This time I chose Paladin.

Chapter 295 When the Tide Recedes
The other faction, represented by the senior liaison officer known as the 'Tide Diver,' appears to be more pragmatic.

She stroked the holy emblem on her chest, made of seashells and deep-sea minerals, and said in a low, calm tone: "The principle of cycles includes life and death, purification and devouring."

"While the actions of the Church of Life are certainly not refined, they are indeed gathering a vast amount of life energy in an attempt to 'create' some kind of existence."

"Life is born from primal needs and desires, which has nothing to do with life itself. Success or failure is part of the cycle and is in accordance with the principles of life."

"Perhaps this is the time for the cyclical principle to show its harsh side. We should help complete this process and guide it in the right direction at the right time, putting that power to good use and returning it to the true cyclical way."

"Assistance"? "Guidance"? Radicals scoff at this, seeing it as a betrayal of doctrine.

But the Tide Diver's hints at the possibility of 'taking over the spoils' have quietly stirred something in the hearts of some.

With such immense wealth before them, who wouldn't want to reap the rewards?

"Forget it, all of that is too far in the future." The Tide Singer shook his head slightly. "The question now is, has the missing persons case been solved? Where exactly did our partner go?"

……

Meanwhile, in Kushui Town, a completely different kind of vitality is struggling to emerge.

Order, a word that had almost disappeared in ruins and despair, is being rewoven by Nie Weiyang, Albert, and others using power and rules.

Albert, with his integrated self-defense force, surveyed the designated security zone with sharp eyes, dealing with sporadic disputes and external disturbances. His iron fist ensured the most basic stability.

Russell, like a tireless gardener, found several relatively clean water sources and cultivated edible tubers and fungi, which became his means of survival.

Nie Weiyang became the core of this fragile system.

He wasn't always at the forefront, but he was omnipresent. His fairness in distributing supplies, his calmness in handling disputes, the healing aura he occasionally exuded, even his steady steps and calm yet terrifying... no, awe-inspiring gaze when he patrolled the camp—all these were like a stabilizing force, gradually calming people's fearful hearts.

This is Nie Weiyang's attempt. Right now, things are relatively easy to do around China. But when he goes further afield, he needs a set of procedures he'll be comfortable with for 'stabilizing others and gaining their trust'.

The people who exist today all come from Earth. Having long been accustomed to order, they only need two or three days of review to get back used to working at sunrise and participating in camp reinforcement, sanitation, or simple gathering work.

When Nie Weiyang was restarting, one of his concerns about the future was that people would forget where they came from and forget the path they should take.

Because he had already seen it before.

Twenty years is enough time for a generation to grow up. In the previous timeline, trust and order in the world twenty years later were so fragile that people found it difficult to act in an orderly manner. When almost everyone possessed the power to disrupt order to some extent, how many people would still persist in learning, thinking, and becoming supporters behind others?
Even in the internet age, countless people still insist that the Earth is flat, or that the greatest hardship humanity has ever faced was a great flood, and that God's anger reduced the average lifespan of people from thousands of years to a few decades.

On Titan, how many people can think in a normal way?
The collapse of order further exacerbated the problem's malignant development.

People are always full of a fragile resilience; when they are vulnerable, a single word can overturn their worldview, but when they are determined, nothing can make them back down.

How to maintain it, at least for now, is a matter for all of humanity.

How to strike a balance in all of this, gaining trust without being believed in, is Nie Weiyang's task.

Nie Weiyang stared at the distant Life Manor, his brows furrowed.

In the past few days, he has become certain that the Zhiren Human Sea is indeed pushing his self-positioning towards that of the second administrator.

Of course, the best development for Zhi Ren Hai would be for Nie Weiyang to become an absolutely ruthless administrator, a war commander who fits the role of this uniform, a character who will stop at nothing to continue and tear the future apart for revenge.

In any case, since there is no true self in the human mind, the pain brought by such a second administrator will only be borne by the visitors from Earth.

This might make some sense, because no matter what, visitors from Earth will become part of the human mind after their lives end... The waves of their life and death will impact Administrator Number Two.

but……

In the gentle breeze, Nie Weiyang did not head towards the manor, but turned back.

The aroma of cooking smoke drifts on the wind, a wind that comes from the direction of my hometown.

"Boss!" Russell came running over in a flash, his clothes covered in a mess of leaves, a truly unsightly sight. He grinned and pulled a glutinous rice ball from his backpack, held in a broad leaf, the ball still smelling of mango. "Ta-da! First batch, first one!" He shoved the food into Nie Weiyang's hands. "If you don't like it, go yell at Lao Lin. I'm going to distribute the food to the others!"

Russell ran off again in a flurry.

Nie Weiyang: “…”

He stared silently at the sticky, sweet glutinous rice for a moment, then took a bite.

I must say, it tastes pretty good.

……

In short, the people here are increasingly trusting and relying on Nie Weiyang and his associates. Even though this trust is still built on quicksand, things are progressing according to Nie Weiyang's plan.

Every morning, from the direction of the distant Life Manor, there would occasionally be eerie energy fluctuations that made one's heart tremble. Sometimes they were accompanied by faint roars, and sometimes by warm white light shooting into the sky from the direction of the false god statue.

Not to mention the cold countdown timer on everyone's system interface—

[World Boss: Administrator #2] has been added to the event list and will begin in 6 hours.

A gloomy atmosphere hangs over everyone's heart, forcing people to make choices.

"Second Administrator... since he's going to refresh in this area, will he only target the manor?"

"...Can he help us survive?"

"What will happen if... if the manor fails?"

"Is the manor our only hope?"

"No, they're the ones who brought this on!"

"Should we escape quickly...?"

"Escape? Where to escape to? The epidemic area is in three directions, and behind us are jungles and mountains... Escaping will only lead to a faster death."

"Then what should we do..."

"...Trust them. Trust that paladin. That's all we can do now."

Similar whispers, during breaks from work, in the stillness of the night, flowed quietly among the crowd like an underground current.

Hope and fear are intertwined, trust and doubt coexist.

Nie Weiyang could always hear these thoughts, but he just continued to do everything he was supposed to do, only listing countless plans and schemes deep in his heart.

Undercurrents surged. He consolidated his camp, observed the enemy's anxiety and division, calculated the time, and waited for the best opportunity to destroy the idol, gain the proof of trust, and annihilate the Cult of Life in this place with minimal losses.

Russell returned humming a song after distributing the food, grinning at him: "The corpses of the Mother Goddess Cult members have finally rotted. I had Jin Huang throw them into the river near the Mother Goddess Cult."

Nie Weiyang gave a kind smile.

"How is the Life Manor shantytown now?" he asked.

“Albert provided ample information, and the operation went smoothly,” Russell chuckled, the wind rustling the leaves on his clothes. A scorpion crawled onto his hand, which he gently stroked. “The damned are all dead. They’ve returned to the ‘cycle of life and death’ they loved.”

“I said, although it hurts a bit, they should thank me, because if you were here, they wouldn’t be so peaceful.”

“You’re right,” Nie Weiyang said with a smile. “Let’s go and wait for Administrator Number Two to appear.”

"To be honest, he was really angry. This is the first time in a long time that I've seen him actually prepared to fulfill his duties as a boss..."

(End of this chapter)