Save the simulator and make Sarkaz great again!

"Is this... really Kazdel?"

She whispered softly, a tremor in her voice.

The further she went, the more shocked she became. She arrived at a newly built residential area.

The houses are arranged in neat rows, with glazed tiles on the roofs, and the afterglow of the setting sun gilds the tiles with a layer of gold.

"Mom, look! The kite I made!"

A little girl ran excitedly toward a Sarkaz woman, holding a simple but whimsical kite in her hand. The kite's frame was made of straw, covered with colorful paper pieces with crookedly drawn patterns.

"it's beautiful!"

The Sarkaz woman smiled and patted her daughter's head, her eyes full of love.

Gazing at the heartwarming scene before her, Theresa's eyes glazed over.

Hope is like a tree; it grows on its own, takes deep root in our hearts, and can even thrive on the ruins of our souls.

The more blindly this feeling is expressed, the stronger it becomes. It's incredible that it's most intense when it's completely irrational.

Theresa walked through the outer city market and finally stopped beside a newly built pavilion.

A man from Ursus sat under the gazebo, his head bowed as he mended a straw hat. Several Originium crystals were exposed on his wrists, gleaming faintly in the sunlight.

Theresa recognized the hat—it was a sunshade issued by the Sarkaz Democratic Union, with the union's emblem embroidered on the edge.

"Excuse me, may I ask you something?"

She spoke softly.

The man looked up, a hint of surprise flashing in his cloudy gray eyes.

"You...you are an official from the Sarkaz Democratic Union?"

He hurriedly got up, his straw hat rolling off his knees, which Theresa bent down to pick up.

"Just call me Theresa."

She handed him the hat, her gaze falling on the thick calluses on his palm.

"Were you a miner before?"

"I used to be an employee of the Ursus Originium Refinery. Due to an accident, I contracted Oripathy and was then exiled to the North."

"Those people, they ruined my family..."

The man gripped his straw hat tightly, his knuckles turning white.

"I've forgotten how many years I spent mining Originium under the frozen ground of Ursus... It's a place where you don't want to remember the past. You see, you can't even wash the grime from under your fingernails clean."

He opened his palm, and sure enough, there were indelible stains embedded in the grooves, like marks left by the eternal night beneath the earth.

"But here, they call it the medal of the worker."

Theresa's gaze flickered slightly.

"Can you tell me about the past?"

The man's gaze swept across the distant wheat fields, as if piercing through time to see the blizzards of the North.

"Life in the mine was like being a dog chained up—being whipped down the mine every day, drinking mud mixed with Originium dust, and watching your companions cough up blood clots one by one... but none of that mattered."

"The scariest thing was when we came out of the mine. The patrol would make us line up and take turns pulling down our clothes to check the crystals."

“The hyenas’ eyes… were like they were looking at a walking lump of rotten flesh. My wife was holding our daughter and hiding in the crowd, but as soon as she saw my exposed skin, she covered our daughter’s eyes and screamed and ran away.”

His voice suddenly became as soft as falling dust, carrying a sense of vicissitude. He gently stroked the Originium crystal on the surface of his wrist.

"That day I realized that what really crushes a person is not the weight of the pickaxe, but the look in the eyes of even your closest relatives who see you as a monster."

A red-tailed feathered beast fluttered down onto the pavilion railing, pecking at the grains of wheat that had spilled out of the man's pocket. He grabbed a handful of millet and scattered it in his palm, and the beast jumped onto his fingers.

"In Kazdel, even the feathered beasts are not afraid of the infected."

He grinned, revealing his missing front tooth.

“Last month, the union threw a birthday party for my daughter, and the Sarkaz kids taught her how to make straw butterflies.”

"That was the first time I saw her smile since she left her mother."

Theresa saw the tears in the corners of his eyes sinking into the depths of his wrinkles.

"Now, after work every day, I sit on the edge of the field and listen to my coworkers sing."

"In Ursus, we even have to cover our mouths when we cry, for fear of being treated as waste."

The sun was about to set, and twinkling lights appeared at the edge of the wheat field. The man stood up and dusted off his trousers.

"It's time to pick up my daughter; she's going to perform a new Sarkaz nursery rhyme she learned today."

Theresa nodded. As she stood up, she couldn't help but look back, and this unintentional act suddenly gave her a clear view of the entire city.

Across the street, three Liberi teenagers were helping an elderly man from Ursus carry sacks of wheat, the crystals on the backs of the infected's hands rubbing against the skin of the healthy man alternately against the wooden crates.

In front of the bakery window, a mother wearing a headscarf squats down and patiently teaches a Liberian child to read the literacy manual distributed by the trade union.

Even by the maintenance port of the steam pipes by the roadside, workers of various ethnic groups leaned against each other, chatting and laughing, their oil-stained gloves stacked together without any distinction.

Theresa’s gaze drifted to a daze. Decades ago, in the Tower of Babel, she had wandered around all night clutching a draft reform bill. The words “equal rights for the infected” on the paper were long since blurred and illegible.

Her most radical idea at the time was nothing more than to secure a medical station outside the quarantine zone and establish an Oripathy research project at Babel Tower... She never even dared to imagine such a feat as accepting infected people.

At this moment, Shen Lin had transformed the entire country into a painting that she dared not even dream of depicting.

This is the prototype of a unified nation.

She suddenly remembered Kal'tsit's cold question, but at that moment it was like an insignificant drop of water falling into a churning golden sea of ​​wheat—it was no longer important.

Kazdel's miracle was never a lighthearted speech or slogan, but rather enabled even the humblest lives to grasp their own precious moonlight amidst the cracks of suffering.

All of human wisdom is contained in these four words: "struggle" and "hope".

Only when people are satisfied with material abundance can they roam freely in the sky of their ideals.

She had put the cart before the horse before, but fortunately Shen Lin's appearance brought Kazdel back to normal in time.

For a Sarkaz, an epitaph is too short, and their life is too long.

……

Theresa slowly stepped into Kazdel's inner city, and the sight before her made her hold her breath instantly.

Her pupils contracted slightly, and her heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand. Shock and doubt intertwined in her mind.

"How can this be?"

Where her gaze fell, the dilapidated streets of her memory were no longer visible; instead, towering factories and chimneys stretched out before her.

Mist gushed out of the pipes, forming streaks of white mist in the air, like giant dragons circling low in the sky.

The roar of machines came from all directions, like the earth whispering, or like some newborn force roaring.

Her gaze was unfocused as she stared at the endless stream of vehicles, their wheels rolling on the smooth road surface with a low rumble.

On the street, workers in uniform walked with firm and orderly steps. Theresa noticed that their faces did not show fatigue or numbness, but rather radiated a confidence and vitality she had never seen before.

Her gaze was drawn to a massive steel building, an Originium refinery, with towering chimneys piercing the sky and engines slowly turning under mechanical drive, emitting a deep rumble.

"When... were these built?"

She looked around blankly, her feet moving forward involuntarily, like a country bumpkin who had just arrived in the city. She felt so insignificant in this city.

Kazdel, is this Kazdel?

Theresa simply couldn't reconcile the highly developed country before her with the Kazdel of the past.

In her memory, Kazdel was still the same ruins covered with Originium crystals.

"Lady Theresa! You're back!"

A familiar voice came from behind her. She turned around and saw a graceful and elegant female demon waving at her with a radiant smile on her face.

"Ramallen, what... happened here?"

Theresa's voice trembled slightly; she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

She had dreamed countless times of Kazdel's revival, but she never imagined it would happen so swiftly.

"These are all thanks to His Highness."

Lamaren smiled slightly, stepped forward, and gently took Theresa's hand.

"Lady Theresa, if you are curious, you should go and see His Highness!"

Ramalyn's voice pulled her back to reality. She nodded blankly, and led by Ramalyn, they found the Sarkaz Democratic Union.

Theresa glimpsed Shen Lin's figure through the slightly ajar door.

He handled various administrative matters as usual, his gaze deep and resolute. His figure appeared exceptionally tall under the warm lamplight, like an unshakeable mountain peak.

“Shen Lin…”

Theresa called softly, her voice filled with complex emotions. Shen Lin looked up, and the moment he saw her, a gentle smile appeared on his lips.

"Welcome home, Theresa."

Theresa's nose stung with tears, and she murmured softly, trying to suppress her emotions.

"Ramaren just took me on a short tour of Kazdel, and I... can't believe this is Kazdel."

"Shen Lin, how...how did you do that?"

"I spent decades lobbying various countries, but I couldn't even secure the most basic right to healthcare. Nobody wanted to come to Kazdel..."

"I initially thought they were just worried about the Sarkaz being hostile towards them, so I started cultivating Kazdel's image of peace on the international stage, but..."

This time, Theresa was truly and completely captivated by the man before her.

Upon hearing this, the man simply chuckled and shook his head.

"A person will never grow up if no one says no to her."

"You always wanted to carry the burden for them, but you forgot that a single spark can start a prairie fire."

"In the long years of war, there is no end to concessions. In the endless concessions, Kazdel lost all its lands and was left with only its last refuge."

"In the final moments, we almost didn't even have a single weapon left to raise to protect our people."

“Theresa, those who dare to fight against suffering should not have prejudices, for their enemy is the prejudices of this land, and once they have prejudices, suffering will immediately conquer them.”

“All atrocities, if they may have some merit… If these many atrocities can break the chains of suffering, even just once, we shall do so.”

Shen Lin put down her work, walked to the window and drew back the curtains. Under the brilliant night view, the outline of the entire city unfolded before her eyes, like a painting ignited by sparks.

The streets were brightly lit, and the factory chimneys were still spewing white smoke, which transformed into a flowing Milky Way in the night, echoing the starlight in the sky.

The flames from the furnace poured through the glass factory buildings, turning the sky a crimson hue, while the roar of the engines sounded as gentle as a lullaby.

The footsteps and laughter of countless Sarkaz people mingled together, breaking the silence of the night. The warm yellow glow enveloped the lights of thousands of homes, like millions of fireflies dancing an endless dance.

"..."

All words paled in comparison at this moment. Theresa's heart felt as if it were about to leap out of her chest. She never imagined that she would witness the glory of an era in Kazdel in her lifetime.

She could no longer suppress her emotions, and glistening tears welled up in her eyes, like dewdrops trembling on the tips of grass in the early morning.

At that moment, she forgot all the tragedies and saw only miracles.

Chapter Ninety-Five: The Flag Fluttering in the Wind

Two years have passed quietly, like sand slipping through our fingers.

Letania... This country was once hailed as the artistic beacon of Terra, a temple of art that everyone yearns for, where even the air seems to be filled with fragrance.

But the more a tree's branches and leaves are exposed to light, the deeper its roots penetrate into darkness.

Alexei, a young Sarkaz member and member of the Sarkaz Democratic Union, is standing in a makeshift camp in the Witch King's territory.

His mission is to bring back those infected individuals and their families who are willing to travel to Kazdel.

When the infected people from all over the world arrived in Letania, they found that things were not as wonderful as they had imagined. The acceptance of infected people was only a facade, and they still suffered inhumane treatment.

The rise of Kazdel gave many infected people hope; they longed to escape the oppression of Letania and head to the land known as the "Homeland of the Infected."

However, things did not go as smoothly as Alexei had hoped.