Cai Lin was ambitious, but also realistic about her own abilities. With Josh's help and some clever strategies, she had built a strong foundation in a short time.
But ruling the entire Han Empire—or even conquering the world—was beyond what she, along with a few super soldiers, could accomplish.
After all, she wasn't living in a medieval fantasy like Game of Thrones—this was the modern age, where nationalism was awakening.
Even if she managed to take over the world, she would spend the rest of her life dealing with endless rebellions.
She had no desire to live that way.
But if someone powerful enough could handle these struggles for her, things would be much easier.
And the Dragon Emperor was the perfect candidate.
Especially now, with the Dimensional Trading System, she was no longer interested in the ordinary people of this world.
The Dragon Emperor had supernatural power, and she had the Dimensional Trading System.
In her eyes, they were a perfect match.
Josh was well aware of Cai Lin's thoughts, but he decided not to comment.
After all, everyone had their own path to follow, and he had no reason to interfere.
As long as he got what he wanted in the end, nothing else mattered.
Soon, the conversation ended. Cai Lin left the room and began gathering her people to prepare for the journey into the tomb.
The real Tomb of the Dragon Emperor was much larger than the one shown in the movie. It took over half an hour to reach the main burial chamber, and along the way Josh saw many corpses—some fresh, clearly Cai Lin's men, and others just skeletons, long dead, probably past tomb raiders who had fallen victim to the traps.
Deep inside the tomb, Josh finally saw the bronze carriage carrying the Emperor's mummified body, just as in the movie.
Just as Cai Lin took out the Eye of Shangri-La and walked towards the bronze carriage, a figure stealthily emerged from the shadows, avoiding the sight of the surrounding guards and sneaked up behind Cai Lin.
"Haha, I've been waiting for you for a long time!" Just as the other person was about to make a attack, Cai Lin suddenly turned around and smiled sweetly at the corner where the other person was.
The lurker could not help but be alarmed by this and immediately started to retreat, but behind the attacker were two figures blocking her path, the two super soldiers under Cai Lin's command.
It turned out that Cai Lin had indeed discovered the other party's presence a long time ago, but the terrain in the underground palace and the imperial tombs was complex, and the other party's ability to lurk was also very strong. Once the grass was disturbed, it was not easy to keep the other party in this complex environment. (Tl/N: This sentence means that once something or someone (referred to as "the grass") was disturbed or exposed, it became difficult to keep the opposing party (the other side) contained or under control in a complicated or challenging environment. It suggests that once a situation is disrupted, maintaining control becomes harder.)
Therefore, she waited until the intruder had entered the last chamber with only one exit. Only then did she strike, ordering her two trusted Super Soldiers to cut off any chance of escape.
If her guess was correct, this intruder belonged to the Guardian Josh had mentioned.
The infiltrator realized that she couldn't stop Cai Lin from taking the Dragon Emperor's mummified body today, so she tried to flee.
However, she had underestimated the strength of the super soldiers.
Cai Lin's two warriors had been with her family for over a decade, loyal protectors trained in battle. Now enhanced with Super Soldier bodies, they overwhelmed the intruder in an instant.
In less than ten moves, they subdued her.
They tore off her mask, revealing a young, delicate face.
"Well, well... If I'm not mistaken, your name is Lin, right? The daughter of Guo Ming, the disgraced general, and the so-called Demoness Zi Yuan." Cai Lin gently touched Guo Lin's face and smiled.
"Ptui! You're the demon! Your entire family is full of demons!" Lin spat angrily at the insult to her mother.
Cai Lin easily dodged and chuckled. "Such a sharp tongue. As soon as I resurrect the Dragon Emperor, I'll give you to him as a gift. I'm sure he'll be very pleased."
"Break the statue for me! But be careful, there's a terracotta warrior inside. Don't damage it!" Cai Lin turned away from Lin and ordered her soldiers to smash the bronze statue on the carriage.
Everyone, including Lin, was confused.
Instead of opening the mummified body, she was smashing a statue?
But when the bronze shell shattered, revealing an unusual-looking terracotta warrior, Lin suddenly understood.
The body inside the mummified was fake. This terracotta warrior was the real Dragon Emperor.
When the Han Empire fell, the Emperor's successors had hidden the truth to protect his fossilized body from being destroyed.
This secret had been so well kept that even the Guardians, led by Zi Yuan, only knew the general location of the tomb, not the details.
Without Josh's knowledge, Cai Lin wouldn't have known either.
The reason for breaking the outer shell was to avoid wasting the limited water from the Eye of Shangri-La.
In the movie, the Elixir contained in the Eye was accidentally spilled on the Dragon Emperor, but because of the bronze shell, much of it was lost.
Therefore, his resurrection was incomplete.
Now that the true terracotta body was revealed, Cai Lin took out a vial of blood and dropped a few drops on the Eye of Shangri-La.
The blood was Peggy Carter's.
In the movie, Evelyn translated the inscriptions, which said that only the blood of a pure-hearted person could unlock the Eye. So they used Evelyn's blood.
But Josh thought that was ridiculous. Looking at all three Mummy movies, Evelyn wasn't particularly pure—just stubborn.
If sacrifice for a loved one counted as purity, then Josh thought Peggy Carter was far more qualified.
As expected, when Peggy's blood touched the Eye of Shangri-La, the seal immediately broke. A glowing light erupted, and the artifact opened like a blooming lotus, revealing a small amount of the elixir from the Pool of Eternaal Life inside.
Without hesitation, Cai Lin poured the elixir onto the terracotta warrior.
As the liquid seeped in, the Dragon Emperor's body began to move.
"Welcome back, Your Majesty," Cai Lin said with a satisfied smile as she bowed slightly.
"Welcome, Your Majesty!" her soldiers chanted in unison.
Kneel? No way! There was no such thing as kneeling rituals in the Han Dynasty! Sitting respectfully and kneeling were two completely different concepts!
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