The deal with the Emperor was sealed in blood and binary. But as Su Chen stepped out of the palace, the air grew unnaturally cold. His internal HUD flickered—the signal bars dropping from a steady five to a flashing, desperate zero.
"System, status!" Su Chen shouted internally.
[Warning: Physical Layer under attack. Signal Jamming detected.] [Targeting: You.]
From the shadows of the imperial pillars, three figures materialized. They wore the crimson and black robes of the Blood Shadow Sect, but they weren't carrying traditional cursed bells or soul-reaping scythes. Instead, they held jagged, obsidian rods that hummed with a discordant frequency.
"Su Chen," the lead assassin hissed. His eyes were milky white, a sign of 'Screen-Strain' from spending too much time on the Under-Net. "You've restricted the flow of information. You've given the Emperor the keys to our digital kingdom. The Chaos DAO has voted... and your service is being Terminated."
One of the assassins slammed his rod into the ground. A wave of "Static Qi" erupted, designed to scramble a cultivator's spiritual sense—the equivalent of an EMP for the soul.
Su Chen felt his connection to the System stutter. His "Cloud Vault" was locked; he couldn't download his weapons. His "Firewall" was lagging. He was a tech mogul in a fistfight, and his Wi-Fi just went down.
"You think I didn't prepare for an offline mode?" Su Chen growled. He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a physical, high-grade Jade Tablet—his "Hardwired" backup.
"System! Execute Local Script: Smart-Armor 1.0!"
He tapped a sequence on the tablet. Suddenly, the Imperial Guards standing nearby—who had been fitted with Su Chen's "experimental" gear—stiffened. Their armor, laced with spirit-conductive fiber optics, began to glow neon blue.
[Syncing... 12 Units Connected to Local Area Network (LAN).] [Tactical Overlay: Active.]
The guards moved with terrifying, machine-like precision. They didn't need to see the assassins; the HUDs in their helmets highlighted the heat signatures and Qi-outlines of the cloaked demons.
"Target locked," the Captain of the Guard said, his voice modulated by the helmet's speakers. "Commencing Force-Quit."