As the smoke began to dissipate, Pei Guang felt that his time hypnotizing people in the haze was almost up.
But outside, Sampo, seemingly sensing Pei Guang's slight regret, shouted: "Smoke's coming back~!"
With Sampo's cheerful voice, another cloud of smoke rose, thicker and denser than before. And with it, Pei Guang's laughter and the sounds of vomiting and begging from within became even more terrifying.
The constant retching and screams sent shivers down Amos's spine. The panic from being sprayed in the face was now completely gone. When he opened his eyes, all he could see was smoke and the disgusting, sticky mess still on his hand.
"ACE!!!"
He immediately realized who was behind all this and shouted Pei Guang's alias at the top of his lungs. Hearing Amos's voice, Pei Guang broke into a delighted grin.
"Sorry! My real name's not Ace: call me Tiga! Take this righteous backstab!"
At the very moment he heard Amos's voice, Pei Guang walked right over and gave him a solid smack on the head with his bone club.
The thud from the impact was enough to make the people outside grit their teeth. Amos didn't even have time to cry out before he collapsed. As he fell, Pei Guang casually rifled through his belongings.
"Oh? Dropped loot? Very nice, very nice! This trip wasn't for nothing."
Pei Guang's face lit up with joy as he looked at what he'd found. It wasn't some common effect item, but something seen often in other games—and this was the first time he encountered it here.
It was a small box, a bit larger than his palm. When opened, it revealed an assortment of strange tools: screwdrivers, unbreakable wire, curious little hooks, a basic hacking device, and various other little gadgets.
Though small, the box held over a dozen items.
[Item: Lockpicking Tool Kit]
[Once proficient in lockpicking, you can open any lock. For other uses please explore on your own~]
"Hissss~~~"
Looking at what he had just pulled out of Amos's pocket, Pei Guang was instantly hyped. This lockpicking kit brought back memories of his time in horror games.
Back then, he was known as the Lockpicking King of Harlan. There wasn't a single lock in all of Harlan City he couldn't crack. His lockpicking legend was spread across countless games—and now, he had it again.
"Ah~ amazing~ I never thought I'd get my hands on this old thing again. Alright then, treasure chests! Even if you're locked, I no longer fear you."
He carefully stored the lockpicking toolkit in an easily accessible spot in his inventory.
But just as Pei Guang was feeling pleased with himself, he paused.
"Wait a minute? None of the treasure chests I've encountered so far even need unlocking, right? I can just smash them open. And if there's a door in the way, I can climb over or dig through. So what's the point of this thing? More options for skipping mechanics?"
He smacked his lips in thought.
Yeah, that made sense. It's a game, after all: you don't have to go that way, but the option should always be there. After figuring that out, Pei Guang cheerfully packed away the items and got ready to take care of the remaining enemies.
As Pei Guang began his next round of cleanup, someone tried to escape, but unfortunately for them, Pei Guang's forces had them completely surrounded. The ones inside thought they were dealing with ordinary outworlders, but once things escalated… well, surprise.
The Realm-Keeping Commission had sent spies specifically trained to blend in with outworlders. Naturally, they were well-trained. The people from Belobog may have seemed like regular civilians, but anyone who's lived in Belobog has some muscle on them.
And as the fight dragged on, the Cloud Knights from the Alchemy Commission arrived, drawn by the commotion.
But as they watched the figures stumbling out from the smoke, even the Cloud Knights felt like they needed a cup of Pei Guang's coffee to calm their nerves, otherwise, they felt they could become Mara-stuck.
With help from the Cloud Knights and Pei Guang harvesting people in the smoke, the group was quickly subdued by Pei Guang.
He made a full haul and returned to Belobog with its people. This time, the rewards were bountiful: being an honest person, Pei Guang decided to multiply the compensation for all participants by 10, so everyone could go back home happy.
As for those who were messed up by Pei Guang? The Cloud Knights directly took them away. The Annihilation Gang dared to stir up trouble in the Xianzhou Luofu? That account was definitely going to be settled. None of these people were long-life species—they were outworlders.
Let them clean up garbage, and then be deported.
And the Annihilation Gang members? They were sent directly to the Ten-Lords Commission for interrogation. But during questioning, Amos kept spouting nonsense.
"There's also Ace! Ace is in it with me! He's the one who called those people here, not me! I'm just a tourist!"
"No! Not Ace—it's Tiga! Tiga is the real culprit!"
To the people of Luofu, Amos' rambling was met only with smiles. They didn't know who Ace was, and had even less of a clue who Tiga was. What they did know was that Pei Guang was the one who captured them, and there were spies from the Realm-Keeping Commission as witnesses.
What? Pei Guang stirred up trouble in the Luofu? You call that causing trouble? That was infiltrating the enemy and stopping their destruction of the Luofu. How could you call that "stirring up trouble"?
The only one stirring up trouble from beginning to end was you, you idiot!
After a hectic day dealing with the Annihilation Gang, back in Belobog at the final arena of the Aetherium Wars: Champion's Paradise tournament, Pei Guang found Topaz.
"Yo~ busy man. What brings you to me?"
Ever since she met Pei Guang, Topaz noticed he seemed even busier than her: appearing and vanishing like a dragon, yet always involved in something.
In the morning he was in Belobog, by the afternoon he'd be at the space station, and sometimes he'd stir up a ruckus in the Luofu.
She'd heard about the Annihilation Gang trying to mess with the Luofu. Now the Luofu had issued a notice: this was a big deal across the universe.
Pei Guang: "Of course it's something big~ You're great at debt collection, Topaz. I've got a debt I'd like you to help collect, how about it?"
Topaz shook her head with a smile: "Sure~ but it'll have to wait a bit. Once you're done here, I need to run to another planet. After that, I'll have a few days free, and I'll handle it then. Leave the collection to me—I'll get it done. But~ I don't work for free, you know~ I want a reward~"
Since meeting Pei Guang, Topaz found he was easy to get along with. Assign him a task, give him a reward: he could get anything done. But she never expected that one day she'd be taking on a task from him.
Even so, they had to go through the process and settle the payment~
After all, clear accounts make good friends: the better the relationship, the clearer the accounting should be.
Pei Guang had expected this: "Of course. Here! This is the contract, both electronic and paper versions. I doubt we can collect it all, so let's say this: get whatever you can, and regardless of how much you collect, one-fifth goes to you—free for you to use however you like."
Topaz: "Haha! You're pretty generous. No problem, I—"
Topaz took the contract from Pei Guang and, as her eyes ran over the contents, her expression froze.
This was a contract with only an end date written in. That date was just a few dozen days from now. Although there was no start date, based on their company's tech, it could be determined: it was a thousand-year-old contract.
The problem? Why did this thousand-year-old contract say the Annihilation Gang owed 10 million credits in the Luofu, with 5% compound interest per year? This was a thousand-year-old contract? The Annihilation Gang signed a loan agreement with Pei Guang in the Luofu a thousand years ago???
A fake contract? No. The moment Topaz held it in her hand, she confirmed it was real. The thousand-year span was real too. But… was the Annihilation Gang really that dumb? Owe 10 million credits and just not pay it back for a thousand years?
While she was still processing all this, Pei Guang gave her a gentle smile: "I know it's hard to investigate the Annihilation Gang's assets, so I asked Silver Wolf to help. Good luck~ I finally found a money farming exploit, but Silver Wolf and I couldn't pull in that much ourselves, so I asked for your help."
Topaz: "…I'll… do my best…"
At that moment, Topaz truly realized how right she had been to stop her coworkers from offending Pei Guang. She could tell: this was a classic case of Pei Guang finding an excuse to screw someone over.
But then, a wave of satisfaction surged in her.
One-fifth cut? That instantly motivated her. If she could convert the share into material goods, their Strategic Investment Department could offer even more resources to the glorious Amber Lord.
Come to think of it… that was pretty exciting!