[Ming Dynasty x Nine Dragons Devouring Heaven x Eastern Cosmic Horror Eldritch Gods x Ming Dynasty Steampunk x Steampunk Mechanical City x Brocade-clad Guard Investigators]
The end of a dynasty is not the Dragon Throne, but the abyss.
The Ming Dynasty endured for five hundred years, with steam for blood and mechanisms for bones. Yet the ancient curse buried beneath the dragon veins, not imperial benevolence, sustained the splendor of this golden age... the Ruin God.
A bizarre case involving the crown prince's sexual debauchery lifted the curtain on the dynasty's downfall. Shen Moyuan, a Brocade-clad Guard commander, was ordered to investigate, only to find himself drawn into a maelstrom more terrifying than any power struggle.
At court, nine dragons contended for the throne, and an indescribable shadow lurked behind every prince.
In the streets, steam pipes roared. What poured from them was not only power, but also maddening "whispers."
Deep within the imperial palace, the dying emperor offered up his bloodline as a sacrifice to protect a dark secret that had endured for five hundred years.
When the imperial genealogy shattered and the Ruin God awakened, the steel capital became a furnace of flesh and blood. With the last survivors, Shen Moyuan boarded a steam-powered vessel and sailed toward the mist-shrouded East.
His Embroidered Spring Blade had once fought for the dynasty. Now, in the endless darkness, he had to carve out a sliver of dawn for human civilization.
