Looking at the circle of clapping trash bins enclosing her, Stelle felt her brain short‑circuit a little.
What just happened? She had been planning to really go to town just a moment ago, then Pei Guang self‑destructed? And then her battle was over?
Stelle stared blankly ahead, while an ominous little tune seemed to echo in her heart.
Even though she had clearly won, she felt a pain worse than losing ten times, a hundred times.
Stelle felt wronged. She wanted to cry~
But unfortunately, no one present was going to give her a chance to look pitiful and aggrieved.
Everyone was clapping and celebrating here, cheering for Penacony's victory over such a formidable enemy.
Yet to Stelle, this did not sound like cheering: it sounded like they were mocking her.
Ahhhh! It hurt so much!!!
Stelle was extremely upset, but amidst the frustration, she was also thinking.
As a Trailblazer, and a kid personally raised by Pei Guang, she had inherited Pei Guang's petty, small‑minded traits. She decided to launch a grand betrayal against her Ah Guang.
Since she was going to betray him, how should she do it?
She was just a baby barely one month old and still didn't know how to betray someone. So, while everyone else was cheering, she took out her phone and started searching online.
In the search engine, Stelle typed in a few words: "How to disgust someone"
Opening it, she saw all kinds of methods to gross people out listed there.
Looking at those methods, Stelle frowned in dissatisfaction.
Even though she really wanted to disgust Pei Guang a bit, what she had in mind was just playing a prank on him.
After all, they were on the same side.
Playing around was just playing around: there was no need to actually go too far.
Previously, it was always Pei Guang leading her to mess with others, but this time she wanted to mess with him, and she obviously couldn't go ask him how to do it.
So she chose to search online.
Just as she was searching, someone suddenly hooked an arm around her neck.
She looked up to see Sparkle, who had returned to her normal state, grinning at her.
"Hey, little gray‑hair, what are you searching for?"
Stelle: "I'm searching for this."
Stelle showed Sparkle what she had been looking up, and the moment she thought of Sparkle's identity, she suddenly got excited. "Hmm, do you have any ways to disgust someone?"
Sparkle: "Disgust someone? Hm~ You're trying to screw over Pei Guang, right?"
Stelle: "How did you know?"
Sparkle: "There's a lot I know, mm‑hmm~ Anyway, since we had fun this time, I'll give you a harmless method that'll still make him feel really grossed out. You'll definitely dare to do it, because you've done it before."
Sparkle leaned close to Stelle's ear and whispered the method.
Hearing it, Stelle first frowned, but after listening to Sparkle's explanation, she made up her mind.
At first glance, the act seemed a bit questionable, but thinking it over carefully, it wasn't a problem.
After all, she had already planned to do it before, so doing it again didn't really matter.
However, doing this might leave Pei Guang with some unpleasant memories.
Stelle shook her head. Unpleasant memories were just unpleasant memories; not a big deal. It wasn't like Pei Guang would ever make a move on her of his own accord anyway: at worst, she would just keep taking the initiative in the future.
Thinking of this, Stelle smiled.
Stelle took out a cup of soda‑soybean juice and took a sip, but she did not swallow it.
Instead, she held a small mouthful in her mouth.
Once her preparations were complete, Stelle took a deep breath, locked onto Pei Guang's location, and used teleportation.
At this time, Pei Guang and the others were in the Golden Hour, chatting after the battle.
March 7th: "We were seriously too cool. I shall freeze the sea~ Cutiefly, wasn't I super handsome in that moment?"
Firefly's smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "Very handsome, very handsome…"
Her toes curled awkwardly against the ground.
She regretted it: regretted how she hadn't controlled herself earlier. But it was too late for regrets now.
While the two of them were happily chatting, Pei Guang, on the other hand, had entered sage mode and started studying the upcoming missions.
He had had a blast this time—really, truly enjoyed himself. Even though he had screwed Stelle over at the end, it was no big deal: as long as he had fun, that was enough.
"So happy~"
Pei Guang was pleased and smug, and as for Stelle's revenge, he wasn't worried at all.
It was just Stelle, the kid he had personally raised: how could she possibly get back at him?
Yet just as he was thinking that, Stelle suddenly appeared before him.
That's right: Stelle instantly teleported right in front of Pei Guang.
Seeing Stelle pop up out of nowhere, every alarm bell in Pei Guang's mind went off.
He had just tricked her so she couldn't have her fun; of course she was going to take revenge on him.
And reality was exactly as he expected.
The moment she appeared, Stelle grabbed him by the collar and, before Pei Guang could react, kissed him full on.
"?"
If it were a normal person being force‑kissed by a cute girl, they might be confused, or they might feel smug.
But the instant he was kissed, Pei Guang struggled—he tried to push Stelle away.
Since this was the child he had personally raised, the moment Pei Guang felt Stelle's action, he knew she was up to something bad.
He wanted to resist.
He struggled hard at first, and the more he struggled, the more aggressive Stelle became. As her movements intensified, Pei Guang only struggled harder.
Because there was poison in this kiss.
At the very moment he was kissed, he felt a sharp sour taste shoot straight up to the top of his skull.
He knew this taste all too well: it was the flavor of soda‑soybean juice.
If he were just drinking soda‑soybean juice normally, Pei Guang wouldn't feel anything special, because when drinking, the liquid didn't pass over the tip of the tongue, but slid down from the middle of it.
You could taste it without the flavor being too overwhelming.
But Stelle's sudden attack not only made the tip of his tongue experience the flavor, it spread that taste through his entire mouth.
He tried to close his mouth, but Stelle's offensive was too strong: he simply couldn't shut it.
However, Pei Guang didn't get angry.
On the contrary, he calmly did one thing: turned off his sense of taste, leaving only the physical sensation.
With that, not only did Stelle fail to gross him out, she actually let him start enjoying it.
Thinking about how he had tricked Stelle earlier, and looking at the fuming girl in front of him, Pei Guang took a deep breath and resigned himself with a figurative pinch of his nose.
He accepted it, but as for that flavor rushing up to his head: he really hoped it would never happen again. Even if he could block the taste, that sudden burst was still a bit much.
Still, while being "attacked," Pei Guang also confirmed one thing: This was not something Stelle would come up with on her own… there was definitely someone behind her setting this up.
That trap was certainly unique, but if possible, he hoped never to experience it a second time in this life. Or, if there had to be a next time, maybe it wouldn't be soda‑soybean‑juice‑flavored?
Also, should he maybe act more dramatically? Otherwise, if Stelle felt like she hadn't successfully pranked him, would she be upset?
With those thoughts in mind, Pei Guang added some body language, even rolling his eyes on purpose to match Stelle's actions.
Stelle's fierce revenge was loud enough that Firefly and March in the distance heard the commotion.
When the two looked over, what they saw was Stelle clutching Pei Guang's collar, and Pei Guang already rolling his eyes.
Seeing this, March's face showed an awkward expression. "Eh? Stelle? You got here so fast? Ah Guang, he…"
Stelle looked at March with a smile. "It's fine. I just made him 'faint from pleasure.'"
March: "Hahaha, hahaha."
March laughed dryly.
She hadn't noticed Stelle's sneak attack earlier, so she simply assumed Stelle had used coffee to knock Pei Guang out.
Firefly, however, did pick up on something off, but she just couldn't tell what exactly was wrong.
She carefully looked at Stelle, then at Pei Guang, and no matter how she looked, she just couldn't see where the problem was.