"For real? Me… fight Sam?"
Firefly's tone was complicated.
Staring at the armor in front of her, she wanted to say something—but nothing came out.
Seeing her tangled expression, Pei Guang stepped up behind her and gave her a gentle push. "Don't be scared! It looks fierce, but it's basically one of us. Besides, you've got armor too. Let's have a battle of armors! When else are you gonna see that outside of a dream?"
Armor fighting monsters was common enough, but armor fighting armor? Just getting to see that, even in a dream, made Pei Guang feel like life was complete.
Firefly opened her mouth, but when she saw the eager look in Pei Guang's eyes, she couldn't bring herself to refuse.
That look of excitement was just like a child's: filled with hope, curiosity, and innocent delight.
Damn it, how could Pei Guang cause absolute chaos all over Penacony and still wear such a pure expression?
It didn't even look like he was acting.
Stelle chimed in helpfully, "Yeah, exactly! We're already here, right? Come on~ Don't worry, we'll jump in if anything goes wrong. You can just strike a pose if you want!"
Pei Guang: "That's right! Worst case, just pose. The second you show any sign of losing, Stelle and I will rush in for a righteous group beatdown. It's a dream, anyway—and it's trying to steal our treasure. Killing it here just sends it back to reality, not a bad deal!"
At that, not only Firefly, but everyone present went silent. Even Sam seemed to overheat a little at Pei Guang and Stelle's "open" scheming.
Planning a sneak attack was one thing, but plotting it out loud? What even was this?
Still, Sam didn't move. Its sensors just locked onto Firefly.
Firefly hesitated. "Then… let's give it a try?"
How to put it: being asked to fight Sam made her so awkward she could dig a hole with her toes. But seeing Pei Guang and Stelle's hopeful faces, she couldn't say no.
Deep down, a tiny mischievous voice in her head was also whispering that she kind of wanted to see what would happen.
Could she beat Sam using Pei Guang's armor? She was curious. But no matter the outcome, something about the idea felt… weirdly exciting.
In reality, she'd never try something like this—but this was a dream, right? Doing the impossible here… actually sounded kind of nice.
Though, Firefly had learned to play the game, too.
She blinked at Sam, then turned to Pei Guang with a slightly hesitant look. "Um… I'm not really good at fighting Sam. If you want me to do it, I need a reward."
Stelle looked over at Pei Guang. "Yeah! Where's the reward?"
Pei Guang looked at Stelle in disbelief. "Wait—whose side are you on? Why are you demanding a reward with her? Do I look like I even have anything to give?"
Stelle: "Just give something! No reward, no motivation!"
Firefly: "Exactly! No reward, no drive. Hmm… can I pick what I want?"
She looked at Pei Guang expectantly. Fighting Sam didn't sound that appealing, but if there was a reward, that was different.
Pei Guang spread his hands. "I'll raise your favorability level a lot, and give you a hug, how about that?"
Stelle gasped. "That's robbery! Don't agree, Firefly! I know he's got better stuff: we should totally extort him together!"
Firefly smiled faintly. "It's a deal then—favorability, and…"
Ignoring Stelle, she turned her focus back to Sam, her expression suddenly serious.
Seeing her face that way, Sam didn't move: its scanners instead swept frantically across Pei Guang, then everyone else present.
It couldn't help wondering: how was Firefly going to fight? And armor? When had she gotten new armor?
While Sam hesitated, Firefly pulled out the transformation device Pei Guang had given her. She took a deep breath, stepped forward, and shouted:
"Transform!"
The instant she raised the device, armor wrapped around her body in a flash. Pei Guang and Stelle's eyes lit up, while Sam went completely silent.
Normally, Firefly would pick the red armor form with flashy effects: the transformation device from the Heliobi came with those by default, so why not use them?
But after spending time with Pei Guang, and catching his contagious playfulness, she decided to transform into something different.
Firefly became Sam.
Sam watched as Firefly turned into its exact copy.
If an armored machine could frown, it would have.
At that moment, it really wanted to shout: Are you even sane?! But then again, this was a dream: everyone here was technically unconscious, right?
Still, for the first time, Sam finally understood what humans meant when they said "this is absurd."
Even as an armor, it had no idea how to respond to this.
As Firefly's transformation completed, Pei Guang and Stelle erupted into cheers.
"Firefly! You got this!"
"Yeah! Take down that Stellaron Hunter!"
"Firefly's totally gonna win!"
Pei Guang shouted and Stelle echoed every line. The once silent, chaotic dreamscape now rang with laughter and encouragement.
It was hilarious, and even Black Swan, watching from the side, felt her brain buzzing.
If only the Masked Fools were here, she thought—they'd definitely turn this into a full-blown cheer squad for Firefly.
Honestly, seeing Firefly turn into Sam and then fight Sam? Even Black Swan, who knew a few things about what was going on, didn't know where to begin commenting.
Still, since she'd witnessed this bizarre scene alongside Stelle, she decided to record it for later.
As she was noting everything down, Firefly's eyes flicked toward Acheron, who was sitting off to the side munching on a giant peach.
Black Swan's expression grew even more exasperated.
She couldn't figure it out: how had Pei Guang produced a peach inside a Memory Zone, and more importantly, why did it seem to lower Acheron's IQ the more she ate?
Once, Acheron had looked mysterious and dangerous: even after a single encounter, Black Swan had felt a chill down her spine and didn't dare approach her.
But now… when she wasn't eating the peach, her gaze carried that same mysterious danger as always. Yet the instant she took a bite, a smile would bloom across her face, and her eyes would grow bright—with just the faintest trace of foolish innocence in them.
There was a strange beauty to it, as though she'd been infected by some kind of meme.
Black Swan was genuinely puzzled.
What kind of magic did that peach hold, that it could make a being as unique as Acheron show such an expression?
And at that very moment, Acheron felt Black Swan's gaze. The instant their eyes met, Acheron clutched the peach in one hand—and with the other, drew her katana.
Seeing Acheron look like she was about to strike her down, a row of question marks popped up over Black Swan's head.
"Relax, I'm not going to steal it from you~"
In that instant, Black Swan immediately understood why Acheron had reacted that way, hurriedly explaining herself before turning her attention back toward Pei Guang.
Once she confirmed Black Swan no longer had any designs on her peach, Acheron slowly sheathed her blade and took another careful bite.
The peach was enormous, big enough that a normal person would need several days to finish it. But Acheron ate it delicately, as if afraid to waste even a single bite.
And as she ate, Pei Guang's earlier words echoed in her mind:
"Strange-shaped containers have a way of luring people in."
After some consideration, Acheron concluded that Black Swan was clearly the latter: one who lured others in.
So, rounding it out logically… if she cut Black Swan down, would she drop one of these peaches?
The moment the thought crossed her mind, her eyes flicked back toward Black Swan—and Black Swan suddenly felt her hair stand on end.
She had no idea what was happening, but the way Acheron was looking at her felt… murderous. As if she were about to cut her down just to see what kind of loot she'd drop.
Acheron glanced at Black Swan one more time, then gave up on the idea. She'd cut down plenty of people before, but none of them had ever dropped anything this special.
She figured it must be connected to Pei Guang's abilities. Since that was the case, she'd just ask him to make more peaches for her later.
No need to get reckless now.
If her impulsiveness somehow caused Pei Guang to lose the ability to create these peaches, she'd regret it deeply.
Thinking that, Acheron turned her attention back to the peach. She took another slow bite, and the moment she did, memories flooded in—of that year, that day, that girl.