Ruan i had read the ssage but didn't reply.
Pei Guang had only just made the Cat Cake of Knowledge, and now he suddenly had a whole bunch more? Even though none of them were Emanators, each one had beco a Pathstrider? And even the ordinary Cat Cakes had beco Pathstriders?
Ruan i had lived in this universe for many years. From a cosmic perspective, Pathstriders weren't exactly rare, but if you zoom in on a single planet, a single solar system, or even a galaxy, those who could attract the attention of an Aeon were few and far between.
So how did Pei Guang just… casually make them? And worse, using materials she had left behind, things she had painstakingly worked with but couldn't manage to create anything like this?
Ever since she t Pei Guang, she had started to doubt the world around her. And now, she wasn't just doubting the world: she was starting to doubt herself.
It was like a biologist spending a year conducting rigorous experints only to fail repeatedly, while using top-tier environnts and the best materials, and then soone else just tosses those sa materials in a corner and ends up with a miraculous result.
There were no words to describe the frustration she felt.
Ruan i even began to suspect that maybe her entire experint had been flawed from the start...
Luckily, her willpower was strong. Though shaken, she quickly pulled herself together.
"Looks like I'll need to make a trip to Herta's space station once I'm done here..."
Ruan i hadn't planned on visiting the station again anyti soon, but after seeing Pei Guang's ssage, she felt like she had to. This ti, though, she was going to avoid him at all costs: to stay far away from that maddening anomaly.
Pei Guang, unaware of Ruan i's emotional collapse, saw she hadn't replied and simply moved on with what he needed to do, together with Stelle.
While Ruan i was ntally recovering, Pei Guang, seeing that she hadn't ssaged back, didn't bother waiting. He turned his attention to the Cat Cakes around him.
He had been so focused on trying to synthesize top-tier Cat Cakes earlier that he had overlooked the ordinary ones.
Now that he'd had his mont of bragging and satisfied the inner vanity of a player, he realized sothing interesting about the ones he and Stelle had synthesized.
Besides the ones that looked like Aeons… so of them resembled people they knew?
For instance, not far away, a Cat Cake with blue cake skin and pink filling lay quietly. It looked exactly like March 7th. And then there was another in the corner with an appearance similar to Dan Heng.
Add to that the garbage can Cat Cake that resembled Stelle, and—oh wow, they were almost all here! But… why wasn't there one that looked like him?
Stelle noticed where Pei Guang was looking. She glanced at the trio of Cat Cakes and then at Pei Guang, who had none. Puffing her chest out proudly, she stood even taller.
The Trash Cake, sensing Stelle's emotion, despite not even being the sa species, hopped up gleefully and moved even closer to the two other familiar-looking Cat Cakes.
"Ah Guang! Quick! You have to make one of yourself too!"
Stelle's tone was filled with excitent, and the Trash Cake, sensing her gaze, folded its little paws and let out a series of excited ows.
"Three out of four~ we're just missing you!"
Though they were just ows, both Pei Guang and Stelle understood the aning behind them.
At that mont, Stelle was hyped.
But just as she was getting carried away, Pei Guang tugged at her sleeve. "Hold on, don't get ahead of yourself. If you and March are already here, maybe we can try getting even more of our friends. As for , it's not a big deal. If worse cos to worst, I'll just try synthesizing one later using so materials."
Pei Guang was starting to get a clearer picture: this Cat Cake synthesis wasn't just so casual, throwaway gimmick. The fact that it could produce gold-tier Cat Cakes ant there had to be sothing big behind it.
But what exactly? Pei Guang still had no clue. There weren't any quests guiding him.
Even the first batch of Cat Cakes that had left on their journey didn't seem to be doing anything special.
Until sothing clicked.
"Wait a second… a journey?"
Pei Guang felt like he was onto sothing. He was reminded of sothing familiar, sothing he'd overlooked because it was too familiar, like looking for your phone while it's already in your hand.
As he was lost in thought, Stelle, who had been chatting with Trash Cake, suddenly nodded seriously. "Hmm? You all want to go on an adventure? Explore the world, but don't know what to do? Lost your purpose in life? Want to suggest sothing aningful to help you grow and find your worth? I can't do that—but we've got the invincible Ah Guang!!!"
"owww!!!"
The Cat Cakes around Stelle let out an excited chorus: "Invincible Ah Guang!"
Pei Guang, still deep in thought, jolted when he heard that. "Stop! I'm not invincible. Wait, what were you all talking about just now?"
Stelle explained, "It's like this: these little guys don't want to stay cooped up here forever. They want to explore the world. For example, the one that looks like the Cat Cake of Knowledge, it wants to seek out more truths of the universe. And Amber Cake thinks the materials at the space station aren't sufficient and wants to gather more to upgrade it..."
Pei Guang nodded. "Ah, I see. So basically, they want to go on quests? Then we can let them go on expeditions, have them do so basic tasks, earn rewards, and explore the world at the sa ti. If they have familiar people to take missions from, just explain the situation to them… Right. That's it."
While talking, Pei Guang finally rembered what had been nagging at him earlier: the expedition system.
Most gas with pet or companion chanics had sothing like this: expeditions or travel systems.
In-ga, expeditions usually ant sending a companion on a task, and after so ti, they'd bring back materials. Pei Guang had been wondering when sothing like that would be unlocked, and now it seed like that ti had co.
And considering he had gold-tier Cat Cakes? Who knew what kind of rare stuff they might bring back from expeditions?
Getting excited, Pei Guang laid out his idea:
"I have a plan. Little ones, I know so people, they live on different planets and each has their own needs. How about this: you go help them with their tasks?
In return, they'll take you around their planet to explore and have fun. And if you find anything interesting along the way, stuff without an owner, if you think it's valuable, bring it back. I'll take anything you collect!
But if you think a commission is too hard to complete, don't force it. Reject it outright and take on ones you can handle. Know your limits and always act within your capabilities."
At Pei Guang's suggestion, the newly born Cat Cakes all began owing. The explanation was a bit too wordy for them to fully grasp.
Luckily, among them was the smartest one, Cat Cake of Knowledge, the Emanator of Elation. It understood what Pei Guang ant, and conveyed it to the others in a way that the Cat Cakes could understand.
Once they understood, the Cat Cakes got excited. Sure, they had to work before they could play, but it still sounded way more fun than staying cooped up in this tiny corner of the world.
As for danger? It did sound kind of scary, but once the Cat Cake of Knowledge explained what to do when facing danger, the others all praised their gods with great enthusiasm. The Emanator even volunteered to take the lead and guide the others in exploring the universe.
Of course, they weren't trying to beco stray Cat Cakes.
The Cat Cake of Knowledge told them that the universe was dangerous, and without anyone to protect them, they could be eaten up in just a few bites. To ensure everyone could return safe and happy, it began using the power of the Paths to teach the Cat Cakes how to survive, escape, and trailblaze.
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