[The faction "Jarilo-VI Second Empire" has gained the trait: "Raging Undercurrents (Gray)"]
[Raging Undercurrents: The empire is on the right track, but like an undercurrent surging beneath a calm sea, a terrifying undertow capable of destroying the entire empire is raging beneath its prosperous exterior...]
[From now on, the empire will begin to accumulate Pressure. The Crisis Bar is divided into four stages. Each time the Pressure increases by 25 and reaches a new stage, the empire will trigger that stage's Pressure Collapse Event.]
[At each stage, the empire's Development Rate, Stability, and Cohesion will receive a 25% debuff.]
[Current Pressure on the Crisis Bar: 5/100.]
[When the Pressure Bar is full and reaches the final stage, it will invariably trigger the Pressure Collapse Event: "The Empire's Collapse."]
[Upon triggering "The Empire's Collapse," the trait "Raging Undercurrents" will change into the trait "The Immortal Calamity (Black)".]
[The Immortal Calamity: The spark of civilization was a beautiful adornment upon this land of ice and snow, and the vibrant lives were proof that this world was alive... They should have marched forward with the empire toward a future full of hope. But now, a fool in a smiley face mask pulls the strings from on high, plucking at the greedy desires deep within the human heart... Hope will ultimately vanish into their abyssal maws, becoming a delicacy to satisfy their appetite. After this trait is loaded, the new hostile species "Progeny of Abundance" will become the dominant species of the Jarilo-VI Second Empire. The empire will immediately collapse, losing all Cohesion. Its Stability will be fixed at 0. Someone may take this opportunity to establish a new regime.]
[Please use your choices wisely to control the empire, reduce the people's panic and pressure, and resolve the randomly occurring crisis events. All of the above actions will reduce Pressure. When the Pressure remains stable at 0 for one full year, the trait "Raging Undercurrents" will disappear.]
Looking at the text that had appeared on the light screen, Ron couldn't help but fall silent.
This simulation... was easily the most difficult one he had faced yet.
Because of the Apothecary's blessing and Sampo's full entry onto the stage, everything had begun to swing to another extreme.
Ron tapped on "The Immortal Calamity" on the screen, and a small tooltip popped up in a blank space:
[Black-level traits are a special grade, often appearing as disaster traits, representing a catastrophe of immense scale.]
This was a tier that hadn't even appeared when the Anti-Matter Legion had fully awakened before... But thinking about it, that was just their vanguard. Comparing it to a calamity secretly guided by an Emanator of The Elation and the Apothecary's blessing was hardly fair.
The crisis he was facing now was indeed worthy of this black quality... It was a disaster trait that could almost completely end a simulation run, one that could directly doom the game to a dead end.
However...
Ron let out a long breath. He could feel his heart beating a little faster, his body growing slightly warm.
He looked at the text on the screen and felt a surge of excitement.
This was a challenge... It was just like when he used to play Dark Souls. The first time he saw Darkeater Midir in the vast underground abyss of the Ringed City, the first time he faced that sky-blotting abyssal dragon, he had felt that same subtle thrill, that feeling of his blood boiling.
The Immortal Calamity? So what?
Ron thought with confidence, earnestly tapping the screen to let the simulation continue.
The text on the screen faded, and a new choice appeared:
[Random Crisis Event has triggered—]
[An infected individual who consumed the Seed of Calamity has suddenly appeared in the Golden Opera House and launched an indiscriminate attack on the audience.]
[Faced with this crisis event, you choose—]
[1. "The infected are appearing one after another. Dealing with them is the duty of the Pioneer Groups and the Silvermane Guards." You believe that crisis events caused by the infected will become frequent. You need a simple and effective solution. You decide to immediately dispatch the Silvermane Guards and Pioneer Groups to deal with this audacious infected individual, restrain them, and send them to the Belobog People's Hospital for quarantine and treatment.]
[2. "Time is of the essence. Sending the troops might only allow them to clean up the aftermath... It seems I must act personally." You believe this incident has reached a critical point and cannot be delegated to the military. Otherwise, it will be impossible to save the innocent civilians in the Golden Opera House. You decide to go personally and resolve this trouble. Selecting this option will consume 10 Energy. Your current daily Energy is: 70/100.]
Looking at the options, Ron didn't hesitate for a second and immediately chose the second one.
For Ron, his daily Energy was extremely valuable. At a critical juncture like this, he needed to be meticulous, putting all his energy where it was needed most.
Although it was just one infected person in the Golden Opera House, this was the first crisis event, and Ron took it very seriously... Who knew what dangers were hidden within it?
Even though ordering the troops to handle it would theoretically be enough to deal with a single infected, Ron still prepared to act personally to completely resolve this crisis.
He had no desire to see the Pressure value skyrocket because of one moment of carelessness, triggering a Pressure Collapse Event for the empire...
The option box on the screen faded, and new text appeared:
[You believe this crisis is not to be underestimated. Even if it is just one troublemaking infected, for them to dare reveal their true form in the Golden Opera House, they must not be a simple case.]
[Sending the troops would surely mean arriving to a scene of chaos. Cleaning up the aftermath is meaningless; you must nip this crisis in the bud.]
[You decide to act personally, immediately departing from Qlipoth Fort and rushing towards the Golden Opera House.]
The text faded, and a new scene materialized:
Ron stood outside the Golden Opera House. He could see that the renovated building was magnificent, and it seemed there was no danger within...
But he frowned tightly. After standing there for a moment, he noticed that the faint sound of music that should have been drifting from within was now gone. The silent opera house was like a corpse robbed of its life, lying inert in the Belobog Administrative District.
He rushed into the opera house without hesitation. The moment he entered, he saw dense vines covering the interior walls, as if this were not Belobog's most luxurious opera house, but a primeval jungle on Jarilo-VI that had long been swallowed by the cold tide...
Faint whimpers came from within the dense vines. Ron merely glanced over and saw that people were tightly entangled, bound to the walls.
It was clear that almost everyone in the entire opera house had been ensnared by these vines, immobilized.
"This infected person is not right... How can it generate so many vines?"
"Does it have the ability to control its parasitic vines? As expected, it's not an ordinary infected..."
Ron muttered to himself and walked deeper into the opera house without hesitation.
As he walked, his eyes began to glow with a gentle green light. The peaceful and gentle power of The Abundance spread out from his footsteps, expanding rapidly like flowing water and rushing into the vines.
Faintly glowing golden vines sprouted from the existing ones under Ron's power. As if by natural selection, they crazily absorbed the life force of the other vines, sucking them dry.
The newborn vines, as if sentient, scooped up the previously entangled audience members and gently placed them on the ground.
The audience members, who had passed out from suffocation, landed on a soft bed of vines that Ron had created for them, safely settled.
Within seconds, Ron had effortlessly dealt with all the vines entangling people in the entire opera house, saving the vast majority of them from mortal danger.
Using the power of his Path, Ron also pinpointed the infected's location...
He strode into the main hall. An infected individual, completely covered in vines, looking like a green algae monster, was crouched on the floor, tearing into a lavishly dressed audience member.
The victim was already a bloody mess, all signs of life gone.
Ron keenly noticed tiny, seed-like points of light scattering from the monster's body onto the floor. Vines would then sprout, entangling other unconscious audience members in the hall and dragging them towards the monster...
The image on the screen faded, and new text appeared:
[You have encountered the infected individual who attacked the Golden Opera House.]
[You have discovered a new evolved form of the infected. Due to this individual's abilities, you have named it "Infected · Vinegrowth."]
[This type of infected can scatter and stimulate the growth of vine seeds, controlling them. It has an extremely strong appetite and has lost all rationality.]
[Faced with this infected, you showed no mercy. You swiftly activated the power of the Path of The Preservation. Infinite Imaginary energy coalesced around it, completely trapping it in dark golden amber, turning it into an infected specimen.]
[You can't help but feel fortunate that you chose to come personally. If you had sent the Silvermane Guards and the Pioneers, they would have been absolutely unable to save the vast majority of innocent civilians in the opera house as you did, let alone directly trap the infected and secure this special specimen for research...]
[Because you have perfectly resolved this crisis event, the empire's Pressure has been reduced. The current Pressure is 0/100.]
Looking at the text, Ron let out a small sigh of relief.
His choice was absolutely correct. The crisis event was indeed not simple. He felt that the Pioneer Groups and the Silvermane Guards would have had a very difficult time dealing with a creature like the Infected · Vinegrowth.
Lacking intelligence, while they certainly could have eliminated the monster, they would have definitely suffered casualties and would not have been able to crush it so easily, let alone obtain a specimen for research.
This was the right direction. He just needed to continue acting with caution and keep the Pressure at 0 for a year...
With that thought, Ron tapped the screen and continued to operate the simulation.
[You have sent the infected specimen to the quarantine zone, handing it over to Natasha for dissection and research.]
[Natasha did not disappoint you and soon provided you with a detailed experiment report.]
[The empire's intelligence on the infected has improved.]
[A week has passed since your speech. Because of your warning and encouragement, the vast majority of the people have completely changed their attitude towards the Seed of Calamity.]
[During this time, you have very carefully guided the development of public opinion and secretly issued orders to the Silvermane Guards and Pioneer Groups. At your command, these soldiers have melted into the night, placing their eyes and ears in every corner of Belobog.]
[Based on information about the Seed of Calamity provided by the people, both voluntarily and involuntarily, the empire's soldiers have launched a large-scale recovery plan at your command. Operating with a hundred-to-one ratio to ensure their own safety, they have recovered the Seeds and apprehended those who consumed them.]
[Thanks to sufficient intelligence on the infected, many new forms have been discovered, but they have been suppressed by the Silvermane Guards and Pioneer Groups without causing any major disturbances.]
[Your plans and actions have been highly effective. Every day, the troops confiscate a batch of Seeds and, without suffering any casualties, safely escort one infected individual after another to the "Belobog People's Hospital," completely isolating them from the normal citizens.]
[Any trouble that could have been caused by these infected has been dealt with by the Pioneer Groups and the Guards. No one has been attacked, and no infected have caused any riots. The situation in the empire has completely stabilized.]
Looking at the text, Ron did not relax.
Although the situation was good now, it didn't mean the empire was completely stable and out of danger...
This was only the beginning. To resolve these dangers, he still had to get through an entire year.
And maintaining stability for a whole year... was not that simple.
The text on the screen faded, and new lines appeared:
[Under your control, the empire has passed a month of peril without any major incidents.]
[More and more infected who still possess their sanity are being apprehended by the Pioneer Groups and Silvermane Guards and sent to the quarantine zone.]
[Because the number of infected in the quarantine zone is increasing, and the Pioneer Groups have been tied down and are unable to explore deep into the Fragmentum to retrieve new resources...]
[The empire's resources are gradually running out. You need to find a new way to replenish them.]