Of course, as a player, Pei Guang held grudges.
They dared to treat him like a stowaway and try to arrest him? If he had actually broken the rules, Pei Guang would've said nothing, after all, he'd promised Himeko and Pom-Pom to follow local customs and not stir trouble.
But he was a member of the Astral Express, invited by Penacony, welcomed personally by the family's true administrator, and even given an employee's token.
And they still tried to arrest him? Then clearly they were the ones breaking rules.
Whatever he did now was simply self-defense.
They had smeared him, tried to capture him, even threatened violence and restriction of freedom. As a Trailblazer, was he not supposed to resist?
Resistance, too, is trailblazing.
So Pei Guang hugged the trash can with Firefly peeking out blankly from inside, while the Bloodhound Family members, watching his bizarre movements, became even more convinced their comrades' information was accurate.
This guy was absolutely a stowaway! They had never seen any sane person hug a trash can with a girl inside and move faster than sprinting—on his butt, no less.
Not only was he faster than running, he could climb walls, spin circles up the wall, even make giant wall jumps where his rear stuck to the opposite wall like a magnet.
Besides, if you weren't a stowaway, why would you be running?
"Shit! Catch those two stowaways!"
"Those two are extremely dangerous stowaways!"
"Quick, call the leader!!"
"Seal off the streets! They're escaping!"
As the family that maintained order in dreams, the Bloodhounds had plenty of experience.
In the dreamworld, one always ran into people with strange talents or unusual powers. But it didn't matter: if you dared to make trouble on their turf, the Bloodhound Family would never let you go.
But they were wrong. Pei Guang's chaotic scampering wasn't an escape attempt at all: it was him testing how this aura's abilities worked in the dreamworld.
After confirming that carrying someone didn't slow him down and the skill wasn't weakened, Pei Guang turned straight back toward them.
"Put Your Faith in the Holy Light!"
Pei Guang shouted the name of his skill.
To give it more of a ritual feel, he lifted the trash can high and even adjusted the spawning effect so that a glowing halo appeared above Firefly's head.
In that instant, Firefly was questioning life itself.
She wondered where she had come from, where she was going... Just minutes ago she had still been a normal person, so how had things ended up like this?
But then again… this was interesting, wasn't it?
A glow above the head, it didn't harm anyone, and it was extremely effective. Most importantly, the light was truly comforting, so much so that she couldn't help but smile.
Although she had just met Pei Guang, fighting enemies together with a new companion; wasn't this the kind of scene that only appeared in games and novels?
At this moment, Firefly felt like she had become the "female lead." Even if it only lasted a few minutes, this was a feeling she had never experienced before.
She had done things together with companions before, but at those times she only wished to finish quickly. Yet now, she just wanted this joyful moment to last a little longer, just a bit more.
Under the radiance of the holy light, Firefly smiled—and accompanying that smile were the howls and collapse of all their enemies.
The range of "Put Your Faith in the Holy Light" was only ten meters, but now every enemy was within that range. Under the illumination, more than twenty furious people stiffened at the same time.
"Eeeeek!!!"
Regardless of gender, race, or age, anyone chasing them froze in place at that instant, and let out voices of pain mixed with pleasure.
The pain was because, under the holy light, they cramped.
Limbs twitching in eight different directions at once, cramping both in the dream and in reality, left them unable to move at all.
But simple physical pain couldn't stop them.
That was why Pei Guang heightened their sensitivity to pleasure, making their bodies release dopamine in an instant, letting them experience a rush of ecstasy that even dreams couldn't create.
Dreams could never go beyond one's own cognition, and because of that, none of these people had known the human body could feel this good!
How to describe it? Like the relief of constipation suddenly vanishing in one perfect go, but multiplied several times over.
And Pei Guang had already held back!
As per Himeko and Pom-Pom's request, he merely subdued them, leaving absolutely no aftereffects. Well, maybe not "absolutely," because he didn't directly force them out of the dreamworld.
Their reactions were seen by surrounding passersby.
"Shocking! Bloodhound Family members convulsing in the streets!"
"Sinful criminals committing disgraceful acts in public."
"Beware! During the Golden Hour, a stowaway who toys with people's bodies has appeared."
The information spread quickly.
However, under the influence of Pei Guang's skill, the videos people recorded didn't capture his or Firefly's real appearance.
In photos and clips, Pei Guang was shown holding a trash bin, inside which glowed a girl, her faint smile paired with the radiance of his holy light.
That smile of Firefly's sparked great interest, and on the internet someone even dubbed it: "The Smile of the Goddess of Dawn~"
Under the glow, the Bloodhound Family members lay on the ground, stripped of the ability to resist. Some of the weaker ones even directly exited the dreamworld.
Though no one could see clearly who these people were, even through a screen the light felt sacred. And in that moment, the holy light became known to even more people.
Unaware of the outside changes, Pei Guang saw the enemies fall and immediately perked up, dashing toward them.
"Hehe~ my favorite part's here again~"
What was the greatest joy after defeating enemies? Of course, looting corpses!
The reason he didn't force them out of the dreamworld was precisely for this. Now that they had lost the ability to resist, Pei Guang could plunder as he pleased.
Their bodies still had consciousness, and because of that, they witnessed something terrifying.
They saw Pei Guang licking his lips, eyes filled with desire, drawing closer. None of them had imagined that today's "stowaway" would not only be tough but also a complete pervert.
The Bloodhound members were terrified, and as Pei Guang approached, they cried out in anguish.
But Pei Guang was unmoved, doing exactly as he pleased.
Pei Guang: "What are you screaming for? You're just cramping, not having your muscles ripped out!"
"And you! I'm not interested in men!"
"Huh? Bro, you actually dropped loot? My bad, my bad. How's it feel? Comfortable? Here, I'll make it even better."
In this moment, Pei Guang fully displayed the shameless face of a gamer.
To those from whom he looted items, he gave a smile and even a bonus "service package."
Those who didn't drop loot?
Feel free to continue to suffer dream-and-reality cramps, thanks!
Being robbed by a stowaway was something they could have expected, but as Pei Guang looted them, they realized something out of their worst nightmares.
Pei Guang left, and when their bodies finally recovered, they discovered a scene out of a horror film.
Even though Pei Guang had clearly taken items from their pockets, not a single item was actually missing afterward.
Think about it: someone restrains you, pulls out a pile of things, and then when you recover, everything is still there.
What could be missing, then?
Of course! It had to be something mysterious.
So what did Pei Guang take? Their lifespan? Their luck? Or perhaps their future itself?
Terrifying rumors spread among the Bloodhound Family.
Nobody knew who started them, but the more they spread, the more exaggerated they became, and there was no suppressing them.
In less than half an hour after Pei Guang arrived in Penacony, both the people and the families already had legends about him. Even Sunday had received reports of troublemakers, though at the moment he had no idea it was related to Pei Guang.
At the same time, because of this incident, the Bloodhound Family raised their evaluation of Pei Guang to another level.
Pei Guang: ★★★★☆
Firefly: ★★★★☆
This time not only did Pei Guang's rating increase, but Firefly was also specially marked.
After all, in their intel, the two seemed like a pair of stowaways—and perhaps even a couple?
Pei Guang's holy light was terrifying, but the family had now discovered one weakness: its limited range. Since close-quarters capture wasn't effective, they decided to apprehend the two criminals from a distance using vehicles!
Now that they had found a weakness, dealing with them was simple. Confidence surged within the Bloodhound Family.
Meanwhile, today a new member of the family brought in crucial intel.
What? Who delivered this intel? Nobody knew.
Many could have done it: the Masked Fools, the Riddlers, the Memokeepers…
Whoever it was, it certainly wasn't Sparkle, since she was still "loading."