The Messenger spoke calmly, but she was internally dying of laughter after witnessing the final scene.

Although the Aeons in the memory world were all simulated based on memory, after seeing what Aha did at the end, she didn't doubt for a second that something like that could happen in reality.

The Aeon of Elation, in theory, could do anything just for fun. But what was really surprising was that even the memory-world version of him realized he was fake.

Just imagine how terrifying the real one must be.

Hearing the Messenger's question, Pei Guang nodded in praise: "That run was pretty fun. But the ending, though~"

Thinking about those perverted masks, Pei Guang shuddered a little.

It was then that he remembered something crucial: Aha had voluntarily joined him and agreed to participate in trait inheritance.

That led to him seeing Aha as a completely trustworthy ally during the Aeon capture phase.

And he? He had absolutely forgotten about Pei Guang.

For any player, this kind of thing is totally normal. Especially in simulation-type games, you might not realize until mid or late game that you've had some units sitting around unused, or you only discover something critical near the very end.

Put simply, Aha had used a typical player mindset to avoid being caught, and once again managed to screw Pei Guang over at the end of the run.

Pei Guang stroked his chin, recalling the experience: "Looks like if I come back to this again, I really need to watch out for Him."

As for Aha's antics, Pei Guang didn't feel much about it. The game was almost over anyway. It's not like it ruined his achievements.

Whatever.

Sure, players love to talk about "enslaving this" or "maximizing that," but in reality, players like Pei Guang are just all talk. Once you really get into a game, you care a lot.

As long as the process is fun and the outcome is what you want, a few NPCs messing with you here and there—that's just part of the fun.

But fun or not, Pei Guang hadn't forgotten the most important thing: "I cleared the dungeon! The reward! Where's my reward? Oh, right, also, I used my Light Cone for synthesis earlier. You said it could be restored. Can I get that back too?"

Because Aha had given him such a scare at the end, Pei Guang completely forgot about the reward. Now that he'd calmed down, it was the first thing he thought of.

Messenger: "Because you completed this memory world challenge so exceptionally well, Lord Fuli has already begun recovering your lost Light Cone. But since your performance this time was truly outstanding, Lord Fuli is still in the process of settling everything. So the rewards will take a little longer to reach you."

It wasn't that Fuli was deliberately delaying the rewards: it was that Pei Guang's run this time had been really intense.

Many of the memories could be sliced and preserved, and the Aeon of Remembrance was currently attempting to store those memories, because they would greatly enhance her power.

That power boost would let her make more preparations for the future.

But since Pei Guang's run was that intense, and the player power involved was so hard to digest, Fuli needed a few days to process it all.

Of course, aside from Fuli absorbing memories, the mysterious Aeon of Enigmata, Mythus, also gained some inspiration from Pei Guang's experience.

The once "Emperor's War" had already experienced some historical distortions under his influence. But now, with Pei Guang's memories, he could alter history even more drastically, even inserting fragments from the memory world into it.

Pei Guang, for his part, had no idea what the Aeons might be planning.

As a player with no main quest, just wandering the world freely, this dungeon run hadn't left him in "digital sheep-tail" mode like last time, but that final moment with Aha had definitely shaken him up.

To soothe his small and fragile heart, Pei Guang headed straight for March 7th's room upon returning to the Express, seeking comfort from her.

However, just as Pei Guang reached March's door, he ran into Stelle cheerfully walking back while hugging a trash can.

The moment Stelle saw him, her eyes lit up: "Ah Guang! You're back at the perfect time! Come quick, Bucket gave us a gift! It even told me specifically to only open it once I saw you!"

Originally planning to recharge off March 7th's good vibes (and looks), Pei Guang immediately perked up at the mention of a gift, especially one from Bucket.

Pei Guang: "Let's go, let's go! Let's see what the can has in store!"

Although what Stelle was hugging looked like a worn, aged trash can wrapped in a black garbage bag, Pei Guang's intuition told him this had to be something good.

But thinking back on his long and strange connection with trash cans, he couldn't shake the feeling that once he got to Penacony, he'd encounter even more trash cans… and more stories involving trash cans?

Just the thought of that made Pei Guang's expression freeze.

Trash cans becoming part of the main plot, or even the main content, whether in a game or a novel, was the kind of thing that made him want to complain but not know where to start.

So, with Stelle carrying the trash can in front and Pei Guang following behind, the two happily made their way to Stelle's room.

Meanwhile, inside the room, March 7th heard voices outside the door.

"Ah Guang? You're here?"

But when she opened the door and looked into the hallway, there was nothing there.

"Huh? Did I hear wrong? Whatever, back to sorting photos~"

March 7th figured she was just missing Pei Guang so much she was starting to hallucinate, so she didn't take it seriously.

Inside Stelle's room, she set the trash can down on the floor, her whole expression lighting up with excitement as she looked at Pei Guang. "The note from Bucket says it can only be opened when you're here! Ah Guang! Open it, I can't wait any longer!"

Stelle had really wanted to open the trash can on the way back, but she wasn't one to indulge in petty whims. Since the note said to wait for Pei Guang, she was absolutely going to wait.

Peek inside ahead of time? No way!

Under Stelle's eager gaze, Pei Guang opened the trash can, and the moment he did, a notification popped up in his system:

[Final Trash Can: A special trash can that, during its journey across worlds, witnessed the pain and despair of trash cans everywhere. Before their end, those trash cans entrusted themselves to it. It thought of its creator, and believed only its creator could make use of their final purpose!]

[The player can obtain trash can parts from this item. Please explore their specific effects on your own.]

Pei Guang said, "Ah~ this is an item Bucket sent us. Every day it'll generate trash can parts."

Stelle asked, "Huh? What are trash can parts even good for?"

Stelle really liked trash cans, but what she liked were complete trash cans.

The wear and tear on a trash can was proof of its strength, but if it was just parts, could it even still be called a trash can?

Pei Guang didn't say much in response to Stelle's doubts. Instead, he got to work: he reached into the trash can and pulled out a few trash can parts.

As he looked at them, it was as if his inner chi channels had all been unblocked.

He took out one trash can body, then four smaller trash cans with busted-out bottoms. Combining the main body with the smaller ones, a trash can chariot appeared before their eyes.

Pei Guang and Stelle stared silently at the trash can chariot.

After a long silence, Stelle suddenly stood up and sat on its frame—and then came an even more surreal moment.

The trash can chariot, pieced together from trash cans, actually started to move with creaks and groans: 'squeak'... 'squeak'...

In that moment, both Pei Guang and Stelle's eyes shone with a light of wisdom no different from that of the Goddess of Wisdom herself.