All or Nothing, Suppression by Force!

With that, Shancheng Kojirō left Itō Hidetaka's room to carry out the arduous task.

Less than 48 hours remained on the countdown. They really didn't have much time left.

Itō Hidetaka's iron-fisted decision also caused a huge uproar in the livestream.

[Bribery? Suppression? Squeezing the workers dry? This way of handling things is way too disgusting.]

[This way of handling things fits my stereotype of the Great He Clan pretty well.]

[Thank goodness our Azure Star in the real world is under the Firmament's control. Otherwise, who knows what kind of shady business the people of Dahe Settlement would get up to...]

[The person above, don't be such a bleeding heart. This is a dungeon, after all. If you want to talk about cruelty, Lin Ye killed thousands of people in a single dungeon. Now that's real cruelty!]

[Although I don't like the people of Dahe Settlement, given the situation, I have to admit that Itō Hidetaka is right.]

[Itō-san! Hero of our Dahe Settlement, you'll definitely clear it this time!]

Everyone argued endlessly, each sticking to their own opinion.

Meanwhile, Itō Hidetaka's decision was being implemented at a frantic pace.

Shancheng Kojirō took a hard line, putting maximum pressure on every institution and industry on Eastern Ocean Island.

It had to be said, the bribery really had worked.

The light screen in the command room displayed the various situations across Eastern Ocean Island.

In the streets, police lights flashed and sirens wailed as officers charged down like tigers from a mountain, frantically arresting troublemakers.

None of the Eastern Ocean Island residents who gathered in crowds and defied the law escaped their wolfhound-like gaze. One after another, they were fitted with "silver bracelets."

The courts also shut down the organizations that spread negative news. In their place, positive news swept in like a flood, lavishly praising Itō Hidetaka's great achievements.

In the latest round of Eastern Ocean Island news, Itō Hidetaka was portrayed outright as a great hero.

Public security squads barged into major factories, standing behind the workers with batons at all times to make sure they produced at full capacity and didn't slack off in the slightest.

The leaders of the legislature were arrested by the police and held in secret. The draft motion to impeach Itō Hidetaka was forcibly halted, reduced to a worthless scrap of paper.

Without a supply of oil, Eastern Ocean Island used up all its reserves in one go, then forcibly substituted other energy sources.

Without imported supplies, Eastern Ocean Island became self-sufficient, bringing out all of its domestic stockpiles.

After all, to Itō Hidetaka and the others, Eastern Ocean Island was part of a virtual world to begin with. Once its supplies were gone, they were gone. What would any of that have to do with them once they left the dungeon?

In short, Eastern Ocean Island presented a scene of "peace and harmony."

About another three hours passed like this.

Another notification came from the Firmament.

[Dear challenger, under your iron-fisted policies, Eastern Ocean Island has temporarily entered a stable state.]

[Economic output has returned to a phase of positive growth!]

[The Firmament reminds the challenger that under your high-pressure policies, the people's loyalty will continue to decline!]

[Once loyalty falls to a certain level, it will trigger widespread protests and riots among the people, and you will completely lose control of Eastern Ocean Island. Challenger, please proceed with caution.]

This time, Itō Hidetaka paid the Firmament's notification no mind at all.

As he saw it, everything the Firmament was saying now was nonsense!

Didn't he know that this approach would stir up discontent among the people of Eastern Ocean Island?

But right now, there was simply no other choice.

With less than two days left before the final deadline, Itō Hidetaka couldn't afford to worry about all that.

As long as he could hold out for those two days, what would it have to do with him even if the people blew Eastern Ocean Island to pieces?!

Itō Hidetaka glanced at Eastern Ocean Island's current economic figures. Its real-time annual GDP per capita had risen from $30,000 to $50,000!

It was now only $20,000 short of the $70,000 target set by Eagle Sauce Country.

This GDP per capita had been through twists and turns. It had initially risen rapidly, only to plunge after Eagle Sauce's sanctions.

Now, thanks to Itō Hidetaka's hard-line policies, it had climbed back up considerably.

"There's hope!"

Looking at the figure, Itō Hidetaka smiled with relief.

"If this keeps up, overtaking Eagle Sauce within two days is definitely possible!"

He began talking to himself again.

"Hmph, Lin Ye, I know you've got some skills, but I could never have imagined how ruthless the people of my Great He Clan can be."

"There may be quite a few ways to improve what I've done this time, but it doesn't matter... The dungeon is being livestreamed in real time, and every viewer is watching."

"My iron-fisted methods are bound to be adopted again. When that happens, anyone will be able to beat your dungeon!"

A day and a half had slipped by unnoticed since the second round of Raging Waves began.

Amid the deep mountain ranges, the cliffside villa stood like a hidden palace, tucked away halfway up a mountainside wreathed in clouds and mist.

Far from the hustle and bustle, it was serene and elegant.

Lin Ye had just finished an exhilarating long run on the treadmill. Sweat poured down like a waterfall, soaking the back of his clothes.

Having just enjoyed the satisfaction and pleasure brought on by dopamine, he was getting ready for a comfortable cold shower.

He turned on the villa's sound system and projected the Raging Waves livestream directly onto the bathroom wall.

He then saw what was happening in the dungeon.

"This Itō Hidetaka—whatever else you might say about him, he's pretty tenacious," Lin Ye remarked.

By Lin Ye's reckoning, Itō Hidetaka and his group definitely shouldn't have been able to hold out for a day and a half.

By all rights, their defeat should have come crashing down like a mountain after Eagle Sauce's sanctions.

Unexpectedly, Itō Hidetaka had come up with a policy of "a brave man cutting off his own wrist," forcibly prolonging his own life and somehow dragging things out for this much longer.

"Good attitude, but what a shame. There's no way a method like this can clear the dungeon."

"If he keeps this up, all he'll do is make the dungeon's punishment even harsher."

In Lin Ye's view, Itō Hidetaka's self-righteous iron-fisted methods were actually the most foolish of all.

Azure Star had never had a real economic system, so some people in the bullet comments still thought Itō Hidetaka had some skill.

In reality... what fucking skill?

No matter the circumstances, forcibly squeezing people dry was the stupidest approach.

It was something anyone with half a brain knew: when an old ox stopped working, give it a couple of lashes with a whip.

That wasn't called being clever. That was called being a brute.

If Raging Waves could be cleared with such a crude approach, then not only was Lin Ye, its designer, a fool, but the Firmament that reviewed it was blind too.

In fact, there were many ways to clear the Non-Combat Mode of the second task.

One could create an economic crisis, develop emerging industries, introduce a series of restrictive policies, or even speculate in currency...

But without exception, every method required some understanding of economics.

In the history of his previous life, Little Japan's economy had surpassed Eagle Sauce's before, and more than once.

These things had really happened, which meant overtaking the other economy in the dungeon had to be feasible. It wasn't a "dead end."

Unfortunately, let alone economics, even the most basic economic common sense was a barren desert on Azure Star.

In the military field, Azure Star was behind, but it at least had some grasp of the subject.

In other fields, such as economics and politics, however, Azure Star was completely empty.

So... for these challengers from Azure Star, choosing the second task was actually far more difficult than choosing the first.

The first task might still offer a sliver of hope, but the second offered no chance whatsoever.

"Itō Hidetaka, the moment you chose to suppress them by force, your failure this time was already decided."

Lin Ye shook his head and switched off the livestream.