Chapter 046: All of Them Are the Living Dead?
Logically, he should've felt relieved in this situation.
But in reality, he felt a strong sense of dissonance — a deep unease.
If earlier he could describe himself as a wolf hidden among a flock of sheep...
Now, he had the illusion that he was a sheep hidden among wolves.
Could it be that most of these civilians were actually soldiers in disguise?
But even if they were soldiers, something still felt off.
It was like... yes, he remembered — it was a nightmare he had once experienced.
He had once encountered what people called the "living dead."
And the people around him now gave off that same cold, lifeless feeling.
Was he surrounded by the living dead?
What are the living dead?
As the name suggests — they look like the living, but are actually dead. Monsters like walking corpses.
There had long been a rumor.
That the tyrant Ying Zheng commanded a legion of living dead — monsters that felt no pain and had no emotion.
Unless their limbs were severed, rendering them completely immobile, even a pierced heart or severed head wouldn't stop them from fighting.
During his campaign against the Six Kingdoms, the tyrant committed mass slaughter — some cities were wiped out entirely.
Normally, such cities would be filled with corpses.
But in those cities, no bodies were found — leading to speculation that the corpses had been used to create the living dead army.
The assassin didn't believe such exaggerated rumors.
But he did believe in the existence of these monsters — because he had encountered one before.
Its body was riddled with fatal wounds, its head nearly split in two — yet it kept moving.
And there was no blood from its wounds — truly terrifying.
Back then, he had abandoned his comrades and fled alone in fear.
Now, in this moment, he felt the same — that the civilians around him weren't truly alive. The atmosphere reminded him of that encounter with the living dead.
"Big sister, do you feel something strange about these civilians...?"
One of the time-traveling observers of history, the Valkyrie Lantigris, also sensed something was wrong.
The civilians were eerily quiet — all at once.
Some people couldn't even see the Emperor's gesture to quiet the crowd due to those in front blocking their view. So even if they noticed the front rows going silent, they shouldn't have gone quiet at the exact same time.
Normally, silence would spread outward from those closest to the Emperor.
Those further back would react based on the front rows — so it couldn't have been perfectly synchronized.
But this silence — down to the exact second — was unnatural. As if everyone had been—
"Controlled, right?" Brunhilde finished her sister's thought.
Such synchronization could only be achieved by trained soldiers — but there were so many civilians. It was bizarre.
That's why Lantigris suspected the Emperor was using some kind of sorcery to control the crowd.
Was that possible?
Not impossible.
Earlier, they had searched for historical souls — many couldn't be found.
And they had seen how Xiang Yu could transfer his soul from his original body.
So maybe the missing souls had left behind husks — controlled by the Emperor's magic.
Meaning, most of the people at this grand military parade were under the Emperor's control.
And those who planned to use this event to cause chaos — were likely already exposed.
The moment they made a move, they'd be met by an onslaught of living dead.
But could the Emperor really commit such a heinous act?
Extracting the souls of countless civilians to turn them into puppets?
And the Eastern gods — had they not noticed?
Maybe they did — and that's why this mighty dynasty collapsed after only a few decades.
It's said the Emperor pursued immortality through many means. Could this soul extraction be part of that?
Experimenting with soul transfer — to move his own soul into a stronger body?
And Xiang Yu's mechanical body — was likely a product of that technology.
So how did such advanced tech suddenly appear in this era?
Suddenly, war drums sounded — their rhythm jolted Brunhilde from her thoughts.
The Emperor began inspecting his undefeated, battle-hardened army.
The soldiers, clearly veterans of countless campaigns, moved in perfect formation.
Their steps, their weapon swings, their sharp gazes — Brunhilde felt this was the strongest army in the world.
They had unwavering hearts — ready to defy gods at their Emperor's command.
And they weren't living dead — they were truly alive.
As the drums grew louder, the army's morale surged — sharp enough to pierce the heavens and shake the gods.
The drumbeats quickened — their sound seemed to carry magical power, penetrating time and space, making Brunhilde's heart race.
Then, as the drums fell silent—
"Have we no clothes? We shall share our robes. The king raises his army, I sharpen my spear and halberd, and fight beside you..."
Not just the soldiers — the Emperor, his ministers, and the civilians all sang in unison.
Brunhilde noticed — the assassins from the Six Kingdoms hidden among the crowd were finally making their move.
A dagger slipped from a sleeve — and slashed across a civilian's throat.
The skin tore, the windpipe nearly severed — a fatal wound.
The assassin didn't check the result — he moved to his next target.
He stabbed another civilian in the chest — aiming for the heart.
But the blade met unexpected resistance — had it hit a rib?
He pushed harder — drove the blade in, then pulled it out, expecting a spray of blood.
But no blood came.
The blade was chipped — the clothes torn, revealing the chest beneath.
And through the wound — he saw something horrifying.
No flesh inside.
The civilian ignored the attack — and kept singing the battle hymn.
The assassin turned to the first victim — still standing, making strange sounds from his torn throat.
At that moment — the assassins were frozen in terror.
Chapter 047: The World Replaced in an Instant?
Everyone involved in the assassination attempt stood stunned.
They had attacked civilians to incite panic — but the bizarre outcome left them paralyzed.
"Big sister... could they all be—"
Lantigris's voice trembled.
She herself was shaken by the scene.
The wounded civilians didn't bleed — because there was no flesh inside.
Through the torn gaps, she saw mechanical components.
Meaning, nearly all the civilians weren't human — like Xiang Yu, their souls had been transferred into mechanical bodies.
They felt no pain — ignored all attacks.
It was chilling.
And Lantigris found it cruel.
She couldn't believe an entire city's population had willingly abandoned their bodies to become machines.
No pain, no emotion — and under someone's control?
Maybe they'd been brainwashed.
They had been stripped of their humanity — reduced to soulless puppets.
Even Xiang Yu was better — at least he still seemed like a person with feelings.
Looking closely, some people hadn't attacked — they seemed like real civilians.
Some had seen the sudden violence and were trembling in fear.
Others hadn't witnessed the killings — but sensed something was wrong.
Who were these people?
Likely visitors from other regions — here to watch the parade.
They were truly flesh and blood.
But now that they'd seen the secret — they'd likely meet the same fate.
Their souls would be forcibly extracted — transferred into machines, imprisoned, and turned into puppets under the Emperor's control.
That's how this army became invincible.
Ordinary human soldiers couldn't defeat such fearless mechanical puppets.
"Don't be angry just yet, Lantigris," her sister said, seemingly reading her thoughts.
"Think carefully — from the moment the Emperor stepped onto the inspection platform, has anything changed?"
Was the situation not what she thought?
Lantigris recalled the scene from the start of the inspection.
Hmm? There was something odd — a slight distortion? A blur?
Like a video being played — with subtle interference causing a brief flicker. But because the scene was dynamic, and the distortion brief, it was easy to miss.
But what did it mean?
Lantigris couldn't figure it out.
No — she noticed something.
Like the person standing in front of her... their height was 175 centimeters, right?