"Huh?"
Sampo's expression froze solid in that instant.
Just moments before, his eyes had been gleaming with interest, his entire face awash with a look of glee. He was thoroughly intrigued by the deal Ron had proposed, and had even developed a considerable curiosity about Ron himself.
But after Ron's last words, Sampo realized just how insane the true nature hidden beneath the gentle, scholarly, and somewhat worn-out appearance of this smiling man truly was.
Aeons. The supreme beings of this sea of stars. Even [The Trailblaze] Akivili, who was once the closest to humanity, would only raise a glass with his fellow Nameless on the Astral Express. The other Aeons rarely even glanced at mortals, ignoring them with an indifference one might show an ant crawling by their feet.
To an Aeon, humanity was but a single grain of sand in the endless river of time illuminated by the boundless cosmos, holding little meaning...
Ron's desire to casually face an Aeon, to speak with one as an equal, and to negotiate a deal—this was tantamount to blasphemy against the authority of the Aeons, and it further proved his contempt for their divine status.
Although [The Elation] Aha was one of the more "human" Aeons, this humanity did not refer to him being approachable. Rather, it referred to his fickle nature, just like a human's, and his playful desire to seek out fun.
In Aha's eyes, humanity was perhaps nothing more than an interesting plaything. As an Emanator of [Elation], Sampo understood this on a very deep level...
After all, his own position as an Emanator was granted because of the amusement an Aeon found in his habitual deceptions during a business transaction.
He had merely glanced at Sampo, then watched as the customer being spun in circles by Sampo's tricks burst out laughing. Long after the laughter faded, Sampo received the infinite Imaginary power of the Path of [Elation] and was granted permission by Aha to become an Emanator. It all stemmed from a momentary whim of this Fool.
But soon after, this Fool lost interest in Sampo... Sampo had no idea what corner of the universe Aha was in, looking for fun, but he could always faintly hear the Aeon's laughter ringing out from somewhere in the sea of stars, a testament to His activity.
Sampo was certain that if Ron tried to reach out to the Aeon now, to call upon Aha and attempt a deal, the result would absolutely not be good...
[The Elation] Aha would have no qualms about casually turning Ron into his little toy, pulling him into some elaborate scheme, or laughing uproariously at a tragedy starring Ron. No matter what, the outcome was sure to be disastrous.
But what did that have to do with him, Sampo?
A madman provoking an Aeon for fun? Sampo had never seen, let alone heard of, such a thing in his entire life.
In any case, this was Ron's own insistence. If he wanted to have a nice chat with [The Elation] Aha, then Sampo certainly had no reason to stop him...
Having thought it all through, the stiff expression on Sampo's face, caused by Ron's world-shaking words, morphed into one of amusement. He clapped his hands lightly, his tone filled with emotion.
"I never thought you'd have such an idea... Simply incredible. My jaw has dropped in amazement."
"I do indeed have a way to help you find Him..." Sampo said, his tone suddenly shifting. "However, I will not do it myself. Everything will be left to you. How does that sound?"
Ron's expression was playful. "Are you afraid of Him?"
"Afraid? No, no, no, how could this be fear?"
Sampo's expression didn't change as he cheerily masked the slight fear he felt for the Aeon.
"This is merely respect for the master of the Path of [Elation]... You know, He's our boss. We have to make a living under Him. A little respect makes life easier."
"Is that so..." Ron nodded thoughtfully, his face looking slightly troubled. "But if you don't do it yourself, can I really attract the attention of that Aeon? Maybe we should just call off this deal?"
"Call it off?" Sampo's face froze for a moment, and he quickly put on a business-like smile. "Of course it will work! Sampo Koski may be unreliable in many situations, but when it comes to business, I've never short-changed anyone..."
How could he let a once-in-a-lifetime show like this slip away right in front of him?
He had to keep Ron here, and dispel his doubts!
With this in mind, Sampo thumped his chest and gave a thumbs-up. "I guarantee it will work!"
"If it doesn't, old Sampo will cover the loss out of my own pocket! From summoning the Aeon to facing that army of Antimatter Legion later, it'll all be a zero-credit clearance sale! I'll be your hired muscle, for free, and I won't take a single cent!"
Seeing Sampo's confident, chest-thumping display, Ron nodded with an amused smile.
"You said it... Don't go back on your word later."
"Hey, don't say that. Old Sampo's word is as good as gold."
Sampo rubbed his hands with a grin. As an Emanator of [Elation], no one knew better than him how to attract Aha's gaze.
In fact, as an Emanator, his very existence was constantly under Aha's watch...
Although the Fool usually paid no mind to his Emanators, he would still devote a tiny bit of attention to them. If an Emanator managed to stir up some interesting, large-scale fun, he would immediately turn his gaze to that world and begin to enjoy the show.
But Sampo didn't dare to attract Aha's attention that way... He didn't want to get involved in this matter, because he could never predict Aha's reaction.
If he was blamed for Ron's actions, the loss would far outweigh the gain... Who joins the audience on stage to watch a show?
So he just snapped his fingers. The Imaginary energy of the Path of [Elation] was pulled and reconstructed, forming a two-sided coin. One side was imprinted with a crying mask, the other with a laughing mask. It looked like some cheap arcade token.
But this was just a small preference of Sampo's. In reality, stored within this coin was the laughter of [The Elation] Aha... The laughter came from a time he had previously heard it, and he had now used the power of his Path to replicate it within the coin.
As long as this coin was crushed, the laughter of Aha would echo in the surroundings, intertwining with the Aeon's own laughter somewhere in the sea of stars.
Aha was an Aeon full of curiosity for everything. He was interested in all things and would naturally not ignore the sudden, inexplicable sound of his own laughter...
This would also allow Sampo to extract himself from the conversation between Ron and Aha, hiding in a corner to secretly watch the show.
As long as he wasn't the one to personally summon the Aeon, then given Aha's nature, he would be too lazy to trace it back to the source and cause trouble for him...
With this thought, Sampo handed the coin to Ron.
"Just crush this coin, and the master of the Path of Elation will find you..."
"Like this?"
Before Sampo could finish his sentence, Ron curiously applied force, squeezing the coin in his hand. This frightened Sampo so much that he quickly tried to stop him.
"Not yet... Not yet! Wait a moment!"
As he spoke, a flash of verdant wind shimmered at his feet, and he then transformed into a breeze and vanished, disappearing to who knows where.
A moment later, a voice that seemed to come from a distant galaxy reached Ron's ear.
"O-Okay... you can do it now."
In that instant, to completely clear his name, Sampo had fled several light-years away to another star system, hiding behind the fiery corona of a star to stealthily watch Jarilo-VI from afar.
Such was the power of an Emanator... but unfortunately, the person wielding this power was a buffoon, which cheapened the otherwise omnipotent ability to go anywhere in heaven and earth.
Ron shook his head with amusement, not caring about Sampo's performance. He casually glanced at the two-sided coin in his hand and then squeezed gently. A bit of Imaginary energy reinforced his fingertips, turning into a powerful force that crushed the already fragile coin.
The next moment, joyous laughter erupted from the shattered pieces of the coin. The sound rang out for a while before gradually fading, and a dead silence fell over the area...
But then, another laugh came from the heavens.
An immense pressure, like the celestial river collapsing, descended upon Ron. Joyful laughter resounded throughout the Jarilo system. Aha had arrived. He had followed the familiar laughter and cast his gaze down with great interest.
The moment this laughter arrived, Herta, who stood beside Ron, felt the corners of her puppet's mouth curl up involuntarily, though she felt no mirth. Irrespective of her consciousness, the lifeless puppet created by the [Erudition] Emanator was itself laughing.
The arrival of [The Elation] Aha seemed to grant inanimate objects the right to [Laughter]...
At the same time, Ron's lips also curled into a smile, and he began to laugh joyfully.
But his laughter was not due to Aha's authority; it was a genuine, heartfelt laugh.
As the Aeon's laughter echoed, a pink glow appeared on Ron's cheek. An unfilled wine glass seemed to sway, the fine wine within it rippling—
The sigil of [Elation] appeared on Ron's cheek. The blessing once bestowed upon him emerged for the world to see, no longer hidden, and the laughter from the heavens grew even more cheerful.
The next moment, the sigil on Ron's cheek suddenly vanished. The [Elation] wine glass became real. A goblet appeared in his hand, filled with golden mead. Swirling fires of calamity bloomed within it, only to be instantly quelled by the power of [Elation]...
Another wine glass, also filled with a golden liquid, materialized out of thin air. This glass, however, also surged with an ever-burning fire of calamity—the divine blood of the Annihilation Gang's Ancestor. It was said that his chest had once been sliced open by Aha, and his gushing divine blood had ended up in Aha's cup.
This glass tilted on its own, as if held by an invisible hand, and gently clinked against Ron's. Then a humanoid figure shrouded in countless laughing masks and wearing a pitch-black cloak materialized for a brief moment, drank the full glass of blood-wine, as if paying tribute to Ron.
The next moment, He vanished, leaving Ron to slowly drink the fine wine from the "tavern," said to be brewed from the divine blood of [Destruction] Nanook. A嘻嘻哈哈 (xīxīhāhā - giggling) voice sounded in his ear:
"Fake again? Fake again? Although Aha hates chatting with you in a place like this, since the 'previous me' already said I'd greet you, I'll toast to your little success this time!"
"Next time, let's not meet in a place like this... The game is fun, but Aha hates fake versions of himself. I want to pull a prank on an entire world with you in reality, not play house in a game..."
The laughing voice gradually faded, growing more distant as the Aeon departed...
Only one bout of wild laughter remained, still ringing loud and clear:
"I know what you want! [Destruction] is a madman, and Aha specializes in beating up madmen!"
"Haha, haha, hahahaha!"
The scene on the screen faded, and new lines of text appeared:
[You successfully used Sampo to attract the gaze of [The Elation] Aha.]
[The Fool watched you with great interest. He saw the blessing from Him upon you and read the traces left behind by another version of himself.]
[He was stunned. He laughed. He raised his glass to you in a toast. He invited you to drink with him—He joyfully raised the jester's rapier and danced toward a stargate in a distant galaxy.]
[Your thoughts cannot be hidden from a god. He was overjoyed by your achievements and readily agreed to your request.]
[For you, He has sought out [Destruction] Nanook. The battle between Aeons now plays out in a corner of the universe, with no possibility of affecting Jarilo-VI.]
So this blessing also contained a memory left by [The Elation] Aha?!
Ron stared at the text in astonishment, but he quickly calmed down, even finding it perfectly reasonable.
This was [The Elation] Aha, after all. Since he had already hijacked the Life Simulation Game's reward to bestow a blessing, it was only natural for him to leave a little memory for himself.
However... judging by Aha's reaction, it was basically confirmed that He held great malice toward "Fate."
Since he was a firm enemy of "Fate," and the enemy of his enemy was his friend, perhaps there was no need to be so wary of Aha. He could relax a little...
But that wasn't what mattered now.
[The Elation] Aha and [Destruction] Nanook had already gone off to battle at the edge of the universe, grinding the Great Dao to dust. They had no further part to play in this simulation.
What mattered now... was only the Antimatter Legion.
Ron looked at the screen. The text faded, and a new scene appeared:
New Belobog's databank AI was running at full capacity, and the New Belobog Interstellar Fleet was continuously patrolling the Jarilo system.
Through the fleet's monitors, they could see the stargate at the edge of the Jarilo system flicker with the light of annihilation. Endless war machines poured out from it, swarming toward Jarilo-VI like a dark plague of insects.
And arriving with this Antimatter Legion was the shrieking of stars and a searing, incinerating wind—
Lord Ravager [The Burning Wind], and Lord Ravager [The Star Howler].
Two of the most famous Lord Ravagers, who had destroyed the most worlds, came leading the legion, for the sole purpose of setting New Belobog ablaze and turning it into the cinders of annihilation.
The fires of war were about to be lit.