Left hand holding Sparkle, right hand holding Firefly, a Genius Society member strapped to his back, Pei Guang used his backside to propel himself at superhuman speed and reached the edge of the rooftop.
Seeing the bottomless drop below, Sparkle clung tightly to Pei Guang. "I'm scared…"
Firefly softly said: "Don't be! Next, you'll see something amazing… Butt Wall-Climb!"
For Firefly, who had experienced it firsthand before, this way of escaping was actually quite fun. But seeing Sparkle also being held in Pei Guang's arms, Firefly felt a little unhappy.
Yet, after comparing a little, Firefly also felt a bit pleased.
Because of Sparkle's smaller build, Pei Guang could hold her easily by squeezing her in one arm. But since Firefly's figure was better, and to avoid accidentally touching sensitive places, Pei Guang had to spread his arms wider and hold her tighter.
But then Firefly quickly realized something was wrong: "Wait, what am I even happy about?"
Of course, Pei Guang gave her no time to think, because at that moment he leapt, holding them both, gliding from one building to another.
That day, the pursuing Bloodhounds saw a scene none of them had ever witnessed in their entire lives: a man carrying two women in his arms, with an old man on his back, running down a vertical wall with his butt, and then leaping across buildings.
And during Pei Guang's leap, someone—some wicked prankster—added a rainbow trail to his backside, one even Pei Guang himself didn't notice.
So as he flew through the air, a rainbow shot out from behind him. It looked as if Pei Guang was spraying out… though of course, it really wasn't him spraying the rainbow.
Just imagine it: between two buildings, a man sticking his butt out and spraying a rainbow…
Such an absurd image—they couldn't have dreamed of it even in a dream. Yet here it was, right in front of them.
In that instant, the Bloodhounds forgot all about the chase, staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the sight.
Unknowingly creating a rainbow unknowingly, Pei Guang landed safely on the opposite building, and upon landing, he immediately began to climb.
Seeing Pei Guang's movement, the Bloodhounds gave chase. Unlike him, they had to pass through mechanisms set up by Dreamweavers.
The contraptions weren't slow, but compared to Pei Guang's direct leaps, they were far behind.
That day, Penacony's Dreamweavers' carefully designed mechanisms ended up blocking their own people.
The four of them safely reached another rooftop. Once there, Pei Guang wasted no time: he pulled a pile of weapons out of his storage space.
These were various weapons Pei Guang had swiped from the Xianzhou Luofu: missile-like crossbows, and single-molecule chainsaws shaped like saw blades.
As he pulled them out, he urged Firefly and Sparkle: "Quick! Pick the weapons that feel right for you. I'll set things up around here—when they arrive, we'll give them a big surprise!"
Earlier, they had been caught off guard, outnumbered and discovered too soon. Pei Guang hadn't been confident he could protect an old man missing his memories.
But now, with time and no one around, he was preparing for a counterattack.
Firefly spotted a flying sword and picked it up. "This one's fine for me~"
Sparkle said: "As for me~ I'll take this one~"
Unlike Firefly, Sparkle's eyes lit up when she saw a chainsaw among the pile. The well-behaved girl Sparkle hefted a chainsaw almost as big as herself.
Firefly asked: "What do we do next? Do we… have backup?"
Pei Guang nodded: "We do! I'm calling people now."
He had already pulled out his phone and opened the Simulated Universe test group.
This group had been set up by Herta, so that Pei Guang could receive updates on the Simulated Universe more quickly. Not knowing how to describe the current situation, Pei Guang started with the classic opener:
Pei Guang: "You there?"
Herta: "Can't test."
The last set of data hadn't even been fully analyzed, and the costs from last time were still huge. Herta was busy soliciting sponsorships across the universe.
Fortunately, during Pei Guang's last simulation run, he had obtained a lot of valuable info on the Amber Lord, which allowed Herta to successfully secure significant funding from the Company.
Meanwhile, the Simulated Universe was still under reconstruction and maintenance. Every time Pei Guang played it, he blew it up, which hurt a bit.
But thankfully, the rewards outweighed the losses by far.
Pei Guang: "As long as you're there, it's fine. Don't be scared when I tell you this."
Screwllum: "Rest assured, we're members of the Genius Society. We won't be afraid."
Pei Guang: "Our Express crew was invited to Penacony to attend the Festival. Guess what?"
Herta: "What?"
Pei Guang: "I just ran into a Genius Society member imprisoned by the Family!!!"
Herta: "?"
Screwllum: "?"
Ruan Mei: "?"
Stephen: "?"
Even Ruan Mei and Stephen, who had been lurking silently, were shocked when they saw this message.
If it were anyone else, they would've thought it was just a joke.
But who was Pei Guang? Someone valued by the Aeon of Erudition, someone who could make Nous so mad that Its best friend, Aha, had to step in to cool things down.
A special existence.
Herta: "Explain in detail!"
Pei Guang: "Basically, I was running all over Penacony and ran into an old man being held prisoner. He said he was a member of the Genius Society. His name is Chadwick."
Herta: "!!!"
Herta: "You're not joking?"
Pei Guang: "I'm on a mission!"
If Pei Guang had said "I'm not joking," Herta might still have thought there was some chance it was a joke.
But once he said "I'm on a mission," Herta immediately took it seriously.
Herta: "You're serious? Hurry! Return to the space station and find me!"
At that moment, Herta got serious: not just her, even Screwllum, who was helping her analyze the last batch of data they got from Pei Guang, also shifted into full seriousness.
As for Ruan Mei and Stephen, they were just quietly watching for now.
But then Pei Guang's next words made it impossible for Ruan Mei to just sit back and spectate.
Pei Guang: "Can't get back. We barely managed to rescue this old man, and now we're being surrounded and chased down~ I can't leave right now. If I could, I'd have run off with him already."
Pei Guang: "Man, they sent a lot of people~ Save save save save me~"
Was it really that urgent on Pei Guang's side? Not at all.
He had already connected several buildings along the border and quickly set up defenses. He was actually planning to farm the Bloodhound Family members for coins.
Meanwhile, after a quick exchange, both Herta and Screwllum chose to believe his words.
Herta: "Screwllum is already on the way! And protect him—that's also my commission."
Screwllum: "Please do not worry. I will reach Penacony as quickly as possible. Until then, protect Calderon Chadwick."
Pei Guang: "Oh? A double mission? Don't worry, until you arrive, no one's taking him from me."
Originally, there had only been one mission, and Pei Guang's attitude was just to muddle through, make some coins, and get something out of it.
But now the mission had doubled—and one of them was from the very generous Herta herself. His attitude instantly improved.
Seeing more and more Bloodhound Family members closing in, Pei Guang pulled out his "heavy weapon."
It was simple: a trash can stuffed full of bombs that could all detonate at once.
With weapons prepared, Pei Guang then pulled out several garbage bags.
He had already used up a lot of trash earlier to strengthen his stats in the dream, but thankfully he had enough left to use the skill [Might of the Can].
He laid the garbage bags out on the ground and began chanting.
"The evil Family runs rampant in the land of dreams, imprisoning countless ordinary people in their nightmares. Even geniuses of the Genius Society have become their slaves. But! They cannot stop our will to save the dream world.
The holy garbage bags connect us, uniting us in this dream. Come forth! My people! Let us join our minds as one, to guard this place, to guard this beautiful dream!"
As Pei Guang finished his invocation, the garbage bags on the ground vanished. With their disappearance, beams of light rained down from the sky.
Seeing the lights descend, Firefly and Sparkle, who had been ready to fight, stared wide-eyed.
As the light faded, they saw trash cans sprouting arms and legs appear one after another.
Not only walking trash cans, but also vehicle-like trash cans, weapon-like trash cans, trash cans radiating the power of Abundance, trash cans infused with the will of Destruction, even rainbow-colored trash cans…
With garbage bags as sacrifices, all kinds of trash cans appeared. Combat-ready ones lined up in front, while strategic ones waved feather fans.
Just as Pei Guang had called, they responded to the King of Trash, their minds united with his.
Seeing trash can after trash can appear, Firefly fell silent, while Sparkle felt her brain crash.
Even Chadwick couldn't help but mutter: "Never thought I'd live to see this…"
No… even that wasn't the right reaction.
Sure, anything was possible in a dream world, but summoning trash cans with garbage bags? And it actually worked?!
And if it were only real trash cans, fine—but Sparkle suddenly spotted familiar faces among the summoned ones.
Was that… Sampo over there? Did he really think putting a trash can over himself would make her not recognize him?
And that guy there: what's with hanging your mask on the outside of the trash can?
Summoning real trash cans was one thing, but how had this bunch gotten summoned here too?
Sure, the Masked Fools loved messing around, but wasn't this too absurd?
A moment ago they were still seriously rescuing someone from Family captivity, and in the blink of an eye it turned into a full-on army battle?
And on their side, it was an army of trash cans…