Selene stared at the spray bottle in her sister's hand—it was a blindingly pink color and printed with a suspicious heart pattern—and her brain instantly short-circuited for three seconds.
"Sister?!"
Her voice cracked.
"You, you, you... you pulled out the wrong thing, right?! This is insect repellent, not holy water!"
"And this color, this packaging... when did you buy something so overflowing with girlishness?!"
Celeste remained expressionless, but was screaming internally.
"I don't want this either! But among the supplies I'm carrying, besides this thing, all that's left are the items in the system storage!"
"You don't expect me to throw a fried egg at the hive to plug it up, do you?!"
She forced herself to remain calm, her tone carrying a sense of resignation: "Don't ask. If you do, it's just tactical reserves."
The struggling squad opposite them also noticed the commotion.
When Captain Zhang Xuchu saw the pink spray bottle in Celeste's hand that seemed so out of place in the battlefield, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
"Classmate Celeste?!"
"These venomous bees can't be handled by ordinary insect repellent! Wait... what is that bottle? A new type of holy water? The packaging is quite unique!"
He stared at the gaudy heart pattern, his tone filled with deep uncertainty.
The fire mage Zhang Ming rolled awkwardly to dodge a venomous bee's attack; hearing this, he nearly lost control of the fireball in his palm.
"Boss! When is this, and you're still focused on the packaging! Linlin! Heal me! I'm done for!"
The ranger Li Jun missed a shot and couldn't help but wail: "There are only two of them! And they're holding such... unique things! How can they help? Are they just adding to the chaos?"
The priest Wang Lin, who was being protected at the back, kept her gaze locked on Celeste.
She looked at the pink spray in Celeste's hand, then at Selene standing by her side in silver armor, ready for battle. Memories of her unconventional melee prowess during the tournament flashed through her mind, and a glimmer of hope ignited in her eyes.
"What if... Classmate Celeste has some special tactic?"
"Selene!"
Celeste gave a low shout, interrupting her sister's confusion and the minor chaos within Zhang Xuchu's squad.
"Sacred Shield Impact, ready! Aim for the hive!"
Although Selene's mind was full of complaints about the spray bottle, her trust in her sister was already carved into her bones.
She immediately composed herself, and holy light suddenly condensed on her shield!
"For my sister's reputation... ah no, for victory! Sacred Shield Impact!"
"Boom!"
A solid wall of holy light charged forward like a chariot, temporarily knocking aside the dense swarm of bees to clear a narrow path!
Broken bees and severed wings scattered everywhere.
Now is the time!
Celeste's eyes sharpened. She pushed off the ground, her figure moving like the wind, sprinting along the path opened by the holy light barrier!
She waved her pink staff with agility, parrying the sporadic bee stings, her target fixed directly on the tree-hollow hive from which the venomous bees were constantly pouring out!
"She rushed over there! What is she doing?!" Zhang Ming exclaimed, nearly forgetting to cast his fireball.
Under the disbelieving gazes of everyone, including her own sister, Celeste arrived right in front of the hive.
She held the bottle of "High-Efficiency Insect Repellent Fragrance Spray" high.
Aiming at the dark entrance of the hive, she pressed her thumb down hard—
"Pshhh—!"
A cloud of pink mist, so thick it was dizzying, poured precisely into the interior of the hive like the poisonous breath of a dragon!
The scent was a mixture of cloying strawberry hard candy, the pungent smell of cheap jasmine essence, and some indescribable, stinging chemical odor.
Time seemed to be set to slow-motion at this moment.
The next second—
"Bzzzz—!!!"
A buzzing sound ten times more intense than before erupted from inside the hive, filled with panic, anger, and total chaos!
The venomous bees that had been pouring out in an orderly fashion instantly went haywire, crashing around like headless flies, and even began attacking each other frantically!
The entire swarm fell into an unprecedented state of collapse!
This bizarre fragrance seemed to be a devastating blow to their nervous systems, far more lethal than the burning of flames or the piercing of arrows.
"It, it worked?!" Li Jun opened his mouth wide, nearly getting hit in the face by a disoriented venomous bee.
"Is this some new type of alchemical potion?!" Zhang Ming stared blankly at the pink mist and the chaotic swarm, "The smell... is quite potent!"
While blocking sporadic attacks, Zhang Xuchu was dumbfounded: "Classmate Lin! Your... your 'perfume' has an absurd amount of ATK!"
Celeste was also surprised by the immediate effect, but she didn't pause, quickly retreating while shouting to the stunned crowd:
"Don't just stand there! Attack the hive! Now's the chance!"
Everyone snapped out of their daze!
"Fireball!"
"Aim for the hive, volley!"
"By the holy light, that hive is worth a fight!"
Having lost unified command and fallen into infighting, the swarm could no longer form an effective resistance.
The fragile hive was quickly riddled with holes under their concentrated fire, and finally exploded with a "bang."
Debris and sticky honey, mixed with that bizarre pink liquid, splattered everywhere.
The remaining bees let out desperate buzzes and scattered in all directions, quickly disappearing into the depths of the dense forest.
The battle... was over.
The clearing was a mess, filled with the smell of gunpowder, the cloying sweetness of honey, and that persistent, stubborn chemical mixture of strawberry and jasmine.
The survivors of Zhang Xuchu's squad collapsed on the ground, panting heavily, looking with complicated expressions at Celeste, who stood amidst the wreckage.
She was still holding her pink staff, her expression calm, as if she had just done something trivial.
It was just that the suspicious fragrance surrounding her made this master-like demeanor appear particularly... prominent.
Zhang Xuchu struggled to stand up, the swelling on his arm still not gone, and he bowed respectfully to Celeste:
"Classmate Qingyue! I won't thank you with empty words! This time, it's really thanks to you... and your... uh,'special insect repellent'?"
His gaze drifted involuntarily to the spray bottle in Celeste's hand, which was already half-empty, his eyes complicated.
"This thing... the effect is truly divine."
Celeste: "..."
What could she say?
Could she say that this was a slow-moving product passionately recommended by the auntie at the adventurer's supply store in the west of the city as a "must-have for dates in the Domain, making even monsters fall for you"?
She could only maintain an inscrutable expression and nodded faintly: "Just a small effort."
[Ding! Successfully resolved the crisis using a "unique style" method, creating strong contrast and cognitive shock, harvesting a large amount of astonishment and (forced) joy, joy value + 255! Host, your "chemical weapon" has achieved its first victory! Aha appreciates this kind of unconventional fun!]
Celeste ignored the voice in her head, and even felt like throwing this broken system, along with the spray, into the Void.
At this moment, the priest Wang Lin walked up and said timidly to Celeste: "Classmate Celeste, thank you... if it weren't for you just now, we might have..."
She looked at Celeste, her face slightly flushed, and added in a low voice, "The way you rushed over just now... was so cool! It's just that... the smell is a bit special."
Celeste: "..."
No, that was just a charge before social death, and the aftertaste after social death.
Zhang Ming leaned over, curiously sniffed the air, and his expression was weird:
"Classmate Celeste, you smell like an overturned candy shop mixed with insecticide right now... but, it's highly effective! When we get out, can you send me the recommendation link?"
Li Jun also nodded with lingering fear: "Although the method was a bit... unique, it really saved our lives. Thanks, you two!"
Zhang Xuchu readily transferred 200 points, expressed his gratitude again before leaving, and specifically said to Selene: "Classmate Selene, the ice cream from the previous tournament doesn't count; when we get out this time, I'll treat you to a big meal! You can choose the place!"
He hesitated for a moment, then turned to Celeste and lowered his voice.
"By the way, I don't know if this news is useful to you. When we were exploring the west earlier, we saw from afar that there seemed to be an abandoned altar behind a swamp, glowing with a very special shimmer."
"According to the guides from previous years, 'moonlight moss' occasionally appears in that type of terrain, and it has quite high points."
He paused and added: "However, the guarding monsters are definitely not simple. If you want to go, be very careful."
After seeing off Zhang Xuchu's squad, The two sisters' squad points increased by a significant amount.
Selene then leaned close to her sister, sniffed hard with her little nose, and her whole face scrunched up.
"Sister, you... have such a complicated and potent smell on you."
"I feel like no venomous insects will dare to come within three meters of you now, but it might be a bit risky for humans, too."
Celeste expressionlessly stuffed the remaining half of the spray back into her equipment space, deciding to seal it away permanently.
"Let's go, let's go check the west side."
She flicked her staff, trying to disperse the lingering cloying fragrance around her, "Find a place, I need to properly 'air out'."
She looked up at the sky, which was obscured by the thick canopy, and sighed.
This Domain journey had only just begun, and the vibe was already sprinting in an uncontrollable direction.
And her joy value, under various unexpected "assists," was stubbornly and steadily advancing toward the goal of the next ten-pull.
"Maybe..."
A dangerous thought flashed through Celeste's mind.
"Maybe next time I should consider bringing a crate of canned surströmming in? System, can this count as a 'chemical attack'?"
[System (after a brief silence):...Host, your idea is very bold, Aha expresses anticipation, but this system offers a friendly reminder: please carefully consider the endurance of your teammates (and yourself).]
Selene watched her sister's side profile as she suddenly fell into deep thought, and she inexplicably shivered.
"Sister, what dangerous thing are you thinking about again?"
"I'm warning you, don't pull out any more strange things!"