About thirty seconds after sending the message, someone knocked at the door. Tutu randomly selected a lucky employee and controlled their body to open the door. At the same time, she activated her power to seize control of Pei Guang's body.
Open the door, activate her power—the sequence was smooth and practiced, as if she'd rehearsed it a thousand times. No one had ever resisted this set of moves.
Of course, she never let that make her arrogant. She knew there were definitely people in the world who could resist the influence of the Heliobi. But someone who had been purified this thoroughly? Someone this lecherous? And she still couldn't control him? No way.
Yet what followed was alarming: she failed to control Pei Guang. Seeing his smiling face, she stubbornly attempted direct possession.
And in that instant—she screamed.
"Ghost!!!"
Right then, Pei Guang, who had followed Tutu's directions and finally found this Heliobus, was actually in a great mood. He knew for sure this was another Heliobus scheme.
And honestly, the place this Heliobus had chosen was incredible. Less than three kilometers in a straight line from the Diviner Commission, and there was a bustling commercial street right out front.
And here she was, laying hands on humans in Starskiff Haven without being discovered? Even Pei Guang couldn't help but admire her skill.
When the door opened, Pei Guang had immediately felt her trying to take control of his body.
[System Log: Heliobus "Tutu" attempts to control your body. Your spiritual strength far exceeds that of Heliobus "Tutu." Control failed.]
Pei Guang had been feeling pretty smug seeing the system log, but the moment he saw the blue Heliobus with a mask-like pattern on her face suddenly scream "Ghost!", he was stunned.
"Ghost? Where? Aren't you the ghost here?"
Tutu protested, clearly offended: "Who are you calling a ghost? Who?! This lady is clearly a Heliobus, thank you very much!"
Pei Guang: "…"
Previously he had met someone who first called themselves "this master" and later upgraded it to "this king"—and now here was one referring to herself as "this lady"? This Heliobus... was actually kind of interesting.
Compared to Pei Guang, the Heliobus named Tutu truly felt like she'd seen a ghost, because the moment she made contact with Pei Guang, she seemed to glimpse something truly bizarre.
Pei Guang looked human, felt human to the touch, and his body was even biologically standard for a human… but at the same time, he didn't seem human at all.
And in that very moment, she seemed to hear a voice greeting her.
"Hello~ World~"
That's right: that was the message she picked up. That kind of uncanny message and existence made this Heliobus think of only one thing: a ghost!
"Ghost boss! I was wrong! If you like this territory, it's all yours. Just please don't hurt these people: these are all my high-quality workers. If they die, the blame's on me, and I'll be completely sealed away forever and never get out again!"
Pei Guang, for some reason, looked at the Heliobus in front of him, listening to her panicked speech… and got the strange impression she was about to cry?
He glanced at the people lying on the floor, then back at the Heliobus, and couldn't help but wonder: was he the villain here, or was she?
Wait a sec—she's not even human. Never mind then.
Pei Guang said, "I'm not a ghost! I'm Pei Guang, a Trailblazer from the Astral Express. Heliobus! You're under arrest! Now tell me why you captured all these people! If you cooperate, I can still get you a good deal."
Tutu had been terrified, but hearing Pei Guang say that, she suddenly wasn't scared anymore. "Huh? What did you say? I'm under arrest? That's great. As for why I captured these people—please, allow me to explain everything in detail."
Pei Guang: "?"
He had to admit, he was completely thrown off by this Heliobus. But after hearing her story and what she'd been doing, even Pei Guang couldn't help but look shocked.
Impressive! Really impressive. After listening to her background and her plans, Pei Guang could only describe it with one word: brilliant.
He never would've expected that among the Heliobi, one could possess such grand ambition—and not only that, but also follow through with real action. Most impressive of all was that her plan was actually working: she was genuinely growing stronger through it.
That was truly something!
Pei Guang admitted that in all his time as a player in this world, this was the first time he'd encountered such an impressive NPC.
That's right: from his perspective, this Heliobus wasn't exactly an enemy or a villain, but a special NPC with dreams and ambition. She was putting her ideals into practice, not necessarily seeking mutual understanding, but at least planning for sustainable and peaceful development.
According to typical story patterns in various games, characters like this, full of ambition, usually ended up framed as villains, or else gave up their dreams and sacrificed themselves to save the world.
In that moment, Pei Guang imagined a whole range of possible endings. Was she lying? He figured that probably wasn't the case. And even if she was trying to trick him… well, he wouldn't mind adding grilled Heliobus to tonight's dinner.
Tutu passionately talked about her ideals and dreams, even pulling out a thick notebook to show off. "I record every single failure. Every time I get sealed, I go over the playback countless times. Like this reboot; I avoided over three thousand scenarios that could've caused me to fail. But still! Still, I never saw this coming!"
As she spoke, her voice choked up. She hadn't expected her path to be this hard. She knew, from a human perspective, what she was doing was wrong—but she just wanted to grow stronger!
She felt wronged. She was in pain. She wanted to scream.
But it didn't matter.
As a Heliobus, she had all the time in the world. She could wait for the collapse of the Xianzhou Luofu, then find another suitable place to carry out her plan.
She decided that next time, she absolutely wouldn't recruit anyone who seemed abnormally perverted like Pei Guang. It was too risky to bring in someone with ulterior motives just for a little more energy.
Pei Guang said, "Don't be sad. As a Heliobus, you're truly a talent! I think you've got great potential. I've got a project that could let you convert human emotions into power without any risk. Interested?"
Pei Guang admitted he appreciated talent. This Heliobus was clearly a gifted individual, and he didn't want to see her handed over to the Ten-Lords Commission for suppression.
On the contrary, he planned to bring her into the new map he was about to create. His next map was going to be a Dead by Daylight–style zone where he'd let agents enjoy a good chase, scoring higher rewards through the thrill of it all.
After playing it himself, it would be perfect to hand the map over to this Heliobus to manage. He'd modify her a bit, so she could draw power from human fear—and let her live in that map to collect emotions.
This way, he could steadily gain buffs, and at the same time help this talent realize her dream: a win-win situation!
Pei Guang could see clearly: her core strategy was to gain strength through emotional harvesting, like a volume-based business model.
He could totally give her that opportunity and eliminate any chance she'd fall into villainy or martyrdom. With that in mind, Pei Guang shared his plan with her.
And as she listened to Pei Guang's pitch, Tutu got visibly excited. "You're such a good person! A really good person! Even if your idea doesn't work, just based on your attitude—didn't you want to see boobs and panties? I'll let you look all you want!"
Pei Guang had been smiling, seeing the Heliobus so happy, but when he heard that last line, his expression suddenly froze.
Because he noticed a familiar icon appearing on his mini-map: March 7th's marker. And according to the map… she was right behind him????