Crimes
The moment Kong Xiang heard his name, he felt the hairs on his body stand on end.
He had thought about rebirth, about dreams, and even about his chip malfunctioning, but he never imagined that this was the Queen's test.
Recalling everything that had happened before, Kong Xiang acted decisively, blocking Li Zhi behind him and saying to Chen Yilin, "You actually dared to lay a hand on the Queen, take her down!"
Chen Yilin had already made his move; what else didn't he understand? Either this was an image of Chen Yilin fabricated by the Queen, or Chen Yilin, like him, had been pulled into this consciousness space. Although he didn't understand how they had done it, but…
"Kong Xiang, so you're back too... Ha, you coward! Look back at this tyrant. There's no one around her except us. She's just like you and me, she's returned to the past. It's not some fabricated space at all!"
Chen Yilin's voice interrupted Kong Xiang's thoughts once again. He didn't even dare to turn around, for fear that he might do something irreparable if he did.
Just then, Xu Zhizhou, who hadn't spoken until now, suddenly said, "Everyone, may I say a word?"
Kong Xiang only came to his senses when he heard his voice. If all of this was a test from the Queen, then what about Xu Zhizhou's position? As one of the people who would resist the tyranny of the empire in the future, was he standing here now also arranged by the Queen?
"I know you may have many questions now, but the president's time is running out. We sincerely invite you to join our resistance organization, participate in changing all of this, and change everything that will happen in the future."
ah?
This situation, which resembled a hybrid script, left Kong Xiang momentarily speechless, while Chen Yilin across from him focused on a different matter—
"We? You?"
She looked at Yi Guoduan, who was still standing on the ground with a calm expression, and suddenly realized something: "So you're all in cahoots, including you. Are you one of them too?"
The last sentence was directed at Kong Xiang, who, though confused, still managed to gather his thoughts: "What nonsense! Didn't you hear what he said? A resistance organization! Resisting whom? The Queen's regime! One's a tyrant, the other's rebelling, and now they're standing side by side, don't you get it yet? We..."
He turned his head and looked at Li Zhi, who smiled gently at him after receiving his gaze.
"We've been set up."
Shen Bai looked at the group of people who came out and glanced at the time: "I thought it would take a long time."
Ziche Yu: "No, Kong Xiang isn't stupid."
When Kong Xiang heard Zi Che Yu's voice, he suddenly understood completely. It turned out that they had all been deceiving him. A group of people had been playing him for fools. The biggest liar among them was the most terrifying existence in everyone's eyes, the cruel and ruthless queen!
He only dared to complain in his heart, but even now, he still had doubts about the Queen. Why was she different from the Queen in his memory? Why were Xu Zhizhou and the others in cahoots with her? And why did she go back to the past with Chen Yilin? He had too many questions to ask. Li Zhi understood their questions. In the department building, looking at the heavy-faced Chen Yilin and the seemingly calm Kong Xiang, she snapped her fingers, and two cups of tea appeared out of thin air in front of them, both of which happened to be their favorites.
"President."
Xu Zhizhou gave a reminder, and the others also became worried because of Li Zhi's actions, including Kong Xiang's cousin whom he thought he knew.
Li Zhi shook his head: "This little thing isn't enough to kill me."
She said with a smile, "I still have a long time ahead of me, at least eleven more years."
Eleven years...
Kong Xiang picked up the coffee cup in front of him, next to a sugar cube. He looked at Li Zhi. He wasn't surprised that the other could demonstrate the ability to control virtual and real data; Xu Zhizhou had already shown him that. But the fact that the Queen could already see through their thoughts at this moment, even knowing the hidden detail that he liked to cut off a corner of the sugar cube, made him wonder about the future…
"In the future, I won't have the energy to pay attention to everyone's thoughts; otherwise, I'll die even faster."
Li said to him.
Chen Yilin frowned: "You said you're about to die? But your tenth anniversary celebration is just around the corner, why haven't we heard a single word about it internationally?"
"Because I cannot die. I am a symbol. If I die, not only this country, but the whole world will undergo tremendous changes."
When Kong Xiang heard the word "symbol," he suddenly acted as if he didn't recognize the queen. In the past, she was the one who had the final say, and everyone's only symbol of her was "tyrant." Now that the tyrant is dead, everyone will only live better lives, so why would they need her?
Apart from……
"Except for those who are already doing very well."
Li Zhichao raised an eyebrow at him.
"A year from now, I will be able to ascend the throne of the data age, just like an emperor in feudal times."
Li Zhi looked at them: "As a puppet without any real power."
The words "queen" and "puppet" were completely foreign to Kong Xiang.
Chen Yilin was also stunned. He raised his hand and said, "Wait, are you saying that you were put on the throne by someone, a tyrant who can make rules whenever he wants and has unfathomable power, a puppet? Are you deliberately playing us for a fool, or do you think we are all blind?"
The Queen is terrifying not only because she sits on a high throne and has a group of people who listen to her, but also because the resources she controls and her ability to manage all those resources are terrifying. Her mastery of data is something that no puppet can play out for ten years with outward strength but inner weakness.
"I am indeed a puppet, and this is not an attempt to glorify or downplay myself. The reason I was able to rise to the top overnight is not because I suddenly gained some high-dimensional power, but because I was placed on the throne."
Li Zhi looked at the people around him, and Shen Bai spoke up at this moment: "The power of one person is always weak compared to a vast empire, but fortunately, where there is profit, there will be disunity. They were wary of each other and elected the 'Queen,' who was not a threat at the time, as an absolutely supreme title."
At that time, Li Zhi was just a young woman who had recently graduated. As an outstanding graduate of Laurel Academy, she was recommended to enter the cabinet. She never expected that her life trajectory would change so much in such a short period of time, and she never expected that she would soon become a tyrant hated by everyone. When she became queen, she never even thought that the term "queen" could reappear in this era.
But soon, what was hated by everyone turned into fear by everyone because ordinary people could no longer hold their heads high. Under absolute power, all resistance ended in failure.
“And I don’t know what I’m doing every day, because I’m only responsible for performing, while the one who really controls all of this isn’t just one queen, but a group of queens,” Li Zhi said calmly.
Chen Yilin frowned: "But you really didn't participate at all? You should have seen how miserable the rebels were, even if you were a puppet. I don't believe you couldn't do anything."
Li Zhidao: "Of course, I was prepared to do something from the moment I chose to accept the symbol of the Queen."
Yi Guoduan said, "They probably never imagined that the tyrant they supported would one day become a real 'tyrant'."
Kong Xiang thought about the Queen, whom he would only be able to meet after his promotion, and suddenly felt a familiar pressure. From the moment he became her minister, she could never be a puppet.
Li Zhi smiled, her expression unreadable, as her thoughts drifted back to three years after she became queen.
"Your Majesty."
After giving Li a simple bow, the maid stood up and said to her, "We still need your attendance at tonight's cabinet meeting."
Three years have passed, and Li Zhi still finds it somewhat amusing every time she hears the maid speak to her in that retro tone. This maid is their spy planted by her side, and knows her situation better than anyone else, yet she still has to pretend to respect her and bow to her, for fear of making a mistake in her performance.
The truly important meetings wouldn't be hers to attend. The evening meetings would most likely be just a performance for the public. Li Zhi replied with an "I understand," and looked at the person in the mirror, dressed in a magnificent outfit. The crown on her head shone brightly as she turned her head slightly. The queen's crown was priceless. Her outfit was a mess, like a display shelf of wealth plundered from all over the country, elaborate, heavy, and utterly lacking in aesthetics.
Li Zhi glanced at the ceiling, removed one of the jingling objects from his hand, and got up to head to the conference center.
Playing the queen is the most boring time. There's no need to hide the boredom; all you need to do is look impatient, and the people below will be satisfied. They've developed a kind of role-playing addiction, especially some high-ranking individuals who are tirelessly willing to act out scenes of being scolded by her, like lunatics.
Li Zhi slammed the documents on the table down, along with the bracelet on her wrist. When she spoke coldly, the people below didn't dare to breathe, just like all the citizens who received the synchronized video feed, fearing that the Queen's anger would be monitored through their consciousness. In fact, current technology could indeed meet this requirement, but she was just an actress at the front end, while the real controllers of the equipment and data were the ministers below and the forces behind them.
Li Zhi was exhausted. Even she was being monitored by countless eyes behind the data. But if the chip in her brain were removed, she would be unable to do anything in this era. Without computing power, she would become a data-age idiot, unable to even perform tasks like compilation and calculation that a child could do.
In short, she would lose the ability to use any tools in this era, from work and research to daily life.
snort.
As she passed by the bowing ministers, she saw the minister who had been hit by the bracelet gently brush against her skirt. Li Zhi raised her hand to move the skirt aside, gave him a cold look, and turned to leave.
Back in her familiar room, she snapped her fingers, and her clothes transformed into her most familiar T-shirt and trousers. The projected jewelry also vanished completely—they couldn't bear to give her the real thing.
Li Zhi raised his hand and manipulated the palace-like room back to normal modern decor. Usually, after a big show, their control over her would loosen. As long as no one saw this side of her, they wouldn't strictly manage her. Of course, even if someone did see it, they would just deal with that person. Even if the news leaked, they had a million ways to make everything calm down. So what was important was never her acting skills.
The maid pushed open the door and was momentarily dazzled by the sudden brightness of the interior, but quickly adjusted—she was an official surveillance officer and was already used to Li Zhi's behavior, and even played a role in handling unexpected situations when necessary.
"We'll have another meeting in a couple of days to address the unrest in each district. You'll need to be even angrier then than you are today."
The maid didn't explain why, but Li Zhi knew without thinking what the consequences of the Queen's anger would be: a series of suppressions even bloodier and more terrifying than the turmoil itself.
She had experienced something similar three years ago; that time, she became a queen but also lost her personality.
"I understand. You can contact me directly if anything happens. You don't need to tell me in person every time, nor do you need to come and remind me every few tens of minutes," Li Zhi said to the maid.
The maid simply lowered her head silently, without responding, and then withdrew.
Li Zhi glanced calmly out the window, opened a thick book, and sat down at the table.
When the maid went back in to check, Li Zhi was already asleep in the chair. She went up to her, glanced at the contents of the book that she had already received through Li Zhi's neural chip perspective, and after confirming that they matched, she did not wake her up and left.
Not long after she left, Li Zhi calmly opened his eyes, casually tossed the book aside, and a projection indistinguishable from a real person appeared on the book.
"Let's continue with our previous topic."
Li Zhi, unlike his absent-mindedness when clashing with the ministers, still managed to straighten up despite his exhaustion and said to Shen Bai opposite him, "After the last operation, our data can completely replace their chip program output for control, but it's not enough. What I can do is too limited. Even with my brain plus all our current computing power, it's far from enough to completely break through their encirclement and blockade."
Shen Bai: "The resources they control are becoming increasingly terrifying. In addition to the local area, they are expanding outwards. More and more people will follow the trend and join them, becoming their free database. Our situation is very dangerous, and you need to be even more careful now."
Li Zhi smiled faintly and said, "No, we can't wait like this any longer. They have plundered too many resources, and the so-called international organizations are too busy to take care of themselves. We can't rely on the outside world; we have to rely on ourselves. We must find a faster and more lethal countermeasure for them."
She stood up: "Come see me on the 1100th day. I need to do that experiment."
Shen Bai's expression immediately turned serious: "But the results of the biological experiments... you already..."
"It doesn't matter anymore. At least, we'll most likely achieve our goal, right?"
Li Zhi's gaze was calm, but her attitude was resolute. Only at this moment did she truly become a leader.
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