At first, Qingni was stunned: Pei Guang was using trash can parts to repair a Starskiff? And fixing it by just hammering? If the people from the Artisanship Commission saw this, they'd be questioning reality for the rest of their lives.
Then again, knowing them, they might actually study how hammering something once could fix a vehicle.
Unlike Pei Guang, who kept pulling out ordinary components, Qingni found some unusual things while rummaging.
"This is… what?"
Looking at the piece she pulled out, a fragment that looked disturbingly like flesh, Qingni's heartbeat almost stopped.
Pei Guang came over, curious, and when he saw the black-red lump in her hand, even he was shocked.
[Vengeful Trash Can Fragment: Once part of a trash can on a planet invaded by the Abominations of Abundance, it swore on the day the Abominations of Abundance stomped its body to pieces that it would never share the same sky with them again! The Abominations of Abundance defiled its noble ideals and trampled the dignity of the trash can.]
[When the garbage inside its black bag scattered to the ground, it did not feel pain from its broken body, because it wanted the spawn to know the fury of the trash can. It wanted the Abominations of Abundance to witness the trash can's justice.]
Seeing the description on this material, Pei Guang didn't even know where to start with the commentary.
Still, he was used to materials having strange notes, just like the Path materials he sometimes got, each with their own odd remarks and attributes.
After Qingni pulled out this fragment, Pei Guang reached in a few more times and got nothing but ordinary trash can parts. But every time Qingni reached in, another fragment from a trash can destroyed by the Abominations of Abundance.
Every single time.
After rummaging for a while, Qingni managed to pull out enough fragments and parts to repair the Starskiff.
Looking at the repaired craft, now patched with trash can parts burning with the will for revenge, Pei Guang couldn't help but feel a little moved.
"Looks like this trash can gives different materials depending on the person? Now that's an interesting item!"
Pei Guang could tell these revenge-tagged fragments were unique to Qingni, though he couldn't figure out why she kept drawing parts that wanted revenge on the Abominations of Abundance.
Could it be that these trash cans wanted to avenge themselves through Qingni? Or maybe the Abominations of Abundance had… killed Qingni's mother? Creating some strange resonance between her and these vengeful trash cans?
He honestly didn't know how to comment on this.
First there had been Preservation trash cans, and now trash cans destroyed by the Abominations of Abundance… what next, Hunt trash cans?
If that happened, would every Path eventually have its own trash can?
Wait… could this whole world actually be one giant trash can?
His thoughts went wildly off-track, and it was probably for the best that no one else knew what he was thinking, otherwise some Paths he hadn't even touched yet might suddenly get a trash can Emanator.
Since these special materials came from Qingni, Pei Guang decided to properly teach her how to use them to repair the Starskiff. And if repairing it really wasn't possible, building a new vehicle out of them would work too.
After all, both he and Stelle had built theirs: there was no reason a special NPC like Qingni, who could pull rare parts, couldn't do the same.
With Pei Guang's help, the damaged Starskiff was repaired.
Since he didn't have proper Starskiff parts, they fitted a few trash can components instead, and it started right up.
With her first run's experience, Qingni performed even better in the second race. She dodged Pei Guang and Stelle's joint ambush, and when they turned around for a counterattack, her excellent piloting skills let her fight back.
Race, damage, race, damage.
With each repair, more and more vengeful trash can parts were added. The craft was still a Starskiff in name, but by now its main body had been replaced entirely by trash can fragments.
As these revenge-filled pieces increased, Qingni herself seemed infected by their will.
Her resolve grew stronger: she wanted to be a battleship pilot, to reach the sky, spill her blood, uphold justice, and wipe out the Abominations of Abundance!
Was she afraid of death? Saying no would be a lie—no living being is unafraid.
But if her sacrifice could bring happiness to the Xianzhou and the people of this universe, she would gladly face it.
Her will wasn't yet enough to draw the gaze of an Aeon, but it was enough to ignite the trash can fragments on her Starskiff.
Their justice, resentment, and fury caught flame.
And that steadfast will from the trash cans finally drew the attention of an Aeon. Among the starry sea, the fragments and parts of trash cans floated, and from afar, the Aeon of Hunt looked at them in silence.
It had watched countless people and granted many the power of the Hunt. Seeing a trash can appear on a Path wasn't too strange, after all, Preservation had two of them.
But what the hell was with a pile of fragments in front of it?
If Lan, the Aeon of the Hunt, could speak, it would have grabbed Pei Guang by the collar and shouted: Why do other Aeons get whole trash cans, but mine are broken? Even if you're a player, you can't show this kind of bias!
In just a brief instant, Lan's gaze vanished—and on the Path of the Hunt, a pile of trash can fragments appeared. These were not like their elder brothers, born at the forefront of their Path, but they had still gained the Hunt's powerful blessing.
At that moment, the fragments on the Starskiff erupted with the power of the Hunt.
With the trash can's power added, both Qingni and her Starskiff began to change. Whether it was her, the fragments, or the craft itself, all were growing stronger.
While Pei Guang was busy training this pilot, in the Palace of Astrum, Yukong had just finished her work and was taking a short break when a subordinate brought her a report.
"Lady Yukong, someone's reported that there's Starskiff racing going on over the sea…"
Starskiff racing? Hearing that, Yukong couldn't help but think back to her younger days. Though she no longer flew, her experiences from her youth were...
However, just as she was about to recall those memories, she suddenly realized something was wrong.
She knew her subordinates better than anyone: for this kind of speeding case, there was no need to report to her at all; they could just deal with it directly.
If they deliberately told her, then it must have involved something special.
"What could it be? Could it be those Trailblazers again?"
She knew exactly what the Trailblazers had done in the Xianzhou Luofu.
Daring to speed on a Starskiff in Vidyadhara's territory… aside from the Trailblazers, there was probably no one else who would dare.
And just as she expected, when she saw the footage of Pei Guang and Stelle's faces, Yukong let out a sigh of relief. If it was the Trailblazers, then a lot of things became much simpler.
The Xianzhou Alliance's upper echelons had already analyzed Pei Guang's personality and abilities: he was the type of highly capable individual who wouldn't bring chaos to the Luofu.
Even if he did something that seemed to violate Xianzhou law, matters involving him were treated as special cases and handed directly to Jing Yuan or the Ten-Lords Commission.
Originally, Yukong had planned to report this incident to Jing Yuan, but what she saw next made her hands and body tremble.
In the video, Pei Guang and Stelle were racing at high speed across the sea… in a trash can, and behind them was another battered, tattered trash can that seemed to be burning with flames of vengeance???
A trash can… seeking revenge? What was this nonsense?
No wonder some employees had been placing special trash cans near their workstations recently: so trash cans could actually hold grudges?!?
This Starskiff-trash-can hybrid was already falling apart, how broken was it?
Broken enough that she could see the pilot inside.
Because of this, Yukong's body was shaking, her expression was frozen, her heart was full of anger and pain, and it felt like her heart had stopped beating entirely.
At this moment, she only had one word to say: "Bruh!"
And for the first time, she truly experienced the power of the Trailblazers firsthand.
For a brief moment, Yukong even wanted to pull out a bottle of emergency heart medicine, but unfortunately, there was none to be found, and besides, her heart had been perfectly fine before seeing this scene.