Before the red curtain.
Aventurine, about to take the stage, and the innocent Kakavasha.
Little Kakavasha looked up and said with a smile, "You still look nervous..."
"Then let's press palms. If Mother Goddess blesses, you'll feel more at ease."
"Pressing palms is a small ritual, we press our palms together, recite the prayer to Mother Fingo, and she will bless us."
"If you don't know how, I can teach you."
Aventurine closed his eyes and then opened them.
He said softly, "It's okay, I know how."
"Of course, I know."
After Aventurine said this.
The sound of rain echoed in the background.
It seemed to be the final flashback...
This time, it returned to Kakavasha's childhood.
He and his sister stood on a desolate plain.
Kakavasha covered his face with his hands, seemingly crying.
His sister comforted him beside him.
The rain poured down.
Accompanied by thunder.
"We have to part ways here, Kakavasha. The Katika people are coming."
"Why? The Katika people have already taken all our money, food, and killed Mom and Dad... What more do they want?" Kakavasha cried.
"The Katika people are bloodthirsty, cruel, and insatiable. They want everything, so they end up with nothing."
"This is a trick, an act of revenge. Remember? Today is Kakavasha Day, and it's also your birthday..."
Her voice was resolute yet filled with heartache.
"...As long as you live, the blood of the Avgin will never run dry. So run, Kakavasha, don't be afraid, don't look back. Go to the other side of the mountain. The rain will accompany you, the rain will bless you."
"And we will meet again under the next Kakavasha (the beginning of the Mother Goddess's cycle) aurora..."
His sister said.
She took Kakavasha's hand.
Pressed their palms together.
Performed the palm ritual.
"May the Mother Goddess close her eyes for you three times..."
"May your bloodline forever pulse..."
"May your journey always be smooth..."
"...May your schemes never be exposed."
"Goodbye, Kakavasha."
...
"Wuwuwu, I'm crying..."
"Is this... the Avgin clan using the company's power to trade one for one with the Katika?"
"Damn those Katika people! I wish I could grab a knife and rush in to slaughter those savages!"
"But the company didn't help, to be precise, the Marketing Development Department didn't fulfill their promise! Aventurine was still sold as a slave later."
"During the second Katika-Avgin extermination incident, many Avgin, including Kakavasha's sister, were massacred by the Katika people, and the company did not provide the promised assistance to the Avgin."
"Fun fact: The Marketing Development Department and the Strategic Investment Department are arch-enemies."
"Oswald Schneider (Head of the Marketing Development Department)"
"Oswald Schneider. Stop pretending to be dead, come out and speak!"
"Oswald Schneider. You really deserve to die!"
"This guy has done more than just one or two despicable things, this is probably just a throwaway account..."
...
"Interstellar Peace News Flash: A spokesperson for the company's Marketing Development Department confirmed that a small-scale rebellion has broken out in the unclaimed sector of Ziganaya, and the situation has been effectively controlled—"
"The rebels come from a local clan called Katika, which has long harbored dissatisfaction with the company, severely impacting the Marketing Development Department's work in the region—"
"The clan launched a large-scale attack on the Avgin clan under the company's protection, resulting in 6,728 deaths, 3,452 missing, and the injured have been received by the medical rescue organization Trauma Frontline—"
"The spokesperson expressed deep condolences for this profound humanitarian disaster and delivered an important speech to all interstellar citizens regarding the incident—"
"Finally, he declared: The hammer of Preservation will fall for all life, regardless of life or death, race, or ideology, to defend the fundamental rights we are born with..."
Listening to this Interastral Peace broadcast.
Living beings turned into cold numbers in the report...
Everyone at the hotel scene couldn't help but feel a strong sense of irony!
Especially Boothill!
He was so angry that his teeth itched!
He also had a blood feud with Oswaldo Schneider!
The head of the Marketing Development Department, in order to exploit the mineral resources of his hometown, not only drove them away from their homeland but ultimately ordered the massacre of the Argon-Apashe natives!
Boothill's siblings all died because of this!
The meaning of becoming a Galaxy Ranger was to find this person and exact revenge!
Seeing the barrage of curses, Boothill finally felt relieved.
He took out his phone.
And joined the online mob against Oswaldo...
...
After the broadcast ended.
Aventurine also woke up from his memories.
"Kakavasha?"
Aventurine was momentarily stunned.
He was the only one left around.
The figure representing his past had already disappeared.
"...Goodbye."
Then.
He came to the curtain.
Chose [Take the Stage].
"Alright—the actor is in place, the show should begin."
"This performance is dedicated to you, hoping it leaves you with unforgettable memories..."
"...Kakavasha."
Before lifting the curtain.
Sunday's question seemed to suddenly echo again—
"By the way, before you leave, I have a more personal question."
"Do you... really want to personally destroy this world?"
Aventurine smiled indifferently.
"Hypothetically—just hypothetically—if every time I roll the dice, there's a chance of this outcome..."
"Then I would be more than willing to take that gamble."
The screen,
briefly darkened.
Like a moment of calm before the final act.
Then.
Aventurine's voice spread through the broadcast.
"Ladies and gentlemen—"
"The most astonishing, the grandest performance in the history of Penacony is about to begin—"
"The Interastral Peace Corporation cordially invites you to witness it live—at Clock Studios Theme Park!"
As his words fell.
The Astral Express Crew and Acheron also arrived at the scene.
Aventurine's final performance was finally about to begin!
...
In the theater.
All the company employees stood up!
At this moment.
They were not there as players!
But as the entire Strategic Investment Department, backing Aventurine as his support team!
"It's here! It's finally here!"
"Wuwuwu... Entering the game with his life, facing death to seek life!"
"Ahhhhhh go for it, Director Aventurine!"
"All the hardships along the way were for this moment!"
"I will follow Director Aventurine to the death!"
"We will win!"
"All or nothing!"
On the stage.
Aventurine's voice rang out: "The third murder is about to happen. Right here, at Clock Studios Theme Park..."
"A truly grand death."
"Everyone will die—and all of this because of you, Stellaron, miss..."
"You will personally become death here."
"Let me make it clearer: I will detonate the Stellaron within you, creating a small accident in Penacony..."
Acheron had already formed a partnership with the Astral Express Crew.
Now standing with one hand on her hip.
She said coldly, "Bluffing won't work on us. If you could really do it, you had plenty of chances before."
However.
At this moment, Aventurine seemed extremely confident, even somewhat inflated!
He replied, "Of course I can do it. It's just another gamble."
"I came from the deserts of Sigonia. For sixty copper coins, people branded me, shackled me, sent me to the gallows, and buried me in the sand..."
"But the sun couldn't kill me, and the quicksand instead delivered me into the arms of the Academy and the Company. Remember, I didn't win by chance. I've never lost."
"Let me share a proverb with you all: Sleep is a rehearsal for death. Why does life fall asleep? Because we are not yet ready to face death."
"Every night's descent into sleep is akin to facing death, just like you and me at this very moment, harboring thoughts of death, retreating into slumber. And death... will come in response to our dreams."
"Friends, the game has already begun. You cannot refuse—"
"—there is no reason, nor any room for it."
...
"Aventurine, he's standing up!"
"Always been backstabbing, but now he's finally flipping the table!"
"Good, good, Aventurine is finally going to transform!"
"Taking on the entire Astral Express Crew single-handedly! Plus a bug-level Acheron, I salute you as a true badass!"
"Acheron: You took my spot."
"I can't win, I don't even understand what's going on!"
"I'm siding with Aventurine straight up, helping him destroy Penacony!"
"This line is too cool! It should be added to the company's textbook, memorize the whole thing!"