The cold metal walls reflected a stark, sterile light as Lin Mo slowly opened his eyes.
A splitting headache pulsed behind his temples, as if a thousand needles were piercing his nerves.
[**Warning! Soul fluctuation anomaly detected! Initiating purge sequence... 10, 9, 8...**]
The shrill mechanical alarm blared in his mind, and Lin Mo went rigid. The instincts of his past life as a top-tier scientist kicked in. "Identity verification!" he projected mentally. "I am Lin Mo, Emperor of the Great Xia!"
[**DNA verification passed... Soul frequency matched... Imperial Strategy System fully activated.**]
[**Current National Fortune: 32/100 (Critical).**]
[**Ability Unlocked: Emperor's Eye (View subject loyalty and stats).**]
Lin Mo took a deep breath, wiping the cold sweat from his brow. This system, whatever it was, seemed to be woven into the source code of this world.
"Your Majesty, an urgent report from the northern border!" A guard's voice from outside the chamber cut through his thoughts.
***
The atmosphere in the Hall of Supreme Harmony was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
Lin Mo sat on the Dragon Throne, his gaze sweeping over the assembled court officials. With a thought, data panels, visible only to him, materialized above each person's head.
[**Zhao Yuan, Chancellor. Loyalty: 21. Stats: Politics 93, Military 75, Strategy 88.**]
[**Special Status: Sub-system fluctuation detected.**]
Lin Mo's pupils contracted. *A sub-system? Could Zhao Yuan also be…*
"Your Majesty, the barbarian hordes have breached the cities of Liangzhou, Yunzhong, and Dingxiang. They are now marching on Yanmen Pass," Zhao Yuan announced, his voice steady but his eyes sharp as daggers. "This servant believes we should dispatch an envoy to negotiate a truce and stall their advance."
"Negotiate?" Lin Mo let out a soft laugh, his fingertips drumming on the throne's armrest. "As I recall, three months ago, the salt tax from the south yielded three million taels of silver, yet only half of that reached the treasury. If that missing one and a half million were in our coffers, would our armies be so ill-equipped?"
The Minister of Revenue, Wang Shoucheng, who was kneeling on the floor, began to tremble. "Your Majesty, that sum…"
"Enough." Lin Mo stood, descending the jade steps. "I will decide the course of the northern war. Within three days, I will not only repel the enemy, but I will ensure the barbarians dare not ride south for a hundred years!"
The court erupted in a wave of murmurs.
Zhao Yuan looked up, a strange glint in his eyes. "Since Your Majesty is so confident, we shall eagerly await the outcome."
[**Zhao Yuan Loyalty -2. Current Loyalty: 19.**]
[**Warning: Hostile system activity increasing.**]
***
The West Park Arsenal was ablaze with the light of forges.
"Your Majesty, can these… iron tubes truly repel an army?" the Minister of Works asked, his voice trembling as he stared at the black cannon barrel, his face a mask of disbelief.
Lin Mo didn't answer. He turned to the assembled craftsmen. "I know what you're all thinking—that these are mere novelties, unfit for true warfare."
He picked up a blueprint. "But do you know why the same saltpeter and sulfur that you use for fireworks can, in my hands, shatter mountains?"
The craftsmen exchanged confused glances.
"It's the ratio," Lin Mo said, sketching a mathematical formula in the air with his finger. "The calculation for optimal explosive yield must be precise to the fourth decimal place. And this," he added, "is merely middle-school level chemistry."
An old master craftsman fell to his knees. "Your Majesty… is a god among men!"
[**Ministry of Works Collective Loyalty +15.**]
Three days later, at the West Park training grounds, a torrential rain was falling. The court officials stood under a canopy, their expressions a mixture of skepticism and morbid curiosity.
"Your Majesty, with such a downpour, perhaps the demonstration should be postponed," Zhao Yuan said coolly, a hint of mockery in his tone.
Lin Mo smiled. "Unnecessary."
He gave a slight wave of his hand. A thunderous roar shook the ground. Even through the storm, the distant target area erupted in a sea of fire. More shockingly, the cannonballs triggered a chain reaction of secondary explosions upon impact, the shockwaves causing the entire valley to tremble.
"This… this is…" an old general stammered, his beard trembling with excitement. "The heavens have blessed the Great Xia! With this weapon, we can secure the empire!"
Zhao Yuan offered his congratulations, but the jade pendant in his hand quietly cracked.
[**Zhao Yuan Loyalty +5. Current Loyalty: 24.**]
[**Special Status: Hostile system energy fluctuation detected.**]
A cold smile touched Lin Mo's lips. *Just as I thought. There's something very wrong with Zhao Yuan.*
***
That night, in the Imperial Study, a shadow operative materialized silently in the room. "Your Majesty, we've confirmed it. Wang Shoucheng did embezzle the tax silver, but every transaction was funneled through Chancellor Zhao Yuan to the south. And…"
"And what?"
"We found traces of a rare ambergris incense, exclusive to the Chancellor's estate, under Wang Shoucheng's fingernails. Before he died, he drew this in his own blood."
The operative presented a piece of paper. On it was a drawing of a broken gear—strikingly similar to the system icon in Lin Mo's mind.
A cold glint appeared in Lin Mo's eyes. "Continue your investigation. Do not alert him."
After the operative vanished, Lin Mo stood alone by the window. The rain had stopped, and the stars shone with an unnatural brilliance.
[**National Fortune: 38/100.**]
[**New Mission: Uncover the mystery of the sub-system.**]
[**Reward: Unlock Technology Tree 'Early Industrial Revolution'.**]
Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps approached.
"Your Majesty! An urgent military report! The barbarian army is thirty miles from Yanmen Pass! At the same time…" the guard hesitated, his voice trembling, "there has been a mutiny among the Imperial Guard in the capital! They claim Your Majesty has been possessed by a demon!"
Lin Mo spun around.
*So, Zhao Yuan is making his move on two fronts.*
"Relay my decree. At dawn tomorrow, the imperial procession will march to war."
"Your Majesty! The capital is unstable! To leave at such a time…"
Lin Mo held up a hand, cutting him off. "It is precisely because the capital is unstable that I must make this journey."
He looked in the direction of the Chancellor's estate, his eyes like ice.
"Some people will only show their hand when they believe they have the winning card."
***
The next morning, outside the capital's north gate, an army of fifty thousand stood ready. Among them, the three-thousand-strong firearm battalion was a stark and imposing sight. Fifty newly cast cannons, draped in red cloth, looked like sleeping beasts in the morning light.
Zhao Yuan led the officials in the farewell ceremony, his expression one of perfect reverence. "With Your Majesty leading the charge, victory is assured."
Lin Mo looked down at him from his warhorse and said suddenly, "Chancellor Zhao, while I am away, the affairs of the court are in your hands."
He paused deliberately, watching the subtle shift in Zhao Yuan's expression.
"I hope that when I return, you will have a… surprise for me."
Zhao Yuan bowed low. "This servant will do his utmost."
Just as Lin Mo turned his horse to depart, the system blared a piercing alarm in his mind:
[**Warning! Hostile system host is activating an unknown function!**]
[**Zhao Yuan Loyalty: 25 → 15.**]
A cold smile played on Lin Mo's lips.
*The game is afoot.*
"March!"
The army moved out, a great cloud of dust rising in its wake.
Zhao Yuan watched the departing procession, then drew a metal plate covered in strange runes from his sleeve, stroking it gently.
"Activate: Mirror Protocol."
The plate glowed faintly. A young man, bearing a striking resemblance to Lin Mo, emerged from a side door of the Chancellor's estate and bowed to Zhao Yuan.
"Master."
Zhao Yuan's gaze was dark and profound. "It is time the world knew who the true emperor is."
Meanwhile, ten miles out from the capital, Lin Mo reined in his horse and looked back.
[**Warning! National Fortune fluctuation: 38 → 35.**]
[**Imperial authority usurpation detected.**]
He gently touched a specially crafted medallion at his waist. It contained his final trump card—an electromagnetic pulse device capable of disabling all electronics.
"Zhao Yuan, you fool," Lin Mo murmured to himself. "You think you're fighting an ancient emperor."
"You have no idea you're facing a scientist from the information age."
On the distant horizon, the silhouette of Yanmen Pass was just visible.
A final confrontation, between two eras and two systems, was about to begin.