Outside the can, March 7th looked at Pei Guang and asked, "What's wrong with the Master Diviner? Why did she get so excited when she saw us?"
Stelle replied, "Ah, must've been the shock from our equipment effect. But honestly, when I put it on, I really did feel a mental boost. Uncle Yang, why don't you try one?"
Hearing this, Welt glanced over at the group. Even he, as seasoned as he was, felt a shiver when he saw three pairs of swirling, dark eyes staring back at him. Yet strangely, seeing everyone else wearing it…
Welt said, "I have a spare pair of glasses. Will those work?"
Pei Guang nodded confidently. "They'll work. Anything worn on the head can be transformed into a headpiece. It won't affect your vision at all."
March 7th agreed, "Right! And I've noticed that, maybe because of the mental boost, looking at each other doesn't bother me at all."
Pei Guang added, "That's probably it! The extra mental strength and resistance might counteract the effects of similar gear."
Watching the three silver heads casually chatting, Welt felt one overwhelming thought: he needed to join them. The tons of psychological damage this effect dealt indiscriminately was terrifying.
To survive or to be destroyed—he had no choice.
Within seconds, Welt put on his spare glasses. When he took a selfie with his phone, he fell silent, unsure of what to think. But looking over at Pei Guang, Stelle, and March 7th, he noticed that the entire train crew was wearing the headpieces as well. Suddenly, the headgear didn't feel quite so strange.
Meanwhile, inside her trash can, Fu Xuan snapped out of her thoughts. "Wait, what was I thinking just now? I must've been seeing things. Now that his companions have returned, it's time to take Kafka to the Divination Commission for interrogation. No more messing around."
Fu Xuan gathered her resolve, stood up, and prepared to instruct Pei Guang to head to the Divination Commission with her. She pushed up the lid and looked in his direction.
"Let's go. It's time to head to… the Divination… Commission…"
Her voice trailed off as she gazed at four strange, silver-headed figures staring back at her.
Pei Guang said, "Huh? Are we going? Let's head out. We've captured everyone we need."
Fu Xuan's gaze drifted to the nearby minecarts. In each one, mara-struck soldiers lay in orderly rows, peacefully sleeping with IV tubes in their mouths. For those who had no mouth left, Stelle had made an opening to administer the liquid.
And right there, these four bizarre, silver-headed figures were conversing, creating the impression of monsters discussing how they would feast on the mara-struck soldiers.
What? Where was Tingyun in all this? The moment Pei Guang and the others began synthesizing headpieces, she noticed things getting strange and slipped away, saying, "I'll go fetch a Starskiff to take everyone to the Divination Commission." And Bailu? She was blissfully absorbed in her food, drink, and games, completely oblivious to the chaos outside. This left Fu Xuan as the only one to face this surreal scene.
After a long, silent moment, Fu Xuan withdrew back into the trash can. She took a deep breath in the darkness, then stood up once more. This time, when she looked at Pei Guang and the others, she saw four people, all her allies.
Letting out a sigh of relief, she said, "There's a certain charm to this dark space, but now's not the time to linger. Now that everyone is here, let's take Kafka to the Divination Commission for questioning!"
With that, she climbed out of the trash can, carefully replacing the lid. But as she was leaving, she couldn't resist one last look at the can. She had experienced its appeal—a small, dark sanctuary that brought her a unique sense of peace, one that even the Reignbow Arbiter could not provide.
To her, the Reignbow Arbiter was her faith, but the trash can was a place of peace for her soul.
Watching her reluctance, March 7th whispered to Pei Guang, "What's with her? Did she fall for… a trash can?"
Pei Guang replied seriously, "Everyone has their own preferences, March. We shouldn't judge. And remember, she's the Master Diviner."
March 7th smirked, "Right, the Master Diviner who you captured and looted. What did you give her to make her so much nicer to you now?"
Pei Guang shrugged, "No idea. I didn't give her anything. When she woke up, she was just more agreeable—not at all like the feisty girl who wanted to steal our mission. She even explained her intentions and tried to appeal to my interests. Talk about a complete turnaround."
Stelle raised a concern, "You think there's anything wrong with her?"
Pei Guang reassured them, "I doubt it. Maybe she just needed to clear her head. Now that she's well-rested, she's back to rational thinking."
March 7th muttered, "Rational? She and rational don't even belong in the same sentence."
Pei Guang shrugged, "Maybe she's still a little groggy, but it's not a big deal. Let's go with her to the Divination Commission."
Welt asked, "What do you expect from this visit to the Divination Commission?"
Pei Guang thought for a moment, "Expectations? Not much. But if tradition holds, where there are players, there's trouble. I'll bet the Divination Commission is about to get attacked."
March 7th: "Oh, yay—no, wait! I don't mean the attack itself, but this means we'll be able to help more people. Pei Guang, should we prepare more of that coffee to help turn people back from being monsters?"
Pei Guang pondered, "If we can save more people, we absolutely should. But with our supply only enough for ten thousand people, we might have to hold off on keeping that one enemy under control for years…"
Fu Xuan, having overheard, interrupted, "Wait, you think the Divination Commission is going to be attacked? Impossible!"
Still, she cautiously cast a divination for the Divination Commission and was stunned by the result. She turned to Pei Guang, "How did you know the Commission was under some sort of Stellaron influence?"
Pei Guang shrugged, "Just a guess. It's a classic player trait: wherever we go, chaos follows."
Fu Xuan, skeptical, pressed, "Just a guess? How did you make such an accurate guess?"
Stelle chimed in to support Pei Guang, "Trust me, if it comes from Pei Guang's 'based on my experience' analysis, it's almost always right. More reliable than a prophecy."
Had Kafka still been awake, she would have vouched for Pei Guang, and even Elio had noted that Pei Guang didn't possess foresight—he merely symbolized a part of the future.
March 7th grinned at Pei Guang, "Go on, Pei Guang! Guess what we'll face next. You're our top prophet—can't go wrong listening to you!"
Pei Guang chuckled, "Oh, come on. I'm no prophet; I just base it on game logic. But if I had to guess, since we're heading to the Divination Commission and there's already confirmed trouble there, we're likely to be intercepted. Whoever's attacking the Divination Commission probably doesn't want whatever info they have getting out."
Fu Xuan stayed silent, realizing that her own divination had revealed an issue affecting the Starskiff's directional system. They wouldn't be able to travel directly to the Divination Commission and would need to land nearby in Exalting Sanctum before walking the rest of the way.
She hadn't mentioned any of this, but Pei Guang seemed to have figured it out on his own. Wait, could this even be called "figuring out"? It was practically a prediction. Fu Xuan began to understand why Jing Yuan had enlisted Pei Guang and his crew.
If Pei Guang's guesses were not due to malice, then this seemingly supernatural accuracy of his would indeed be a tremendous asset to the Xianzhou Luofu.
Although the Stellaron outbreak was an internal affair, Fu Xuan was no fool. If she could find trustworthy allies to reduce Xianzhou's losses, she'd gladly welcome them.
Of course, she would never admit that her fondness for Pei Guang had grown after the time spent in the trash can. Nor would she admit that Pei Guang's willingness to share the miraculous liquid to save the mara-struck soldiers had warmed her heart!