Chapter 184: Chapter184-Snickers
"Two lovely ladies, what kind of identities would you like?"
Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Atlantis.
Deception stopped and turned to the two women, who were still on high alert, and smiled wryly. "I know you two still don't trust me, but... never mind. Since John entrusted this task to me, I can't disappoint him. Let me think..."
Making Elaria and Lily blend in without attracting attention was no easy task. Just by looking at them, it was clear that unless they were among dwarves with their twisted sense of beauty, they would be considered absolute beauties. Avoiding attention was nearly impossible.
"Unless... I can use a little trick to make you appear as men to others rather than women..."
Deception thoughtfully stroked his chin and then pulled a passerby over, bringing him in front of Elaria and Lily.
"Tell me, do you find them beautiful?"
The passerby, initially startled, then nodded vigorously. "Very beautiful, as lovely as princesses!"
"No, no, you misunderstood. They are men."
"How could that be? I clearly see two beautiful women..."
The passerby scoffed, looking again at Elaria and Lily. This time, instead of the stunning beauties he saw before, he saw two ordinary men.
The passerby rubbed his eyes in disbelief, his jaw dropping in shock.
"I-I could have sworn... that's strange, was I really mistaken?"
"It's fine, you can leave now."
Deception patted the passerby's shoulder appreciatively, then turned around and let out a long breath. "A little trick, that's all. Now, in everyone else's eyes, you two lovely ladies have become men. As long as you don't interact too much with others, this trick should hold until we return."
"You can really do something like this?" Lily frowned, a bit skeptical.
"It's no big deal for me. In fact, if John could master my powers, he could do it too. Simply put, it's just a small lie.
Alright, my task is complete. Now, I need to find John. I hope you two ladies have a wonderful time in Atlantis.
Oh, one more thing: I hope you can find some information about the Divine Emissary during this time. Although I believe in John's luck, it's always good to have a backup plan.
I'll leave Atlantis in your hands."
...
Meanwhile, in the deep sea!
John gritted his teeth as [Everchanging] transformed into a round shield, blocking the attack from the Snickers.
As he remembered, this damn thing had incredible strength. John was using all his might just to avoid being torn to pieces!
But now, John had completed the first step of the strategy: getting as close to the Snickers as possible.
"Step two..."
John gritted his teeth, took a bottle of toxic solvent from his backpack, bit off the stopper, and used his thumb to cover the opening. He then threw it forcefully at the Snickers.
The solvent shattered upon contact with the Snickers' tough scales, spreading the dark green liquid around its body.
With the second step completed, John could clearly feel the Snickers' strength diminishing. Its resistance was no longer as fierce, indicating that the neurotoxin was taking effect.
As he watched the Snickers' body stiffen under the influence of the neurotoxin, its consciousness still clear but unable to control its body, John finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Time to head back..."
I must say, this strategy was very effective. It avoided the possibility of being corroded by the Snickers' blood and allowed me to capture it alive. Thinking back, John had seen many similar strategies in his previous life. Many players treated this place as a game that couldn't be restarted, publishing all sorts of strategies.
There were strategies for no-damage completions, silver coin management, NPC favorability, and even detailed statistics on how many types of monsters could be encountered in the entire Olympus, especially in the late-game maps of the Silent Sea and the Snow Mountain.
"Luckily, I read that guide..."
John sighed in relief, tied up the Snickers with a rope, and took out another bottle of toxic solvent, pouring it into the Snickers' mouth to ensure it wouldn't regain its strength during the journey back.
Thanks to the intimidating presence of the Snickers, John's return trip was smooth, encountering no monsters as he made his way back to Atlantis.
Deception had been waiting for a while.
"Where are Elaria and Lily? Did you solve their problem?"
"Sort of. I added a bit of psychological suggestion and a little lie to make them appear as ordinary male sea dwellers to others. This way, no one will trouble them.
Given the limited time, creating a plausible identity was indeed challenging."
"That's enough. Come over and give me a hand with this."
John dropped the Snickers casually and explained, "This creature's blood can help us avoid most troubles. But the problem is, its blood is highly corrosive. So, we need to skin it completely and cover ourselves with its skin, then apply the blood all over our bodies to minimize the damage."
Hearing this, Deception's smile slowly faded. After a long silence, he finally spoke, "Isn't there any other way? Like using a teleportation scroll to take us directly there?"
"How can we use a teleportation scroll to a place we haven't been? Besides, I don't have such a precious Targeted Teleportation Scroll. If you're confident in facing the thousands of monsters in the Silent Sea and coming out unscathed, you don't have to help. I won't mind."
"My dear brother John, you're definitely going to protect me, right?"
"Haha, stop dreaming, will you? Either come over and help or figure out your own solution. It's one or the other."
Staring at the dagger John handed him, Deception hesitated. If he could avoid it, he really didn't want to cover himself with the skin of such a grotesque and hideous monster. But there was no other choice.
With a deep sigh, Deception crouched down with John and slit the Snickers' neck, catching the orange-yellow blood in a container. Once the blood had nearly drained out, John inserted the knife at the neck and began separating the skin from the flesh bit by bit.
The slimy texture made Deception instinctively want to retch, but for the sake of survival, he forced himself to follow John's example, peeling the skin off piece by piece.
At this moment, the Snickers' large size was clearly a disadvantage. It took John and Deception nearly five hours to completely remove the skin, leaving only the raw red flesh behind.
"Alright, throw it out of the bubble. Once I trim the skin and sew it onto our own, we can set off."
"We have to sew it onto our own skin?"
"What else? Do you think any adhesive will work underwater?"
John shot Deception an annoyed look. "Are you afraid of pain? Don't worry, even if you sew it all over your body, you'll only lose about ten percent of your HP. One HP potion will fix that.
This is the best option we have right now. If you have any better ideas, now's the time to speak up. Otherwise, you'll miss your chance."
"Let's just do it your way."
Deception rubbed his temples, looking pained.
In less than half an hour, John had completely cleaned the skin of any remaining flesh and rinsed it several times with fresh water, finally getting a tough, intact piece of skin.
Carefully trimming a piece of skin with a small knife, John turned to Deception.
"Are you going to sew it yourself, or should I do it? Where should we start?"
Deception hesitated for a moment, then silently extended his arm and covered his eyes, resigned to his fate.