She was seen very naturally pulling out a... rather professional-looking gas mask from the bracelet on her wrist.
Then, under everyone's bewildered gaze, she meticulously fastened the mask to her face with a soft "click," ensuring absolute airtightness.
Baiheng had just shot an arrow when she glimpsed Jack's inexplicable gear, and couldn't help but freeze, the echo of her bowstring even a half-beat slower: "Jack? You...?"
An ominous premonition rose in her heart, not from Anaxa, but from Jack's calm demeanor, as if saying, "I'm about to do something big."
Everyone: "???"
In the audience, Cyrene blinked blankly.
Even Madam Herta, who had been calmly observing the battle and was about to activate the Creation Engine, paused her finger slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in her purplish-black eyes.
The next moment, the mystery was revealed.
Jack, wearing the gas mask, didn't stop for a moment, and reached her hand into the bracelet again, which seemed to hide many "good things."
This time, what she pulled out made the air in the entire System Space seem to solidify.
It was a... fish.
A... salted fish that had endured the precipitation of long ages, its color a chaotic grayish-brown, its form shriveled and twisted, only two empty sockets remaining where its eyes once were, and faintly surrounded by a nearly visible, air-distorting "aura"!
Baiheng was closest to Jack and the pulled-out salted fish.
She had been fully focused on guarding against Anaxa, but her nose suddenly caught a highly penetrating trace of... "pioneer aura."
What kind of smell was that!
It wasn't merely rotten and fishy; it seemed to condense countless uncleaned fish market corners from summers past, mixed with a complex "mellow aroma" precipitated by time. Just a hint of it sent her sensitive sense of smell into its highest alert!
Just a hint of the top note made all of Baiheng's fox fur stand on end!
Her beautiful blue eyes instantly widened, filled with extreme horror and a strong physiological rejection alarm!
"Wait... Jack, don't—!"
Before her warning could be shouted, Jack had fully pulled it out.
And with this action, the dormant salted fish seemed to be injected with life, and a majestic aura, like a supernova explosion, erupted!
"Buzz—!"
It was as if the very space itself could be heard being polluted!
"Ugh—!"
The smell was like a physical heavy hammer, striking her olfactory nerves fiercely, and instantly penetrating the physiological level, directly hitting the depths of her consciousness!
She felt her stomach being fiercely gripped by an invisible hand, then violently twisted!
Everything, at this moment, completely disintegrated!
"Pfft—cough cough! Ugh—!"
She couldn't hold it in after all, bending over on the spot and vomiting violently, the snacks she had eaten earlier instantly turning to naught.
However, this was just the beginning.
The "dignity" of the salted fish, like a self-aware source of mental pollution, quickly spread, instantly enveloping the entire arena!
In the audience, Cyrene's delicate nose initially just wrinkled, and she asked doubtfully, "It seems... there's a strange smell..."
Before she finished speaking, the "essence" of the smell hit her senses like a tsunami!
"Waaah—!!"
Cyrene's small face instantly turned from white to pale green, then green. She sprang up from her seat, covering her nose and mouth, retreating frantically like a startled little rabbit!
"So, so stinky! What is this!?"
She instinctively wanted to escape, but desperately remembered that her range of activity was limited to within fifty meters of Madam Herta!
She could only be forced to stay at the edge, like an innocent little beast trapped in a gas chamber, her face filled with horror, tears almost choking her, helplessly stomping her feet on the spot, wishing she could bury herself in the dirt.
Long Night Moon's perpetually mischievous smiling face also completely froze the moment the smell hit.
Her crimson eyes contracted sharply, and she almost reflexively retreated several steps, covering her mouth and nose tightly, her voice muffled through her fingers, with an unprecedented distortion and urgency: "Cough cough! Excuse me, madam! I have to go first!"
Before her words finished, her figure flickered, and she vanished from the spot.
As for Madam Herta... well, she is Black Herta, an avatar of the Rupert III.
In almost 0.1 seconds, data streams flashed wildly in her highlight-less purplish-black eyes!
"Olfactory perception unit, forced shutdown!"
A series of silent commands were issued in her core.
A barrier rose around her, isolating most of the pervasive smell.
Although she could still faintly perceive that "presence" that seemed to corrupt the soul, it at least avoided the physical reactions like Baiheng and Cyrene.
Her expression returned to its usual blankness, but her eyes were fixed on the... ordinary yet terrifying salted fish in Jack's hand.
A storm surged in her heart:
'What... is this thing?!'
So focused was she on this salted fish that she even temporarily ignored Cyrene, who was enduring "torture" beside her, looking at her piteously.
The situation on the field underwent a revolutionary reversal after Jack pulled out that legendary salted fish.
Baiheng was bent over, vomiting so hard she almost spewed out the millennium-old etiquette of the Xianzhou Luofu. Her pretty face was pale, her blue eyes filled with physiological tears, and she could only barely support herself with her energy bow to keep from collapsing completely.
Her only thought at this moment was to get away from this "polluted" land, the farther the better.
As for Anaxa, who was originally wild and arrogant, under the shroud of that soul-piercing "fragrance," his massive body stiffened like a stone statue, his gaping mouth even forgetting to close, his crimson eyes holding only a pure, almost innocent bewilderment.
He seemed to have been... stunk awake for a moment from his crazy Scholar obsession?
In this bizarrely static scene, Jack, wearing a gas mask, calmly observed the situation.
Her gaze then locked onto Anaxa's still-open maw.
She thought, how convenient, you have a mouth, and I have a fish.
Hmm? I have a plan!
It was as if she saw a perfect trash can opening, and not throwing some trash into it would simply violate some principle of hers.
So, before anyone could react, Jack raised her arm, her movements as standard as if practiced a thousand times. The salted fish, emanating an immortal aura, drew a precise and... pungent parabola, landing with a "splat," perfectly on target!
Half of the salted fish, carrying its lifelong "glory" and "sediment," plunged directly into the depths of Anaxa's throat!
The other half, due to inertia, hung piteously by his mouth, swaying twice as he instinctively closed it.
Anaxa's hollow gaze slowly shifted downwards, as if trying to see what had entered his mouth.
Then, out of a chewing reflex, his tongue and jaw muscles unconsciously... chewed.
"Crunch..."
The faint sound of a dry, hard object being crushed.
Time, at this moment, seemed to freeze.
The next second—
Anaxa's muscular face, as if a palette had been overturned, instantly flashed with expressions of shock, disbelief, extreme pain, and a complex look as if he had glimpsed the ultimate truth of the universe!
(The truth of the world, I have comprehended!)
It was an ultimate reaction, transcending madness and anger, purely stemming from the organism's primal instinct, to this "smell" that shot straight to the heavens!
"Ugh—aaah—!!!"
His massive body trembled violently, no longer able to maintain an upright posture. He abruptly lowered his head and began to vomit even more violently than Baiheng!
Mixed with the "essence" of the salted fish, it poured out like a bursting dam!
And this secondary mixture of vomit and salted fish residue produced a peculiar chemical reaction... or rather, a stench superposition effect!
The already "conceptual-level" stench now seemed to be infused with a berserk attribute, its concentration and lethality skyrocketing exponentially!
Even the glowing flora around them withered rapidly at a visible pace!
"Ugh...!"
Baiheng, who had just caught her breath, was affected by this enhanced "poison gas" again. Her vision went dark, and she almost vomited once more.
She no longer cared about her image, scrambling and crawling, almost using all fours to "phase" and flicker towards the audience seats, only wishing to escape this nightmarish central area.
"I... I can't do it anymore... the field... is up to Jack..."
Her weak voice drifted in the air, as she completely withdrew from the combat sequence.
And at the moment Anaxa's defenses were completely open and unguarded!
Jack moved!
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