Pei Guang quickly pulled out his phone, firing off several urgent private messages to March 7th explaining the situation on his side.
He then noticed a private message from Screwllum.
"I've already arrived in Penacony and am about to negotiate with the Family. Please hold out a little longer."
That message had been sent more than ten minutes ago. By now, if the negotiations had gone smoothly, it would make sense for the Bloodhounds to retreat.
Still, to be safe, Pei Guang contacted Screwllum again.
Pei Guang: "You made it? How did the negotiation go?"
Screwllum: "It's done. They won't cause you any more trouble. You're safe now."
Pei Guang: "…"
He didn't reply further. Looking at the retreating enemies, Pei Guang felt unsatisfied.
Sparkle noticed his unhappy expression and curiously asked, "You… want to do something?"
Pei Guang nodded. "Yeah! Look at them—aren't they beautiful?"
"Beautiful?" Sparkle tilted her head.
Even after spending half a day with him, she still couldn't wrap her head around how Pei Guang thought.
Sure, among so many enemies there were a few pretty ones, but the rest? Just average at best.
She thought about it carefully and then noticed that Pei Guang really was staring at those people with a certain hungry intensity: one that radiated a strong possessiveness.
Catching onto that, Sparkle's eyes lit up. She put on her sweetest smile and looked at him.
"You… want those pretty girls? But I think those pretty girls aren't as good as me~ What do you think of me?"
Having played with Pei Guang for half the day, Sparkle had completely let herself go. Still, even in her playfulness, she couldn't resist trying to tease him a little.
Pei Guang blinked in confusion. "Huh? What are you talking about? Honestly, I don't think much of you. You're too small—you'd just be mistaken for underage."
Firefly, who hadn't known how to cut in before, immediately straightened her posture at the mention of size.
Sparkle, on the other hand, widened her eyes in shock.
As the saying goes: sincerity is the ultimate trump card. Pei Guang's words carried no malice: he was just stating the simple truth.
Sparkle opened her mouth but couldn't find anything to say.
After all, big was big, small was small.
She could disguise her appearance and change her size, sure, but that was fake. Using false appearances to deceive herself would only be self-delusion.
Seeing Sparkle struck speechless, Firefly straightened her back even more, lifting her chin as she looked at Pei Guang. "So… what's your plan? Are you going to… capture them all?"
"Oh? How did you guess what I was thinking?"
"Because… I think that if we catch them all, looting will be far more efficient. If they run, then we'll lose the best chance to get rewards from them." Firefly explained, a little shyly.
Truthfully, ever since she'd realized she could loot good items from enemies, Firefly had been thinking about how to capture them all more efficiently.
When she saw the enemies starting to withdraw, a wave of unwillingness welled up inside her.
So much gold and they were just going to leave? What a waste not to blow them up…
So she spoke her mind.
And her thoughts were exactly the same as Pei Guang's!
He praised her with a grin. "Exactly! You're thinking the same as me. We can't let these guys retreat. We can't let them escape. They're our treasure~"
Sparkle's eyes gleamed, brimming with excitement. "So you're planning… to capture all of them?"
Pei Guang corrected seriously: "Not catching them all, but catching as many as we can. Since they're already here…"
Firefly: "Action?"
Pei Guang: "Action!"
Pei Guang didn't rush out immediately but instead shouted toward the celebrating trash cans: "We've won! But we must press the advantage! My people, let us go recycle that garbage!"
Hearing Pei Guang's voice, the trash cans grew even more spirited. Watching the retreating Family members, they raised their fists and charged forward.
The tide turned, this time it was the trash cans' charge!
Seeing the charging trash cans, the retreating Bloodhounds were dumbfounded.
They could only watch helplessly as their companions were shoved one after another straight into the trash cans.
However, Pei Guang's charge wasn't the deadliest part. As long as they retreated fast enough, those things couldn't catch them.
The real problem was: their retreat was blocked. And not just by ordinary trash cans, but by a Preservation trash can!
As an Emanator of Preservation, Below One Bucket and Stelle had just arrived to see a group of people fleeing.
To Below One Bucket, how could a bunch of trash possibly think they could escape from trash cans? That was unacceptable.
With a sweep of its massive arm, a giant transparent trash can appeared in the dreamscape, swallowing everyone inside.
That day, the Bloodhounds experienced for the first time the fear of being dominated by trash cans. Inside the transparent trash can, the trash can army perfectly contained the garbage, while Pei Guang and his group carried out the recycling.
All the Bloodhound members who went into battle were wiped out.
The news of the Bloodhound Family's total defeat quickly reached their leader, who at that moment was negotiating with Screwllum.
Just minutes earlier, Screwllum had arrived in Penacony and inquired about Chadwick.
At the same time, Screwllum dropped a heavy bombshell: "My friend is currently protecting Calderon Chadwick."
The Bloodhounds had wanted to conceal the matter, but remembering what had happened in the dreamscape, they knew there was no point. After all, he had already ordered his men to bring Chadwick back at any cost.
As the leader, he wanted to continue the negotiations, but Screwllum's next few simple words made him abandon the idea altogether.
"The one you tried to capture is my collaborator, as well as that of Madam Herta and Madam Ruan Mei. Are you certain you want to anger all of us at once?"
Whether it was the value Pei Guang displayed or the way he conducted himself, everything fit Screwllum's preferences.
Through Pei Guang, Screwllum had also obtained crucial, fully applicable data related to inorganic life. These alone were enough for Pei Guang to gain not only Screwllum's friendship but that of all inorganic beings.
Taking Pei Guang's tastes into account, Screwllum planned to deepen their contact later, in the way Pei Guang preferred, once he had fewer tasks on hand.
Without much intimidation, just that one sentence left the Bloodhound leader completely silent.
But compared to Screwllum's blunt threat, what happened next truly made his brain tremble.
After giving up entirely, the leader ordered a retreat. Yet right after the order was given, he received news that made his head buzz.
"What? Everyone… was captured?"
"They couldn't even exit the dream?"
"What the hell? We offended an Emanator of Preservation?"
One report after another from his subordinates left the already frustrated leader's head ringing.
Just who were these people protecting Chadwick?
It was already bad enough that they could count members of the Genius Society among their friends. But now they were tied to a Preservation Emanator? An Emanator who could even prevent people from leaving the dream?
What kind of nightmare had their Family provoked?
Earlier, they had crossed paths with someone who could force instant disconnection just by passing by: only to find that person was a member of the Astral Express and a "friend" of Sunday.
And now, they encountered a Preservation Emanator who wouldn't even let people log out.
What kind of monsters had the Watchmaker invited to Penacony?!?