light.

"Haha...hahahaha!"

Li Shimin slammed the back scratcher in his hand onto the cutting board with a loud, muffled thud.

His round, chubby face was full of nouveau riche smugness.

He was grinning from ear to ear, his crow's feet crinkling at the corners of his eyes, revealing a row of gleaming white teeth.

"Wang De! Look at these old geezers! When I ask them to pay taxes, they act like they're being tortured, constantly complaining about being poor in court!"

Li Shimin pointed at Lu Zicheng's skyrocketing donation data on the screen, laughing so hard that tears almost streamed down his face.

"And now? Chengqian only managed to get a dancing ironwood doll, and these old bastards are already throwing away their entire fortune, scrambling to pour credit points into my pocket!"

The old eunuch Wang De wiped away cold sweat, bowing his head in fear.

Looking at the emperor's almost manic micro-expression, he felt only a chilling dread.

His Highness the Crown Prince's "entertainment-the-tip" plan has calculated every micrometer of the vanity and greed that are inherent in human nature.

Those powerful clans that have been ravaged in reality are now using the most proactive and fanatical methods to drain their marrow dry, turning it into numerical reserves for the national treasury in the new era of the Tang Dynasty.

This bloodless feast of harvesting韭菜 (a metaphor for exploiting people) was far more suffocating than the slashing swords of the Great Snow Dragon Riders.

In order to preserve the last vestiges of dignity in this virtual spectacle watched by the entire city.

In the private rooms and shadowy corners of the city that never sleeps, the flames of competition have completely spiraled out of control.

"Master, about our old house in the south of the city... how about we mortgage it to the digital central bank to get some credit points?"

One of Cui's stewards was pale-faced. He knelt on the ground, his voice trembling with obvious sobs.

"We're really out of money. The Lu family just spent another 200,000. If we don't keep up, we'll disappear from the donation leaderboard!"

"Mortgage it! Have Old Lu get the paperwork done immediately! As long as we can get back the top spot on the list, we can always buy another ancestral home!"

The head of the Cui family kicked the steward to the ground, his whole being extremely fanatical and his face contorted in rage.

This insane game of wealth evaporation drained countless centuries-old empires dry in just a few hours that night.

On the secondary surveillance screen to the side of the main hall, the data of the Wang family's industrial park in the west of the city is flashing red light violently.

That was the lowest safety level alarm triggered by the forced withdrawal of internal funds.

Inside the third branch of the Tang Dynasty Royal Military Factory.

Wang Benli, a collateral descendant of the Wang family of Taiyuan and the current manager of a branch office, was staring intently at the number on his bracelet that had fallen to third place on the list.

On the screen, the names of the Cui and Lu families radiated an unapproachable, dazzling golden light, utterly trampling Wang's dignity into the mud.

The air was filled with the acrid smell of engine oil mixed with sweat.

Wang Benli's once respectable eyes now held only a look of madness born of jealousy and panic.

"Why...why do you two old geezers get to ride roughshod over me?"

Wang Benli roared in a low voice, panting heavily, sweat dripping from his forehead into his mouth, carrying a nauseatingly salty taste.

His trembling hands, after a second of intense internal struggle, finally stopped firmly in front of a dark gold digital gateway labeled "Datang Military Heavy Equipment Special Maintenance Fund".

That was the ultimate lifeline used by the Tang Dynasty military factory to maintain the daily operation of the North American heavy mechs.

Any unauthorized misappropriation is considered a capital offense, akin to treason, according to the underlying logic of the Tian Shu system.

But faced with the immense humiliation of millions of people in the city witnessing the Wang family's defeat, they were about to face this unbearable shame.

This patriarch, whose mind was completely consumed by vanity, had completely forgotten Li Chengqian's cold, technological methods.

The extreme pride born from being ostracized by his circle transformed into the ultimate madness under his fingertips.

With a determined effort, he secretly used the public funds for equipment maintenance at the Datang Military Factory, which he was in charge of, and pressed the "recharge one million" button.