[An azure-gold trail of scales now winds across the sky. The familiar heavens are long gone; the coiling azure dragon and the heavy cloud banks have become Jarilo-VI's new sky.]
[The stars? The bright moon? The radiant sun?]
[All the celestial bodies that should exist are no longer visible. Only the fine, exquisite scales of the azure dragon shimmer, bringing a soft and warm light to Jarilo-VI.]
[Without the Stellaron to sustain them, the planet-wide blizzard and the Fragmentum have lost all support.]
[The constant, gentle light has brought about an unimaginable climate change to all of Jarilo-VI. Warm sunlight shines ceaselessly upon the ice and snow. The entire planet is steadily warming. The frozen apocalypse that plagued Belobog for over seven hundred years now sees the light of dawn... Everyone can truly feel "hope" itself.]
[But this is not the way you wanted to obtain that hope... For Belobog to walk towards a bright future, you never cared what price you yourself would have to pay.]
[Sweat? Blood? Be it effort or life itself, as long as it could bring hope to Belobog, you were willing to devote everything to the cause—]
[But you never thought you would have to lose Ron.]
[And yet now, to solve the empire's crisis and realize a bright future for Jarilo-VI, you have lost him anyway...]
[You know what he did—in the past, The Apothecary merely gave you a passing glance, and you were able to pray for the blessed berries, research the complete "blizzard immunity," and inject new life into the empire.]
[And Ron, as someone directly gazed upon by The Apothecary of The Abundance, was naturally able to pray to It as well...]
[Faced with the rebellion of the infected and the Masked Fool pulling strings in the shadows, Ron prayed to The Apothecary and received an unimaginable blessing.]
[You have no way of knowing what wish he made to The Apothecary of The Abundance, nor can you ever know what he did. You can only kneel where you are, watching the world undergo a colossal transformation in an instant—]
[The Seed of Calamity has vanished from the world, the Masked Fool has disappeared, and the Stellaron and Fragmentum have been taken away by Ron. Even the climate is gradually becoming warm and comfortable because of the azure dragon he has become.]
[The only remaining threat on the entire planet is, perhaps, the Antimatter Legion still trapped in the ice.]
[You look up at the slowly swimming azure dragon in the sky and, for the first time, feel so insignificant. Ron's sheer size makes it impossible for you to see his full form from the ground. You can only glimpse a scale here, a claw there, enjoying the warm legacy he left behind.]
[The duo-traits between you and Ron, "Light and Dark Depend on Each Other (Gold)" and "Panacea (Red)," have become completely ineffective as Ron's consciousness no longer exists.]
[Your Vow of Matrimony with Ron, "Embracing Under the Blue Sky," has become completely ineffective as Ron's consciousness no longer exists.]
[You have suffered a monumental change. Your heart has shattered with the departure of your beloved. Your "Cold-Blooded Savior (Gray)" trait has changed into "Equal Sacrifice (Black)."]
[Equal Sacrifice: Ron's departure taught you a lesson—kindness might save others, but it can never save oneself. And to save Belobog, to save the Jarilo-VI Second Empire, someone must sit on the highest throne, clear the fog for everyone, and point the way forward... making the most equal of choices. Because of Ron's final actions, you will automatically ascend to the throne of the Jarilo-VI Second Empire and guide this empire in a new direction. Due to the effect of this trait, one option will be permanently removed from your future choices. Among the remaining options, a "Sacrifice" option will always appear. You firmly believe... only when everyone makes an equal sacrifice can the empire go further.]
[Because Ron separated and gifted you a portion of the blessing from The Apothecary of The Abundance, you have obtained a new trait: "Empress of the Green Forest (Red)."]
[Empress of the Green Forest: The Apothecary of The Abundance has bestowed its blessing upon you. A star consecrated by The Apothecary now shines within your body. Infinite life energy fills you. You have obtained the power to completely transform a frozen planet, allowing a lush, green forest to cover its entirety. You will be able to plant a "Seed of Life," which will take root in the planetary core and eventually grow into a Tree of Life, symbiotic with the planet. After the Seed of Life grows into the Tree of Life, Jarilo-VI's planetary classification will be permanently changed from "Ice Planet" to "Gaia Planet." All species will gain 100% habitability, and Jarilo-VI's ecosystem will rapidly recover. Under your rule, the territory of the Jarilo-VI Second Empire will gain +100% plant growth rate and +50% animal growth rate. Any species may experience new, beneficial evolutions. While within your empire, you gain +100% to all stats. While within your empire's forests, you gain an additional +300% to Defense and HP, and your every attack will deal additional true damage equal to 100% of your Attack.]
[The Jarilo-VI Second Empire, which you now govern, has obtained a new trait: "Dancing with the Dragon (Red)."]
[Dancing with the Dragon: The former emperor of the empire has shed his mortality and ascended to space, transforming into a colossal azure-gold dragon that coils through the cosmos. Having lost his sanity, he wavers between cold benevolence and arrogant indifference, his attitude towards Jarilo-VI inscrutable. Fortunately, he remains asleep most of the time, continuously drawing in the energy of all surrounding stars like a black hole, transforming it into the light that glitters on his scales. From time to time, he unconsciously bestows blessings upon the Jarilo-VI Second Empire. What future awaits the empire due to Ron's existence? You do not know. You only know this—by observing Ron's scales, the next of Ron's boons will descend in 37 hours.]
Reading the text on the screen, Natasha couldn't help but sigh.
"I can't believe it still ended up like this..."
She was a little frustrated. She had thought that in this simulation, she could ensure Ron lived a good life, but it turned out to be no different from the previous runs.
Although the Ron in this simulation wasn't dead, he had completely lost his consciousness due to the blessing of The Apothecary of The Abundance, turned into a giant dragon coiling in space, and left the planet for good...
"Then the path taken in this simulation is not a viable option. It cannot be replicated in reality."
Natasha murmured, immediately reaching a conclusion.
Although the situation in this simulation hadn't deteriorated to the point of being completely unplayable—in fact, it was countless times better than the previous runs—it was still a failure.
Perhaps even Jarilo-VI during its era as an interstellar civilization never had such a hopeful future. Back then, according to the Architects' records, Jarilo-VI was just another drop in the cosmic ocean, a tourist planet, a corporate asset with an easily exploitable resource called "Geomarrow," and that was it.
The new traits brought about by Ron's departure were even more powerful than the duo-traits they had when he was present. Excluding the black trait "Equal Sacrifice," both "Empress of the Green Forest" and "Dancing with the Dragon" could elevate Jarilo-VI to heights it had never reached before.
As a civilization, the Jarilo-VI Second Empire would gain an unimaginable advantage. It might even be comparable to the second-tier civilizations in the sea of stars, just below the first-tier factions blessed directly by the Aeons themselves...
Given enough time to develop, the Jarilo-VI Second Empire would fear almost no other civilization in the universe, possessing the strength to defend itself completely.
But Natasha didn't want this.
Using Ron as a guardian, having a mindless Ron protect Jarilo-VI—this was not the future she wanted. The future she wanted was one where their efforts together would be rewarded...
She didn't want to see Ron trapped in the cold void like this, sleeping unconsciously in the cosmos.
"...Forget it. I'm logging off."
With that thought, Natasha completely lost interest in continuing this failed run. She clicked the "X" in the top-right corner of the screen, closing the Life Simulation Game.
There was no point in continuing this simulation. No matter what, it had led to a dead end, a future she would never choose under any circumstances.
She decided to rest for a while, review her choices in this run, identify what had influenced the outcome, and optimize a new simulation plan in preparation for the next attempt...
---o---
Meanwhile, on the other side.
New text appeared on the screen, which began to dim, making everything unselectable and inoperable.
[You chose Charm-focused, doing your utmost to put all evolution points from the blessing of The Abundance into Charm.]
[The generous blessing from The Apothecary of The Abundance has perfectly fulfilled your choice. Every one of your cells is completely saturated in the Imaginary energy of the Path of The Abundance, having evolved precisely into the form you desired.]
[You have now become the ultimate lifeform with the most primal charm in almost the entire universe.]
Reading the text, Ron glanced speechlessly at his stats on the side—
All of his attributes were now nearly maxed out, only about ten percent shy of the limit. Only Charm was completely full, stretching the attribute bar to its max.
While it was indeed "Charm-focused," wasn't the focus a bit too... even?
Ron had assumed that after choosing an evolutionary focus, there would be a significant stat disparity. He hadn't expected them to be so balanced... What was the difference between a 9 and a 10, really?
Was this the perfection of an ultimate lifeform under the blessing of The Abundance? Even a "focused" build ended up looking like a nearly all-maxed-out character...
As he thought this, Ron felt a small pang of pity for the Xianzhou Alliance that would soon have to face him in the simulation.
"I did my best to weaken myself. If you still can't beat me, it's not my fault..."
Ron muttered under his breath, watching as new text popped up on the screen:
[Having completed your evolution, you have fallen into a deep slumber.]
[Now, as a slumbering dragon, you subconsciously follow your desires, absorbing the energy of your surroundings...]
[With the exception of Jarilo-VI, which you are protecting, the star and planets of the Jarilo system are constantly disintegrating. Their blazing light turns into motes that merge into your dragon scales, causing them to gently flex as you feel the searing heat surge within you.]
[Your all-stats have been boosted from absorbing energy. All stats +1.]
[Having gotten a taste of this "meal," your slumbering self subconsciously uses even more force. For a moment, even the star of the neighboring solar system flickers erratically. Its burning flames are pulled towards you in streams of light, and it eventually collapses, turning into scattered stardust...]
[This will continue to happen.]
[Until the universe is destroyed, or you fall into a state beyond redemption.]
Reading the text on the screen, a bitter smile formed on Ron's lips.
"As I thought. After receiving the blessing of The Abundance, I really am the strongest Progeny of Abundance..."
Just by unconsciously acting in his sleep, he could absorb surrounding energy and even destroy neighboring star systems... His power level was absurd.
Come on, Xianzhou Alliance, hurry up. Do this run a favor and just kill me already...
This simulation had become far too ridiculous...
Ron rubbed his temples, feeling a wave of weary exasperation as he sighed.
But little did he know, at that very moment, someone else was staring at their own simulation screen, the exact same thought popping into their head.