Although they were in different locations, Pei Guang, March 7th, and Stelle all had the same expression.
Group Chat:
March 7th: "What do we do?! What do we do?! Did we mess up? But I asked Asta, and she said shutting them down was really helpful to her..."
Pei Guang: "We definitely didn't mess up! I think this is all part of her plan. Otherwise, why would there be a reward? I believe the station chief was genuinely impressed by our noble sense of morality and thought what we did was really helpful to her. Whatever the reason for the reward, let's just go claim it."
Stelle: "Are you sure nothing bad will happen?"
Pei Guang: "No worries! If the NPC doesn't give us the reward, I'll just give them a good beating."
Stelle: "Will that actually get us the reward? But didn't they say we should go to the station chief to collect it? Beating up the station chief…"
Pei Guang: "Yes, but we should be careful. The station chief is one of the top leaders here—beating them up could lower everyone's favorability. We should avoid doing it if possible!."
Seeing Pei Guang and Stelle's conversation, March 7th felt a bit out of place because she couldn't quite follow their thought process. One moment they were discussing whether they had made a mistake, and the next they were considering whether to beat someone up.
But seriously, if they were to beat up the station chief here… could they even make it out of the space station alive?
However, what was most amazing to her was how quickly these two could steer the conversation back on track.
Stelle: "Since we're going to collect our reward, should we meet up at the main cabin?"
Pei Guang: "Wait for us, we'll be there soon."
A few minutes later, the three of them met up in the main cabin, where Asta was already waiting for them. March 7th swallowed nervously and asked, "Are we really just going to walk over like this?"
"Of course!" Pei Guang responded confidently. "Did we do anything wrong?"
Stelle, standing nearby, nodded seriously. With Pei Guang leading the way, she puffed out her chest and said, "That's right! Even though we shut down the robots, we didn't do anything wrong."
March 7th, influenced by the other two, also nodded. "You're right! We helped her, so we didn't do anything wrong. Let's go and see what reward we get."
Seeing the three of them proudly walking together, Asta suppressed a laugh and said, "Thank you all for your hard work. Because of you, I was able to complete what I wanted to do. Here's your reward."
If it weren't for the surveillance footage showing the trio's embarrassed expressions, anyone would have thought they had done something serious. But really, shutting down the drones wasn't a big deal. It just meant the maintenance staff would have to work a bit of overtime, which could be compensated with some extra pay.
The reward Asta gave them was simple: 3,000 credits, three travel guides, and three units of refined Aether. Credits are the common currency across the galaxy, and splitting 3,000 credits between the three of them was a pretty decent amount.
The travel guides were adventure books from various planets, helping people learn about legendary adventurers' experiences and even offering tips for dealing with special situations. These books were incredibly rare, often selling out immediately upon release, making them quite a valuable gift.
However, Asta's family was well-off, and since they sold these guides, it wasn't hard for her to get some limited-edition copies.
"Wow, there really is a mission reward? And this is the reward? Pei Guang, you're amazing!"
March 7th had been worried about being scolded, but seeing the rewards Asta prepared, she couldn't help but admire Pei Guang.
Pei Guang, a bit proud, replied, "Of course, I'm an experienced player! How could I make a mistake? Even if I did, I'd just apologize and help turn them back on."
Stelle was impressed. "That's just like you, easily seeing through the essence of things. I have a lot to learn from you."
Watching the trio, Asta struggled to keep from laughing. They were just too funny, eagerly shutting down the robots, their frozen expressions when they received the news, and now their proud and excited faces. Pei Guang's proud admission of his mistake just multiplied the joy.
Any one of them alone would make someone smile, but together, they were so amusing that just thinking about them could keep someone awake at night from laughing.
Asta felt like she couldn't hold back any longer, so she cleared her throat. "Ahem, you three. Right now, the Herta Space Station is initiating a revival plan, but there are still some remaining enemies in the station's corridors that are hindering the revival. I'd like to ask you three to help deal with them. The mission reward is this~"
Asta pulled out a list showing 30,000 credits, 300 Hertareum, a series of adventure guides, and refined Aether. Among them, the adventure guides were the sequels to the books Pei Guang and the others had just received, even more thrilling and valuable, with insights that would be very helpful in their planetary explorations and adventures.
Upon hearing this mission, Pei Guang did some quick calculations. The mission Arlan gave, only offered 648 credits, while Asta's was a huge bundle of items that was simply too much to pass up. He could temporarily set aside Arlan's task.
Pei Guang clenched his fist. "We'll take this mission!"
Stelle pulled out a baseball bat. "Another fight? I can't wait."
March 7th smirked, "Hmph~ You haven't seen me in action yet. Today, I'll show you how awesome I can be!"
As the three prepared for the mission, Pei Guang noticed a notification from his system. He took out the refined Aether and mused, "I'm thinking this stuff feels like enhancement material."
When Pei Guang looked at his system, he saw the description as soon as he accepted the refined Aether.
'Enhancement Material: Can be used to enhance weapons.'
Seeing this, he pulled out his indestructible starter sword.
Asta heard Pei Guang and came over to explain, "This can be used to enhance Light Cones, making them even more powerful, but ordinary equipment can't be—"
Before she could finish her sentence, Pei Guang slapped the refined Aether onto his weapon. Something strange happened: the Aether turned into light and merged into the weapon.
At that moment, Pei Guang's system gave a new notification.
"Starter Sword Level +1!"
He was thrilled. "Wow! It really can be enhanced!"
Asta had intended to say that this stuff couldn't be used on regular weapons, but after seeing Pei Guang's actions, she was stunned. Not only her, but March 7th also froze: she had used refined Aether before, and it only worked on Light Cones. How did Pei Guang manage to use it on a weapon?
Pei Guang, not noticing Asta's surprise, turned to March 7th and Stelle. "Come on, give me your weapons and the purple mission reward from earlier, and I'll enhance them too. I think I might have a class like an enhancer, so I can use materials to enhance gear."
"Here!"
Without any hesitation, Stelle handed over her baseball bat and refined Aether to Pei Guang.
Admiring Stelle's plain baseball bat, he commented, "Just as I thought, your weapon is also indestructible. Alright, here we go~"
Pei Guang slapped the Aether onto the bat. The seemingly ordinary bat didn't change much, but the Aether merged into it.
Handing the bat back to Stelle, she swung it around casually. "It feels sturdier."
March 7th leaned in curiously. "Can it really be enhanced?"
She wasn't too surprised, as she had plenty of experience, but it was mostly in adventuring. Asta, on the other hand, was now questioning everything she knew. Was it her years of experience that were wrong, or was Pei Guang somehow different?