[You have been subjected to the Stellaron's whispering seduction.]
[It promised you a warm new world, a place without biting winds or snow, without the tiger-like gaze of the Anti-Matter Legion. A world with no fear of the apocalypse, and no suffering in daily life.]
[Everyone could walk freely in the gardens, look up at the sea of clouds above the blue sky, and listen to the orchestral music of a new century.]
[Its proposal is very tempting, but you know clearly that all of this is nothing but deception.]
[You tore away Its false mask and coldly refuted Its bewitchment.]
[It was surprised by your acuity and abandoned the sweet camouflage without hesitation.]
[The Stellaron's raving whispers poured into your mind incessantly, influencing your spirit at every moment... You felt a boundless, endless malice within Its babbling.]
[Your Stress Level rises drastically along with Its whispers.]
[It expects to see you completely collapse under this malice, to see the entire Empire fall apart and plunge into the abyss...]
[However, due to your Trait 'Cold-Blooded Reformer', your Stress Level remains fixed and immutable.]
[The Stellaron whispers unceasingly in your ear, but you pay It no heed, handling government affairs as usual.]
[You have forcibly ignored the Stellaron's influence.]
Am I really this amazing?
Seele raised an eyebrow, feeling quite emotional about how impervious her simulation self was to such influence.
To be able to ignore the raving of a Stellaron and process government affairs while resisting Its influence... it was hard to imagine she could ever become like this.
In reality, as a native of the Underworld, Seele hadn't read many books and held a significant rejection towards words printed on paper.
Yet, the 'Seele' in the simulation was able to handle documents piled up like mountains in such a harsh environment. It was evident just how much she had grown under Ron's influence...
The text on the light screen continued to pop up:
[You continued to implement your plans step by step.]
[One year later, under Ron's supervision, you have trained two armies that follow orders with absolute obedience. The combat power of the entire Empire is in a completely different league than before.]
[Furthermore, Ron supervised the construction of a new city wall surrounding the entirety of Belobog.]
[The wall is thick and solid, far sturdier than the ramparts of the Ever-Standing City that have stood for over seven hundred years.]
[Ron named it the "Iron Wall." You felt the name was a bit too crude, yet you still filled it with your expectations.]
[You hope that it can fulfill its duty as Belobog's iron barrier, intercepting all disasters and foreign enemies...]
[During this year, you successfully found a group of extremely capable researchers.]
[They were all researchers who had previously been persecuted by Cocolia and forced to leave the Stellaron research project.]
[You restored them to their original positions, organized them into a new Stellaron Research Squad, and unreservedly allocated a massive amount of funding to them.]
[They did not disappoint you.]
[After a year, through the excavation and restoration of ancient technologies, as well as research into artifacts left behind by the Interastral Peace Corporation (IPC), they made significant and meaningful progress.]
[The Stellaron researchers told you that by studying ancient texts, they discovered a Stellaron Containment Device left in the Architects' inventory.]
[This is an object similar to the IPC containment device on Everwinter Hill that had been destroyed by the Stellaron, but this one is an improved version.]
[Unfortunately, the Eternal Freeze arrived too quickly, and the device had some malfunctions. The Stellaron Containment Device was sealed away, and no one paid attention to its existence until it was unsealed by the researchers today.]
[They told you with excitement that they could attempt to repair the device and try to contain the Stellaron.]
[At this moment, you realized that the malicious whispering from the Stellaron in your ear suddenly changed.]
[It spoke to you solemnly, warning you not to repair the Stellaron Containment Device.]
[If you attempt to repair the device to bind It, It will immediately destroy this world.]
The text on the screen faded, and a new selection box jumped out:
[Facing the threat of the Stellaron and destruction, a new choice appears before you—]
[1. Contain the Stellaron.
The Stellaron's threat is as untrustworthy as Its seduction. Knowing that there is a possibility to contain the Stellaron, you are not prepared to turn a blind eye to this possibility just because of a threat. You decide to ignore the Stellaron's warning.
Choosing this option: You will dispatch a squad to repair the Stellaron Containment Device and attempt to directly bind the Stellaron, turning It into a guiding lamp in the palm of the Empire.]
[2. Maintain the Status Quo.
The Stellaron's threat is filled with world-ending malice. The current Empire is powerless to resist the Stellaron's threat. Although containment is feasible, failure would invite destruction... The Empire is not yet ready.
Choosing this option: You decide to turn a blind eye to the Stellaron Containment Device, learning from the legacy of previous Supreme Guardians of Belobog, and leaving this difficult problem for future generations to handle.]
Looking at the options on the screen, Seele couldn't help but feel it was somewhat laughable.
Leave it for future generations to handle? Are there even going to be future generations?
In the last simulation, it only took five or six years before the Anti-Matter Legion awoke from the ice and completely destroyed the entire world...
The smell of gunpowder smoke burning the entire planet was still in her memory.
There were the wails of children, the sky obscured by haze, the earth cracking inch by inch—
And that terrifying enemy known as the "Reaver."
Under the annihilation of anti-matter, Belobog was swallowed up just like that, stepping into destruction.
Seele did not want to see this world fall into such a state again.
Option 2 was nothing more than laying one's head on the chopping block. The crisis of extinction on Jarilo-VI was not something that could be solved by procrastination...
She chose the first option without hesitation. The text on the screen faded, and new words emerged:
[You dispatched a squad to repair the Stellaron Containment Device.]
[The research squad lived up to expectations, successfully repairing the device and bringing the technology of the old world back to light.]
[You temporarily appointed Ron as the team leader to lead an elite squad to contain the Stellaron.]
[Ron accepted your military order without hesitation and headed to Everwinter Hill.]
The text on the screen gradually faded, and a new image emerged:
On the snow-piled mountain peak, the brilliant Stellaron was emitting a cold light above the damaged containment apparatus.
If one did not know the true nature of the Stellaron from the start, everyone would likely have their gazes attracted by its magnificence, only to have their minds gradually shifted by its whispers, eventually becoming its puppets completely.
But now, under Ron's command, they simply followed the steps to set up the upgraded Stellaron Containment Device.
Powered by Geo-Marrow, the restrainer activated successfully, its status reading normal.
Just as the restrainer shrouded the Stellaron and was about to trap it completely—
The Stellaron suddenly bloomed with an extremely scorching light.
The image on the screen froze, and new notes appeared on it:
[The Stellaron Containment was successful.]
[The threat the Stellaron made against you was merely a bluff; in reality, It did not possess enough power to escape confinement.]
[However, in the split second before It was completely bound, a brilliant radiance flowed out from It, sweeping directly across the entirety of Jarilo-VI.]
[This light did not cause much damage; the elite squad led by Ron suffered no casualties.]
[But you know that the light released by the Stellaron before its containment was certainly nothing normal.]
[Ron led the elite squad to bring the bound Stellaron back to Belobog. You classified the Stellaron as a top-secret matter, forbidding anyone from researching or viewing It.]
[You placed the Stellaron into the deepest vault of Qlipoth Fort, preparing to seal it so that It would never appear in the world again.]
[Because the threat of the Stellaron was resolved, the Fragmentum phenomenon gradually receded. Belobog welcomed new opportunities, and the development speed of the entire Empire accelerated.]
[But after several months passed, you discovered a bad signal—]
[The glow released by the Stellaron was not meaningless. The temperature of the entire planet is gradually rising. The drifting snow has become a rare sight in Belobog.]
[Inside the Fragmentum outside the city, a humanoid ice sculpture let out a slight tremor.]
[The Catastrophe approaches.]