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

The "Access Denied" message was like a heavy hammer blow to Li Shimin's chest.

The blood-red glow of the giant skull flickered in the main hall.

Four large, pale, and cold characters were firmly embedded in the center of the main control panel.

The smooth panel, originally made of high-purity crystals, now appeared as an insurmountable abyss in Li Shimin's eyes.

His large palm was still pressed firmly on it, and because of the rapid exertion of force, the veins on the back of his hand bulged violently like startled green snakes.

The cyber imperial power he once took pride in, which he felt he could manipulate at will, was stripped away completely in that instant.

Li Shimin lowered his head slightly, his dragon eyes wide open, staring incredulously at the titanium alloy master control lever used to decide the life and death of military and political affairs.

That long whip of power, which normally only needed a gentle push to unleash the mighty snow dragon riders' steel torrents sweeping across nations, was now limp and tilted to one side.

The indicator lights on top had long since gone out, and no matter how hard he tried, the internal mechanical gears only made a dead, empty spinning sound.

This dramatic contrast of power suddenly slipping away transformed into an invisible and bone-chilling coldness.

Following his fingertips, following his calloused, rough palms, it penetrated his limbs and bones inch by inch, relentlessly.

Li Shimin felt as if his feet were frozen on the white jade steps.

My hands and feet were ice cold, without a trace of warmth.

He once thought he had all the reins of the new era in his grasp, but in the end, he couldn't even hold onto the light in this room.

"Protect His Majesty! Quickly! Summon the Imperial Guards!"

In the darkness, Changsun Wuji's screams, distorted by extreme terror, echoed through the empty hall's beams and pillars.

What followed was a chaotic collision of ping-pong balls.

After their wristbands went black, several drunken dukes frantically wrestled and trampled each other on the long carpet, scattering exquisite silver dishes everywhere.

The digitalized imperial court, which originally represented the highest dimension of the world, regressed to the most primitive and chaotic scene of war in a single second.

"Your Majesty, my personal access card... the card slot isn't working!"

Fang Xuanling scrambled to the bottom of the control panel, frantically groping in the darkness with both hands.

His official hat had already fallen to the ground during the shoving, and his long hair was disheveled.

The face of that strategist, who had always been as steady as a mountain, was now filled with boundless horror at the punishment of unknown technology.

"The alloy storm gates in the main hall are automatically descending; we...we're locked inside!"

Hearing the desperate cries of his trusted advisors, like dogs that had lost their homes.

Li Shimin's stiff body trembled violently in the cold light.

He dejectedly released the cold push bar that offered no feedback whatsoever.

Dragon Boots took half a step back, stepping into a sticky patch of imperial wine.

Those sharp dragon eyes, capable of seeing through thousands of troops on the battlefield, stared intently at the skull dripping with simulated blood plasma, and a thunderbolt suddenly struck his mind.

"True God... Heh, I understand."

Li Shimin let out a hoarse, almost self-mocking laugh, leaning weakly against the edge of the broken dragon table.

He looked at his trembling hands, and the tyrannical fervor and arrogance in his eyes were shattered in that instant by the cold hammer of the algorithm.

He always thought of himself as the supreme driver of this digital empire, able to control everything by holding the steering wheel.

But reality slapped him hard in the face.

He was nothing more than a passerby who sat in the passenger seat, only knowing how to step on the gas and honk the horn.

The true creator of this cyber world, the true god who can rewrite the underlying logic at will and decide who becomes a cyber beggar with a single click.

From beginning to end, there was only that rebellious son who lived far away on an island and only thought about how to sunbathe every day.

Faced with the immense power of technological stripping away, he, as the father, was as weak as a blade of grass swaying in a storm.

The evening bell outside the main hall was still dutifully striking its second chime.

The dull, metallic sound pierced through the heavy rainproof gate, like a series of heavy sighs.

The red high-risk warning icon in North America is flashing more and more rapidly.

Those ten thousand steel killing machines, about to break free and without any moral constraints, are slowly drawing out high-frequency oscillating particle blades from the secondary server of the Tian Shu system.

"Your Majesty, we cannot wait any longer! If those alien mechs truly go out of control, the thirty million citizens of the Tang Dynasty in North America will be reduced to ashes in an instant!"

Fang Xuanling clung tightly to Li Shimin's dragon boots, his voice filled with a utter sob and a distorted tone.

"That traitorous villain is using the backdoor of the original agreement; he's trying to undermine the very foundation of our Great Tang Dynasty!"

The ministers' micro-expressions were magnified by the faint red light at this moment, revealing nothing but despair and a chilling sense of impending destruction.

The power struggles they usually employ, the tactics they are so proud of, all became meaningless jokes in that instant.

Under such overwhelming technological pressure that defies all reason, the swords and knives in their hands are no better than scrap metal.

Every line of defense in the Daming Palace collapsed automatically as the holographic code crumbled.

Those rebels hiding in the gutter are stepping on their dignity, climbing step by step toward the highest throne.

"Your Majesty, we must have His Highness the Crown Prince intervene! Only the Primal Key in his possession can forcibly bypass the Academy's abandoned gateway!"

Wang De lay on the ground, slapping himself repeatedly while hysterically crying out into the unresponsive speaker.

"Quickly connect the transoceanic quantum communication line from Hawaii to the Taiji Hall! Hurry!"

The sound of loud slaps echoed throughout the computer room lobby, mixed with Wang De's bloody saliva, creating a chaotic scene.

However, all the physical circuits were rendered lifeless by the erosion of the ghost code.

No matter how hard Wang De tried to pry open the overheated network cable connector with his bloodied fingernails, all he got were a few meaningless, pale sparks.

For that one minute on New Year's Eve, the entire Taiji Hall became a cyber island isolated from the world.

Li Shimin stared intently at the malfunctioning titanium alloy microphone.

A flush, a mixture of anger and fear, instantly spread across his neck.

Under the red light, the veins writhed wildly as if they were about to burst through the skin at any moment.

He shoved aside the eunuch beside him and grabbed the solid gold microphone that had lost all its responsiveness.

His body leaned forward violently due to excessive force, almost crushing the control panel completely.

In his bloodshot, furious eyes, the dignity befitting an emperor completely gave way to the instinct for survival.

This deadly situation, where the enemy's face could not even be seen, yet it could suffocate the entire empire at any moment, completely drove the supreme ruler of the Tang Dynasty mad.

He was panting heavily, pinning all his hopes on this final transoceanic quantum fluctuation.

Sweat beads on his forehead hit the pure gold microphone, splashing out in tiny, shattered droplets.

"Li Chengqian! Where the hell are you! Quickly save the emperor!" Li Shimin roared desperately into the malfunctioning microphone.