While Pei Guang was buzzing with excitement, Asta felt rather complicated inside. Maybe to outsiders, she looked like a brainless rich woman throwing money around. After all, the stuff Pei Guang gave her looked fairly ordinary.
But Asta knew very well the value of those things. Take that firework-themed attack effect, for example: it was literally one of a kind in the universe, exclusive to Pei Guang.
Still, Asta also understood: this wasn't something that could be measured with money. What was money good for anyway, beyond making more of itself? The genuine emotion from Pei Guang… that was priceless.
She even worried that Pei Guang was getting the short end of the stick.
Every time she thought about it, she felt a little guilty, even wondering how she could make it up to him. The problem was, aside from money, she didn't have much else—most of the real power was still in her mother's hands.
Thinking of all this, Asta smiled: "No problem! I'll definitely come to you if I ever need anything~ But when things are quiet, feel free to come hang out with me too~ By the way, have you actually gone to that star system I gave you? It's got tons of resources, you know!"
At that, Pei Guang's expression froze again: "Ahem! I've just been too busy, haven't had a moment to breathe. Once I get a break, I'll… yeah, once I'm free, I'll go."
Asta replied, "Alright~ When that time comes, I'll send someone to guide you~ You won't lose your way again!"
Pei Guang: "Ahem! I've still got other things to do, some tasks on the Luofu, so I won't keep chatting. I'm taking Elysia and heading out. Elysia, let's go~"
Pei Guang quickly left with Elysia. If they stayed any longer, Asta would've completely roasted him in public.
No way, that had to be avoided!!
As they left, Asta smiled again. "He's really something~"
Still smiling, she turned to Mei. "Mei, right? I'm Asta. You can just call me by my name. If you ever need anything, just come to me. But do be aware: your project is very high-risk. If you're doing any experiments, make sure to inform me in advance. Our space station happens to have a planet set aside for experiments like these. If you want to run human trials, that's fine too~"
While most planets might need real human test subjects, Asta had no such issue. Her company had the tech to create biomimetic human materials. These could be used directly for experimentation and provided realistic responses.
Of course, the materials had limitations: they weren't actual biological life, so they couldn't be used for pharmaceutical testing. But for studying physical reactions, they were more than good enough for Mei's needs.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Pei Guang was fleeing the space station with Elysia in tow. After all, having your embarrassing past dug up in front of everyone—it was mortifying!
As soon as Asta brought it up, Pei Guang remembered everything he did back then, and the memory was so cringe-inducing it made him want to curl his toes into the floor.
Elysia sensed Pei Guang's embarrassment.
Recalling what Pei Guang had told her this time upon returning, she suddenly had a realization and said, "I remember you mentioned to me this time that… hmm~ you had a star system rich in resources. Combined with what that adorable girl said about the star system gifted to you—oh! I see, now I understand~"
Elysia didn't actually know anything. Although she understood some of the galactic rules, and was aware of things like the Aeons and the Emanators, she had no clue what had occurred between Asta and Pei Guang.
But that didn't stop her from knowing.
Seeing Elysia's all-knowing expression, Pei Guang was visibly alarmed. "What? How do you know?"
Elysia replied, "A girl's intuition~ You know, a girl's intuition is super accurate! Ahem! If you don't want me to tell anyone, fine—on one condition… this time, you have to take me somewhere really fun! If it's not fun, I'll be mad~"
Pei Guang said confidently, "No problem! I promise it'll be super fun!"
At that moment, Pei Guang smiled. A mere adjutant daring to threaten him? He decided to take Elysia to experience the two maps he personally designed: so she could truly understand what "joy" meant from the bottom of her heart.
Seeing Pei Guang's expression, Elysia smiled brightly.
The two of them arrived at the Luofu. After explaining the situation to the Sky-Faring Commission, they assigned someone to help Elysia handle the necessary formalities.
While Elysia dealt with the paperwork, a bored Pei Guang wandered around near the Commission. As he strolled, he came across an elderly man. The old man was sitting in a chair, sighing repeatedly.
To Pei Guang, it looked like this unknown elder had just triggered a quest: if this were any other game, he'd probably have an exclamation mark above his head. Pei Guang eagerly approached.
As he got closer, he heard the man, named Todd, muttering to himself.
"Ah, there's traces of history everywhere you look aboard Xianzhou, but Xianzhou natives don't even know these things' true value. Sigh…"
There was a deep sense of helplessness and frustration in his voice. Pei Guang was sure that if this were a standard RPG, that guy definitely had a quest for him. Even though there was no actual quest marker, Pei Guang could smell side content coming.
"Why are you sighing like that?"
Todd turned his head at the question. "And you are?"
"I'm Pei Guang," he said.
Todd was surprised. "You're the famous Pei Guang? I've heard of you! They say you saved the Luofu and even became close friends with the General. If it's you…"
Todd had indeed heard about Pei Guang: the nameless traveler who resolved the Stellaron crisis on the Luofu. If it were someone like that, he'd be a perfect candidate to help him with his objective. Especially since Pei Guang wasn't from the Xianzhou and had connections within it.
Having someone like that help wouldn't raise any suspicion.
As for sensitive information about Pei Guang: none of that had been leaked. Things like the Alchemy Commission's secret arts, the Mara-struck cure, or the Heliobi incident were all classified within the Luofu and even the Xianzhou Alliance.
You could say… the Alliance had actually publicized certain things, but not only did outsiders not believe them, even many insiders refused to. They insisted on trying them anyway. It was like telling people not to stick a light bulb in their mouth or not to set a monitor resolution to 500%: no one listened.
They practically needed someone to shout it into their faces not to do it—and yet, someone always would. Compared to sticking light bulbs in your mouth or screen distortion, what the Xianzhou Alliance was hiding were massive matters.
If someone lacking common sense got themselves killed, then so be it. After all, the population of the Xianzhou was vast; losing a few skeptical souls wouldn't cause real chaos.
The issue was, those who tampered with this kind of stuff tended to unleash serious destruction. So over time, the information was hidden. And now, this man Todd wanted to investigate something his teacher had researched years ago.
Just when he thought he'd never uncover the secrets hidden in the Luofu, Pei Guang's appearance reignited his hopes.