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Perhaps the previous simulation had been an extreme shock to Bronya, for even when she returned from the Underworld to the Overworld and saw the Xianzhou [Luofu] blotting out the clear skies of Jarilo-VI, its hull scarred with the marks of time, she was not struck dumb by the sudden, drastic change.
Although she was stunned for a moment upon seeing the Xianzhou [Luofu]'s arrival, she quickly came to her senses. Her sharp intellect took over, and she immediately confirmed one thing—
There had to be a player of the Life Simulation Game on the Xianzhou [Luofu]… The Xianzhou [Luofu] had come here specifically for Ron.
The reason she was able to think of this so quickly was thanks to her clear understanding of herself… or rather, of Belobog and Jarilo-VI.
To put it bluntly… what was there about this lousy Belobog worth caring about?
The Interastral Peace Corporation would only be willing to come to Belobog because they wanted to collect on its debts, and even then, they would wait until the people of Belobog had dealt with the rampaging Antimatter Legion and the Stellaron on their planet. What could the Xianzhou [Luofu] possibly want from Belobog?
Did they want Belobog for its icy, uninhabitable landscape, or for the exquisite, ghostly beauty of the Antimatter Legion's ice sculptures?
For the Xianzhou [Luofu] to suddenly make a warp jump here and provide such generous aid to all of Belobog, they must have a motive… and that motive could only be Ron. Only a player of the Life Simulation Game would know about, and care about, Ron.
Only for Ron's sake could the arrival of the Xianzhou [Luofu] be considered profitable.
Although Bronya was by no means an excellent leader, the numerous life simulations had, at the very least, allowed her to make some progress…
The mindset of a leader had been carved into Bronya's very bones. She might not yet understand why many things unfolded in ways she couldn't comprehend, but the basic, rational approach of looking at events and digging for their root cause was no longer a distant concept.
It was precisely because she realized this that Bronya was spurred into decisive action—
Following her memory from the last simulation, she found the old apartment where Ron lived.
After finding it empty, just as she expected, she immediately returned to Qlipoth Fort, took her identification as the acting commander of the Silvermane Guards, and rushed straight to the reconstruction site that the Xianzhou people had erected with incredible speed.
Relying on her status as the acting commander of the Silvermane Guards, Bronya instantly became the "native leader" in the eyes of the Xianzhou people. They gave her a hard hat, allowing her to inspect the Belobog reconstruction site at any time and granting her the authority to communicate with the leaders of the Xianzhou's Six Charioteers.
The arrival of the Xianzhou [Luofu] was peaceful. In the eyes of the Xianzhou people, the natives of Belobog were pitiable souls in need of aid. Therefore, with Bronya's status, she had the opportunity to speak directly with the Six Charioteers.
Of course, there weren't many of the Six Charioteers currently on Belobog… The high-ranking officials who controlled the entire Xianzhou [Luofu] were usually very busy. Even Fu Xuan, one of the Six Charioteers who had insisted on aiding Belobog, had already completed her objective and returned to the Xianzhou [Luofu] with Ron.
However, aiding an entire planetary civilization still required at least one of the Six Charioteers to oversee things—Helm Master of the Sky-Faring Commission, Lady Yukong, was currently on Belobog managing the overall situation and handling all matters of negotiation.
Bronya also used her status to get close to Yukong, trying every means possible to extract the information she needed…
After being calmly dismissed by Yukong with a few words, Bronya understood one fact—
Although the Xianzhou [Luofu] had arrived suddenly and offered unconditional aid to Jarilo-VI, deciding to reshape its ecosystem and turn Belobog into one of the most habitable cities in the sea of stars, this did not mean the Luofu's goodwill towards Belobog was without limits.
For example… Bronya's idea of boarding the Xianzhou [Luofu] was flatly rejected.
The Xianzhou [Luofu] was unwilling to accept a group of outsiders from another civilization. Perhaps accepting other species wasn't impossible, but the conditions were extremely strict. The accepted group had to be living beings who had been affected by [The Abundance] Yaoshi.
On their path of The Hunt, the Xianzhou [Luofu] would occasionally hunt down some Abundance species and discover pitiable creatures who had been persecuted by them and influenced by Yaoshi. They might be captives abducted by the Abundance species during their raids across the stars, or they might be members of an Abundance species who chose not to follow [The Abundance] after being affected by it…
These pitiable souls had not committed any capital crimes, but they were affected by Yaoshi. The Xianzhou [Luofu] would not let them roam the sea of stars freely. They would inevitably take them in, not only to provide them with new lives and opportunities but also to keep an eye on these unstable elements who could potentially degenerate into a new Abundance species.
The Belobog from the simulation where Ron had transformed into a world-shrouding green dragon was one such case…
The Xianzhou [Luofu] had adopted an attitude of "acceptance" toward the Belobog of that simulation. But the current Belobog showed no trace of [The Abundance] and possessed its own planet and civilization. The Luofu was naturally unwilling to allow any outsiders to enter its ship, to avoid having them develop a craving for long life and cause trouble.
Although Bronya had no interest in longevity and only wanted to board the Xianzhou [Luofu] to find Ron, who had been taken away, she obviously couldn't say that to the Xianzhou people…
So, her only option was to act as a temporary hard-hat-wearing supervisor at the Belobog reconstruction site. While watching the geniuses from the Luofu's Artisanship Commission use marvelous biological techniques to construct new Belobog buildings, she started a new simulation to see what she should do…
And then, she became utterly frantic.
It was no wonder she was—Ron had been on the Xianzhou [Luofu] for less than half a month, and in her simulation, she had tried for half a month without being able to sneak aboard. Then, before she could even react, the entire Xianzhou [Luofu] had turned to ash. How could she not be frantic?
He died even faster than in her first simulation! What kind of monster was squatting on the Luofu? Why was it even more pathetic than the first time she simulated it?
Perhaps it was because Bronya was all too self-aware that at this moment, a boundless rage ignited in her heart.
She truly could not endure this any longer… She had to strike hard!
She had to rescue Ron from that endless hell, to prevent him from once again falling into a sea of boundless fire, becoming a pile of fine white ash that couldn't even be found!
With this thought in mind, Bronya unhesitatingly threw the "Qlipoth Fort" hard hat from her head to the ground and turned to walk towards the desolate, uninhabited depths of the snow plains.
Bronya's score in the simulation before last hadn't been high. She had been completely unable to keep up with Ron's pace, only able to follow in his wake as a Knight of Salvation in the new Belobog.
But that was still the greatest achievement Bronya had ever managed in the Life Simulation Game. That simulation brought Bronya a reward that wasn't particularly strong, but now proved to be quite useful—
The twelve Knights of Salvation of the new Belobog, who were qualified to enter the Hall of the Round Table, each possessed their own personal vessel. This was a symbol of the Knights' rank and their identity.
Bronya also had a small starship, manufactured with the most advanced technology of the new Belobog at the time. Most of the time it was just for show, a status symbol left to gather dust in a starport. But for Bronya now, it was of great use.
She could board the starship right now. With it, she could travel anywhere in this sea of stars—of course, flying it straight into the Xianzhou [Luofu] was also a possibility.
But Bronya wasn't planning on doing that… In her last simulation, she had tried too many ways to get onto the Xianzhou [Luofu]. In the end, she even tried flying a starskiff directly into the Luofu's Cloudford, but was easily intercepted by the Luofu's patrol skiffs and escorted back to Belobog by the Cloud Knights…
She couldn't get onto the Xianzhou [Luofu]… The defensive power of the Luofu was by no means something Bronya could break through alone.
However… that didn't mean Bronya was out of options.
While she couldn't get onto the Xianzhou [Luofu], it didn't mean she couldn't go elsewhere…
After so many simulations, if there was one thing Bronya had learned with absolute clarity, it was the art of hugging thighs. She had truly reached a state of perfection. If there was a real powerhouse for her to latch onto, she would absolutely not drag them down one bit.
And besides the super-powerhouse Ron who had been taken to the Xianzhou [Luofu], through the simulation before last, Bronya had come to know a new powerhouse…
The Herta Space Station was only a few thousand light-years from Jarilo-VI. With a warp drive, it would take about a day to reach.
Seeking help from Ms. Herta was perhaps the best possible choice.
In the simulation before last, she had interacted with Herta many times. Bronya felt she had a decent understanding of her. While prying help from Herta wouldn't be easy, it was definitely possible…
With this thought, Bronya unhesitatingly pressed a transparent smart bracelet strapped to her slender wrist. Ripples spread across its surface, and then, not far from Bronya, a spot on the ice plain shimmered as its optical camouflage deactivated, revealing a small ship only about half the size of a mountain.
Ron only had half a month before he and the Xianzhou [Luofu] turned to ash together. Bronya wasn't prepared to waste any time. The plan to save Ron had to begin immediately.
She skillfully entered the ship's cabin. A moment later, the entire vessel levitated on its anti-gravity module. The next moment, it shot out of Jarilo-VI's atmosphere like a meteor, streaking into the sea of stars. It accelerated faster and faster, blurring the line between reality and illusion, and warped towards the Herta Space Station, thousands of light-years away.
Sitting in the cockpit of the ship, Bronya was already contemplating how to approach Herta, formulating the words she would use to ask for help…
But, at the same time,
The helper and powerhouse Bronya was thinking of was already piloting a high-speed ship out of subspace, having warped to the edge of the Jarilo-VI system…
Herta sat in the pilot's seat of the ship, thoughtfully looking at the simulation reward in her hand.
After the last simulation ended, she had immediately piloted her ship to warp towards Jarilo-VI. Within a day, she had arrived at this star system, not far from the Herta Space Station.
During that day, the Life Simulation Game had prompted her about the start of a new simulation, but for the sake of a safe warp jump, Herta had directly closed the game interface and did not participate in this round.
It wasn't until she had warped to the Jarilo-VI system and confirmed a safe flight path that Herta had the time to focus her energy on the game…
And then she discovered something she had carelessly overlooked in her haste, something hidden within the reward from the end of the last simulation.
"It's actually… Him?"
Herta's gaze was fixed on the object she held. Her eyes, under the dim golden light, flickered with a hint of bewilderment—
Following her gaze, one could see that in her hand, she was holding a broken, dirty, and seemingly about-to-be-extinguished…
Golden lantern.