Am I going to be controlled by the players too?

Peng Longteng was sweating profusely.

"Your Majesty, you are wise!" She knelt down again with a "thud." "Your Majesty's loyalty is as clear as day and night! The Peng family has served the empire for generations and has never harbored any disloyalty! That rebellious daughter, Liu Ruyan, has long been expelled from the family register by me! Her life or death has nothing to do with the Peng family! Nothing to do with me!"

"Oh?"

The Empress chuckled softly: "Get up."

Peng Longteng stood up shakily, his legs shaking.

Seeing her like that, the Empress didn't reprimand her anymore. Instead, she raised her hand and pointed to the side: "Speaking of which, there are people impeaching you. I couldn't refuse them, so I brought them here to see the battlefield in person."

She paused, then said with a half-smile, "What did you tell me? Come out and read it to the general."

As soon as he finished speaking, a Minister of Revenue dressed in a scarlet official robe stood up, bowed to the Empress, and then turned to Peng Longteng:

"In my opinion, General Peng is an unparalleled hero with outstanding military achievements. He has fought for the empire for decades without ever suffering a defeat. In this campaign against the Immortal Demon, he has led from the front, fighting day and night. He is truly a role model for us all..."

He started by showering her with praise, then abruptly changed the subject:

"However! The Abyss War has now lasted for months, consuming three hundred trillion credits. With the recent development of firearms, this has skyrocketed to ten trillion credits per day… The national treasury is already empty. If this continues, I fear…"

"What are you afraid of?" Peng Longteng's eyes widened. "Not fight? Are you going to keep us trapped on the ninth floor? Your Majesty, I believe that these people, holed up in the rear, have no idea of ​​the hardships on the front lines..."

"Hmph!" The Minister of Revenue retorted, displeased. "It's like this in the rear. The soldiers on the front lines only need to devote themselves to the battlefield, obey orders, and fight bravely. But those in the rear have many more things to consider."

"He hasn't finished yet," the Censor-in-Chief stepped forward. "I believe that General Peng, under the guise of punishing evil, is actually using war as a pretext to extort military supplies!"

"Furthermore, according to my investigation, in the past few months, General Peng's military supplies have actually been used up by no more than half. The remaining supplies—could it be that the general has taken them for his own enrichment?"

"Fuck your mother's fart!"

Peng Longteng cursed, "I'm keeping some ammunition as a backup in case of emergencies, what's the problem? Do you think war is about accounting, where every bullet has to match the books?!"

"enough!"

The Vice Minister of Rites also stood up, looked at Peng Longteng, then at the Empress, and sighed softly: "Your Majesty, I believe that General Peng's name, Peng Longteng, is in fact an act of usurpation..."

"The dragon is the symbol of emperors."

There was a moment of silence in the military tent.

Peng Longteng's eyes widened in surprise.

“If the general is merely enriching himself and embezzling money, that’s one thing,” the Vice Minister of Rites continued. “But if he embezzles military supplies and weapons and secretly amasses power… I dare not even think about it.”

"I suggest that General Peng's blasphemous plaque be stripped and given to someone else to use."

Peng Longteng's blood pressure instantly spiked. She glared at the Vice Minister of Rites, the Censor, the Minister of Revenue, and everyone who stood up to impeach her—

Then she looked at the Empress.

The Empress was sitting in a chair, one hand supporting her chin, looking at her with a half-smile.

"My dear minister, is this true?"

Peng Longteng faced the Empress, knelt on one knee, and placed his right hand on his chest:

"His Majesty!"

"Your subject, Peng Longteng, has received the Emperor's grace for a hundred years and has never had a disloyal heart! My life was given to me by the late Emperor, and everything I have was given to me by the late Emperor and Your Majesty! I can swear on my life that these are all slanders! From beginning to end, there have only been two words in my heart—"

"loyalty!"

Peng Longteng shouted so loudly that the military tent fell silent for a few seconds.

Then the Empress smiled.

"I certainly trust you, my dear minister," she said softly. "You have fought for the empire for decades and made great contributions, which I have all witnessed."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the officials who had impeached Peng Longteng: "But some people always like to gossip behind people's backs. I couldn't refuse them, so I brought them here to see how you fight a war, my dear minister."

The faces of the officials who were impeaching the officials turned deathly pale instantly.

Their impeachment of Peng Longteng was merely an experiment—civil officials impeaching military officials was a centuries-old tradition in the Elven Empire, something that couldn't be missed.

But who would have thought that the Empress would personally lead them to see Peng Longteng, forcing them to impeach him in person and offend this legendary figure?

Once Peng Longteng finishes the war, he will surely seek revenge. Our careers are likely over...

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Peng Longteng beamed with joy and kowtowed.

The Empress waved her hand, gesturing for her to rise, and asked, "How is the war going?"

Peng Longteng stood up and said solemnly, "Your Majesty, the Immortal Demon has been suppressed. The giant tree has now shrunk to half its original size, and its healing speed has been greatly reduced. The warlock team is using necromancy to continue the suppression, and will launch the next offensive once the ammunition is replenished."

She paused, then patted her chest confidently: "I can pledge my life! In ten days, at most ten days, we will defeat the Eternal Demon!"

"Alright." The Empress nodded, then said, "But it's not necessary."

Peng Longteng was stunned.

"You've done very well to get this far." The Empress stood up, the golden dragon on her dragon robe gleaming in the candlelight. "Next..."

She walked forward, past Peng Longteng, past the kneeling civil and military officials, and arrived at the entrance of the military tent.

Lift the curtain.

Outside, there was the giant tree that had shrunk to half its original size, the soldiers resting, and the battlefield stained black with blood and smoke.

"I will personally lead the expedition."

Behind them, civil and military officials knelt down in unison:

"Your Majesty is wise!"

…………

In the center of the battlefield.

The Empress stood before the Jianmu tree.

Up close, this tree is even more breathtaking than from a distance. Even shrunk to half its original size, its trunk is still so thick that its edges are invisible, and the broken branches piled on the ground resemble mountains.

The empress raised her hand.

Countless chains surged from her palms, extending forward like living things, and coiled around the trunk of the giant tree—

However, with a slight tremor of the Jianmu tree, the chains shattered.

"As expected, it's still not enough..."

The Empress withdrew her hand, sighed softly, and without further hesitation raised her hand and pressed it to her chest. The five-clawed golden dragon embroidered on the fabric seemed to come alive, swimming down from the dragon robe and crawling up her arm to her palm.

Then it transformed into a real dragon.

It was only as thick as a finger, golden all over, with distinct scales, and slowly moved in her palm.

A tributary of the imperial dragon vein.

The Empress raised her hand, and the golden dragon once again transformed into chains, binding her away!

The power of the source.

Anyone weaker than the Empress, or anyone the Empress considers weaker than herself, can be controlled and turned into a puppet by activating her source essence!

This time, the Jianmu tree began to tremble. The wounds that were slowly healing suddenly stopped, and the golden chains tightened and deepened, digging into the trunk and into its soul.

Finally, the Jianmu tree stopped struggling and drooped its branches, as if submitting to the Empress.

"To be executed."

The Empress said.

The moment the words fell, the Jianmu tree, which had stood for countless years, began to wither. Leaves fell, branches broke, bark peeled off, and the decay spread from the crown down to the trunk, to the roots, and to every corner that had once been full of life.

A moment later, only a withered giant tree remained in the spot.

The "Priestess" immortal demon has been successfully defeated!

"boom!!!"

Another gust of wind blew by, and the withered tree collapsed.

After the dust settled, only a bright green ember and a bottomless giant hole remained.

The Empress stepped forward, picked up the spark, closed her eyes, and sensed the information within it.

A moment later, she opened her eyes and suddenly burst out laughing:

"This spark... to be refined into a blasphemous token, its legendary ritual actually requires the owner to live for more than one epoch."

One Yuan is 129,600 years. Even the Amber God only existed a thousand years ago. Who in the world could achieve that?

"I thought I could create another legend for the empire." The Empress put away the flame. "Now it seems that's not possible in the short term."

There are ways to manipulate the ritual, but they still need further study. At this moment, however, more important than a legendary spark is—

She turned around and looked at the huge hole:

"My beloved ministers, please come with me to take a look."

…………

I don't know how long I walked in the darkness, but finally, an amber light appeared before my eyes.

The light grew brighter and brighter, until it transformed into an amber-colored ocean that enveloped everything.

The empress stopped and looked back.

The path we came from is no longer visible; only a hole remains, faintly visible in the sea of ​​amber.

Beside that hole, there were countless other holes—densely packed, large and small—scattered across the amber-colored dome.

If the world were turned upside down—those holes would be the stars in the sky.

"Your Majesty! This is wonderful, Your Majesty!"

Peng Longteng's voice trembled with excitement: "This place leads to the deepest part of the world's underground cities. As long as we send troops from here, we can go directly to the Kingdom's underground city!"

"A million-strong army has parachuted into the kingdom's capital! The unification of the world is just around the corner!"

Behind him, civil and military officials also knelt down, saying, "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty!"

The Empress did not laugh. She stared at the holes for a long time before suddenly speaking: "Official in charge of rites."

"The minister is here."