While Stelle was having her inner monologue, Pei Guang casually took the items Seele had scavenged. "Doesn't matter who opened them: these items are meant to be used to power up before the boss fights anyway. Now that we're all awake, how about we finish up the side quests first? What do you guys think?"
March 7th yawned. "I'm fine with that. After a nap, I feel pretty refreshed."
Seele chimed in, "No problem! I know the entire Underworld like the back of my hand. I can lead the way. But what about him?"
Pei Guang replied, "Natasha's clinic isn't far from here. Let's drop him off there. Since he's a non-hostile hidden mob, we'll let him go for now. Later, we can try catching him again to see if we can get more loot from him—a sustainable farming strategy."
Some games let you farm NPCs for a burst of loot, release them, and then catch them again for more loot. To Pei Guang, this was just the testing phase, and no matter how he tried, it wouldn't be a loss.
At Natasha's clinic, Sampo had a dream. In his dream, he saw two masks—one was a mischievous purple egg with a sly grin, and the other was a goofy expression smiling back at him. Then he realized his butt was on fire, not just with fireworks but with butterflies too.
By the time he realized something was wrong, it was too late.
He jolted awake in shock.
"Huh? Where am I?"
Natasha, noticing Sampo waking up, smiled. "Sampo? What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Sampo groaned, "Why am I here?"
Natasha, still smiling, said, "You fell asleep."
"I fell asleep? Ugh, my butt hurts so bad!"
Sampo felt like he'd been hit dozens of times on his backside, but fortunately, it was only sore and not seriously injured.
Natasha nodded. "Yeah, you were probably knocked out. What happened before you fell asleep?"
Sampo hesitated. "Uh… I think I saw two people… One of them might have been… Miss Seele? And then…"
Natasha handed him a cup of coffee. "Here, have some coffee and tell me slowly."
"Thanks."
After downing the cup of coffee, Natasha asked again, smiling gently, "Do you remember anything else?"
Sampo's eyes darkened. "I..."
Natasha spoke soothingly, "Don't worry, you probably just fell and hurt your butt. Take a good rest, and you'll feel better soon."
Natasha had managed to get quite a bit of coffee from Pei Guang. Previously, because there were too many patients, she hadn't had the chance to run any experiments, but now, she finally had a suitable subject for a little test, and it seemed like a good opportunity.
According to Bronya's reaction, experiments up to ten times wouldn't cause any physical harm, so she aimed for about fifteen rounds to see how Sampo would respond.
Being an experienced doctor, Natasha made sure that Sampo wouldn't be hurt. As for the experiment? Let's just say it was her way of collecting on Sampo's debts—after all, he owed Natasha quite a bit of money, at least on paper.
Near the entrance to Rivet Town, Seele introduced the area to Pei Guang and the group. "This is Rivet Town, where I grew up. But as the Fragmentum corrosion worsened, the equipment and resources we relied on were swallowed by it. Even trying to retrieve anything from there now is a life-threatening task."
Seele's voice grew a bit emotional as she recalled the hardships, but Pei Guang patted her on the shoulder. "Got it! I'll take on your second side quest!"
"Huh?"
Her intense emotions instantly vanished. Though Seele hadn't spent much time with Pei Guang, through Dan Heng's guidance and their interactions, she had come to understand his quirky way of thinking.
Pei Guang pulled out his wooden sword, pointing excitedly at Rivet Town. "March! Stelle! We've hit the jackpot! Not only can we complete the tasks of delivering messages and supplies, but we can also help gather resources in the city! Perfect!"
March 7th thought it over. "That's a pretty good idea, but how should we go about it?"
Pei Guang gave a wise look. "Of course, we'll start from the beginning—search through every building, one by one. Looting is my specialty!"
Stelle raised her bat. "Let's go!"
Pei Guang raised his sword. "Let's go!"
March 7th lifted her bow as well. "I hope we find some good stuff this time!"
To hype themselves up, Stelle started tapping Pei Guang's wooden sword and March's bow with her bat. With each hit, fireworks lit up their weapons, adding a touch of flair to their mission.
Before they began, Pei Guang suddenly remembered something important. "Seele, I have a question. In Rivet Town, are all the buildings useless now? Can they be destroyed?"
Seele nodded. "Yeah, but some obstacles shouldn't be destroyed. Those barriers are good for keeping the Fragmentum creatures at bay."
Pei Guang gave a thumbs-up. "Got it! Collecting resources and setting up barriers—I'm a pro at this."
At that moment, Seele felt truly happy. For the first time in her life, she felt so relaxed, so joyful. It was the first time she didn't have to think too hard about anything. In that moment, she gained a deeper understanding of Dan Heng's words.
Relaxation, joy—she was finally experiencing the fun of following Pei Guang. Whether it was opening odd materials from random chests or looting special weapon effects off enemies, ever since she met him, good things kept happening.
She also realized that thinking too much while following Pei Guang was unnecessary. Well, not exactly—more like, as long as she knew what she needed to do and found a way to defeat enemies, Pei Guang's brilliant mind would figure out the rest.
It worked with the vagrants, it worked with Svarog, and now it will work with Rivet Town too!
What could be better than this?
The group entered Rivet Town, which had now been almost entirely consumed by the Fragmentum.
The Fragmentum was a form of corrosion that transformed everything it touched into Fragmentum constructs. Though the streets didn't show too many constructs, who knew how many were hiding inside the buildings?
This was why gathering resources from Rivet Town was so dangerous for the people of Boulder Town. Every time someone opened a door, danger awaited them. Only those with no other choice dared to venture inside, hoping to find something vital to survive.
Fragmentum-corrupted items and their original forms were entirely different. If a looter couldn't tell the difference between the corrupted and normal items, they could be swallowed by the corrosion and disappear completely.
Looting was difficult, at least it was for most people; but for Pei Guang, this was second nature.
At the entrance to Rivet Town, Seele couldn't help but ask Pei Guang, "We're almost at Rivet Town. Is there anything I can do to help?"
Pei Guang shook his head. "You don't have much experience with looting. Just stay back and watch from a distance. Leave the inside to Stelle and me. Stelle! Come on! Today, I'll teach you how to properly loot a building."
Stelle exclaimed, "Yay!"
March 7th pointed to herself. "And what about me?"
Pei Guang replied, "You stay outside and provide ranged support. If we get into trouble, we'll need you to save us."
March 7th grinned. "Got it~"
Pei Guang called out, "Stelle! Let's go!"
Stelle cheered, "Off to loot! Anything I need to be careful of?"
Pei Guang thought for a moment. "Careful? Just make sure you don't miss anything important, and don't get ambushed. But since it's the two of us, one will stay alert while the other loots. No problem at all."
At this point, no one had fully grasped what Pei Guang meant by being a "professional looter." March 7th assumed it meant Pei Guang would grab anything useful—or useless. Seele and Bronya, on the other hand, thought it meant he could discern what was valuable and what wasn't.
They still didn't understand the true meaning of the word looting as Pei Guang often used it.
Until...
At the entrance to the first house in Rivet Town that had been corrupted by the Fragmentum, Pei Guang pulled out his wooden sword. Instead of opening the door or smashing the window, he simply swung his sword at the wall.
He turned to Stelle and said, "Watch closely! This method of scavenging might not be the cleanest, but it has one major advantage—speed! With so many houses to search, we need to be fast while still grabbing all the important stuff."
Five swings later, the wall crumbled, revealing the interior to the two. As the building broke apart, the noise stirred the Fragmentum creatures inside, which immediately charged out.
These particular creatures were on the weaker side, though that was only relative—most people would have a hard time with them. But Pei Guang didn't wait for them to come to him: instead, he rushed inside the house to face them head-on.
Within seconds, the sounds of shattering objects, Fragmentum beasts roaring, and Pei Guang darting and fighting filled the room. Less than half a minute passed before Pei Guang dashed back out of the building, with a dozen Fragmentum creatures in hot pursuit.
"Stelle, take them down!"
As Pei Guang bolted away, Stelle, who was already prepared, swung her bat, which glowed blue, at the oncoming creatures. Each strike of her bat sent bursts of sparks flying, as if the creatures' appearance was being celebrated with fireworks.
The creatures' howls soon fell silent under Stelle's bat, while Pei Guang, now in a relatively safe spot, pulled out the items he had scavenged from the house.
A collection of mechanical tools, shoes, dishes, curtains, beds, floorboards, bricks, paintings, wallpaper—Pei Guang had brought out everything that hadn't been corrupted by the Fragmentum, even including chunks of brick and metal.
March 7th, wide-eyed, exclaimed, "Wow! What did you do in there? It's only been a minute and you've dragged out all this stuff? What's it like inside now?"
She curiously peeked into the room, and upon seeing its condition, gasped. For the first time, she began to grasp the extent of Pei Guang's scavenging skills. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all thoroughly stripped. Except for the items corrupted by the Fragmentum, everything else, useful or not, had been taken out. Even the wallpaper and floorboards were gone.
March 7th remarked, "And this isn't what you call a thorough job?"
Pei Guang shrugged, "Nope, this is pretty rough. There are so many houses in this town, so I can't go too meticulously through each one. I just take what looks important and leave behind the stuff that's a bit iffy."