To Aventurine, Pei Guang was genuinely interesting.
Someone who had been deceived many times and could still believe others, combined with Dr. Ratio's evaluation of him…
Even he couldn't help feeling a bit emotional.
Pei Guang casually approached the door. "Since you're not the culprit, let me go in and see what really happened!"
Aventurine: "Please~"
Aventurine didn't stop Pei Guang anymore. Instead, he followed beside him to see what had happened inside.
After all, he had also just "coincidentally" encountered the half-body remains of Something Unto Death.
When they opened Robin's room door, everyone sucked in a breath. Not because the scene inside was brutal, but because it was… abstract.
Inside the Dream Pool, there was a trash can. Robin's lower half was inside it, her upper half hanging outside, her whole body draped over the rim.
Her wounds were simple and crude: only one fatal stab to the chest, but the trash can was covered in multiple cracks and dents.
Next to the trash can, a scattered bag of garbage caught Pei Guang's attention. He leaned closer, and through that trash, he saw what had happened.
Just a few minutes earlier, Robin had entered the dream and immediately felt danger.
She searched her room and finally found the trash can Pei Guang had given her. It could travel between reality and dream, giving her hope.
Robin hid inside the trash can.
Sadly Something Unto Death, having seen Pei Guang's trash can before, rushed straight to it and wrenched it open.
Seeing Robin panicked inside, it stabbed her directly in the chest! But that didn't satisfy Something Unto Death. With only half a body left, it fiercely attacked the trash can.
A trash can wasn't invincible and it could be damaged.
Under the violent assault, even it became battered and broken.
Faced with the threat of death, the trash can still maintained its final dignity, and poured all information into the trash bag.
Looking at the bag, Pei Guang's eyes became a little wet: this was the trash can's final trash bag, carrying its last dignity and glory.
Seeing this scene, Pei Guang was moved to tears. He picked up the trash bag and gently wiped away the single tear squeezed out by emotion.
"Trash can! I've received your dignity and glory. Don't worry, I will avenge you, and I will pass on your honor and dignity."
Pei Guang was truly touched. Judging from the minimap marker, Robin wasn't actually dead; she had likely been sent to some special zone by a special mechanic.
She had gone to the 2D realm. But this trash can left no corpse. Looking at the final trash bag the trash can cast out, his heart ached with pain and regret.
Belobog only has so many gacha trash cans: once one is gone, it's gone! No player can bear seeing a treasured rare inventory item destroyed.
But while grieving, Pei Guang didn't forget the task. He prepared to reclaim the trash can.
He stored the trash bag. As for the trash can… Pei Guang wanted to retrieve it, but the moment he tried, the trash can and Robin's body turned into bubbles and scattered.
Watching the trash can and the girl fade away, Pei Guang began to ponder: "Did the bucket cross over together with Robin?"
At this moment, behind Pei Guang, Black Swan, Acheron, and Aventurine all froze in shock.
A follower of Preservation and employee of the IPC, a Memokeeper of the Garden of Recollection, and an Emanator of Nihility.
Three figures famous in their respective Paths, who had seen countless bizarre things across the universe, yet today they witnessed something unforgettable.
Not sad about a person dying—but mourning the destruction of a trash can?
Actually… that didn't seem wrong. After all, Penacony really does have a Preservation Emanator who is a trash can.
The three of them didn't know what possessed the Amber Lord to appoint a trash can as an Emanator, but nonetheless, one exists.
Meanwhile, deep in the dream, Robin slowly regained consciousness, staring blankly at her surroundings.
"Where… am I?"
She recalled her experience: she remembered being killed by the creature she'd been investigating. She remembered hiding in Pei Guang's trash can just before death, but it didn't matter: it still opened the lid and stabbed her.
The pain still felt vivid when recalled. But then she suddenly saw a familiar… bucket? Except unlike the plain bucket before, this one had grown limbs, wore a little skirt, standing firmly and powerfully beside her.
Still confused, Robin felt a strange emotion seeing this trash can.
"Thank you! Thank you for protecting me until the end."
She remembered: although she was stabbed while inside the trash can, she had felt the trash can desperately protecting her before death, even angering the monster so much it stabbed the can too.
But seeing the bucket's skirt and slender limbs, Robin suddenly had a bizarre thought.
"This trash can… is the same gender as me?"
What nonsense! Since when do trash cans have gender!?
Hearing Robin's gratitude, the bucket clenched its fists, revealing its slender muscles.
"Waibibabu! Wawawa-oh!"
It wasn't speaking human language, but Robin instantly understood its meaning: "Protecting me is the command of the King of Trash? The King of Trash… is that Ah Guang?!"
"Waibibabu!"
"Pfft~ He's actually the King of Trash? Cough, I didn't laugh, really. In fact, thank you — and thank the King of Trash for his protection. From here on… I'll be in your care. Ah?"
The bucket didn't answer. It simply folded its arms and waited for Robin to act.
As the king's loyal subject, it would give everything to complete the king's mission: protect Robin.
In its eyes, Robin was the best candidate to become the king's beloved!
That's right: even as a trash can, it pondered the king's life matters. Though the king had other targets, loyal subjects must think ahead for their ruler.
The bucket's only regret was that its figure didn't match the king's aesthetic. Though in the world of trash cans, it was a peerless beauty beloved by countless trash bags, the King of Trash simply wasn't interested.
Thus begins the bizarre adventure of Robin and the trash can.