The Assassin Commander charging at the very front had a bloodthirsty killing intent in his eyes.
Every muscle in his body was taut as he poured his qi into his legs.
The moment he stepped onto the red carpet before Taiji Hall, he would use it as leverage to launch himself into the air and pounce straight at the dragon throne.
His right foot, clad in a heavy iron-plated war boot, came crashing down onto the scarlet carpet.
He had thought that this single step would shatter the blue bricks beneath him and send him surging forward with unstoppable momentum.
But ideals were plump, while reality was brutally skinny.
The great laws of Newton suddenly ceased to function on this ancient white-jade plaza!
The instant the Assassin Commander’s boot touched the red carpet, an eerie sensation spread throughout his entire body.
There was no friction!
Not the slightest bit of resistance!
It was like stepping barefoot onto ten thousand banana peels coated in lard.
“Whoosh!”
A shrill scraping sound rang across the plaza.
The Assassin Commander’s right leg, charged with all his gathered qi, shot wildly forward.
His left leg remained planted where it was, while the inertia sent his upper body pitching backward.
His massive, heavy frame, together with the dozens of pounds of solid-steel armor he wore, went flying into the air.
Then, under everyone’s watchful eyes, this top-tier assassin who had killed without batting an eye…
“Crack!”
Performed a textbook-perfect split in midair!
A moment later, he slammed heavily into the hard ground.
“Bang!”
The violent collision between steel and stone tiles made everyone wince in sympathy.
The Assassin Commander let out a shrill scream, clutched his groin, and continued sliding more than thirty feet across the red carpet.
But that was only the beginning.
The dozen heavily armored vanguard soldiers right behind him had no time to react.
Carrying the enormous momentum of their charge, they successively stepped onto what had instantly become an ice rink.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
The sounds of sliding rose one after another, merging into a single continuous chorus.
These killing machines, normally so awe-inspiring, were now like puppets with their strings cut.
Some went flying with both feet in the air and landed flat on their backs.
Some frantically pumped their legs in place, yet could not move an inch, as though they were running on treadmills.
Others dove forward like hungry dogs, skidding face-first along the ground in a shower of sparks.
Behind them charged five hundred elite heavy-armored soldiers at full speed!
Once a great army began its charge, how could it possibly stop so easily?
The dozen men in front had fallen, but the soldiers behind them had no way to slam on the brakes.
“Bang! Bang! Bang! Clang!”
Deafening metallic collisions rang all the way to the heavens.
Five hundred human tin cans were putting on a spectacular reenactment of a massive pileup.
Those in the back crashed into those in front. Men on the left tripped over men on the right.
The disciplined, murderous formation instantly disintegrated.
The red carpet outside Taiji Hall had become a gigantic bumper-car arena made entirely of metal.
Some tried to draw their swords to steady themselves, only for the tips to stab into the ground. Instead of stopping them, the blades made them slide even faster.
Man and sword went flying together, taking down a whole group of their comrades.
Others tried to reach out and grab a nearby pillar, only to have their hands slip. They spun wildly in place like tops.
The five hundred elite assassins were now like headless flies, skating, slipping, and tumbling all over the plaza.
The heavy armor crashing against the ground, along with the endless screams and furious curses, came together in a grand symphony.
Where was the dignity and killing intent of assassins?
This scene was a hundred times more chaotic than a market on a busy day.
General Lin Zhenxiong, seated at the head of the assembled officials, nearly popped his eyes out of their sockets.
He sprang to his feet so abruptly that he overturned the dining table in front of him.
Wine jars and plates shattered across the floor, but he had no time to care.
He stared at the assassins writhing on the plaza like turtles flipped onto their backs, and felt his brain starved of oxygen.
What was going on?!
What in the world had happened?!
How had the invincible iron army he had painstakingly trained and pinned all his hopes on turned into this the moment they stepped onto the red carpet?
Could the red carpet of the Great Yuan Kingdom have developed a mind of its own?!
Seeing that the perfect opportunity for the assassination was about to slip away, Lin Zhenxiong was so frantic that his eyes nearly split with rage.
“Get up! All of you, get up!”
He circulated his inner force and unleashed a furious roar that shook the entire hall.
“Form ranks! Don’t panic! Charge inside!”
Hearing their master’s enraged command, the heavily armored assassins rolling around on the ground were so frustrated they nearly vomited blood.
They were supposed to be top-tier experts!
They had not even touched the enemy’s sleeve before tumbling across the red carpet like beaten dogs!
This was a humiliation beyond measure!
“Up!”
Several highly skilled centurions shouted and slapped both hands against the ground, trying to execute a stylish kip-up and leap back to their feet.
However, the nano-lubricant was about to teach them a lesson.
On a surface with zero friction, the harder one pushed against the ground, the faster one slipped in place.
The instant the centurions exerted themselves, their hands slid violently across the stone tiles.
Not only did they fail to stand, but their legs began flailing wildly in midair from the excessive force.
Using their hands as the axis, their entire bodies spun rapidly across the red carpet like giant windmills.
One turn, two turns, three turns…
Faster and faster!
They began performing Thomas flares in the plaza outside Taiji Hall!
The other soldiers fared no better.
Some tried to crawl up on all fours, only to look like penguins struggling on ice.
They flailed with hands and feet, but could do nothing more than squirm helplessly in place like overturned turtles, knocking down comrades who were also attempting to stand.
Some clever soldiers tried to jam their weapons into the cracks between the tiles to gain leverage.
But Su Yaoyao had long since ordered those gaps to be filled with conductive material. The surface was so smooth that not even a needle could be inserted.
The weapons slipped, and another large group went tumbling down.
The harder they struggled, the faster they slid.
The more desperately they tried to stand, the harder they fell.
Five hundred burly men, clad in imposing armor and wearing fearsome lion-head helmets, were putting on a ridiculous mass ice-skating performance across the red carpet.
The solemn and terrifying rebellion to force entry into the palace had transformed into a grand circus act starring five hundred clowns.
Lin Zhenxiong watched the absurd scene before him as his chest heaved violently.
A mouthful of blood lodged in his throat. He could neither swallow it nor spit it out, and his entire face turned the color of pig liver from the strain.
Inside the hall, the civil and military officials finally recovered from their shock.
They had no idea what kind of assassination attempt this was, much less that these men were rebels.
In their eyes, this was simply a lion-dance performance arranged by General Lin Zhenxiong to celebrate the Emperor’s birthday!
“Bravo!”
Some tone-deaf civil official suddenly slapped his thigh and shouted his approval.
That single shout was like a spark touching gunpowder. The entire Taiji Hall immediately erupted in thunderous applause and cheers.
“Fantastic! Absolutely spectacular!”
“General, this lion-dance troupe of yours has come up with such a wonderfully original acrobatic performance!”
“Look at the leader! That split he did just now was incredible! What amazing flexibility!”
“And those men over there spinning around on the ground—what footwork, what balance! It’s simply divine!”
“No wonder General Lin spent a fortune hiring these folk performers. That tumbling act was so satisfying, so hilarious!”
The officials applauded and laughed heartily. Some even laughed themselves to tears.
They took turns raising their cups to Lin Zhenxiong and praising him for arranging such a thoughtful and entertaining performance.
Every word of praise, every smile, felt like a resounding slap, viciously striking Lin Zhenxiong across the face.
Lin Zhenxiong trembled with rage, his fingernails digging deep into his flesh until blood ran freely.
Humiliation!
A humiliation the likes of which he had never suffered before!
He was the mighty power behind the throne of Dayuan, and yet the rebellion he had painstakingly plotted had actually been treated like a monkey show put on for everyone’s amusement!
High above them, Su Zhen leaned back in the solid-steel dragon throne, struggling so hard not to laugh that his stomach cramped.
Beside the dragon throne, seated on a small golden chair, Su Yaoyao slowly applauded.
She glanced coldly at the five hundred elite soldiers rolling across the ground, then at Lin Zhenxiong, who was livid with fury.
Su Yaoyao let out a cold laugh and quietly pressed the miniature remote control in her hand.
Ice-skating is no fun by itself. Let’s add some music!
