Boothill looked at Pei Guang, who was wearing the same style of headgear as the Albinaurics.
He was so angry that he had already placed his finger on the trigger, gritting his teeth: "The thing you're wearing on your head is too cute. You meow-ing little baby, today I'm going to ruthlessly love you no matter what."
Boothill's eyes turned red. He hadn't expected to be slandered like this by someone he had just met.
Facing the red-eyed Boothill, Pei Guang didn't plan to show any mercy either: "You perverted man, how did the train let a pervert like you on board? And you insist on getting in my way while I'm doing a quest? Looks like I have to eliminate you."
Pei Guang was also exasperated. He did a quest for Robin and ended up producing a pervert. And this pervert had extreme tastes—looking at his Albinauric headgear, he actually wanted to "meow" him?
This kind of person couldn't be kept around.
However, Dan Heng noticed something was amiss. Listening to Pei Guang's meaning, it seemed he was treating Boothill as... someone with special fetishes?
Realizing something was wrong, Dan Heng hurriedly blocked the space between the two of them: "Stop for a moment."
Boothill: "Don't stop me, holy baby. Today, no matter what, I'm going to let him know how I love him."
Pei Guang looked at Dan Heng: "Look, this pervert said so much, and I only advised him to behave himself. I didn't expect him to be so determined. Trying to force himself on me at the first meeting... this sex-crazed ghost with abnormal fetishes, I think we'd better take him out. But looking at you, is there a hidden reason?"
As an experienced player, although Pei Guang really wanted to kill this pervert who wanted to do him, he was willing to listen to any hidden reasons.
What if this person was being controlled to be so perverted? Or perhaps he was under some strange curse?
Listening to Pei Guang's serious and earnest voice, Dan Heng knew Pei Guang had definitely misunderstood.
He had seen cases like Boothill's before, so he began to explain to Pei Guang: "You might not know, but some people's Synesthesia Beacons undergo special processing that turns swear words into civilized phrases. Usually, the dirtier the curse, the cuter the processed vocabulary makes people feel. In gaming terms, this is a setting."
Dan Heng pondered for a bit and used this term.
Listening to Dan Heng's explanation, Pei Guang revealed a skeptical expression: "For real?"
Dan Heng: "For real!"
Pei Guang: "You mean, he has a censorship system installed, and this censorship system turns all his swear words into these phrases?"
Dan Heng nodded: "This kind of thing isn't rare. Sometimes... some Synesthesia Beacons add this function to prevent normal people from being unable to tolerate the language."
Pei Guang breathed a sigh of relief: "So that's it. Scared me to death. I thought they stitched some strange things onto me."
While complaining, Pei Guang turned his gaze to Boothill: "Brother, come! Read with me: Sha~bi~ (Dumbass)"
"Love you."
"Sha bi!"
"Love you!"
Boothill looked at Pei Guang through gritted teeth. He really wanted to blow Pei Guang away with one shot right now, but there was no helping it: the problem was on his end this time.
Having traveled the universe for so many years, he had encountered people like Pei Guang who didn't know about this and caused misunderstandings.
Against enemies and people of uncertain identity, he would naturally point his gun at them. But Pei Guang misunderstood him because of his own issue: as a Galaxy Ranger, how could he draw his gun on an innocent person?
Seeing Boothill gritting his teeth, Pei Guang completely relaxed.
"Phew, scared me to death. I thought you were someone with a unique orientation. Sorry, I apologize for my previous misunderstanding."
Facing Pei Guang's such candid apology, Boothill was actually a bit unaccustomed to it. Most people who misunderstood him before would make excuses, so it was rare to see someone like Pei Guang apologize so decisively.
Boothill: "Holy baby, apology accepted. Sigh, this isn't the first time for this kind of misunderstanding. I'm used to it."
After confirming there were no issues with the Astral Express members, Boothill had no intention of making a move on the people here.
Misunderstanding? Let it be a misunderstanding.
"But having said that, holy baby, is there an Emanator causing trouble in Penacony? A Lord Ravager or something else?"
Pei Guang shook his head: "Not clear, but according to current intel, it's either an Emanator of Harmony or an Emanator of Order."
Boothill: "Wait? Emanator of Order?"
Pei Guang looked at Boothill: "What? Is there a problem? Even Nihility can have an Emanator, what's wrong with Order having one? According to current information, Order was swallowed by Harmony, but the Path still exists.
Who's to say there aren't some remnants pulling a Mental Omega or Infinite Tsukuyomi in Penacony, assimilating everyone's consciousness to create an Emanator or even an Aeon?"
Penacony's theme was dreams, and the attributes of Harmony were similar to many games Pei Guang had played and many works he had seen.
There is nothing new under the sun for intelligent life. It's the same old stories over and over again.
The difference is that in some plots, you can only be a bystander, while in others, you can be a participant, or even have the possibility of changing the ending.
Thinking of this, Pei Guang got a little excited, though he didn't have a particularly good idea for this plot yet.
He couldn't determine who the final enemy was right now.
He had made up his mind: if it was Harmony, he would find a way to get the power of Order to kill the enemy. Conversely, he would use Harmony to kill Order.
Pei Guang: "Alright, stop being surprised here, I'm going to continue doing quests. Dan Heng, are you coming with me?"
Dan Heng: "Let's go together! It just so happens he also has some things that need your help."
Pei Guang's eyes lit up: "A quest? No problem! Leave it to me! What do you need me to do?"
Dan Heng explained Boothill's request.
After hearing the request, Pei Guang looked at Boothill with understanding: "I get it, you want to enter Penacony and even enter the dream, right? No problem, leave it to me. I'll take you into the hotel. If you want to enter the dream, I have a way too."
Boothill: "No problem."
Pei Guang: "Alright then! Dan Heng! Come on, let's set off. Oh! Pom-Pom, help keep an eye on Sunday's pacifier. If it falls out, help stuff it back in. We must make sure he sleeps until we come back~"
Pei Guang gave his final instructions.
Now that he had taken Sunday outside the map, if Sunday could still go back and ramp up the difficulty of the future plot in this situation, he could only give Sunday a thumbs up.
Led by Pei Guang, the group returned to The Reverie Hotel. After dumping Dan Heng and Boothill in the hotel lobby, Pei Guang rushed back to his own room without stopping.
When Pei Guang prepared to enter the dream, he found he couldn't enter normally because his room had been demolished by Sunday.
But it wasn't a big problem: he directly used his lockpicking tools to open Stelle's room, took out a trash can containing dream-entry liquid, and entered the dream directly from Stelle's room.
Because he had already arrived at the new map, and Stelle was exploring in the new map, Pei Guang just needed to teleport directly to get there.
Anyway, teleportation counts in the dream and reality are independent. Plus, today's dream teleportation count hasn't been used, so Pei Guang teleported directly to Stelle's side.
However, just as he teleported over, Pei Guang was attracted by the scene before him.
He saw that beside him, Stelle was squatting down and poking something with the bat in her hand.
Watching Stelle's actions, Pei Guang leaned in curiously.
It would have been fine if he hadn't looked, but the moment he leaned in, Pei Guang was attracted by the thing in front just like Stelle.
This was a steaming manhole cover. Pei Guang could feel the steam under the manhole cover singing a ballad in unison, every water molecule holding hands and sharing each other's joy.
While Pei Guang was feeling how unique this manhole cover was, Stelle, who sensed Pei Guang's approach, introduced it incredulously: "You're here. Look, I actually felt the power of Harmony in this manhole cover~ Ah! The synchronized ballads within this steam... is this the most Harmonious manhole cover in Penacony? Ah Guang, do you think such a Harmonious manhole cover could be the key for us to defeat the boss next?"
Influenced by Pei Guang, Stelle could already apply what she learned to new situations.
Thinking about the Preservation trash can Pei Guang made, Stelle drooled with envy.
Now that she encountered a very Harmonious manhole cover, she also wanted to create a Harmonious manhole cover similar to that trash can!