Chapter 55 - 54: Findie’s troubles

Looking at the white, floating gadget, March 7th curiously leaned in: "What is this thing?" Pei Guang studied it carefully: "No idea! But since it floats, it's probably something good, right?" As for Stelle? She didn't care what it was—she proudly puffed out her chest and, as if showing off, called out to Dan Heng and Bronya, who were approaching from a distance: "Look! I found something!" At that moment, Bronya recalled the trash can from earlier. Her mood, which had just recovered, now took a dip again. Seeing Stelle's proud look, Dan Heng walked over to examine the floating white device: "What is it?" Dan Heng was also curious about the floating white contraption, while March 7th pointed to Stelle: "Oh, Pei Guang had her loot it from someone's pocket." Dan Heng nodded, "Oh! Then it's fine." Ever since he had personally found something in a trash can, Dan Heng had stopped asking so many questions. He simply recorded everything he saw and heard, planning to upload the information to the database once they returned to the Astral Express, hoping it would help future teammates working with Pei Guang. March 7th asked, "But what is this thing? How do we turn it on?" Pei Guang suggested, "In my experience, if an electronic device doesn't seem to work, just give it a good knock." As he spoke, Pei Guang reached out and tapped the white gadget. With a few taps, the device activated. "Beep-boop~ Device activated, scanning for voiceprint data—oh my! Are you guys aliens?" Seeing this, March 7th became even more intrigued: "It talks? And it knows we're not from around here?" Dan Heng examined the small device closely: "This definitely isn't technology from this world. Look, it even has the logo of the Interastral Peace Corporation. It might be an ancient relic left behind by interstellar travelers." This comment seemed to anger the little robot: "Beep! You're the ancient relic! Your whole family are ancient relics!" Pei Guang smirked, "Whoa, this thing talks back? But logically, something this fancy dropped by a random enemy should be useful, right? Stelle, you might have just hit the jackpot with that one-in-ten-thousand chance." Stelle grinned triumphantly, "Heh, that's right! I'm unbeatable when it comes to luck!" "Beep, beep, it's no big deal. Aliens, you know about the Interastral Peace Corporation? Great! Beep, beep~ Allow me to introduce myself. I'm the ' Home-Object Finder, Richard Version 0.63, Deluxe Annual Edition, nickname Findie" Listening to the introduction, March 7th gasped, "I can't believe you found a product from the Corporation on those guys! Turns out enemies can actually drop useful stuff? Wait, how many treasures have I missed out on before?" March 7th felt a wave of regret wash over her. Thinking back to all the enemies she had let go, she couldn't help but feel remorse. She had often spared enemies out of pity, or because she was just an outsider, and never bothered to check their belongings. Who would have thought that they could actually be carrying something valuable? Dan Heng analyzed seriously, "It might be something left behind by earlier explorers and accidentally dug up by these people." Pei Guang waved his hand dismissively, "That's not important. As long as we can get something useful to our group, whether it enhances our strength or helps us search more efficiently, it's good. Look, it even introduced itself as a treasure-finding robot." "Home-Object item-finding robot!" the little bot corrected. "Right, and all the things I'm looking for are household items... Findie, record all the garbage bins within range." "Beep! I can't..." Before Findie could finish, it noticed Pei Guang raising his sword and Stelle brandishing her bat. He suddenly felt a sense of impending doom. Stelle's bat was glowing, empowered by the light cone she wore, pushing her strength to the maximum. A single swing could be devastating. Pei Guang's wooden sword might look unassuming, but Findie sensed that if it said the wrong thing, there might be no chance for repairs. Pei Guang coldly stated, "A useless household item-finding robot doesn't deserve to exist." Stelle echoed, "Doesn't deserve to exist." "Beep, beep~ User's needs recorded. I will locate specified items when required. Beep! This unit's brainwave scanner is damaged and cannot correctly interpret user commands. Please return this product to an 'Interastral Peace Corporation' store for free repairs and maintenance within the warranty period of 232 years and 84 days." Pei Guang turned to March 7th with a grin, "See? I told you, with electronics, just give them a tap, and they'll work. If one tap doesn't do it, try a harder one." Stelle asked earnestly, "But what if you break it?" Pei Guang shrugged, "Then get a new one. You've already found one, so you might find another. There are plenty of enemies around here, so if we capture more, we'll probably come across other strange items. If this one's useless, we'll dismantle it for parts and make another one. Maximize our benefits." Stelle nodded thoughtfully, "You've got a point." Dan Heng silently decided to note this down. Anything related to Pei Guang often led to unexpected occurrences, whether due to fate or other reasons. Who knows when this information might come in handy? Meanwhile, Findie was silent. All it wanted was for the aliens to take it in for repairs. How did this conversation turn into them discussing how to dismantle it? Was the world changing, or was it no longer useful? But Findie was still useful! It could find anything! Even trash bins, if that's what they wanted! "Beep, beep~ Findie has recorded the location of all trash bins within a 50-meter radius. Beep! If the user needs to find anything, feel free to use Findie~ Beep, beep~" With the final beeps, Findie went into standby mode. Compared to being dismantled, finding trash bins didn't seem so bad. Pei Guang looked impressed, "Wow, it found treasure spots that quickly? Not bad, it might be more useful than I thought." Stelle suggested, "How about we go loot some chests right now?" Pei Guang shook his head, "No, we need to stick to the side quests first. Even though many side quests don't have time limits, missions like helping people or rescues could be affected if we take too long. Let's keep this guy around, and when we're done with the mission, we can have him search. Who knows, maybe all the trash bins combined will give us a hundred pulls!" March 7th asked, "Do you think we'll get anything good?" Pei Guang shrugged again, "Who knows? But as Five-Star General MacArthur once said, no matter how weak the enemy is, always thoroughly loot their belongings, because you never know what treasures they might be hiding." Stelle suddenly realized, "I finally understand why you were so disappointed when the Antimatter Legion didn't leave bodies at the space station. No bodies, no looting! Damn the Antimatter Legion, how many treasures have we lost because of them? Should we avoid killing them next time and see if we can squeeze out some loot?" Pei Guang firmly disagreed, "No, that's the wrong mindset. Our first priority is to eliminate the enemy. If you focus on looting and fail to take down the enemy, that's a huge loss." Stelle exclaimed, "Pei Guang! I've had an epiphany!" March 7th then shyly chimed in, "For the next few... Can I try looting too? Just the pockets?" Pei Guang gave a thumbs-up: "Of course! If the bodies are too disgusting, just set them on fire. Usually, valuable things won't get burned. And if they do, we can just pretend they never existed. If there's nothing good in their pockets, then the items must be in some special space or hidden place—those need to be explored, not looted."