Pei Guang wasn't surprised by Stelle's arrival, but seeing that she came alone, he paused for a moment and asked, "Just one question… why didn't March come with you?"
Stelle: "She said she was too tired today and wanted to sleep early. She should be passed out by now. I was gonna go to bed too, but when I saw you were somewhere new, hehe~"
At that moment, a smile spread across Stelle's face, and she raised her eyebrows with excitement.
What a perfect coincidence! March had gone to sleep early, and the moment she checked the map—bam! Pei Guang was off exploring somewhere new.
Naturally, she came to check it out.
And now, seeing how spooky this place looked, Stelle was sure of it: this was her one-on-one time with Pei Guang! She was going to do some things with him that March must never know about. Like… staying up all night playing games together!
Just thinking about pulling an all-nighter gaming with Pei Guang made Stelle feel elated.
"Oh yeah? Then after we're done here, let's bring something nice back for March."
Stelle: "Something nice? What kind of something nice?"
Pei Guang: "Well, that would be…"
Pei Guang explained the intel he had. As he spoke, Stelle grew more and more excited.
"What? There's actually stuff that cool? Then let's get moving and try to gather all the Heliobi here in one night!"
Stelle whipped out her bat, itching for action. She was super intrigued by everything Pei Guang mentioned, especially the part about making something similar to a Lighting Lord: that got her fired up.
She now had a bold idea: create something like a Lighting Lord but swap the weapon for a plunger, and then have it face off against a real Lighting Lord! She wanted to find out once and for all: was the plunger mightier than the spoon?
Seeing how excited Stelle looked, Pei Guang said with anticipation, "From that expression, I can tell you've thought of something ridiculous. But it's fine. Let's do it together."
Stelle: "Hehe! But we'll need some custom weapon effects for the plunger later. Not sure if…"
Before she could finish, Pei Guang had already guessed what she was planning. In that instant, he too imagined a Lighting Lord vs. toilet plunger battle scene—and he got excited as well.
"No way, now that you've said it, I can totally picture it. Let's go, let's go! Fu Xuan said this place is full of Heliobi. Let's catch them all. We probably won't get enough to make a full Lighting Lord, but we can definitely get big and stab Jing Yuan's one with a plunger."
Stelle's smile became even more radiant. "War-Flaming Lance to the Aeon's butt, plunger to the Lighting Lord's face—classic Ah Guang, absolutely perfect!"
Pei Guang: "Not at all, not at all. It was your brilliance that enlightened me."
After a bit of mutual flattery, the two set off. And within this seemingly eerie Fyxestroll Garden, yet another voice as unsettling as Pei Guang's joined the atmosphere.
As they walked for a while, Stelle, noticing they hadn't run into a single Heliobus, whispered, "Ah Guang, do you think there's a chance that the moment we start talking, these things get scared of us? Should we try sneaking around instead and cut the shouting?"
Pei Guang: "Wow, the way you said that at the end really sounded like an army officer, but you've got a point. These kinds of spirits and monsters are definitely afraid of humans. If yelling won't draw them out, then let's go in quietly."
Pei Guang agreed with Stelle's logic. After all, in horror games, the experience is totally different depending on whether the player can fight back or not. And playing solo versus in co-op—that's another huge difference.
Now that they were teamed up and had means to fight back, of course the Heliobi should be afraid of them.
So, the two crouched down and began sneaking through Fyxestroll Garden. After a short while, they spotted a group of Wraith Wardens patrolling up ahead.
The Wraith Wardens served the judges of the Ten-Lords Commission. Seeing them, Pei Guang whispered, "I get it! I totally get it now: we must've been wandering around the outer edge earlier. If we want to find the Heliobi, we've gotta head into the encircled center. No wonder."
Stelle: "So how do we get in? It looks like they've got the place sealed up tight…"
Pei Guang smiled. "Hmph! Same old method, of course."
As he spoke, Pei Guang pulled out a bottle of coffee. Seeing that, Stelle excitedly pulled out one of her own.
The two exchanged a knowing grin, then moved toward different targets.
For Pei Guang and Stelle, infiltration was routine by now. From Vagrants to mechs, then to Mara-struck and Wraith Wardens: they'd taken down more enemies than they could count.
And after so many ambushes, they'd built up plenty of experience. Sure enough, the two silently took out an entire group of Wraith Wardens. Looking at the few now fast asleep on the ground, Pei Guang nodded in satisfaction.
"Nice! We've cleared the outer ring. Now we can openly collect Heliobi. Wait a second… wasn't my original plan something totally different?"
Pei Guang was having a great time, but mid-fun, he suddenly remembered:he'd meant to walk in openly and have a civil conversation with the Ten-Lords Commission.
How did it turn into infiltration and ambush?
But glancing at the cheerful Stelle beside him, Pei Guang thought about it and figured… there wasn't really anything wrong with this.
Who said you couldn't sneak in even if the front door was technically open? Besides, since they'd chosen the stealth route, they might as well enjoy the gameplay.
Stelle: "No worries. With you here, Ah Guang, I feel invincible. Hey! Ah Guang, look—could that person up ahead be a Heliobus?"
So far, Stelle had no idea what a Heliobus actually looked like. But based on Pei Guang's descriptions, she figured they were basically ghosts, right? And now, she saw a "ghost" up ahead.
It looked human, with a great figure, but its face was unnaturally pale: definitely not a normal skin tone.
With huge dark circles under the eyes, it practically had "not human" written all over its face. In this spooky environment, if it wasn't a Heliobus, what else could it be?