[Faced with the Stellaron's whispers, you, being immune to its corruption, chose to engage in some reverse proselytizing.]
[Because Yaoshi of The Abundance left its mark upon you, Its gaze has been fixed on Jarilo-VI, and everything proceeds under Its care. It heard you mention Its name.]
[It sent a whisper to you, asking if you have made a new choice and are willing to pray to It. It will fulfill all your wishes.]
[But you declined The Apothecary's goodwill in your heart. You only needed Its presence to intimidate the Stellaron, not to actually communicate with It and make a reckless prayer.]
[Your gambit worked.]
[The flickering, hazy phantoms in the room blinked erratically for a moment, like a faulty lightbulb. All the illusions from the Fragmentum froze, clearly indicating that the Stellaron controlling them was currently experiencing a little 'Apothecary shock.']
[The gaze of Yaoshi of The Abundance gently swept across the land. You do not know what the Stellaron was thinking; you do not even know if it possesses human-like emotions such as "fear," but it certainly fell silent after you spoke.]
[You saw the phantoms in the room gradually retreat. The warm sun once again shone into Qlipoth Fort, a clear sign that no more illusions from the Fragmentum would intrude.]
[The Stellaron, filled with fear of The Apothecary, has retreated. It has not attempted to communicate with you again.]
The text on the light screen faded, and a new trait popped up:
[Because you successfully intimidated the Stellaron, causing it to develop a great fear of you, you will no longer be troubled by its whispers.]
[You have obtained the trait: "Stellaron's Cower (Purple)"]
[Stellaron's Cower: "A friend once told me the Stellaron is the 'Cancer of All Worlds.' I thought he was wrong, so I found a Stellaron and tortured it for three days and three nights. Now, he admits I'm a bigger cancer than the Stellaron." The Stellaron has developed a great fear of you and the god you believe in. It will no longer exert any mental influence on you. The Stellaron has entered a state of complete atrophy. Your success rate for any action against the Stellaron will increase by 30%, the power of a Stellaron burst will be reduced by 50%, and you will find it easier to harness the Stellaron's power.]
Looking at the text on the screen, Ron found it a little hard to take seriously.
This was ridiculous. He had just wanted to have a chat with the Stellaron about the highly respected Yaoshi of The Abundance, to guide it onto the right path, to see if he could turn it into an ally for the empire's revitalization. Was there anything unfriendly about that?
Look at his methods—so considerate, so amicable. How did that turn into "intimidation" in this simulation game?
The most absurd part was that the Stellaron was actually scared into silence by his actions and even coughed up a Purple trait...
This was all a bit too abstract. The Apothecary had merely glanced in this direction; was it really necessary to be this terrified...?
Ron complained silently, but as he looked at the trait on the screen, his expression was anything but displeased. In fact, a smile was already spreading across his face.
He hadn't expected such a troll-like option to yield such a pleasant surprise... While it was only a Purple trait, its effects were anything but ordinary.
The effect of blocking the Stellaron's influence overlapped with the "Panacea" trait, so that was a moot point. But the other aspects were more than enough to make Ron happy.
In this simulation, Ron didn't need to treat the Stellaron as a last-resort trump card, one that could explode and wipe out all of Belobog.
Therefore, the safer and calmer the Stellaron was, the better. A Stellaron that was easier to control and had its burst power halved was the Stellaron of his dreams. He loved things that didn't cause any trouble...
As long as no one stirred up any trouble to disrupt his rule over the Jarilo-VI Second Empire, this simulation would progress at a visible pace, step by step, towards a complete victory...
In this simulation, under Ron's guidance, the Jarilo-VI Second Empire would ultimately march towards the brightest of futures.
With this thought, Ron tapped the screen, letting the simulation continue.
The trait on the screen faded, and new text appeared:
[The Stellaron's corruption was but a minor interlude in your daily life.]
[After successfully resisting its influence and even threatening it into a state of cowering fear, you have returned to your peaceful, routine life.]
[You methodically guide the progress of the Jarilo-VI Second Empire. Every corner of the empire is visible to you, and you watch as it develops ceaselessly...]
The text faded again, replaced by the quantified attribute values of the "Jarilo-VI Second Empire" faction.
Ron examined the complex stats carefully. The empire, which had once been weaker than the Underworld in some aspects, had finally developed. Its attributes now surpassed those of the old Underworld faction.
Although Cohesion, Loyalty, and other similar stats were still far from the maxed-out values of the former Underworld faction, they had reached a relatively high level. It was clear the citizens of Belobog were quite accepting of the new empire.
In other areas, such as the various development indices, the empire's progress was meteoric, leaving the old Underworld far behind.
Whether military or civilian, all development indices were soaring.
The empire's economy was also gradually improving, moving from the deficit it had at its founding to a positive income. This was undoubtedly the good fruit borne from dealing with the corrupt officials and monopolistic merchants.
As expected of an empire that has unified both the Overworld and Underworld. The development speed of an empire with fully liberated productivity is far, far faster than the Underworld alone...
Ron tapped the screen. The faction panel disappeared, and new plot text scrolled into view:
[You have successfully relaunched the Academy of Sciences, and the research teams have not disappointed you.]
[A year has passed in a flash. At your request, they have developed a special variety of wheat that has been mutated by Fragmentum corrosion. It is extremely cold-resistant. With sufficient light and a simple plastic greenhouse, it can be easily grown in the harsh environment of the current Fragmentum.]
[You have named it "Hope No. 1." You do not slacken your research efforts. After rewarding the research team, you order them to continue breeding "Hope No. 1" while simultaneously developing "Hope No. 2," which will be even more cold-resistant and have a higher yield.]
[At the same time, another research team has developed a simple construction technique for geomarrow-powered greenhouses. With this technology, it is easy to build greenhouses powered by geomarrow, which maintain a suitable temperature perfect for the growth of "Hope No. 1."]
...
[You have successfully established the Imperial Military Academy. Under the tutelage of the veteran Pioneers from the First Pioneer Group, the first batch of Silvermane Guards you recruited has undergone extremely rigorous training.]
[Over the course of the entire year, they have all meticulously fulfilled their instructors' requirements, achieving passing grades in the highly difficult training, ensuring that they can find the hidden path to survival when facing a life-or-death situation.]
[After the year of academy instruction concluded, you distributed "Snowstorm Immunity" to this first batch of cadets.]
[They consumed "Snowstorm Immunity" and underwent a complete biological evolution.]
[The population of Human · Pioneers has increased.]
[They have formed the Imperial Second Pioneer Group. Under your command, they begin to explore outwards from the corroded urban areas of Belobog, starting to reclaim the world eroded by snow and the Fragmentum...]
...
[You once established a three-year development plan for the empire before the Everwinter Monument. Now, one year later, everything in the empire is thriving.]
[The Belobog Academy of Sciences has brought the empire "Hope No. 1," a crop with higher yield and stronger cold resistance.]
[The empire's two Pioneer Groups have ventured deep into the Fragmentum, clearing it out and beginning to build geomarrow greenhouses to plant "Hope No. 1."]
[The original three-year plan was forced to conclude after just one year—because all the plans and promises within it were completed ahead of schedule and beyond expectations within a single year. Even you did not anticipate that Belobog could possess such powerful developmental capabilities when everyone worked together with one heart.]
[Due to the early completion of the three-year plan, you have obtained a new trait—Plan's End (Purple)]
[Plan's End: For the steady development of the empire, you once established a three-year plan. But you greatly underestimated the empire's capabilities; such a development goal didn't need three years at all... one year was enough. The empire is not satisfied with such a plan. Your subjects need more trials, more distant goals. They are rubbing their hands together, waiting for you to point the way. Faction: "Jarilo-VI Second Empire" development rate +20%, agricultural development rate +40%, biological research rate +20%.]
To think the three-year plan was achieved in just one year...
Looking at the text, Ron scratched his head, feeling a bit surprised.
The goals he had set were not small. He had based them on the development of the Jarilo-VI First Empire under Seele's control in the last simulation, making careful calculations before finalizing the plan...
He truly hadn't expected it to be completed in just one year. It just went to show how abundant Belobog's productive capacity really was.
"If a goal like that can be completed in just one year, then a lot of my previous ideas can be overturned..."
Ron muttered to himself thoughtfully. He had previously planned out the Second Empire's development in detail. By his estimates, it would take at least ten years to fully reclaim every inch of Jarilo-VI.
But based on the current situation, Ron could afford to be much more confident.
"Extrapolating from the current situation, if there are no sudden incidents, five years of steady development should be enough to completely reclaim all of Jarilo-VI..."
"By then, it might be time to fully release 'Snowstorm Immunity' and let the entire population evolve..."
Lost in thought, Ron eagerly tapped the screen, letting the simulation proceed.
The prospects for this simulation were vast. He couldn't wait to see how far it would ultimately go...
The text on the screen faded, and new lines appeared:
[A year of development has flown by. You have not rested on last year's achievements but continue to sit on the throne in Qlipoth Fort, diligently approving thick stacks of documents.]
[A light knock comes from the heavy office door. You look up to see the previous Supreme Guardian, your current right hand—Cocolia—walk in.]
The text faded and was replaced by a new scene:
Cocolia, her expression somewhat hesitant, entered from the door. She seemed different from her usual self; instead of her typical swift and decisive manner, she approached with hesitant, short steps, clearly uncertain about something.
Ron looked up from his mountain of paperwork, noticed her hesitation, and cut straight to the point:
"What is it? Is something the matter?"
"There's no need to hesitate... You know that imperial affairs are heavy right now, and I don't have time to waste. Speak your mind."
But even hearing Ron's urging, Cocolia's expression remained hesitant.
She glanced at Ron's somewhat weary face and, after a moment of thought, steeled herself and made what she believed to be the most advantageous decision.
She brought her hands out from behind her back, holding a rolled-up letter.
"I found this by my bed when I woke up this morning... It's addressed 'From the Masked Fool, for Ron.' It's a message for you."
Cocolia's expression was complex as she handed the letter to Ron.
"Although I didn't have your permission, I've already read it."
"It's full of some nonsense I don't understand, but one point is extremely important. It says you have been secretly praying to Yaoshi of The Abundance and received a blessing that can grant longevity and is powerful enough to engulf the Stellaron..."
She opened her palm towards Ron. In it lay a plump, blood-red berry, glittering with a strange, beautiful light under the sun.
"So... can you explain to me, what exactly is this?"
"The Apothecary's... blessing?"