Faced with an injured Freddie, Anna—though a doctor—couldn't treat his wounds without any medical supplies.
So Emile and the dog went deep into German territory to find medicine for him.
Luke could clearly feel that this puzzle section was much harder than before.
Not only did she need to watch the patrol routes of German soldiers, but she also had to work together with the dog.
After quite a bit of effort, Luke finally had Emile find the medicine to treat Freddie.
By then, Baron Von Dorf had already escaped.
Once Freddie was treated, Emile and the others quickly set off again.
This time their journey took them to Reims, but the Germans launched an air raid there, leaving the city in ruins and its people in misery.
The once-bustling metropolis was torn apart by Zeppelin bombings, with countless buildings destroyed.
Many French civilians fled to find safety.
Seeing the destruction, the furious Freddie wanted to check things out, but another shell landed nearby, forcing him to hide in a hole. The explosion dropped a massive piece of debris at the entrance, trapping him inside and separating him from Emile and Anna.
On the other side, seeing the Zeppelin in the distance and realizing he couldn't rejoin Emile, Freddie went after it alone.
Anna stayed to treat the wounded, while Emile couldn't move the debris by himself—it would take five people to push it aside.
So he had to work with the dog to rescue trapped civilians, then ask for their help to clear the way and catch up to Freddie.
Watching this unfold on Shark TV, Luke smacked her lips in thought. "Why do I feel like this story is hinting at something?"
"Freddie's the one getting blown up every single time… and with his skin color…"
Luke stopped there.
She knew the chat would take care of the rest.
After glancing at the chat, which was already running with the idea, Luke focused back on the game.
While saving the people of Reims, she noticed a special detail.
In the game, whether it was Emile or any other NPC, none of the characters had eyes.
But a little girl trapped in a room had a pair of bright, clear eyes.
It was an obvious and ironic contrast.
Well… except for the dog walking next to Emile, of course.
After rescuing the civilians, Emile and the dog quickly followed after Freddie.
In the cathedral, they ran into Baron von Dorf.
This kicked off two back-to-back boss fights. In the first, Emile and the dog had to attack through the organ's pipes — a very creative setup.
In the second, you controlled Freddy to grab grenades thrown down by Baron von Dorf before they exploded, then used them to hit the zeppelin's propellers.
After destroying two of the zeppelin's propellers, Baron von Dorf escaped again. At that moment, you could see that the pilot of the airship was actually Karl.
Meanwhile, Anna ignored Emile and Freddy, driving off with the dog straight toward the spot where the zeppelin was going to crash.
It was here that the player finally learned the story behind the last main character, Anna.
Nine months earlier, Anna had been training to become a veterinarian.
When she got a letter from her father, the German army was only 20 miles from Paris.
Her father told her he was in good health and suggested she not return to their home in Belgium until the war was over.
But patience was not in Anna's nature. She decided to go and find her father.
In Paris, all the taxis had been taken to transport soldiers to the Marne front.
So Anna found a broken-down car on the street, fixed it, and drove toward the front lines posing as a taxi driver.
Like the earlier rescue of Emile and Freddy, this was another driving mini-game.
With the lively "Can-Can" music in the background, it felt even more cheerful than before.
The ringing of nearby car bells and the shaking barrels in other vehicles matched the beat perfectly.
The best part came in the middle of the trip, when two cars suddenly pulled alongside, boxing Anna's taxi in and swaying from side to side, really showing what it meant to be trapped in the middle.
The music shifted from the upbeat "Can-Can" to Offenbach's "Barcarolle," making it feel like you were drifting along the canals of Venice at night.
But before you could fully get into the mood, it switched right back to the lively "Can-Can" without a pause.
Seeing this, Luke at his computer and the viewers in the stream couldn't help laughing.
It was such a joyful and fun scene.
Anna in the game was also clearly having a great time.
[September 7, 1914 — After driving all night, Anna felt proud and happy to help the soldiers reach the front.]
The next second, the entire tone of the game changed.
[Until Anna arrived at the front and saw the brutal reality with her own eyes.]
Anna in the game, Luke in real life, and the viewers all fell silent.
The battlefield was dead quiet, littered with bodies.
The corpses of fallen soldiers and horses were piled high.
Even with the game's hand-drawn 2D art, the weight of the scene still came through the screen.
The contrast with the earlier cheerful scenes made it hit even harder.
Moved by compassion, Anna stayed at the front to care for the wounded.
Every life she saved felt like a small victory against the war.
She sawed off dead, infected arms, and under the bridge, bodies were piled like garbage.
Then she heard a cry for help from the rubble.
It was an enemy soldier, still alive. Anna didn't care about sides — she removed the bullet and saved him.
While treating the wounded, she overheard French officers talking about Belgium. They said the Germans were planning to test a new type of poison gas near Ypres — Anna's hometown.
Fearing for her father's safety, Anna decided to return to Ypres.
At home, the rescued governess told Anna that her father had been taken by Baron von Dorf, who wanted to use advanced weapons in the war. So Anna set out to find him.
This led to the earlier scene where she saved Emile and Freddy at the last moment.
Emile, Freddy, and Anna — three people from different countries and backgrounds — now shared a common goal.
The game's timeline then caught up with before: chasing the zeppelin, Anna reached the target area but found no sign of her father.
Instead, she saw Karl badly wounded and trapped. She helped him escape, and he told her that before the zeppelin crashed, Baron von Dorf had fled with her father on the airship's emergency plane.
The wounded Karl was then sent to a POW camp, while Emile, branded a deserter, was brought before a military court.
Thanks to his actions in Reims, Emile was released.
But the place he was released into… was the front lines — at a name everyone knew — Verdun.
Reaching the front, Emile fought alongside other soldiers for three months, as autumn turned into a harsh winter.
Like everyone else, he suffered not only from the war but also from the freezing cold.
The greatest comfort for soldiers on the battlefield was letters from home.
Emile received one from his daughter.
But it had no good news — food shortages, disease spreading, death tolls climbing. In all the despair, there was only one small light: a photo of his grandson Victor taking his first steps.
During this time, the German army launched another attack, but luckily Emile once again survived the battle.
Because of his outstanding contribution, he was awarded a medal along with Freddie. On the other side, Anna brought good news too—Karl, who had been seriously injured, was almost fully recovered.
But at the same time, the war grew more and more brutal. Casualties climbed to 70,000 each month, and Verdun became known as the "meat grinder."
As the fighting became more intense, Emile and Freddie were sent on a mission to retake Fort Douaumont. There, they ran into their old rival, Baron Von Dorf.
Freddie and the dog held off Von Dorf, while Emile went to set off the explosives inside the fort.
Although the fortress was blown up in the end, the German army still managed to hold their ground.
The mission had failed.
Looking at the distant fort, Emile felt utterly crushed.
"Marie, my dear. The war has taken the life of a close friend, someone like a brother to me. His death has hit me harder than I can put into words."
"Let's talk about something happier—Karl has recovered. His health is getting better and better. I'll visit him on my next leave. How are you? Are you doing well?"
But Emile didn't know that, at the same time, Karl had received a letter from Marie.
In the letter, she wrote that Victor, their son, had fallen seriously ill.
Karl wanted to see his wife and child, but he knew the war wouldn't stop. So he made a decision—he would escape the prison camp.
Watching the story unfold bit by bit, Luke, sitting in front of the computer, felt an unbearable heaviness.
She had now fully experienced the cruelty of war.
"No way… Freddie's dead? The dog too? And now Karl is going to escape the prison camp—something bad will happen to him too?"
Even though the game had now switched to Karl's perspective, Luke didn't start playing right away.
She was still lost in the information she had just learned.
(End of The Chapter)