Chapter 839: 436 Assassination in Person

"You… what exactly are you trying to do?"

Unaware of the changes unfolding outside the carriage, the freckled prince was huddled on the seat, staring fearfully at Li Ang across from him, his voice sharp but hollow:

"Don't think being from the Cleanup Bureau gives you license to act like a thug!"

"There's an agreement between the Royal Family and the Cleanup Bureau—you… if you lay a finger on me, the Royal Family will hold you accountable, and the Cleanup Bureau will send investigators to punish you severely!"

"Oh yeah, yeah, yeah."

Li Ang, uninterested in Joshua's feeble threats, was now tracing a sliver of ram's horn protruding from his cufflink, carefully scanning the surroundings of Wang Gong.

Through the carriage walls, in the shared soul-vision provided by the Black Ram, clusters of soul-flames—some deep, some pale—burned steadily as ever; the streets around Wang Gong remained normal, with no obvious anomalies.

It seemed the rebels had kept their movements discreet, drawing no attention—Wang Gong remained utterly unprepared, completely unaware of their actions. So far, everything was going smoothly.

Additionally, over a hundred of the most elite rebel members, who had received military training, had successfully infiltrated the vicinity.

Compared to the calm, steady soul-flames of ordinary citizens, these rebels' soul-fires were markedly more "vibrant," quivering with nervous excitement.

Though patrols and sentries prevented them from getting close to Wang Gong—even from entering the square directly facing it—they remained stationed on the outer streets farther away.

If all personnel are in position now…

After glancing at the eager soul-flames and then at Wang Gong, still utterly relaxed, Li Ang clenched his fist tightly.

It's settled!

Next, as long as he successfully entered Wang Gong and brought in Lu Ke—the one who could take control of others' bodies—to "replace" the palace guard captain, these pre-positioned rebels could immediately surge across the square and storm Wang Gong.

Though a hundred-plus sounds like few, for a "inside-outside coordination" scenario, it's more than enough. Arriving with a mob, lining up in formation, and charging in shouting—that's not a coup, it's suicide.

Anyone who's launched a coup before knows: a true armed coup only requires a small, elite strike force to swiftly seize key targets and high-threat officials, and finish everything before anyone can react.

The real challenge lies in evading defenses, concealing this elite force, bringing them to a lethal distance, then striking suddenly—and after the armed assault, suppressing resistance and rapidly stabilizing the situation—not in how to break into Wang Gong.

All these preparations must be completed before action begins; once the operation starts, one or two hours is more than enough from start to finish. Anything longer is effectively an admission of failure.

After all, no one's a fool—if we're openly gathering and storming Wang Gong, even the dumbest commander of the capital garrison couldn't possibly react with zero response.

And tricks like cutting road foundations or blocking streets are meaningless against organized military units—they might delay things slightly, but gaining even two hours would be pure luck.

Given the distance between Wang Gong and the garrison camp, if reinforcements don't arrive within an hour and a half, the old emperor will be so furious he'll leap from his wheelchair, strangle the commanding officer first, then strangle himself for letting a pig hold such a critical position.

So we need to speed up!

…

After mentally reviewing the plan and confirming no obvious oversights, Li Ang released his grip on the ram's horn and offered a gentle smile.

"Prince Joshua."

Amid Joshua's wary, uncertain expression, Li Ang—who had always treated him coldly—reached down and pointed at their feet, speaking calmly:

"Your shoelaces are untied."

Huh?

Hearing Li Ang's words, Joshua froze for a moment, then instinctively leaned forward, lowering his head to look at his feet.

Meanwhile, Li Ang, seated across from him, pulled out a small silver hammer with a padded end from his cufflink the instant Joshua bent down.

Lu Ke, the abnormal object bearer created by the Water Bottle Director, could take control of a body after the host fell unconscious—but before their director entered the Dream Realm, he had, as per protocol, left an abnormal object inside Wang Gong capable of blocking such "invasions" from the abnormal plane.

Therefore, someone had to be rendered unconscious first, to carry Lu Ke's consciousness into Wang Gong, giving him the chance to knock out the guard captain and use his identity to redirect the palace guards.

Only when most of the guards were diverted could the hundred-plus rebels hidden on the outer streets charge straight into Wang Gong and seize the old emperor.

As for who that unconscious person should be… who else but Joshua?

…

Yet just as Li Ang swung the small silver hammer, ready to knock the freckled prince out cold, the carriage suddenly slowed, then jolted violently.

Caught off guard by the abrupt stop, Joshua—who had already leaned forward—flew straight off his seat, crashing headfirst into the empty seat beside Li Ang, his nose bleeding.

Feeling the sharp pain in his nasal bridge and smelling the blood, Joshua opened his mouth to scream—when a muffled thud echoed from behind him.

Startled, Joshua turned his head—and froze in utter horror: someone was holding the very hammer used to strike the bell in the Assembly, having just smashed it down onto his former seat, crushing a deep dent into the leather upholstery.

Judging by the swing's trajectory, had the carriage not stopped suddenly, that solid blow would have crushed his skull.

"Y-y-you… w-w-what are you trying to d-d-do?!!!"

Watching Joshua, now paralyzed with terror, stammering incoherently, Li Ang's face twisted into an awkward grimace.

Though he'd already decided to launch an armed coup and dump Joshua across the sea to marry monkeys, being caught red-handed attempting an assassination right to his face was unbearably awkward.

"Uh… look…"

Gazing at Joshua's terrified expression, Li Ang glanced at the silver hammer lodged in the seat and muttered awkwardly:

"Hey, don't you think my hammer's kind of nice?"

"…."

Nice? Are you kidding? Even an idiot would know you were about to smash my head in with that thing!

Clearly, no amount of lying would work now…

Looking at the skeptical, utterly untrusting "brother-in-law" across from him, Li Ang sighed, grabbed Joshua's frantic hand as he clawed at the carriage door, and clenched his fist silently.

Whatever. I'm used to it.

My luck has always been terrible—plans going smoothly without a single hiccup would be the real anomaly. Besides, missing him with that hammer doesn't matter much…

Knocking him out cold is just as good.