Chapter 846: 443 Dignity and Victory

"It seems middle school geometry is actually useful..."

After stepping off the carriage that only traveled within the inner palace, looking at the outer wall of the bedchamber that had already been plated in a layer of iron, Li Ang confirmed his previous judgment once more.

The anomalous object causing these changes had to be inside the palace, and its location matched his calculations—it was most likely in the bedchamber before him.

In the squares and streets outside the palace, only "living things" like pedestrians and horses were affected, but upon entering the inner palace, even "inanimate objects" like walls and buildings had begun to turn into iron.

The stone path beneath his feet, while still retaining the texture of stone, had developed dark brown rust stains where there should have been dust and grit.

The distant garden remained lush and green, but it felt devoid of vitality; compared to a meticulously maintained garden, it looked more like a massive, cast-iron metal bonsai.

The most significant change was the bedchamber before him.

The originally ancient, solemn architectural style, heavy with historical weight, had suddenly become rounded and frivolous. Large patches of dark red iron had appeared on the uppermost spires, and the tall, refined windows had become short, squat, and round, losing their sharp edges and becoming almost entirely different.

This eerie transformation was like taking a human hand with distinct knuckles and binding it with some immensely powerful glue, then kneading the bone and flesh into a sphere—every detail reeked of something unnatural, standing out in stark contrast to the surrounding architecture...

"Leader!"

Just as Li Ang was stroking the Black Goat's head, checking the palace with his soul vision, Watching Watching Qiaoshuya, who had stepped off the carriage, hurried over and said with a look of shock,

"How did this happen? Why did the palace suddenly turn into this?"

You're asking me? I want to know too!

Glancing back at the "Watching Watching Qiaoshuya" who still bore the slap mark on his face, Li Ang replied,

"An anomalous object must have been triggered.

I've checked carefully and haven't seen any distinct soul signatures, so the object that turned the palace into this likely doesn't have a 'user'—it's an anomalous object that has gone out of control."

"Then... what should we do? Shouldn't we abort the mission?"

"We can't abort."

Using the Black Goat's soul vision, Li Ang spotted the Princess's soul flame leaping frantically within her bedroom. It was filled with panic and terror, yet it remained fixed in the room, never moving. Li Ang breathed a sigh of relief and stepped forward.

"This is the only chance for you few with anomalous objects to participate in the coup. If we stop now, it's hard to say when we'll ever reach this level of opportunity again.

Besides, Princess Veronica is still within the range of this anomalous object. Her succeeding the old King is the result that minimizes damage to the entire kingdom. If something happens to her, we'll have to prepare for the worst.

If that happens, even if we eventually succeed, the death toll will be astronomical, and the entire kingdom will be so severely crippled it might take two or three generations to recover. We have no choice but to push through."

"I understand!"

Nodding vigorously, "Watching Watching Qiaoshuya" looked nervous as he asked,

"Then, Leader, should we protect the Princess first to ensure she's safe, or should we knock out the Captain of the Guard so I can take over his body and clear the way for our people to storm in?"

Save the Princess first or find the Captain of the Guard?

Looking at the Princess's soul flame—filled with panic and terror, jumping frantically but never leaving the room—Li Ang decided decisively,

"We'll do both!

We'll split up. The situation with the Princess is strange; I need to see her first to ensure she's safe.

As for you, Luke, you're currently in the Prince's body. The Captain of the Guard won't be on guard against you. It shouldn't be hard to knock him out with a sneak attack and use his identity to clear the guards."

"Right! I'm on it!"

Nodding at Li Ang's words, "Watching Watching Qiaoshuya" took a deep breath. Since they had already reached the entrance to the bedchamber, he mimicked the Prince's usual demeanor, walked up to the guards, and said arrogantly,

"Where is your Captain? I have business with him. Take me to him at once!"

Upon hearing "Watching Watching Qiaoshuya," the iron soldier blinked, then seemed to snap out of a trance, raised his ceremonial staff, and brought it down hard on "Watching Watching Qiaoshuya's" head.

No one expected the palace guards to attack the Prince. Caught off guard, the blow landed solidly on "Watching Watching Qiaoshuya's" head, sending him collapsing to the ground.

What the hell?!

Stunned by this senseless blow, Li Ang hurriedly dragged the fallen "Watching Watching Qiaoshuya" up, realized he had been knocked unconscious, and looked at the guard in utter disbelief.

"What... why did you hit him?!!"

"Your Highness!"

Facing Li Ang's angry questioning, the guard saluted hurriedly, blinked his hollow glass eyes, and said with a confused iron face,

"He is a commoner, and he's wearing the clothes of a criminal. Approaching the bedchamber like this—he had to be driven off!"

This is clearly Watching Watching Qiaoshuya's body, what are you talking about?

Li Ang frowned, but then it hit him.

Luke and he, as anomalous object holders with "contamination values," were not cognitively affected and could distinguish between humans and iron people.

Even when looking at themselves, they appeared normal; without touching, they couldn't even tell they had turned into iron. They saw each other as normal, too.

But the iron guards were different.

These ordinary people, influenced by the anomalous object and believing themselves to be iron, didn't show suspicion when they saw him or Watching Watching Qiaoshuya. This proved that in their eyes, he and Watching Watching Qiaoshuya were also iron people.

This observation between iron people didn't seem based on flesh and blood; their senses and judgments seemed to lean more toward the soul, or perhaps labels like status, rank, or profession.

So, even though Luke occupied Watching Watching Qiaoshuya's body, in the eyes of the iron guard, he wasn't Prince Watching Watching Qiaoshuya, but a "criminal commoner approaching the bedchamber," hence the immediate blow.

This is going to be troublesome...

Seeing Luke lose consciousness and automatically detach from Watching Watching Qiaoshuya's soul after that blow, Li Ang sighed and pinched Watching Watching Qiaoshuya's philtrum hard.

"Ah!"

Watching Watching Qiaoshuya let out an involuntary scream and sat up. The iron guard rubbed his eyes, looking shocked.

"Your Highness? You... you were just..."

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

A scream from high above cut off the guard's words.

An iron doll in a long red dress plummeted from the bedchamber window, crashing onto the ground in the distance, giving Li Ang quite a scare.

"What was that?"