Fu Xuan left first, and after she departed, the three made their way into the zone. But not long after entering, Pei Guang spotted a familiar face.
"Jojo? Didn't expect to see you here."
Pei Guang called out to Giovanni, who was standing with his back to them. Upon hearing Pei Guang's voice, Giovanni turned around. "Huh? It's you all? Didn't think I'd run into the three of you here. Having fun so far?"
March 7th nodded enthusiastically. "Having a blast~"
Pei Guang considered for a moment. "It's pretty fun, though the Aether Spirit combinations are a bit monotonous. Personally, I'd suggest adding more Aether Spirits in the next tournament."
Giovanni laughed. "Hahaha! If I'm still the sponsor next time, I'll definitely add more Aether Spirits. But to let more people enjoy the game, the mechanics can't be too complex. Anyway, seeing you all having fun puts my mind at ease. Unfortunately, I have to excuse myself—being the event sponsor sure keeps me busy. Enjoy yourselves, everyone. I'll take my leave."
Just as Giovanni walked off, a loud and energetic voice called out behind Pei Guang, Stelle, and March 7th.
"There are this many people here? If I'd known, I would've brought a Jade Abacus for a livestream."
That voice made Giovanni burst out laughing. "Hahaha, looks like another enthusiastic challenger has arrived~"
Just then, a lively girl walked over. Seeing Pei Guang and the others, she greeted them warmly. "This place sure is lively. You guys must be Aetherium Wars players too, huh? Here at Cloudford to challenge the champion candidate?"
Seeing the energetic girl, March 7th's tone became excited as well. "Huh? What a lively girl. You don't… look like you're from the Xianzhou?"
Guinaifen: "You're really sharp-eyed, big sis! I'm indeed not a native of the Xianzhou. My real name is Guinevere, but later, a Xianzhou friend gave me a proper local name based on that: Guinaifen~"
As Guinaifen introduced herself, Pei Guang initially thought it all sounded normal, but as she kept talking, his eyes began to gleam.
Because he realized there was something odd about that name. Pei Guang wasn't sure if it was a real reference or just a coincidence, so once Guinaifen finished her introduction, he introduced himself too.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Pei Guang. This is March 7th, and she's Stelle. Miss, I have a question that might touch on your personal background—would it be okay to ask?"
Hearing Pei Guang's name, Guinaifen's eyes went wide. "Eh? The famous Trailblazer is taking part in Aetherium Wars too? Um, may I take a photo with you all?"
March 7th nodded. "Of course~ Come on, I've got a camera with me!"
The moment the topic of a photo came up, March 7th got all excited. She fiddled with her camera and pulled Guinaifen in for a group shot.
After the photo, Guinaifen looked at Pei Guang with a beaming smile. "Hehe~ I can't believe I got to meet the legendary Trailblazer. What a lucky day. Oh right, you said you had a question? Ask away! If it's something I can answer, I won't hold back."
With that, Pei Guang didn't hesitate and asked directly, "I've just got one question. Do you have family members named Lancelot, Artoria, stuff like that?"
That question made Guinaifen's eyes go even wider. "Huh? Huh?? How do you know that?"
Pei Guang: "You might not believe this, but I once heard of someone with the exact same name as you. Her family members were also named Lancelot, Artoria, and so on. They were even called the Knights of the Round Table."
That made Guinaifen's eyes open even wider. "Whoa… the universe really is full of surprises. If I get the chance, I'd really love to visit that world of yours, to see what kind of person this name-twin of mine is."
From a cosmic perspective, it wasn't that strange for people to share names or even appearances: but for even the family names to match, that really piqued Guinaifen's curiosity.
Pei Guang: "No problem. If there's ever a chance, I'll definitely take you there. But first, let's dive into some Aetherium battles! I'm really curious what kind of puzzles this zone has in store."
Guinaifen: "Ah, while I don't know who the champion candidate is for this Victory Zone, I do know about the puzzle mechanisms. See that pattern over there?"
Following the direction Guinaifen pointed, everyone saw a design. Looking at it, Pei Guang already had a sense of how the puzzle worked.
You had to rotate your view from various angles to form a complete pattern. Once the image was assembled, it would activate the mechanism and open a path. Even though Pei Guang could already guess how the puzzle worked, he didn't turn down Guinaifen's good intentions.
After listening to Guinaifen's explanation, March 7th pulled out her camera and gave it a try. Once they pieced together a full design, the gate to the next area opened.
With the gate open, Guinaifen said goodbye to Pei Guang and the others. Her Aether Spirits were still weak, and her own rank wasn't high enough yet, so she had to go level up first.
As Guinaifen walked off, March 7th couldn't help but comment while watching her leave. "Guinaifen's got such a fiery energy. Hope we run into her again someday."
Pei Guang, watching her back, muttered thoughtfully, "I wouldn't be surprised if we run into her again in the finals!"
March 7th: "Whew, then we'd better prepare in advance! Come on, let's gather more Aether Spirits and challenge this area's champion candidate."
Stelle: "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Pei Guang: "Let's go, let's go! We'll solve puzzles while exploring—I'm really curious what kind of interesting Aether Spirits are on this map."
Pei Guang and his group set out. His counterattack lineup was still effective even here in Cloudford. With the combination of Silvermane Lieutenant and Cannoneer from Belobog, they managed to collect a large number of Aether Spirits.
Besides that, they also defeated all the other players in the area who were trying to challenge the champion candidate. These players had developed their Aether Spirits to a similar level as Pei Guang's, but they relied too heavily on online guides, which made their lineups no match for his.
Others had some of their own understanding of the mechanics, but their strategies had flaws… and Pei Guang's counterattack lineup left their heads spinning.
There was, however, one notable exception: the Aurumaton Gatekeeper. This big robot didn't pose too much trouble during their exploration, but when it came time to challenge it directly, it did cause Pei Guang a bit of difficulty.
Its summoning mechanics combined with its high single-target damage made things a little troublesome for Pei Guang. But only a little. In the end, he still managed to defeat the Aurumaton Gatekeeper with about half HP left on both his Piggy Hero and Silvermane Lieutenant, securing the region's most powerful Aether Spirit.
As Pei Guang obtained the Aether Spirit, March 7th looked at him excitedly. "Ah Guang! Did you know? This is the strongest Aether Spirit in the whole area! There are so many builds floating around online for the Aurumaton Gatekeeper team, what's your take?"
Pei Guang looked over the Aurumaton Gatekeeper's skills, fell into thought for a moment, then sucked in a breath. "Whoa… this thing is seriously strong! And with the chip combos we have right now, it looks like we could actually run an infinite summon build?"
"Infinite summon build?"
Pei Guang nodded. "That's right! In simple terms, with the right setup, we can summon endless goldfish to attack. We'll need a few people to try this out though, and Fu Xuan seems like a good candidate."
Seeing Pei Guang's expression, March 7th blinked and said with excitement, "Oh? Ah Guang, you're gonna go after Fu Xuan now? Come on, come on! Let's beat the champion candidate quickly: I really want to see if your build can easily crush the Master Diviner~"
Pei Guang: "I don't think it'll be a problem. This build is just disgusting."
Looking at his chip setup and the Aurumaton Gatekeeper's traits, Pei Guang grinned. As long as Fu Xuan's Aether Spirits weren't pure stat monsters, Pei Guang was going to show her exactly what it meant to pull back the covers and find a bed full of goldfish.