Am I going to be controlled by the players too?

Some people say, "What do businessmen know about governing a country? All they care about is money."

Liu Ruyan's smile remained unchanged, but her tone became slightly more forceful: "But I want to ask you something—if you don't have money, what kind of kingdom are you coming to? Isn't the kingdom we're pursuing about everyone making money, everyone climbing up the ladder, and trampling those losers underfoot?"

Next, she detailed her campaign manifesto and outlined her governing goals after taking office.

Simply put, her core principle is to vigorously develop the Celestial Realm.

The Celestial Realm is a subspace created by the Amber God and the Ascending God, but unlike the Human Realm and the Abyss Realm, it does not have a clear spatial location. To be precise, as long as one can access the Celestial Realm, it is omnipresent.

Therefore, the Celestial Realm has always been used as a tool for the transmission of matter and information. Later, it was jointly developed by the Theocracy and the Kingdom to become a space carrying modern network information and communication signals. Today's mobile phones, computers, televisions, and even eye magic prosthetics are all based on access to the Celestial Realm.

In terms that Earthlings can understand, it's similar to "cyberspace" or "the spirit world".

However, Liu Ruyan envisioned it not merely as a tool for information transmission, but as something to be enhanced and elevated, making it more practical and effective.

In the future realm of gods, everything will be openly priced. Wherever one can access the realm of law, everything—magic power, realm, official rank, memories, fire seed, and even lifespan and human rights—can be purchased directly.

Resource allocation efficiency will be many times greater than it is today, and social operating costs will be reduced to an unlimited extent.

In addition, Liu Ruyan also wants to vigorously develop stocks, futures, and bonds in the Celestial Realm, financialize everything of value, and even make everyone an asset, participating in social competition and being evaluated, held, and sold by countless others.

In this way, everyone's success and failure will happen at an unprecedented pace. Some people will be overvalued because of one success, receive investment from the whole society, and thus continue to succeed, eventually climbing from an ordinary person to the golden peak.

Naturally, some people will be sold off after a single failure, forced to sell their property and cultivation to maintain their value, until they are drained dry by the entire society, even their corpses are sold, becoming material for necromancers.

"In this way, the rich can directly buy power, and the poor can earn cultivation resources through investment!"

"In the kingdom of the future, as long as you are smart enough, insightful enough, and courageous enough—you can have everything!"

Thunderous applause erupted from the audience.

Some people stood up, waving their hands, their eyes reddening, while others excitedly called out her name.

Liu Ruyan stood on the podium, bowed slightly, and greeted everyone.

The scene shifts back to the studio, where the host is excitedly analyzing Liu Ruyan's speech, and the invited guests are expressing their opinions, arguing heatedly.

The living room was quiet.

Sylvia stared at the screen, her brows furrowed; Cheng Cheng leaned back in his chair, his fork hovering in mid-air, lost in thought.

Freya's consciousness was shrouded in the depths of her mind, lost in thought.

After a long silence, Cheng Cheng spoke:

"Is this really possible?"

Sylvia turned to look at him and nodded: "If she can truly ascend the throne and wield the power of a nation, coupled with the assistance of legends, building such a divine realm wouldn't be difficult, but..."

No matter how you look at it, this kind of future is just too crazy.

Cheng Cheng put down his fork, picked up his juice and took a sip: "Sylvia, tell me, what's going on with this queen election?"

Sylvia gathered her thoughts and slowly began to speak:

"The model for the Queen's election was decided by my father, the Prime Minister, the Sword Saint, and other nobles and bureaucrats."

"Participants need to give speeches on television and tour the country to win the support of voters. Each state in the kingdom is allocated a certain number of electoral votes based on its population. Whoever gets more than half of the electoral votes wins."

Cheng Cheng raised an eyebrow: "Isn't this just the US presidential election?"

Sylvia didn't understand: "The United States? Is that the country you mentioned last time, the country of 'Father America'?"

"It's nothing, you can continue."

“Well… anyone can announce their candidacy, but to get on TV and go on a national tour, you need money, influence, and connections.” Sylvia paused. “So not everyone really has a chance.”

“And the winner,” she took a deep breath, “can directly inherit the ‘Empress’ card and become a legend.”

Cheng Cheng's eyes lit up for a moment.

legend.

That's the ceiling of combat power in this world, aside from the gods.

After sharing Sylvia's attributes, he was already able to solo low-ranking demons in reality. If he could elevate one of them to the throne and share legendary-level power—

Then, isn't the reality of the Witch's Night and the cycle of demons just a matter of one's own thoughts?

He began to make plans in his mind.

But soon, he realized a problem.

“Wait a minute.” He looked at Sylvia. “If ascending the throne grants instant legendary status, why aren’t the nobles fighting amongst themselves? Why is it only now that the first candidate has emerged?”

Sylvia was silent for a few seconds, then pursed her lips, as if hesitating whether or not to speak.

Then she sighed: "Father said... the Queen's throne is not easy to sit on."

"Is there a pit above?"

"Yes," Sylvia nodded, "a huge pit."

“Every queen, regardless of her personality, desires, or plans before ascending the throne, will become… exactly the same as all the queens before her.”

Cheng Cheng frowned: "What do you mean?"

“It’s like they’re possessed by the same person.” Sylvia glanced at Cheng Cheng. “Their tone of voice, the way they handle things, even the way they walk—they’re becoming more and more alike. It’s as if… the throne itself is devouring their personalities.”

"Then why does Liu Ruyan want to run for election..." Cheng Cheng looked at the screen.

“They’re probably representatives pushed out by the emerging capitalists who haven’t made a move on the throne for so long, since Father and the Sword Saint haven’t done anything about it. Their political ideologies are also very similar to those of the new elites.” Sylvia thought for a moment. “After all, the fact that there’s a hole in the throne is a secret. Apart from the legends and nobles of various countries, ordinary people are not qualified to know about it.”

Cheng Cheng nodded, seemingly lost in thought.

Sylvia blinked, then suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Cheng Cheng—or rather, at the original owner of this body: "Sister Freya should know more about things related to the throne, right?"

She deliberately emphasized the word "sister".

Freya's consciousness jolted violently in her mind.

What should we do? Should we say something?

No, that's not right. Given Mr. Mambo's strength and status, the fact that he could find me so easily means he must already know my identity. There's no point in hiding it.

She took a deep breath and spoke:

"The pit on the Queen's throne in the Kingdom of Konoma is mainly related to the source matter."

Cheng Cheng raised an eyebrow: "Source quality?"

I've heard this term more than once, but I've never really understood it.

"Hmm. There are only nine sources of primal energy in the world, the ultimate source of all magic." Freya's voice echoed in his mind. "Six of them belong to the primordial demons trapped in the abyss. Of the other three, one was obtained by the Amber God and became the foundation for His ascension to the throne; the other two remained in the kingdom and the empire, respectively."

"The empire's source material is called the 'Dragon Vein'."

"The essence of the kingdom is called the 'scepter'."

Cheng Cheng listened quietly, occasionally relaying the information to Sylvia.

“To become a legend, possessing the legendary flame is not enough; a corresponding ritual is also required to refine the legendary flame into a ‘blasphemous card’ that one can control,” Freya continued. “And the ritual for the ‘Empress’ card is to rule a kingdom and gain the recognition of the vast majority of the people.”

"What about the source substance?" Cheng Cheng asked.

“Using source matter to become a god also requires a ritual.” Freya’s voice was even lower. “But that’s too difficult. No one can do it.”

"Therefore, the first Queen chose a way to bypass the ascension ritual—having the holder of the 'Empress' card continuously align themselves with the characteristics of the Source, ultimately 'donning armor and becoming a saint.' Although they cannot truly merge with the Source, they gain the qualification to use the authority of the Source."

“Originally, because the royal family has only one son per generation to protect the kingdom, this ceremony could have been completed simply by the crown prince’s ascension to the throne—it would have been legitimate and the people would have been willing to accept it.” Freya’s voice trailed off as she spoke. “But now that I, as a princess, have left, we have no choice but to elect a new queen from the outside world.”

"Huh?" Cheng Cheng's eyes widened suddenly. "You're a princess?!"

"Huh?" Freya's consciousness was also stunned. "You didn't know?!"

The gacha interface and description are riddles; who can understand them?!

Cheng Cheng waved his hand: "Besides... I find it hard to imagine that a princess would be so scared that she would wet her pants."

Freya immediately exploded: "Don't mention that!"

Cheng Cheng coughed lightly, changing the subject: "Alright, continue. Why did you leave the palace?"

Freya remained silent for a long time.

Cheng Cheng thought she wouldn't speak again, but she finally spoke once more:

"My mother... gave birth to me before she ascended the throne."

“When I was little, she would hold me and look at the moon from the window of the palace.”

The image flashed through her mind—it was her most precious memory, like a carefully treasured gem, hidden deep within her heart.

The palace window was large, and the moon was very round.

The mother sat on the soft couch by the window, holding her in her arms and gently rocking her.

…………

"Little Freya, look, what does the moon look like?"

"Like...like a pancake!"

"Pfft." The mother laughed, her smile as warm as sunshine. "Shall we pick it and give it to little Freya to eat?"

"it is good--!"

Her mother smiled and rubbed her head; her hands were soft and warm.

Then her mother would tell her stories.

It tells the history of the kingdom, the legends of heroes, the stories of warriors who fought to the death on the battlefield of the abyss, and the stories of ancestors who sacrificed themselves to protect the people.

“Mommy,” little Freya looked up, her eyes sparkling, “when I grow up, I want to be like those heroes and protect everyone!”

Her mother looked at her, her eyes filled with tenderness.

"Okay," said the mother. "Then you must grow up well, cultivate yourself well, and do well—"

She paused, then hugged Freya even tighter.

"Be yourself."

At that time, Freya did not understand the meaning of that sentence.

Later she understood.

Because everything has changed.