My Imperial Advisor is ChatGPT

The Hexi Corridor has been the mouthpiece of wind and sand since ancient times. Gale-force winds, carrying coarse sand and gravel from the Gobi Desert, have been relentlessly eroding this desolate land for millions of years.

But today, the sound of the wind and sand was completely suppressed by a more violent and muffled roar.

"Boom—boom—"

A huge, black steel serpent, spewing thick smoke that blots out the sky, is struggling to crawl along the newly laid makeshift railway tracks.

This is the "Black Dragon" armed train of Daqin.

Although its name sounds powerful and imposing, the atmosphere inside the carriage at this moment was not as grand as one might expect; instead, it was permeated with an indescribable sour and rotten smell.

Inside the most luxurious "official command carriage," a pale-faced man, devoid of any dignity, was lying on the huge sand table that should have been used to direct the nation's affairs.

Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, who swept across the six kingdoms, is now facing his greatest enemy in life—motion sickness.

The armored train, hastily assembled to meet a tight deadline, had a disastrous shock absorption system. Although springs were added, the heavy armor plates and uneven roadbed made the entire carriage shake violently like a tin can in a storm.

"vomit--"

Ying Zheng stared at the bronze basin that had been prepared especially for him and let out a painful retching sound.

"Your Majesty!" Xia Wuqie knelt to the side, his body swaying from side to side with the jolting of the carriage, like a roly-poly toy. "Quick! Put a slice of ginger in your mouth! This is a slice of old ginger that I just bought at a high price from that cunning merchant Liu Bang!"

Ying Zheng took the ginger slice with trembling hands and put it in his mouth. The spiciness went straight to his head, which slightly suppressed the churning in his stomach.

"Hu Hai..." Ying Zheng leaned weakly against the cushion, gritting his teeth, "When we get to Yumen Pass, I'm going to hang that brat on the front of the carriage and let him get some wind... This isn't riding in a carriage, it's torture."

"Little G," Ying Zheng groaned helplessly in his heart, "You call this... a modern mode of transportation?"

The screen in my mind flickered with calm and ruthless data.

Your Majesty, this is an inevitable consequence of physics.

[The rigidly connected axles, coupled with the untreated roadbed, create a resonant frequency that perfectly matches the frequency of your stomach's peristalsis.]

[Suggestion: You should go to the roof of the car. Having a fixed visual reference point can effectively alleviate vestibular nerve dysfunction. Simply put, look into the distance, not at your feet.]

Ying Zheng struggled to his feet, gripping the swaying table for support.

"Help me... to the watchtower."

……

The air on the roof was indeed much better; although it was mixed with coal dust and sand, at least it wasn't so stuffy anymore.

Wearing goggles and a cloak, Ying Zheng stood atop a specially made watchtower and took a deep breath. The nausea had finally subsided somewhat.

He looked at the railway tracks winding westward ahead, the lifeblood of the Qin Dynasty, extending into the unknown world.

At the very front of the train, on that huge locomotive, another "human tragedy" was unfolding.

Zhao Gao, the once all-powerful head of the Imperial Carriage Office, was now shirtless, his body stained with coal dust like a Kunlun slave. He held a huge iron shovel in his hand, mechanically and desperately feeding coal into the gaping furnace.

"Shovel! Shovel now! The pressure is dropping!" the Mo family foreman yelled, showing no respect for the former Nine Ministers. "If the train stops, His Majesty will throw you in!"

As Zhao Gao sweated profusely, he cursed wildly in his mind.

"Damn nephew! Damn plate armor! Damn steam engine!"

"What sins have we committed! Can't we just enjoy our lives in the palace? Why do we have to get involved in this so-called 'investigation of things to acquire knowledge'?"

With each shovel stroke, he mentally added a grudge against his nephew. If he made it back alive, he vowed to chop the kid into pieces and feed him to the dogs.

Suddenly, a series of rapid knocking sounds came from the roof of the car.

That was Xiang Yu.

This chief instructor of the special forces of the Qin Dynasty, finding the carriage too stuffy, had long since climbed onto the roof. At this moment, he was holding onto the railing with one hand, binoculars in the other, his body rising and falling with the swaying of the train, as steady as a mountain.

"Something's up!" Xiang Yu's voice was clearly audible even in the wind.

Ying Zheng's spirits lifted, and despite his motion sickness, he raised his binoculars.

On the distant horizon, amidst the swirling yellow sand, a cluster of black dots appeared.

Those black dots moved extremely fast, and instead of being arranged in formation like regular cavalry, they were scattered haphazardly on the sand dunes on both sides of the railway, like a pack of hungry wolves waiting for their prey.

"Are they bandits?" Meng Tian shouted from below.

"No." Xiang Yu lowered his binoculars, a bloodthirsty glint in his eyes. "Bandits don't have horses this good. Those are... camel cavalry."

"And the things they're holding look familiar."

As the distance closed, everyone finally saw it clearly.

They were a group of knights dressed in khaki robes and with their faces veiled in black. They rode tall Bactrian camels, and instead of scimitars, they carried long weapons with matchlocks at the tips…

"A matchlock gun?!"

Ying Zheng's pupils suddenly contracted.

Although the gun barrel looked extremely rough, even as if it had been hammered out of a copper pipe, it was indeed a firearm!

"Little G! What's going on? Has Maodun's tech tree also reached the level of firearms?"

"Your Majesty, this is not scientifically sound."

Based on the scans, the guns appeared to be crudely constructed and were likely "replicas."

It seems that Zhao Cheng, who escaped, not only took away the landmine technology, but also managed to create this rudimentary matchlock gun based on his memory.

Although its range is short and its accuracy is poor, in this kind of close-range harassment warfare, the threat to the train is... significant.

Before he could finish speaking...

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The camel riders in the distance opened fire.

Gunfire erupted like popping beans, but no bullets hit the train (the aim was too poor), yet the sheer volume of the gunfire was enough to terrify the Qin soldiers who had never witnessed firearms exchange.

"Is this the welcoming ceremony in hell?"

Xiang Yu licked his lips and drew the specially made, extended pistol from his waist.

"Order! Everyone get on the roof!"

"Since they want to play with guns, let's teach them what 'firepower coverage' really means!"

……

The battle broke out on the move.

The "Black Dragon" did not slow down; instead, it accelerated due to Zhao Gao's frantic coal shoveling. The massive wheels slammed against the rails, producing a thunderous roar.

Camel riders, like phantoms, accompanied the train from the sand dunes on both sides. Utilizing the camels' mobility on the sand, they relentlessly pursued the train, their muskets spitting fire.

"Jingle bells!"

Lead bullets struck the train's armor, sending up a shower of sparks, but they couldn't penetrate the half-inch-thick steel plate.

"Too weak!" Xiang Yu stood on the roof of the chariot, laughing wildly into the wind. "You think this can stop the dragon of Qin?"

He raised his shotgun and, without even aiming, pulled the trigger at the nearest cavalryman.

"boom!"

A loud bang.

Hundreds of tiny iron pellets shot out, instantly turning the unfortunate cavalryman and his camel into sieves.

"You heartless cannon! Bomb it!" Xiang Yu roared.

Midway through the train, the massive spring catapult was taut by a winch.

A strongman cut the rope.

"collapse--!"

A huge, hissing explosive charge shot out.

It didn't hit any of the cavalrymen; instead, it landed on a sand dune behind the cavalry formation.

"BOOM—!!!"

The massive explosion unleashed a sandstorm that filled the sky.

Although not many people were killed, the terrifying sound and vibration startled all the camels.

Camels, though seemingly docile, can become ruthless when startled. They begin to leap and kick wildly, throwing their riders off their backs, or simply kneeling on the ground and refusing to move.

What was originally a menacing hunt instantly turned into a farce.

Ying Zheng stood on the watchtower, looking at the disheveled enemies, but he did not feel relieved.

Something's not right.

He frowned.

"If it's just this level of harassment, it's completely meaningless. They can't penetrate armor, and they can't stop vehicles."

"Are they... stalling for time?"

"Or perhaps..."

Ying Zheng suddenly turned his gaze forward.

The end of the railway tracks.

There was a makeshift wooden bridge spanning the dry riverbed. It was a temporary structure built by the engineers to save time.

"Oh no! The bridge!" Ying Zheng shouted.

But it was too late.

When the train was less than 500 steps away from the wooden bridge, that bridge...

It was not destroyed.

Instead... it disappeared.

To be precise, the railway tracks on the bridge surface are gone. Only bare sleepers remain, like rows of rotten teeth, mockingly facing the sky.

"Stop the car! Stop the car now!"

Meng Tian's voice changed, and he frantically waved the red flag that had come to an emergency stop.

Inside the locomotive, Zhao Gao was shoveling coal with great enthusiasm when he suddenly heard heart-wrenching screams outside.

"Huh? Parking?"

He threw down the shovel and rushed over to pull the huge brake lever.

"squeak------!!!"

A piercing metallic screeching sound echoed through the sky. The wheels seized, sparking dazzling flashes as they scraped against the rails.

The immense inertia propelled the train forward.

Everyone was thrown about by the sudden braking. Ying Zheng gripped the railing tightly, his knuckles turning white.

Four hundred paces... three hundred paces... two hundred paces...

The heavy train, like a stubborn bull, refused to stop.

They were about to hit the wooden bridge without rails; once they got on, it would mean certain death.

"Xiang Yu!" Ying Zheng roared.

Xiang Yu, who was on the roof of the chariot, was nearly thrown off by the swaying. He glanced at the approaching broken bridge, a resolute glint in his eyes.

"Trying to harm His Majesty? No way!"

He jumped off the roof and landed at the junction of the first carriage and the locomotive.

There is a huge iron hook connector there.

"Open it!"

Xiang Yu roared, his muscles bulging, and slashed fiercely at the pin of the iron hook with his "Breaking Formation" sword.

"when!"

Sparks flew everywhere.

The pin didn't budge. It was made of special steel.

"Again!"

Xiang Yu's eyes were bloodshot, like a demon god descending to earth. He threw away his sword and actually grabbed the scorching hot connecting rod with both hands.

"Aaaaaahh ...

That was the ultimate burst of human power.

With a sickening metallic twisting sound, he actually managed to pull out the thumb-thick pin!

"Snap!"

The locomotive has become uncoupled from the rear carriages.

With the heavy load removed from the rear, the front of the locomotive suddenly felt lighter, but it also lost the thrust from behind.

Zhao Gao, sitting in the front of the carriage, watched the carriage suddenly disappear into the distance, and was terrified.

"Help! I'm still in the car!"

The chariot, carrying Zhao Gao, sped alone onto the broken bridge.

The dozen or so carriages behind, amidst a screeching sound, finally came to a slow stop less than ten feet from the bridgehead.

Everyone held their breath, staring at the lone front of the car.

It rushed onto the wooden bridge, bounced a few times on the sleepers, and then...

"Boom!"

The wooden bridge could not withstand the impact and collapsed.

The chariot, carrying Zhao Gao, plunged headlong into the dry riverbed, kicking up clouds of dust.

……

A deathly silence.

After a while.

"Your Majesty! Is Your Majesty alright?"

The guards rushed up the watchtower like madmen.

Ying Zheng was pale, but remained relatively calm. He waved his hand to indicate that he was alright.

He walked to the spot where the front of the car had broken off and looked down at the large, still-smoking crater.

"Zhao Gao...is he dead?"

Hu Hai peered down and cautiously said, "Father, falling from that height, and onto that iron lump... it's probably shattered into a pancake, right?"

Just when everyone thought that the Qin Dynasty had lost an "excellent boiler operator".

A coughing sound suddenly came from the smoldering wreckage of the car.

"Cough cough... Ouch, my old back..."

A dark, grimy hand reached out from the coal pile.

Zhao Gao actually crawled out!

Although his face was covered in blood and his clothes were torn to shreds, it seemed that... his arms and legs were still intact.

"This scourge... it's really tough." Xiang Yu shook his scalded hand and couldn't help but sigh.

It turned out that at the moment of the fall, the coal in the cab spilled out, which happened to act as a thick cushion for Zhao Gao. In addition, the damned "tofu-dreg" wooden bridge collapsed relatively evenly, which miraculously saved his life.

Ying Zheng looked at the dark figure wriggling at the bottom of the pit, and the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

"Pull him up."

"The fact that he didn't die means that the King of Hell thinks he's dirty and won't take him."

……

The crisis has been temporarily averted, but a greater shadow looms over everyone.

Ying Zheng got off the chariot and went to the bridgehead.

He looked at the bare sleepers.

The railway tracks weren't blown up; they were removed.

The cuts were clean, and even the track spikes used for fixing were completely removed.

"This is...stealing iron?" Meng Tian exclaimed incredulously. "Who would steal such heavy railway tracks in this desolate wilderness?"

"It wasn't stealing."

Zhang Liang walked over, squatted down, and touched the marks on the sleeper.

"This is 'demolition'."

"Someone organized a large number of people and used professional tools to dismantle this section of railway track in a very short time."

Zhang Liang raised his head and looked into the depths of the desert in the distance.

"Your Majesty, we are trapped."

"There's no road ahead. And our vehicle, once off the tracks, is just scrap metal."

"and……"

Zhang Liang pointed to the dark figures that were gradually closing in from all sides.

There were even more camel riders, and even infantrymen pushing makeshift catapults.

Covering the mountains and plains.

"They're not trying to blow up the car, they're trying to... trap us here and kill us."

Ying Zheng took a deep breath as he watched the enemies approaching like a pack of wolves.

This was no longer a simple harassment; it was a meticulously planned hunt.

The owner of that "eye" finally revealed his fangs.

"it is good."

Ying Zheng drew his Tai'a sword, its blade pointing to the sky.

"Since there's no way forward, there's no point in continuing."

"Pass on the order!"

"All troops disembark! Use the train as cover and form ranks!"

"Take down those heartless cannons and set them up properly!"

"I'd like to see whether they have more camels or I have more explosives!"

"besides……"

Ying Zheng glanced at Zhao Gao, who had just been pulled up and was crying and begging for his parents.

"Zhao Gao, stop howling. Your boiler may have exploded, but your skills remain."

"Go, take the Mo family members and bring out the spare rails from the carriages."

"Since the road has been demolished, then I will... repair it on the spot!"

"We'll fix it while we fight it!"

"I refuse to believe that I can't pave this few hundred miles!"

A sandstorm suddenly arose.

In the afterglow of the setting sun, an unprecedented "railway defense battle" began on this ancient wasteland.

On one side is the steel dragon of industrial civilization, and on the other side is the mobile wolf pack of nomadic peoples.

But the First Emperor, sitting in the center of the formation, was not thinking of fear at this moment, but of an even more insane idea.

"Little G".

"Tell me, if I modified this locomotive, could it become... a tank?"