Apocalypse six years, April 30th.
In an alley in the south of Beijing, a watchman died. There were no burns all over his body, but his internal organs were cooked.
Han Li, the dismissed former chief of the Shenji Battalion, took over the case and discovered that the cause of death pointed to an absurd fact - something was running underground in the capital. The sound of huge gears penetrated the soil and masonry, vibrating every few breaths, like a heart buried under the city of Beijing.
Seven days. He only has seven days.
From the Liulichang Book Market to the secret chamber of the Forbidden City, from the Western instruments of the Xuanwumen Cathedral to the Wanli Cave beneath Wang Gongchang, Han Li, scientist Xu Guangqi, mechanical wizard Wang Zheng, the forbearing queen Zhang Yan, and the down-and-out scholar Song Yingxing were twisted by fate. Their opponents are the nine thousand-year-old Wei Zhongxian who controls the government, and a gunpowder maniac who tries to destroy the entire city with steam armor.
The most heartbreaking truth is: the city they fought so hard to protect was not a conspiracy - it was a salvation tool built by a genius emperor with all his efforts. It's just that the gear of salvation was eventually bitten into pieces by the greed of the human heart.
The fragrance of Dragon Boat Festival rice dumpling leaves drifted through the alley. Old Zhoutou selling candied haws on a stick was out as usual, and the girl selling sour plum soup was waving her copper bell along the street. No one knew that the sky would open on the sixth day of May.
This is a story about gears and gunpowder, loyalty and betrayal, science and ignorance. It is also a story about ordinary people - what the hero fights desperately to protect is nothing more than a bunch of candied haws, a bowl of sour plum soup, and an unfinished wooden bird.
