Not far outside Wu County stood a temporary palace built by the First Emperor. In the future, Kuaiji Commandery would become part of the prosperous Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai region, but in this era, it was merely a remote backwater. Even during the First Emperor's grand tours, he never lingered long in such places.
"Ten years ago, the First Emperor had prisoners construct this palace here. He personally sent Xu Fu off, along with young boys and girls, to cross the eastern seas in search of the elixir of immortality. Afterward, this palace was abandoned. I never imagined that building the palace was just a facade—what he truly constructed was a secret facility beneath it."
The Central Plains lacked horses, and southerners were especially unskilled in cavalry combat. Aside from Roy, Xiang Liang, and a handful of soldiers who rode horses, the rest of the troops marched on foot.
After locating the secret research facility the First Emperor had built in Kuaiji and finally convincing Roy to adopt the name Xiang Yu and join the Xiang clan, Xiang Liang swiftly mobilized three hundred axemen to accompany them on this expedition.
Though Xiang Liang had his flaws, his ability to carve out a place for himself during the rebellions at the end of the Qin dynasty spoke to his talent. Had he not died prematurely in the original history—or had Xiang Yu heeded Fan Zeng's advice more often—the outcome might have been different.
Of course, the Records of the Grand Historian, which documented Xiang Yu in detail, was written by Sima Qian of the Han dynasty. Even though Sima Qian had been castrated, his writings would never dare to glorify Xiang Yu as a peerless hero. Thus, the accuracy of historical records should always be taken with a grain of salt.
"I've lived here for years and built a reputation, secretly training soldiers in the shadows. Now, we have eight thousand men... Ji'er, do you know what the grand ambition of our Xiang clan is?"
Riding side by side with Roy, Xiang Liang spoke in a hushed tone.
"Restoring the Chu state?"
Roy replied casually.
Xiang Liang chuckled softly. "...That was the plan before. The Chu state has fallen, my father died at the hands of Qin forces, and our clan was driven like stray dogs, filled with hatred for Qin. But the First Emperor's might shook the world—even I had to acknowledge it. Now, the Second Emperor is tyrannical and lacks his predecessor's authority. Rebellions are erupting everywhere. Our Xiang clan now dreams of carving out our own domain and claiming nobility."
Roy glanced at him. The fact that he could voice such ambition so openly showed that Xiang Liang truly trusted him.
Roy pondered for a moment before saying, "...If this is Uncle's wish, then Yu will surely fulfill it for our Xiang clan."
"Good! With Ji'er's words, my heart is greatly comforted!"
Xiang Liang happily patted Roy on the shoulder.
...
The abandoned palace wasn't too far away. Before long, under the protection of three hundred soldiers, Roy and Xiang Liang arrived.
Outside the palace, weeds grew rampant, giving the place a desolate appearance. Not far from the palace, another group of soldiers was digging. Soon, cheers erupted from their direction—they had unearthed a door.
"Though there is a palace here, the secret entrance isn't inside it but outside. Even if someone occupied the palace, they would never find it. Had we not seen the bamboo scrolls in the underground palace of Xianyang, who would have guessed that beneath this palace lies a secret facility built by the First Emperor?"
As Xiang Liang and Roy spoke, they approached the stone door. With a wave of his hand, soldiers brought forth thick wooden stakes and, with loud shouts, pushed the door open.
This wasn't some ancient tomb, so the air inside was relatively fresh. However, Xiang Liang didn't dare let himself or Roy descend immediately, fearing potential traps. Sending soldiers ahead might incite mutiny, but Xiang Liang had prepared for this. Soon, soldiers brought forth some death-row prisoners and, under the lash of whips and promises, forced them to enter first.
Before long, word came from below—no one was inside, and there were no dangerous mechanisms.
"Ji'er, let's go down and see what the First Emperor left here."
Led by the soldiers, Roy and Xiang Liang descended the stone steps into the underground. Torches lined the walls at intervals of one meter, illuminating the cavern as bright as day.
Roy remained only slightly wary, not sensing any immediate danger to himself. His eyes narrowed slightly as he observed the strange lines and patterns on the walls.
'These patterns are the refining methods of immortal arts.'
Roy recalled the records he had seen on the bamboo scrolls in the Xianyang underground palace. That place had been filled with humanoid figures resembling terracotta warriors, along with massive skeletal structures. At the time, Roy had wondered if the First Emperor was building something like a giant mecha.
Now, seeing the immortal refining arrays painted on the walls of this Kuaiji underground palace, Roy suspected that the First Emperor might indeed have been crafting some colossal weapon.
The Xianyang palace had seemed like a research facility, while this place was the manufacturing site!
"Ji'er, come quickly!!"
Xiang Liang's exclamation came from ahead. Roy quickened his pace and arrived in the underground hall.
The hall was vast, crisscrossed with countless bronze pipes. The ground, ceiling, and walls were all engraved with intricate patterns that faintly shimmered, amplifying the torchlight and making the cavern glow brilliantly. At first glance, it felt like stepping into a futuristic world—the storage site of some mechanical core.
Then, Roy's gaze settled on the center of the cavern.
There stood a towering humanoid figure, nearly 1.9 meters tall, clad in armor with sharply defined features that exuded an intimidating aura without even a hint of anger. Merely standing there glaring at others, he appeared as formidable as a demonic door god.
Though his facial features seemed rather scholarly and delicate, the chilling presence he radiated was enough to make one's blood run cold.
Most importantly, despite his skin and appearance being indistinguishable from a human's, Roy knew this was no human at all—but a puppet, a machine!
A robot forged by the First Emperor through esoteric immortal techniques!
"So the First Emperor really was building a Gundam," Roy muttered under his breath.
He then casually picked up a bamboo scroll from a nearby table, skimming through its contents at lightning speed, and finally learned the origins of this mechanical humanoid.
The First Emperor had once personally journeyed to Kunlun in search of immortals, only to find ruins of the immortal path instead. According to the Emperor, those ruins were remnants of the great immortal war that took place at the end of the Shang Dynasty and the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty. Afterward, the immortals either departed to the world's outer edges or retreated into the Inner Sea of the Planet—in immortal terminology, they had all "ascended."
Amid those ruins, the First Emperor scoured for traces of immortality. Though he failed to uncover the secret of eternal life, he discovered methods for crafting humanoid machines. According to the bamboo scroll, this technique was passed down from "Taiyi Zhenren," who had once used it to reconstruct Nezha's body.
"What kind of nonsense is this? Taiyi Zhenren and Nezha were already a thing during the Qin Dynasty?"
Roy was at a loss for words as he read the records, unsure how to even begin critiquing this world's history.
While he had a decent grasp of the basic concepts of the Type-Moon world, he had never actually played Fate/Grand Order. Aiwass had advised him against delving too deep, so all he could do now was inwardly scoff at this version of the Qin Dynasty.
The humanoid before him was a weapon created by the First Emperor using Taiyi Zhenren's technique for crafting Nezha. However, lacking Taiyi Zhenren's skill, the robot was far from perfect—crude, even—but as a war machine, it was more than sufficient.
Staring at the robot, Roy suddenly had an epiphany—
He was actually Xiang Yu!