There can't be a Harvest Moon in the RimWorld.

"How can you expect me to calm down? There's nothing here, and you and Mary are never home. Have you ever considered my feelings?!"

"Wait... I can't breathe properly, why is everything pitch black?"

"Bakir, what are you doing lying on the ground! I'm going to get angry!"

"Anna, quickly go and call Dr. Dort... I think I've had a brain hemorrhage..."

Peeking through the crack in the door, I saw that behind Mrs. Anna, the black stand-in, made of resentment, was billowing thick smoke, completely obscuring Mr. Basil, who had changed into his outdoor clothes and was preparing to go into the mountains, as he rolled on the ground in vain and wailed.

Good grief, is there really no GM to regulate this kind of cheating? Is a completely different power system really reasonable?

And... someone please save Mr. Bakir! He seems to be in a lot of pain. Is he going to suffocate from the dark energy?

Wait, it seems like our savior has appeared?!

A figure in a dress peeked out from the second floor and immediately saw her mother still nagging Mr. Baqir, while her poor father was on his deathbed!

The figure swiftly moved from the stairs to the living room, moving with agility and stealth, skillfully utilizing the angles of view created by the tables, chairs, flower pot stands, and pillars, fully showcasing its Akarin-like attributes.

The black mist that filled the room was like a giant, multicolored black python, which absurdly pounced on all living things, even the Siamese cat in the house was attacked, but it still did not notice her presence!

"Mary, please help me... I feel so bad..."

Father and daughter are of one mind; Mr. Basil wailed as he sensed something.

The figure who entered the living room heard the cry for help, observed for a while, and seemed to have mustered up the courage to finally walk lightly toward Mr. Baqir's direction!

This Stand user, who seemed intent on devouring its prey, actually bypassed her, allowing the Akarin girl to overcome numerous dangers, pick up the rolling house cat from the ground, and continue towards Mr. Basil, reaching out her hand...

Then I said hello.

"Dad, Mom, I'm going to the library to read. I'll come home around dinner time."

After saying that, she brushed past the entrance, skipped a few steps to the door, and quickly changed her shoes, just like an ordinary child going to school. But as soon as she was out of Mrs. Anna's sight, she immediately rolled on the spot, slipped out the door, and disappeared around the street corner.

Mr. Baqir's outstretched hand fell down.

…………

I took out my key, opened the police station door, went up to the small library on the second floor, and sure enough, I saw Mary, the Akarin girl, sitting in her favorite little sofa, holding a cup of red tea and reading a book.

Before me was a new table I'd never seen before, shorter than the old one, but more stable, covered with an apricot-yellow gauze tablecloth.

"Mr. Basil... are you really sure you're okay?"

"Yes, no problem."

If her hand holding the cup doesn't tremble, it will be even more convincing.

I sat down opposite her, poured myself a cup of black tea, and then grimaced.

"Wow...this is way too sweet!"

The Akali girl opposite remained calm. "The maple syrup jar and the table at home both perished. We didn't control the amount of sugar we took from home properly."

Are these two things related to you?! Poor Mr. Basil, he probably just tried to turn a fly into a butterfly with some butter, it's not a capital offense!

"And your father's salary..."

"I used it to buy manuscript paper."

Mr. Baqir, may you rest in peace.

I poured out all the black tea, rinsed the bottom of the cup twice with water, but it still tasted sweet. I poured myself a cup of hot water and went back to my seat.

Acala, surrounded by books, exuded almost no girlish charm. Her quiet demeanor blended seamlessly with the towering books, as if she would remain silent until the end of time.

"Uh, buying manuscript paper... By the way, didn't you say you were going to start writing a novel? How's it going?"

The Akarin girl didn't look up: "Well, I haven't started writing yet."

I asked curiously, "It's been almost a month, and you still haven't started writing? The plot development can be decided by rolling dice, right?"

"Yes, we're still documenting the outline, and the progress is still behind schedule."

Oh, I get it. She's the legendary writer who can't write without an outline. Her outline is already a million words long, and she still feels she's not fully prepared.

I really need to talk to her about this; that's not how an author should act.

Relying on the syllabus? No, it's clearly about digging traps. The four subjects are all about deception and trickery. One big trap leads to another, and the second leads to a bottomless pit. The bottomless pit becomes a tunnel. Even if thousands of troops fall into these traps, they won't make a ripple. The only downside is that it's easy to trap yourself to death.

"Let me see how much you wrote," I said.

The Akalin girl nodded and picked up the bone china teacup and book.

I was completely confused.

What do you mean? You're too lazy to talk to me?

I stared at her tentatively, but found that there was no displeasure on her face. Instead, she had an unusual look on her face, which did not seem like she was angry with me.

"It's all here, you can see for yourself."

The Akarin girl finished reading a page of her book, folded a corner of it with a hint of lingering interest, and slowly said something before lifting the apricot-yellow tablecloth in front of her...

Four neatly stacked piles of paper, bound together with thread and piled high, formed a table of equal length and width, so much so that when covered with a tablecloth, it looked like a small coffee table. And on these papers, something was densely written in delicate, small handwriting…

I pulled out the last one, marked with the date, which had this string of seemingly profound but actually mysterious information written on it.

【记录：第1011年3月11日，［马库斯］的投资鉴定结果：D100=99/20=大失败。】

Even with a vast collection of precious artifacts, your disastrous business acumen turned this sale into a charitable endeavor that vanished without a trace. The uncollected payments were all swindled by downstream buyers, and shipping and labor costs drained your wallet. The change you had left couldn't even buy a ticket home—the exact price of a bullet.

[Data Update: Character's wealth has decreased by 99%, current remaining assets are 20G]

"Huh..." I looked at the paper, a little confused about what had happened.

The Akarin girl snatched the paper from my hand, turned it over, and stuffed it back into my hand.

【记录：第1011年3月12日，［马库斯］的生存鉴定结果：D100=1/80=大成功。】

Determined to end your life, you put the gun in your mouth. But when you pulled the trigger, smoke billowed from the chamber; the damp bullet failed to fire. Angered, you threw the gun to the ground, and the old revolver flashed again, killing the gang leader in the car parked nearby. Unable to avoid being torn to pieces, you were forced to begin your life on the run.

[Data Update: Role changed from [Investor] to [Fugitive]]

"Snapped."

I slammed the paper on the table. "The role-playing game has been around for over a thousand years, and I'm not only penniless but also a fugitive? Is this really reasonable?!"

"Yes, I rolled the dice exactly according to the storyline, and recorded the result every time. But I found that any investment or construction-related judgments always failed, while life-or-death crisis judgments always succeeded. Even dice rolls when the character was nearing the end of their lifespan and about to die of old age miraculously succeeded. There was no way to kill the character."

The Akarin girl, Mary, looked up at a forty-five-degree angle and sighed. "In the end, we had to explain it as the protagonist being cursed by the god of poverty, possessing an immortality..."

I also fell silent.

A roll of the dice can somehow create an immortal, penniless rancher.

No wonder Mary hasn't started writing for so long—who would want to serialize the failures of an immortal poor guy for thousands of years? (╯°□°）╯︵┻━┻！

His name is Marcus. Is this some kind of mysterious curse? If he were to encounter some poor, progenitor vampire, the two would probably have quite a bit to talk about…

"If you can't write it, then don't force it. Just burn these scraps of paper."

I took a sip of water, and my mind gradually calmed down.

I wrote for a month and then found out the protagonist was a poor guy. So what? I've lived for over twenty years and only now do I realize I'm just a passerby.

"Let me ask you a question, Mary. Have you ever heard of a festival called the Harvest Festival?"

The Akarin girl shook her head and pondered quietly for a while.

"It seems to be a local festival in the Grams region. I've read about it in modern literature about Dundee Castle."

I was overjoyed. "Really? Tell me in detail!"

The Akalin girl maintained her aloof demeanor, saying, "Actually, I don't know much. It's probably in that region where roses are abundant. During the harvest festival, people bring their harvest to share with the villagers, looking forward to the next year's harvest."

Should we share the spoils? But in situations of widespread poverty like this, what should we offer in exchange? A thermos for a stainless steel basin?

Seeing my frown, she added in a slightly lower voice, "If needed, I can look through other books from the same period."

"Thank you so much! With you helping me find the information, there's only one problem left to solve!"

I stood up. "Oh, right, I'll take this yellow tablecloth with me."

.........

Battle flags fluttered in the autumn wind, and a large apricot-yellow flag bearing the words "Acting on behalf of Heaven" was raised high behind me.

What does it mean to act on behalf of Heaven? Wind, rain, thunder, and lightning are all part of the Way of Heaven. How can ordinary mortals possibly act on behalf of Heaven? The Tao Te Ching says: "The Way of Heaven takes from those who have more than enough and gives to those who have less than enough." The Way of Man is different; it takes from those who have less than enough and gives to those who have more than enough. Who can have more than enough to give to the world? Only those who follow the Way.

As the only righteous person in town, I righteously knocked on Thomas the Tank Engine's door.

"Mayor, open the door! I've come to see you!"

Thomas was jolted awake and reflexively covered his eyes with his comical nightcap. "Gone! Everything's gone! Not a single bit left! If you want any more supplies, just slice me up!"

I stepped forward and pulled him up.

"Wake up! I'm Acting Sheriff Marcus, not those locusts! I'm here to collect my money!"

Thomas's expression softened slightly. He looked at me with sleepy eyes and muttered, "Oh, it's Marcus... Why are you wearing a tablecloth? And don't you still owe me money..."

...Is this person confused or lucid? How come he remembers so clearly that I robbed him of his money?

"Never mind that, just give me all the town's funds right now."

I immediately stretched out my hand, indicating that I would give them some!

Thomas instantly woke up, wide awake, and asked warily, "What are you going to do?!"

He sat up abruptly from his deathbed, trembling, and warned, "This is public money. Misappropriating it is not as easy to settle as robbing me!"

But I'm not here for such a simple matter. I said directly, "We can talk about those trivial things later. Let's discuss official business first! What did those bastards in the Special Operations Force say? They're not really planning to just leave and let us starve, are they?"

Thomas said, confused, "I've already sent out three requisition letters. The supplies will be replenished soon, so there shouldn't be any problem."

After I told Mayor Little Train everything I knew, he belatedly gasped in shock.

“If Dart said that, then it’s very likely… I’m also worried that those guys are up to something else…”

Thomas the Tank Engine said in frustration, "Why didn't Dart just tell me? It's been several days already, and even if I went to the state legislature to lobby, it would be too late!"

I glanced at him sideways: "The boss said he tried to talk to you about it for three days in a row, but you just lay there sleeping and pretending to be dead. You didn't listen at all."

"Uh……"

Thomas said with a pained expression, "Alright, I'll have to think of something too. Marcus, don't tell the townspeople yet. Let's try to get through this difficult time first, otherwise Mineral Town will have to disband!"