Chapter 413: Stelle's Secret Weapon
Paimon crossed her tiny arms, floating higher to look down at the Trailblazer with an air of absolute authority. She enunciated every single word of their original agreement, making sure there was no room for escape. "The bet wasn't about which team scored the highest total value during the event! It was about personal loot. And your inventory, right at this exact second..."
The little fairy jabbed a finger toward the holographic interface hovering in front of Stelle. The grid of squares was completely, utterly blank. Paimon then gestured grandly to her own glowing screen at the recycling station, which proudly displayed a neatly tallied sum of freshly converted coins. "Is completely empty! Meanwhile, I have actual, tangible gains. Therefore—"
Paimon dragged out the final syllable, her starry eyes gleaming with the ruthless triumph of a victor. "You lose, Stelle."
"..." The confident, slightly chaotic smirk plastered across Stelle's face froze solid, as if someone had yanked the power cord on her brain.
Right. The terms of the bet explicitly stated personal inventory gains. That massive twenty-million payout they just scored? That was a team mission reward. It hadn't even been distributed yet, and more, it didn't count toward her personal stash. The logic was airtight. There was absolutely no loophole to exploit.
Seeing the Trailblazer's cocky expression crumble into utter defeat instantly washed away any lingering annoyance Paimon held over the earlier pun incident.
The floating companion tapped her chin, hovering a few inches closer. Her tone softened, adopting the magnanimous grace of a merciful conqueror offering a truce. "Ahem, well... Paimon isn't completely heartless, you know. Seeing as you were so brave just a minute ago... how about this? If you promise to tell way fewer of those terrible cold jokes from now on, I'll waive the Time of Judgment punishment! How does that sound? It's a super fair deal, right?"
Paimon puffed out her chest, thoroughly convinced of her own boundless generosity.
The moment the condition left Paimon's lips, March 7th's eyes lit up like supernovas. She had been genuinely sweating bullets at the thought of Stelle actually consuming that toxic-looking sludge. The pink-haired archer practically tackled Stelle, grabbing her shoulders and nodding with frantic desperation. "Yes! Yes, absolutely! Stelle, Paimon's condition is a total steal! It's incredibly reasonable! Just agree right now! It's only a tiny little promise!"
The mere thought of surviving future trailblazing expeditions without being subjected to Stelle's soul-freezing, atmosphere-killing puns made this trade the bargain of a lifetime.
Unfortunately, March had severely underestimated the sheer, unadulterated stubbornness of a galactic baseballer.
Stelle stared at Paimon's smugly merciful face, then lowered her gaze to the bowl resting in her hands. The Time of Judgment. The unidentified purple liquid inside was still bubbling ominously, and it seemed to have mutated into an even darker, more threatening shade of violet while sitting exposed to the air.
A bizarre, self-destructive competitive streak flared to life in Stelle's chest. A potent mixture of refusing to admit defeat and a chaotic urge to test her own limits completely overrode her basic survival instincts, completely ignoring the desperate pleas of her companions.
"Hmph!" Stelle whipped her head to the side, striking a dramatic pose. "It's just a bowl of... slightly weird-looking food that might taste a little bad! What is there to be afraid of?"
To solidify her fearless persona, she recklessly threw out the ultimate benchmark of culinary endurance. "I can chug a whole cup of the coffee Himeko brews without even flinching! Why on earth would I be scared of some bubbling purple juice?!"
She projected her voice with immense pride, completely oblivious to her surroundings. She failed to notice the elegant figure approaching from behind. Himeko, having just wrapped up a polite exchange with Zhongli and Venti, caught every single word of that bold declaration.
The Navigator's graceful footsteps faltered for a fraction of a second. The warm, gentle smile remained perfectly fixed on her lips, but a flicker of genuine, deep confusion rippled through her beautiful reddish-brown eyes.
Himeko blinked softly. Her gaze drifted toward the bowl of Time of Judgment—the bubbling, toxic-looking sludge that Stelle had just categorized as 'might taste a little bad'—and analyzed its horrifying viscosity. She then replayed Stelle's triumphant tone in her head. Did the younger members of the Express genuinely believe that the artisanal coffee she so carefully roasted and brewed... was on the exact same level... as that hazardous material? A subtle, complicated ripple of emotion washed over the usually unflappable Navigator's heart.
March 7th possessed an uncanny sixth sense for impending disaster, especially when it came to internal family crises on the Express. She instantly detected the shift in the air and caught the fleeting bewilderment in Himeko's eyes.
A cold sweat broke out across March's scalp. Operating entirely on panic-induced adrenaline, she lunged toward Himeko, popped up on her tiptoes, and unleashed a rapid-fire whisper meant strictly for the Navigator's ears.
"Himeko! Ignore her! Please don't take it to heart! Stelle is just having one of her moments again! She's just being ridiculously stubborn and trying to save face in front of Paimon!" March waved her hands frantically, her brain working in overdrive to spin a believable lie. "Actually, she was just telling us earlier that after being stuck in Amphoreus for so long, the thing she missed the absolute most was the Astral Express and your special coffee! She's just spouting total nonsense right now to look tough! Trust me!"
Listening to the archer's desperate, breathless explanation, the faint confusion in Himeko's eyes slowly melted away. It was replaced by a warm sense of understanding, accompanied by a touch of pleasant surprise.
The Navigator tilted her head slightly, responding in a hushed, elegant tone. "I see... She misses my coffee? That is incredibly thoughtful of her."
Himeko paused. She cast a fond glance at Stelle, who was currently locked in an intense staring contest with the bubbling Time of Judgment, before letting her gaze sweep across the diverse gathering of multiversal friends chatting nearby. The corners of Himeko's lips curled into a radiant, gentle smile—a smile that inexplicably caused March 7th's heart to plummet into her stomach.
"Since that is the case, once the situation here settles down and we return home, or perhaps at our next grand gathering, I will be sure to prepare extra. I should let all our new friends in the Chat Group experience the Astral Express's specialty coffee. I am sure everyone will love it."
March's vision literally swam with dark spots. A horrifying, apocalyptic premonition of the future flashed before her eyes.
She pictured a festive Chat Group banquet. She saw Himeko, smiling radiantly, carrying out a massive, steaming pot of her infamous coffee, warmly pouring cups for their honored guests. She imagined the poor, unsuspecting friends from Teyvat and New Eridu taking polite sips, only for their faces to contort into expressions of unspeakable agony. Meanwhile, she, Dan Heng, and Stelle would be forced to stand in the background, maintaining strained, trembling smiles while desperately explaining, 'It's an acquired taste,'and'You'll get used to the burning.'
Had she really just done this? Had her panicked lie just unleashed a multiversal diplomatic disaster? March felt her soul leave her body. She was about to go down in history as the ultimate sinner who subjected the entire cosmos to Himeko's brewing experiments.
Completely oblivious to the impending 'Coffee Diplomacy' crisis brewing just a few feet away, Stelle finally reached her grand conclusion.
"I'll eat it!" the Trailblazer announced at the top of her lungs, dramatically rejecting Paimon's conditional surrender. "If you lose a bet, you accept the consequences with your chest! That is the true path of the Trailblaze!"
Paimon stared at Stelle's grim, battle-ready expression, then glanced back down at the bubbling, toxic sludge. The tiny fairy's initial triumph completely evaporated, replaced by genuine concern.
"Stelle... how about we just pretend this never happened? Paimon is actually getting really worried now... that stuff looks... genuinely lethal." She was seriously regretting ever pulling the item out as a stake.
"Don't sweat it!" Stelle flashed a mysterious, incredibly smug grin, her chaotic energy returning in full force. "Because I came prepared with a secret weapon!"
Under the bewildered gazes of her companions, Stelle casually flipped her empty hand. A faint flash of digital light materialized into a small, unassuming glass jar resting perfectly in her palm.
A holographic label, visible only to members of the Chat Group, hovered neatly above the glass: [Delicious Seasoning].
"Never forget the power of the system!" Stelle shook the little jar like a maraca, practically vibrating with confidence.
"As long as you sprinkle a little bit of this magic dust on top, no matter how vile the taste, it instantly becomes a gourmet meal! I actually used this stuff a while back to chug a massive mug of Himeko's coffee, and I survived without a single scratch!"
Once again, with flawless comedic timing, the Trailblazer loudly broadcasted a highly dangerous comparison to the entire room.
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