---o---
[You have successfully made the entire Pioneer Group engage in a period of reflection. Their morale has greatly increased, and the cohesion of the Pioneer Group has greatly increased.]
[You have scavenged Rivet Town and are returning triumphantly with a heavy load of supplies.]
Looking at the text on the light screen, Ron finally let out a sigh of relief. He sprawled lazily onto his bed and stretched with satisfaction.
The battle to reclaim Rivet Town was no easy fight... He had just been micromanaging in detail on the game's reskinned Stellaris interface, pulling the Pioneer Group across the panoramic map, weaving through the dense swarm of Fragmentum creations, and dodging all their attempts to block him.
If anyone else had been in command, they probably would have run into the creations right after entering Rivet Town, been forced into battle, had their advance slowed, and then been engulfed by the tide of monsters drawn by the sound...
Fortunately for him, in his past life, Ron was the type to play every kind of game. He even enjoyed ancient relics like STGs (shoot 'em ups). The art of "bullet grazing"—weaving through dense barrages of attacks—was second nature to him, and the same applied even when dodging through the numerous Fragmentum creations in Rivet Town.
Still, even Ron would get tired after concentrating so hard on a game for half a day... But Rivet Town had been completely captured. From now on, he just needed to casually tap the screen and watch the simulated plot unfold. There wasn't much left to do, which gave him a good chance to rest.
With this in mind, Ron lazily tapped the light screen before him.
The text on the screen faded, and new lines appeared:
[The citizens of Boulder Town learn the news of the Pioneer Group's triumphant return and spontaneously come out of their homes to welcome them.]
[The mountain of spoils dazzles everyone's eyes. Everyone's mood is extremely excited.]
[But soon, someone notices the casualties in the Pioneer Group.]
The text on the screen faded, and a new scene appeared:
"Heavens... to think there would be so many supplies. I thought a city corroded by the Fragmentum would be completely empty..."
A miner remarked, his eyes dazzled as he looked at the heavy spoils the Pioneer Group brought back on their carts.
"How could it be empty? That's Rivet Town, the biggest commercial hub our Underworld ever had..."
Someone next to him scoffed, his tone filled with nostalgia.
"I used to live in Rivet Town back in the day. It was so prosperous then..."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but sigh. "Unfortunately, it wasn't long before the Fragmentum corrosion reached Rivet Town. Everyone was desperately fleeing for their lives. Thankfully, my business wasn't small, and I had bought a house in Boulder Town. Otherwise, I'm afraid I would have ended up like them, just another homeless wanderer..."
His tone suddenly changed, and his eyes filled with longing for the future.
"But now that the Pioneer Group can retrieve supplies from Rivet Town, Boulder Town won't be so poor anymore... Our lives will definitely get better!"
Conversations like this were common among the miners who came to welcome the pioneers. Everyone was invigorated by the gains the group had brought back.
Unfortunately, when the pioneers moved their carts completely aside, and everyone could see the wounded pioneers at the back of the line, quietly carrying stretchers, their chatter immediately ceased.
At this moment, everyone fell silent. An atmosphere of sorrow spread through the crowd.
Looking at the bodies of the fallen pioneers, the miners moved to the side of the road, silently watching as the group marched quietly toward the Wildfire base, seeing them off into the distance.
They were mourning for the pioneers who had died in this expedition.
---o---
Ron watched the scene on the screen and nodded with satisfaction.
His previous actions were indeed correct... The effort spent on cultural propaganda, heavily publicizing the pioneers' contributions and sacrifices, had finally paid off after he delivered on his promise.
When the Pioneer Group had set out from Boulder Town before, not many miners had come to see them off.
But this time, upon their return from Rivet Town, the number of miners welcoming their triumphant return was significantly larger than before. It was clear that in this short time, a large number of miners had come to hold the pioneers in high esteem...
With this, Ron could be certain that after a little more time, all the people of the Underworld would completely open their hearts to the Pioneer Group, fully recognizing them as the heroes of the Underworld...
In that case, even if Ron were to expose the matter of the Blessed Berries, as long as the Pioneer Group's performance remained flawless, no major problems would arise.
As long as he could provide an explanation in time, out of respect for the Pioneer Group, the public would not riot because of the berries, and they certainly wouldn't fall into a bloody internal struggle between pioneers and ordinary people...
I've lost count of how many wins this is... Truly killing several birds with one stone!
Ron thought with satisfaction and tapped the screen to let the simulation continue.
The scene on the screen faded, and new text appeared:
[You have led the Pioneer Group back to the Wildfire base and sent all the transported resources to the organization's warehouse.]
[It was the resources from just a single trip, but it has already completely transformed the appearance of Wildfire's warehouse.]
[The once-empty warehouse is now two-thirds full with the piles of resources. If the next shipment needs a place for storage, another warehouse will need to be built.]
Build another warehouse? What a wonderful problem to have...
Rivet Town was no small city. Ron had led the pioneers to scour it, but they had only taken a fraction of the surface wealth. There were still plenty of supplies to bring back to Boulder Town.
He hadn't expected the first trip to nearly fill the warehouse. It was hard to imagine how many warehouses they would need to build to store all the resources from Rivet Town...
But his previous calculations were correct. Just by capturing Rivet Town, they would have enough resources for future development. It wouldn't be a problem to hold out until they took the Overworld.
Ron thought pensively, beginning to consider how to attack the Overworld next. He subconsciously glanced at the screen, only to find that text was still appearing:
[You held a memorial service at the Wildfire base for the sacrificed pioneers. Some Wildfire members and the pioneers were extremely grieved. With the grandest of ceremonies, they buried the fallen in the mines, recorded all their names and deeds, and specially documented them in a file chronicling the history of the pioneers.]
[You gave Wildfire a day off and the pioneers a week of paid leave.]
[You told them it was a reward they deserved. After being so tense in Rivet Town, it was time for them to rest well.]
[Your words slightly washed away the heavy feelings in everyone's hearts.]
[Just when you felt you had done your utmost and were preparing to rest well,]
[Natasha came to your office, her expression extremely grave.]
Looking at the text, Ron stopped his thoughts about unifying the Overworld and Underworld and scratched his head in confusion.
Natasha is looking for me so seriously? What happened?
He tapped the screen. The text faded, and a new scene appeared.
"Ron... something's happened."
Natasha strode forward and kicked open the door to the Wildfire leader's office with surprising force, looking at Ron with a grave expression.
In the scene, Ron calmly put down a cheap teddy bear he had salvaged from Rivet Town and said in a slow, deliberate manner:
"Don't rush, Natasha... what on earth happened? What could make you so serious?"
"Go on, just think of it as calming your own agitated heart... sort through the course of events, and then slowly tell me what happened."
Hearing Ron's words, Natasha, who had been on the verge of urgently pouring out everything that had happened recently, paused. She eventually calmed down and sat on the sofa to the side of the office.
She was silent for a long while before she calmly took out a mask and a slightly crumpled note that had obviously been read many times, handed them to Ron, and said:
"The Blessed Berries were stolen."
The scene on the screen faded, leaving only the completely dumbfounded face of Ron in the real world.
What the hell?
The Blessed Berries were stolen?
I was just temporarily away from Boulder Town to run the Rivet Town instance. How did the Blessed Berries suddenly change owners?
What is going on...
Ron scratched his head in frustration, tapped the screen, and examined the mask and note Natasha had just handed him...
"This is... something left by a Masked Fool?"
Ron frowned as he looked at the information about the mask and note on the screen.
The Masked Fools, followers of Aha, the Aeon of Elation, were a bunch of jesters, just like Aha themself.
And there was only one Masked Fool on Jarilo-VI: Sampo, whom Ron had always been extremely wary of.
According to the original story's plot, this guy was hinted by the artifact, the "Divination Rod," to be an Emanator of Aha, the Elation, and he possessed a certain ability to break the fourth wall...
After all, at the end of the Jarilo-VI storyline in the original game, Sampo bowed to the players and asked with a grin if the play on Jarilo-VI had brought them a moment of elation.
Against such a character, unless Ron prayed to The Apothecary of Abundance without any limits right now, there was simply no chance of beating Sampo.
And then there was this note...
Ron frowned, looking at the note he had just opened on the screen:
["If a gun appears in the first act of a play, it must go off by the third..."]
["What symbolizes the existence of life, and what resists the illusory nothingness of this world?"]
["As the lead actors on this grand stage, you ought to provide an answer."]
["Where the gun's bullet will be fired will change based on your answer."]
["Please remember—'The greater the joy that reflects the dignity of humanity, the more exquisite that joy is.'"]
["I hope you can make this story progress in a more interesting fashion... Until this story becomes dull and tasteless, the center of the stage belongs only to you."]
Although Sampo's strength was not to be trifled with, looking at the screen, Ron gradually recalled Sampo's view on elation from the original game.
He pursued the human dignity that erupted amidst joy, liked to play the role of a clown, a supporting character who appeared at the edge of the stage to set off the protagonist's story, silently watching the end of this grand play.
Theoretically, no matter how strong Sampo was, he shouldn't pose a threat, because he would only wear a mask and play the clown, not actually enter the fray...
But now Sampo had personally stolen the Blessed Berries and left this note.
Ron was completely baffled. Although the text on the note was vague and reeked of a riddler, it was clearly Sampo threatening them, hoping the play would proceed in the direction he expected.
But... what did this have to do with the Blessed Berries?
Ron really couldn't figure out what this riddler Sampo wanted. He could only helplessly tap the screen, recall the small team Natasha had sent out to find Sampo, and instead assign a portion of them to watch for any secret distribution of the Blessed Berries that might cause some people to evolve and gain the "Snowstorm Immunity" trait.
The portion of berries Sampo stole couldn't pose too great a threat. As long as they weren't distributed to the citizens of the Underworld, triggering an unstoppable mass evolution, no unmanageable problems would arise.
Anyway, even if they found Sampo, they couldn't possibly beat this Emanator of Elation. It was better to use their resources wisely and have these Wildfire members minimize the impact of the problem...
With this thought, Ron pushed Sampo to the back of his mind.
An enemy of Sampo's strength could not be fought with normal methods. When facing such a guy, it was better to honestly develop the strength of the Underworld first, unify the upper and lower districts, and then see...
After unifying the entire Overworld and Underworld and developing agriculture to have a sufficient food supply, even the berries stolen by Sampo wouldn't pose much of a threat.
As long as he didn't personally enter the stage as the final boss, he would just be helping them promote Snowstorm Immunity at that point...
With these thoughts, Ron began to operate the screen with great concentration.
In the simulation, a year passed in a flash.
[The patrol team you dispatched found no information regarding the Blessed Berries.]
[The patrol team you dispatched...]
[The patrol team you...]
Even after a year, he couldn't find any news about the Blessed Berries or Sampo.
It was as if Sampo had completely vanished, and the berries he had stolen were gradually forgotten by Ron, pushed to the recesses of his mind.
During this time, Ron once again directed the Pioneer Group to enter Rivet Town several times to transport supplies back. He had even completely cleared all the Fragmentum from the Underworld, expanding its territory back to what it should have been.
The ample resources retrieved from the Fragmentum became the fuel for the Underworld's rapid advancement. Ron used the vast majority of these supplies on the Underworld's miners, and its development flourished.
The Life Simulation Game's numerical statistics for the Underworld faction were no longer as weak as before. It had reached the point where it could go toe-to-toe with the Overworld.
Now, the opportune moment had arrived...
It was time to unify the Overworld and Underworld.