The first house, the second house, the third house...
For three houses in a row, Pei Guang personally demonstrated how to scavenge to Stelle. At first, she was a bit confused, after all, this was her first experience with such extreme scavenging methods. But by the time they reached the fifth house, Stelle stopped Pei Guang.
"Pei Guang! I got it! Let me do it this time."
"Oh? You got the hang of it?"
Stelle nodded confidently, pulling out her bat. "I feel unstoppable now!"
She swung her bat at the wall with all her might. Back at Herta's Space Station, Stelle had tried to break down walls like Pei Guang did but had never succeeded. Today, however, she felt it would be different.
With a few swift swings of the bat and some accompanying fireworks, the wall shattered. As the debris settled, Stelle rushed into the house, yelling, "Rules are meant to be broken!"
March 7th, who had been calm up until this point, was suddenly taken aback. It wasn't surprising to see Pei Guang do something outrageous—he was always like that—but seeing Stelle charge in like that too left her stunned.
"Wait, is Stelle... turning into another Pei Guang?"
March 7th pondered for a moment. She took out her bow and hesitantly swung it at the wall—no luck. It didn't even leave a mark. As she mulled over her thoughts, Stelle emerged from the house, having already taken care of the Fragmentum creatures inside.
With a seamless partnership, Stelle scavenged while Pei Guang fought. In a flash, yet another house was reduced to an empty shell. Fortunately, most of the houses had already been corrupted by the Fragmentum and didn't have much worth salvaging. Otherwise, March 7th worried these two might actually dismantle the buildings entirely and take them home.
Watching Stelle tear down walls like Pei Guang, March 7th's expression grew more serious. She noticed Stelle pulling items out of her own "storage space" and finally asked her, "Since when could you do that…? Pei Guang's tricks, I mean."
Stelle blinked innocently. "Huh? Isn't this common knowledge?"
March 7th was speechless, her mind swirling. Sure, spending enough time with Pei Guang could make anything seem like common sense, but this… was this really just common knowledge? It was starting to feel as normal as finding loot in trash cans or treasures in enemy pockets. Could it be that breaking down walls was just another piece of everyday wisdom? Was she doing it all wrong?
Determined, March 7th pulled her bowstring and fired five ice arrows. To her amazement, the wall crumbled.
As the dust settled, March 7th jumped up in excitement. "It really is common knowledge! Pei Guang! You've gotta teach me a scavenging method that suits me! Oh, I can carry some stuff now too! Not much, but I've got five inventory slots! Stelle, how many do you have?"
"Twenty," Stelle replied matter-of-factly.
Pei Guang chimed in, "That's fine. You probably need a special method to unlock more slots. I bet you'll get more after we take down a few bosses. I didn't expect you two to pick up the wall-breaking skill! I thought that was my exclusive move. Looks like not only are personal skills shared, but even some of the basic ones too. This makes things easier! March, you focus on breaking walls and providing cover fire, while we scavenge! Let's take everything—not a single house or useful item will be left standing! We'll plan out who carries what, so we don't duplicate materials."
March 7th, a bit unsure, asked, "Isn't this… a bit much?"
Pei Guang waved off her concern. "Nah, no one's living here, and no one dares to scavenge anyway. We're good to go. Oh, by the way, Seele, Bronya, you two keep a record of where we get the supplies from. If anyone claims them with proof, they can have it. If not, you decide how to distribute everything. Just make sure to have some rewards ready for us."
Stelle suddenly shouted, "Quit stalling! Pei Guang, more enemies! Oh, look, there's an unopened trash can over there."
March 7th perked up, "Leave it to me! I still haven't found a rare drop yet."
To Pei Guang, having teammates who could break walls and manage inventory was just… common sense.
Even though they were deep underground, Seele and Bronya could have sworn they felt a breeze blow past them.
Seele blinked in confusion, "Huh?"
Bronya: "Huh? What?"
Both of their minds were struck again. What kind of common sense was this? Wait, no! If you can get gear from trash cans and weapons can smash walls, then surely having a space that can store any item is common sense, right?
But this common sense... just didn't feel quite right.
Seele tapped her scythe on the ground, producing a few scattered stones and fleeting butterfly illusions, but nothing more.
Bronya glanced at Seele. "Is this really common sense?"
Bronya had never experienced anything like this growing up, while Seele nodded. "If he says so, then I guess it's common sense. It's no big deal. We can go get the people from Wildfire to help. Even if we can only bring back a tenth of the city's resources, it would relieve a lot of pressure."
Why were some of the vagrants giving up, loitering around, or even resorting to robbery? Many of them weren't originally like that. They had lived in the small towns of the Underworld, not exactly wealthy but at least content. The Fragmentum's spread had left them homeless, pushing them to abandon any hope for the future.
In their eyes, life was already tough, so why not make it a bit easier? Besides, if their homes were destroyed, why should others live well? Truly bad people did exist, but they were few and far between.
Pei Guang and his crew's actions were helping those from Rivet Town recover some of their assets, and in doing so, they rekindled a bit of hope for those who had lost it. No matter how much Pei Guang's actions went against common sense, he was genuinely helping people.
Seele and Bronya hurried back to gather reinforcements. One or two houses didn't hold much, but if you looted an entire town? That was different. What made it even crazier was that Pei Guang's crew took everything—they stripped the floors, ceilings, and even wall coverings. These things might be useless in normal places, but down here, every resource counted. Even a single well-fired brick had value, let alone furniture or everyday items.
Take a bed, for example. Normally, no one thought much about beds, but now, with so many vagrants, tents were scarce, and several people often shared one. Looters rarely went out of their way to grab beds. After all, when you're risking your life to scavenge, you prioritize things that keep you alive—who would bother hauling a bed? But Pei Guang and his team made it happen.
Seele and Bronya's rush to gather people threw the entire town of Boulder Town, the vagrants' camps, and the mining team into a frenzy. Bronya took charge of recording who owned which supplies, while Seele directed Wildfire's people to categorize and log unclaimed goods. When Oleg arrived, he organized his team to quickly sort the materials.
The whole of Boulder Town—and even the entire Underworld—was buzzing with activity.
Even Svarog's side received intelligence, and after considering its basic and secondary protocols, it sent Clara with a few robots to assist.
Meanwhile, Dan Heng, who had been sleeping at the Goethe Grand Hotel, awoke.
He noticed Pei Guang was gone and heard the commotion outside. Sitting up and holding his throbbing head, he asked, "What happened?"
Dan Heng felt like he had only taken a nap, but somehow, Boulder Town—and perhaps the entire Underworld—seemed to be in upheaval.
"Did they… do something again?"
Dan Heng had a tendency to sleep deeply unless someone radiated killing intent or called for him directly. So when Pei Guang woke up, Dan Heng hadn't felt a thing. But now that he was awake, he could clearly sense that something big had stirred.
Stepping out of the hotel, the owner, Gertie, rushed over to greet him. "Ah, esteemed guest, is there something you'd like to eat? We knew you'd wake up soon, so we prepared some food for you. It's a pity your companions left so early—we couldn't prepare anything for them. What a shame…"
Seeing her anxious expression, Dan Heng asked, "Did my companions cause trouble?"
Gertie shook her head. "Trouble? No, you all are heroes to us here in the Underworld! We've known for a long time that our days are numbered, but your arrival has given us hope—even if it's just a faint glimmer."
Her voice broke with emotion. Living in the Underworld, how could Gertie not know about the changes in the various small towns? But knowing was one thing—what could they do? Just die? Those who were weak-willed had long since perished, but most people still wanted to live.
Survival was the primary need of any civilization. Whether it was the miners, Wildfire, or the vagrants, everything they did was just to survive.
To them, Pei Guang and his crew were delivering hope. Many of the vagrants' homes were in Rivet Town, where their precious belongings still lay.
A letter, a toy, a book—even a loved one's final words or mementos. Life in the Underworld was brutal, but before the blockade between the Overworld and the Underworld, people still clung to their obsessions and dreams.
But when the Fragmentum spread, it happened so quickly that many didn't have the time to take their cherished items. Going back to retrieve them would be akin to walking into death.
Now, Pei Guang's team had returned those slivers of hope. Family portraits hanging on walls, children's drawings, a mother's jewelry—all of these were brought back.
Just as Gertie was speaking to Dan Heng, shouting could be heard outside.
"Move aside! Our heroes rescued a blind girl near the Fragmentum! Make way! Dr. Natasha!"
"Our heroes can't fight alone! We need to help too!"
"We need to help!"
Outside the hotel, a large group of vagrants from Boulder Town began gathering. The Fragmentum's spread had been so sudden that many hadn't had the chance to save their most valuable possessions. Now, hearing that their belongings might be recovered, that they might reclaim a small piece of their former lives, the vagrants were thrilled.
Watching the excited crowd, Dan Heng found himself lost in thought.
"I just took a nap… and now, what on earth has happened?"