Am I going to be controlled by the players too?

"But I tell you all, I will never bow my head!"

Freya's words were powerful and resounding, each sentence striking a chord.

The initially fearful and dejected members of parliament in the audience gradually turned their eyes fervent, their fear replaced by a resolute fighting spirit.

Everyone straightened their backs, staring intently at the Queen on the high platform, their hearts burning with patriotic fervor.

"We will fight to the very end!"

"We will fight on the border, on every inch of our trampled land... Hmm~?"

Freya swayed suddenly, her shoulders trembled slightly, and a very soft groan escaped her lips.

Why? What happened?

Freya was shocked and immediately looked inward, instantly understanding the root cause.

It's Cheng Cheng!

He is using his source of oblivion!

It's gotten to the point where we need to use source matter... What happened to Cheng Cheng? Is it very dangerous?

Freya's mind was instantly in turmoil, half filled with extreme worry and half with an uncontrollable, strange physical sensation.

Unlike the dragon vein controlled by Himeko, the method by which the queens of the kingdom have controlled the source essence [understanding] is "becoming a saint by donning armor".

The "Empress" card contains the source matter, but each use comes at a price—memories, personality, or lifespan.

After Freya obtained her exclusive weapon "The Book of Memories", she could replenish her consumed memories at any time and use the scepter without loss. This allowed her to fight Himegami to a draw in the Source Battle in the dungeon.

While it may be harmless, it does not mean it is completely free of side effects.

Each time it is used, the scepter devours a part of one's memories, as if the whole person is emptied out, and a huge sense of emptiness fills the heart; then it is filled again by the book of past events.

One empty, one full; one rising, one falling.

The immense sense of loss and satisfaction left Freya in a state of high spirits.

The "Empress" card, which contains the source energy, is also known as the "Mother" card, symbolizing the authority to reproduce. Therefore, Freya's dantian, which contains the source energy, will also be filled with a huge amount of magic power when she uses the authority.

Once or twice is fine, but now Cheng Cheng is constantly using source essence!

It was as if Freya was being controlled from across the vast void, causing her to constantly waver between satisfaction and emptiness, her memories being continuously filled and her dantian being filled with magic power—but she was giving a speech in Congress and could not show such an attitude!

But it was so exciting!

Freya trembled uncontrollably, biting her lower lip tightly, and braced her hands on the podium. She was filled with anxiety, anger, helplessness, and unease.

What exactly is Cheng Cheng doing?

What kind of desperate situation did they encounter that required such frequent and frantic activation of their source essence?

She wasn't afraid of losses or costs, but she was afraid that Cheng Cheng would be trapped in a deadly situation!

But now, there's nothing I can do to help; I can only force myself to continue the speech.

"We will fight on the coast, on the beachhead, at every position the enemy lands, oh dear~"

"We will fight in the fields, we will fight in the streets, we will fight amidst the ruins of cities!"

Wave after wave of intense soul-searching assaults came.

Freya's body trembled violently, her waist bent slightly, and she could no longer suppress her expression.

So exciting!

I, Freya, as queen, have been in charge of the source matter for so long, yet I am not as happy as I am at this moment!

Freya touched the Empress Card in her dantian, feeling the magic power constantly flowing from the scepter's essence. She bit her tongue, and the sweet and metallic taste spread in her mouth, which she could not resist at all!

Hurry up... Cheng Cheng, whatever you're doing, please finish this quickly!

Freya kept her eyes tightly shut, her breathing rapid, and gritted her teeth as she continued:

"We will fight in the mountains and forests, we will fight in the fortresses, we will fight beneath the walls of Silvershine City!"

"But we will never surrender! Even if we are isolated and without reinforcements, even if blood flows like a river, as long as we have a breath left, Konoma will never yield!"

Fortunately, Freya's unusual behavior was quickly overshadowed by the enthusiastic cheers from the audience.

The civil and military officials below the stage were completely absorbed in her speech, their blood boiling, waving their handkerchiefs, cheering loudly, their fighting spirit soaring.

Only Sylvia, who was closest to the podium, noticed Freya's trembling body and wondered:

"Freya... she didn't bring a magical item to the stage today, did she?"

"This is the National Assembly building... Are you going to go this far?"

…………

"They survived..."

In the process of gradually erasing Himeko's memories, Cheng Cheng remembered his "brain-reducing aura," and with the help of the Pride card and the power of forgetting, he was able to barely dispel Himeko's curiosity.

Since Tong Chuxue is still loyal to the emperor and loves her country, there's no need to punish her so severely.

The affairs of the world are on the battlefield. The trouble that Tong Chuxue has caused has been big enough. It's time to stop.

Hime no Mikoto announced a joint trial, whereby high-ranking officials and the cabinet would conduct a trial of Tong Chuxue. In the end, Tong Chuxue was sentenced to death for the serious offense of "a son insulting his father," and would be executed in the autumn.

But since it was a case of "the son insulting his father," then as the emperor, Ji Yushen only needed to forgive her and show the magnanimity of an emperor to reduce her sentence and calm the storm.

Finally, Tong Chuxue was penalized with a three-year salary reduction and transferred from her key position in the Embroidered Uniform Guard to the Hanlin Academy to study the classics and gain a proper understanding of what "loyalty to the emperor and love for the country" truly means.

This is a result that satisfies all parties.

Many officials even discerned His Majesty's attitude from Himeko's handling of the situation and secretly tried to win over and curry favor with Kiri Hatsuyuki.

However, Tong Chuxue ignored all the invitations from civil officials and devoted herself to compiling books at the Hanlin Academy, as if she really loved this job.

It was another quiet evening.

After finishing her work, Tong Chuxue went to her usual restaurant and said to the waiter:

"I'd like some ham and eggs, a good fried steak, all the side dishes, and a thick sauce."

“This will cost a lot of money, ma’am.”

"I know, and another large glass of ice-cold beer, please." Tong Chuxue said, taking out a government bond from her pocket and handing it to the waiter.

These are war bonds issued by Himegami after the nation entered a state of first-level war preparedness. Because of the high interest rate, they were initially snapped up by all the wealthy and powerful. However, as the war intensified, the market value of the bonds gradually declined.

Especially now.

On the eastern front, the Imperial Army has besieged the Kingdom's Silvershine City for thirteen days, but the Kingdom's army is fighting desperately and refusing to surrender; on the western front, Wang Zhiming suddenly unleashed his powerful strength and killed two Golden Peak warriors sent by Ji Yushen, and then fought his way through all obstacles to reach the capital, which is now only a few hundred miles away.

Some say that Wang Zhiming on the western front is the new emperor destined by heaven, while the former emperor, Ji Yushen, was cruel and lost her destiny, unable to use the power of the "emperor" and the dragon vein, which is why she dared not stop the rebels.

When this rumor first became popular, Himegami executed many of the rumor-mongers. However, as time went on, Himegami remained completely silent, seemingly determined to fight to the death on the eastern front and exchange territory with the kingdom, which made the rumor increasingly believable.

No one believed that Himegami could redeem the bonds after the war, so the national bonds plummeted and are now almost worth as little as toilet paper.

For example, the government bond with a face value of one million credit points that Tong Chuxue has in her hand probably wouldn't even be worth one hundred credit points now.

The waiter glanced at the bonds in his hand and said politely, "You're going to get a lot of beatings for this, ma'am."

After the decree of corruption was issued, the citizens indeed became much more violent...

Tong Chuxue sighed: "I know, and bring another big bottle of iodine."

The waiter took the bond and left, and soon brought Tong Chuxue some thick sauce, a large spoonful of fine thick sauce, plus all the thick sauce, then poured on top of the thick sauce, and a large glass of chilled thick sauce.

"Indian cuisine," the waiter said. "This is inexpensive, and you have just enough money."

Ok……

Tong Chuxue was also out of money... Her previous salary, as well as the extra money she earned while working in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, were all given to her master as a token of respect, or used to buy pills for continuous cultivation.

Her talent was already outstanding; otherwise, she wouldn't have become the Holy Maiden of the Demonic Sect. It was only because her magical power regressed for three years that she only managed to get into a junior college. Now, with the help of elixirs, she is making rapid progress, as if she has accumulated a lot of knowledge and skills and is now unleashing it. She has already risen to the late Silver rank in a short period of time.

While eating the rich sauce, Tong Chuxue spread out the newspaper and looked at the news in the capital. Wang Zhiming's story had changed from "Shameful rebels landed in the south of the sea" to "Wang Zhiming occupied the north of the Great Lake", and now it was "The righteous general approached the northern capital".

It will probably not be long before the reports change to "His Majesty the Supreme Emperor Wang Zhiming arrived in his loyal capital today".

Ke Tong Chu Xue knew that Ji Yu Shen's authority had not been lost in the slightest, and there was still a chain following her, which could take over everything when needed and turn her into a puppet—so why did she turn a blind eye to the rebels?

“According to the intelligence I obtained from the Kingdom, perhaps your former classmate Wang Zhiming… is already a puppet of the demons of war.” Cheng Cheng’s voice echoed in my mind. “But the legends of the Kingdom and the Theocracy did not stop it… perhaps Ji Yushen reached some consensus or deal with them.”

After meeting Ji Yushen, Tong Chuxue was already bound by the chains of source matter, and Cheng Cheng dared not show himself casually to avoid being discovered, communicating only with his disciple in his mind.

"...I hope fewer people will die in this war," Tong Chuxue murmured.

Now that things have come to this, it is impossible to stop the war.

After dinner, she packed up a delicious meal and secretly put it into her ring as a tribute to her master. Tong Chuxue then took out a book from her bag, opened it, and began to read silently.

This was a task given to her by Ji Yushen: to write a book "full of imagination and creativity, preferably one that would become a worldwide sensation." Cheng Cheng, on the other hand, unleashed his potential and cultivation in the immortal path, recounting many famous works from Earth to Tong Chuxue.

For example, "The Stranger Who Catches the Wind," "A Thousand Hands and a Hundred Eyes Under Heaven," "The Book of Past Lives in the Void," "The Sinner's Dance," "The Moon of Truth," and "The Blazing Resurrection Poem"—after all, these stories all originate from the great "Primordial Spirit," which is the essence of all literary works on Earth, a legend in the industry, and is called the pinnacle of the profession by Cheng Cheng.

If people from this other world could see such a touching and thought-provoking work, they would surely admire Kiri Hatsuyuki immensely and simply complete the "priestess" ritual, right?

Unfortunately, this Tong Chuxue's potential for immortality is ultimately shallow. She simply cannot understand Zhongli's thrilling battle of wits after faking his death, Fu Ningna's century of solitude, the Thunder General's love for the Thunder God, and the Sanbing's great feat of crashing into a tree.

hiss……

Think about it carefully, skirmishers crashing into a tree = memory deletion, and Freya's source essence effect also deletes memories, so wouldn't skirmishers =...

No, no! It can't be right!

The stragglers crashed into a tree, but the tree was the little grass god Narcida, and everything was Narcida's power; therefore Freya = Narcida, which is correct, since Freya and Narcida are both mothers.

So... am I a stragglers?

That's good.

Unfortunately, Tong Chuxue ultimately rejected everything. Instead, she combined her own experiences with the famous stories Cheng Cheng had told her to create a fictional, alternate world for the game, and then told a story about war and anti-war sentiment.

All Quiet on the Western Front.

Cheng Cheng's assessment was that the war scenes were not as well-written as those in "The Blazing Requiem," and even less so than the siege of Mondstadt by 25 Hilichurls...

Chapter 123, The Dragon: A Symbol of Emperors

All Quiet on the Western Front.

While transporting military supplies on the western front, Cheng Cheng, moved by the scenery, told Tong Chuxue the story of this book, just as a pastime. Unexpectedly, Tong Chuxue not only remembered it to this day, but also rejected Cheng Cheng's groundbreaking proposal to write "Yuanshen" after taking on the task of revising the book. Instead, she presented Ji Yushen with a slightly localized version of "No War on the Western Front".