General Long snorted coldly, “The entire palace is made of gold, but this door is the only exception. This gate appears golden on the outside, but the interior is crafted from the Empire’s top-grade alloy—the same alloy used in spacecraft, capable of withstanding impacts from small meteors. Therefore, this gate weighs over a hundred tons and is impossible for anyone to open manually. It requires a nuclear-powered mechanism to open.”
Yang Hao was left speechless. He hadn’t expected this single door to be so formidable. Clearly, the palace was far more complex than it appeared. If he couldn’t even open the door, breaking inside was utterly impossible.
Indeed, if he couldn’t even open the gate, how could he talk about defeating enemies?
Just as Yang Hao felt despair, General Long sighed deeply and said meaningfully, “Mr. Yang, do you believe in miracles?”
“Miracles?” Yang Hao hesitated. After all, wasn’t he himself a kind of miracle? “I guess,” he replied.
General Long nodded, “I can help you open the gate, but you must promise not to damage the palace once it’s open. Protecting the dignity of the royal family is our royal guard’s sacred duty, and that cannot change.”
Yang Hao grew even more puzzled, “This door can even withstand meteor impacts. How can you possibly open it?”
General Long shook his head. He had never been a man of many words and certainly wouldn’t explain now. Instead, he strode back to his unit and raised his hand high, shouting, “Dragon Cannon!!!”
Clad in thick armor, General Long looked like a mighty god. He held his black iron broadsword high, and his roar caused the ground to tremble faintly.
Yet that wasn’t what shocked everyone. What truly made the royal guards—seasoned warriors who had seen many things—change expressions and lose their composure was the two words he uttered.
Dragon Cannon!!
What exactly was that? Was it some kind of electromagnetic cannon? Yang Hao knew the Empire did have cannons capable of penetrating meteors, but those were mounted on large destroyers. How could one exist inside the palace?
The royal guards turned pale, staring at General Long as if he were a pillar of iron about to sacrifice himself. Although puzzled, Yang Hao had a vague suspicion—the Dragon Cannon must be something dangerous, something not to be used lightly.
Despite their concerns, the royal guards were disciplined and followed orders without hesitation, quickly preparing the Dragon Cannon. When a dozen or so guards wheeled it out, Yang Hao and the others were startled.
This was called a cannon? It looked more like a giant pressure cooker. Even in the spacefaring age, pressure cookers hadn’t changed much in shape over thousands of years. Of course, their driving mechanisms and pressure resistance had vastly improved, but they were still composed of a pot and a pressure lid.
This Dragon Cannon was simply a horizontal pressure cooker. Behind it was a thick, black, one-meter-high base, while the front had a thin lid that looked like it might blow off at any moment.
Seeing this strange device being rolled out, Yang Hao began to sweat. He knew well that the palace housed the Empire’s elite troops. Even in a fair fight, his side might not win. Now they were bringing out this toy-like contraption—how could it possibly help?
But General Long stood tall, like a hero about to face death, and declared, “After the Dragon Cannon fires, you will follow Mr. Yang’s commands.”
“Yes!!” The guards shouted, faces flushed with emotion.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Yang Hao rushed forward to stop them, “I think this isn’t necessary. This thing looks dangerous. We’re not cooking, so why bring out this pressure cooker as a weapon of mass destruction?”
“Pressure cooker?” General Long glared, “Just watch. And don’t forget your promise—absolutely no damage to the palace.”
“You really intend to go in?” Yang Hao saw General Long preparing to climb into the pressure cooker and felt worried. “You don’t even look like you’ll fit. Let me go instead.”
“I won’t let you die!” General Long pushed Yang Hao aside without explanation. Then, like a pillar of iron, he crouched and his heavy armor began to move on its own. Several parts clicked together, transforming into a golden metallic sphere.
“A Transformer!” Yang Hao stared in disbelief. He realized the Dragon Cannon was beyond his comprehension, so he obediently stepped aside to prepare for his own assault on the palace.
Of course, General Long wasn’t a Transformer, but his armor did have transformation capabilities. Normally worn for partial protection, its real purpose was to shift into this defensive, turtle-like form, enhancing protection a hundredfold. Even if thrown from space, it might still preserve half his life.
Transformed into this armored ball, General Long rolled into the pressure cooker. Several guards worked together to seal the lid, then aimed the cooker directly at the palace gate. Even now, Yang Hao still had no idea what they were about to do.
But what happened next made Yang Hao finally understand the true nature of the Dragon Cannon. All the guards gathered together, channeling their Force energy into the cooker. Hundreds of warriors concentrating their power into one place.
The Dragon Cannon was exactly that—using General Long himself as the projectile. The cooker was no less a cannon barrel. When the Force energy built up sufficiently, the pressure would become immense, launching General Long like a golden bullet to smash the gate into pieces.
Yang Hao couldn’t imagine how much power the Dragon Cannon would unleash, but either way, General Long was risking his life. He was literally gambling with his life, which explained the guards’ grief.
As the Dragon Cannon charged with more and more Force energy, it began to glow red-hot. The pressure inside was unimaginable, and the situation inside must have been unbearable. Watching anxiously, Yang Hao was about to stop the royal guards when something even more astonishing occurred.
Five golden dragons faintly appeared on the glowing, smooth outer wall of the cooker. These dragons looked alive, swishing their tails and swimming together, merging into the pressure lid of the cooker.
Suddenly, a deafening explosion shook the heavens and the earth. The ground trembled violently, people could barely stand, and even the clouds in the sky shattered into pieces. Thick smoke poured out from the Dragon Cannon, blotting out the sky.
And in that chaos, one thing was clearly visible—a fiery dragon-like projectile streaked across the sky. General Long, wrapped in red flames, flew swiftly through the air, crashing into the palace gate at an incredible speed.
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