As the trash cans gathered toward Pei Guang's location, on the other side of the Dream's Edge, where Stelle had already turned it into a Trailblazer's plaza, she suddenly felt that something wasn't quite right.
"Something feels off~ what is it that feels off?"
Stelle looked left, then right.
All the monsters here had been smashed by her, the enemies captured into cans, every corpse looted, and every container worth smashing had been smashed.
Originally, there had been a few living Bloodhound Family members at the Dream's Edge, but now? Aside from her, not a single one remained.
But that was exactly why she felt something was wrong.
Stelle thought about it carefully for a while, then clapped her hands. "Oh right! My coins! Where are my coins?"
She looked around again.
Before, when she stirred up chaos here, the Bloodhounds had kept respawning like small mobs in a game—an endless stream.
That steady flow of enemies had made her very happy while looting. Clock Credits aside, she had already gathered over a hundred basic effects.
With that kind of efficiency, give it a day or two and she could throw everything into a synthesis pot and come out with a handful of rare effects.
Delightful!
But now… no enemies were respawning?
Stelle: "So that's why it felt like something was missing. It's them! Bloodhounds, where are you? I'm right here! I'm an illegal stowaway, come and get me!"
She shouted with her bat in hand. But at this point, all the Bloodhounds who could still fight had already gone to Pei Guang's side, leaving this area unattended.
Compared to a lone illegal stowaway who could fight, a kidnapped member of the Genius Society was far more important.
If that wasn't handled properly, it could threaten all of Penacony.
No matter how long Stelle shouted, no one came. With that, she lost all desire to linger.
"All cleared out, huh? Then I'll just go back and find Ah Guang."
Stelle glanced at her bag and frowned. The loot she had wasn't nearly enough to impress Pei Guang, let alone earn a hug.
"Ugh~"
She let out a long sigh, opened the map, and prepared to look for Pei Guang.
But when she opened it, what she saw made her eyes widen.
On the minimap, Pei Guang was completely surrounded by enemies—and their numbers were still increasing.
Seeing this, Stelle gripped her bat tightly, unable to hold back.
"Here I come~"
She got ready to head over.
She didn't plan on using teleportation. First, teleport was a skill to save for critical moments: this didn't count. Second, after playing around in the dream for so long, she'd realized just how much fun it was.
With a little imagination, closing that distance would be easy.
Unlike Pei Guang, who built skyroads out of cubes, Stelle's method was simple and brutal.
Back when she and Pei Guang had gone racing through the Luofu with Qingque, they had once built a trash can cannon. Now, she climbed into her own trash can cannon, pulled out her War-Flaming Lance, aimed it toward Pei Guang's location, and fired.
"War-Flaming Lance—Charge!"
In an instant, the trash can cannon blasted her into the sky. Gripping her War-Flaming Lance, Stelle struck a charging pose as she hurtled toward Pei Guang's position.
Just as she'd expected, she soared high above the city, but the closer she got to Pei Guang, the more familiar figures she saw on the streets below.
Hmm, trash cans?!
Yes, trash cans. One after another, all heading in the same direction—toward Pei Guang.
And among them, she spotted a familiar figure, or rather, a familiar can.
The moment she saw it, she diverted her trajectory and crash-landed on the spot.
"Bucket!!!"
On the ground, Below One Bucket was also marching toward Pei Guang. Hearing the familiar voice, it raised its head and waved.
With two landing experiences behind her, Stelle touched down in a stylish, heroic pose this time.
Seeing the familiar can, Stelle greeted it with excitement: "Bucket! Long time no see."
Below One Bucket clenched its fist, showing off its pinkish muscles, while the Cat Cakes inside peeked their heads out.
"Meow~"
Stelle: "Good, good, good—you're all doing well. Wait, are you heading out to help Ah Guang? Oh? I knew it, he really is in a fight. Then we can't just stand by. What's that? All the Penacony cans are gathering over there? Tell you what, if there are cans I haven't looted yet, let me loot them first before you go help Ah Guang, deal?"
Though she really wanted to help Pei Guang, the appearance of unlooted cans stirred a dangerous ambition in Stelle's heart.
After a quick exchange, she and the can confirmed they shared the same goal. So together, they set off toward Pei Guang's battle.
While Stelle and her bucket marched their way there, on the other side, Pei Guang was having the time of his life.
The trash cans were showing remarkable initiative, and under Pei Guang and the Strategist Can's command, more and more Bloodhounds were being captured and looted.
With the number of defeated or ejected Bloodhounds rising, the battle only grew larger. Centered on the building Pei Guang occupied, over thirty surrounding buildings were now packed with fighters.
And as the Bloodhounds grew in number, the trash cans' gear improved too—especially the Giant Can, which had by now become a massive fortress.
Pei Guang, seemingly haunted by a fear of insufficient firepower, deployed every weapon he possibly could.
But while he and the cans were busy looting corpses and building turrets, some special figures from within the dream secretly infiltrated the area.
Most people couldn't choose their point of entry into the dream, but some special individuals could appear right where they pleased.
Like now: next to Chadwick, a special Bloodhound had already slipped in.
His mission was simple: take Chadwick away. And if possible, drive Pei Guang and his allies out of the dream entirely.
When he appeared, Pei Guang and the others all had their backs turned to him. Just as he was about to act, he suddenly felt a sense of dread.
That's right: Pei Guang had noticed him.
At first, Pei Guang hadn't realized there was an enemy, but the moment this intruder tried to make a move on Chadwick, a red enemy marker popped up on his minimap.
The instant he spotted it, Pei Guang activated the Engine of Creation, intending to finish him off in seconds.
Like he always said, the Engine of Creation wasn't the most advanced machine in the universe. In fact, even back in Belobog, it was basically just a dust-cleaning bot.
But for most people across this universe, taking a punch from this dust-cleaning bot was no different from an ordinary person being hit head-on by a speeding truck.
But just as Pei Guang prepared to finish off the kind of enemy who could sneak, warp, or teleport—Firefly moved first.
The would-be assassin saw the massive fist bearing down on him and instinctively tried to run.
But just as he was about to escape, Firefly's cold snort rang out beside him.
"Trying to run?"
Light and agile, sword in hand, Firefly slashed across his body. The infiltrating Bloodhound was expelled from the dream in that instant.
Pei Guang couldn't help but clap at her quick reaction. "Not bad! Didn't think you'd react that fast."
Pleased by the praise, Firefly gave a shy little laugh. "Hehe~"
While she was still basking in that joy, Sparkle suddenly leapt and clung to Pei Guang's arm, bouncing up and down with a bright smile.
"Those bad guys—just now it seemed like they got some kind of message, and then they all suddenly pulled out."
Pei Guang had been happy a moment ago, but hearing Sparkle's words, his face grew heavy. "What did you say? They left?"