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

Deathly silence and darkness engulfed the entire underground palace in an instant.

No buffer, no alarm.

The crown covered with probes in Li Shimin's hand.

The originally shimmering purple-red glow, accompanied by a faint hissing sound, turned into a wisp of pungent blue smoke.

The current disappeared.

Li Shimin's hand froze in mid-air.

The tip of the probe had already broken off several strands of hair on the top of his head.

He suddenly opened his eyes.

It was so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

"What happened?"

Li Shimin's voice echoed in the empty underground palace, carrying an uncontrollable fear.

"Wang De! Where's the light? Where's the power?"

Wang De lay on the ground, groping around tremblingly.

"Your Majesty... this servant's lantern has also been burned."

"It seems like... the internet is down."

Hawaii. Safe house in the basement.

Li Chengqian stood in front of the control panel.

He had pulled the hard physical switch, marked with a yellow nuclear radiation symbol, all the way down.

The switch emitted a dull, locking sound.

The red alarm lights inside the safe house were spinning wildly.

"The highest ethical standards have been met."

The synthesized sounds of the Tian Shu system echoed throughout the safe house.

"All channels for uploading illegal ideas have been physically blocked."

Li Chengqian withdrew his hand from the power switch.

He picked up the half-empty glass of cola on the table and drank it all in one gulp.

The icy water flowed down his throat, suppressing the last trace of human warmth in his eyes.

"Want to be a god?"

Li Chengqian watched as the surveillance footage on the big screen instantly turned into a static display.

"I'll turn you all into dead ghosts."

Chang'an City. The Duke of Zhao's Mansion.

An underground chamber.

Changsun Wuji's coded avatar was sitting upright in the virtual Lingxiao Palace.

Below them kneeled a group of virtual people who had just been screwing screws in the West Market, and had now been pulled in to act as "fairy children".

They were all shouting in unison, "Long live the Duke!"

He closed his eyes, savoring the ultimate pleasure of abandoning his physical body.

No illness, no aging.

Only endless computing power nourished his consciousness.

Sudden.

The virtual Lingxiao Palace began to shake violently.

The sky turned a blinding scarlet red.

The screen is filled with garbled characters from the system's underlying architecture.

[WARNING: Physical connection interrupted]

[Executing the highest command of Tian Shu: Forcible separation of consciousness]

"No!"

Changsun Wuji's digital avatar let out a mournful scream that was not human.

He felt as if an invisible giant hand had pierced directly into his brain.

They forcibly pulled his consciousness out of this perfect virtual body.

The real world. An underground chamber.

boom! boom! boom!

The row of expensive Changsheng server racks simultaneously emitted blinding sparks.

The radiation-shielding glass on the server rack could not withstand the internal pressure and shattered.

The pale nutrient solution, mixed with glass shards, splattered all over the wall.

Changsun Chong, who was standing guard to the side, was so startled by the sudden explosion that he fell to the ground.

"father!"

Changsun Chong scrambled and crawled toward the largest server rack.

Inside the server rack.

Changsun Wuji's body, which had already been shriveled up by the high-voltage current.

Suddenly, it started convulsing violently, as if it had risen from the dead.

The brain-computer interface probe connected to the top of the head was red-hot due to overload.

"Uh... Ah!"

Changsun Wuji suddenly opened his eyes.

A mouthful of thick, black, foul-smelling blood spurted out, landing on the broken glass of the server rack.

He didn't die.

Because of Li Chengqian's forced separation.

His consciousness, which had just been immersed in the "worship of ten thousand immortals," was roughly shoved back into this decaying body.

The difference is too great.

Just a second ago, he was a high and mighty cyber god, devoid of pain.

Now, he is experiencing the tearing pain in his lungs again.

My heart was pounding wildly, unable to bear the strain, and I was also experiencing excruciating pain from the wound on my head.

Changsun Wuji lost his balance.

Covered in sticky nutrient solution, it rolled straight down from the server rack onto the cold stone floor.

He was like a fish out of air, gasping for breath.

"My...my divine position..."

The old fox trembled all over, his fingers digging tightly into the floor tiles.

My fingernail broke and started bleeding.

He screamed in despair.

"Who! Who unplugged my internet cable?!"

The same scene.

It was happening simultaneously in various hidden corners of Chang'an City.

Wang Bancheng, Li Daozong...

Those wealthy and powerful people who have exhausted their fortunes to buy "permanent seats".

They were all caught in the ultimate virtual pleasure when they were abruptly kicked back into the broken reality.

The pain of being forced to quit.

It's even more cruel than killing them outright.

Half an hour later.

The sky over Chang'an was just beginning to lighten.

The heavy doors of the Taiji Hall.

He was violently kicked away by a foot wearing a bright yellow boot.

It made a loud "bang".

Li Shimin's face turned ashen.

He hadn't even had time to change out of his dragon robe; the blue cloth robe he was wearing was covered in dust from the underground palace.

His hair was a little disheveled, and his eyes were bloodshot.

Like a raging lion.

He strode through the main hall, pushing aside several eunuchs who tried to stop him.

Walk directly behind the dragon table.

He ripped off the yellow silk covering the main holographic screen.

"Let's go to Hawaii!"

Li Shimin roared at Wu Meiniang behind him.

Spit flew out.

Wu Zetian lowered her head and quickly entered the password on the control panel.

She dared not look the emperor in the eye.

The screen lights up.

Li Chengqian's face, wearing sunglasses, appeared in the frame.

"The traitor!"

Li Shimin rested his hands on the dragon table.

The knuckles made a cracking sound due to excessive force.

He stared at his son on the screen.

He let out the most furious roar of his life.