Chapter 38 - 38-Trickster (Part 1)

"When... when did you prepare this?"

Looking at the Targeted Teleportation Scroll in her hand, Helena bit her lip lightly, a hint of joy flashing in her eyes.

"Well... probably from the moment you decided to leave the Pioneer Squad. Since you're a teammate, I need to take extra care of you. Besides, you're out of food, right? Come to Dragonia; I have plenty of food here."

"And Lily? Is she with you?"

"She's in another city, but we'll find more of these scrolls in the future. If it comes to it, I can bring Lily over in the real world. You don't need to worry about her; focus on yourself first.

But it's strange... if someone accidentally stumbled into the bunker, why would they take Lawrence's body?"

John furrowed his brows in confusion. "Could it be someone you know?"

"Impossible. After the apocalypse, our friends and parents... that's why it's so strange. Could it be that dying in the game world makes the real-world body disappear too?"

"That definitely isn't the case. There are only two possibilities: either the person who took Lawrence's body has some peculiar hobby, or Lawrence isn't dead at all and somehow managed to fool everyone.

And it was him who took all your food in the real world."

Hearing this, Helena frowned slightly and asked, "Is that possible?"

"I can't rule it out. Lawrence might have gotten his hands on some kind of sacrificial item. Of course, the odds are very slim. Do you want him to be alive?"

"I don't know... I just can't believe that a friend of so many years could turn out to be like this."

"People can surprise you. It's perfectly normal. What you need to do now is decide whether or not to come to Dragonia, then have a good meal and rest."

"Do I even have a choice? No food, no drinking water—I have to come to you, John. But let's agree on this: when we meet, you better not bully me!"

"Don't worry."

With those words, John and Helena exchanged a smile.

"I'll log off now and prepare. See you in ten minutes?"

"Yes, see you in ten minutes."

John nodded slightly, watching Helena disappear before him. The next moment, he suddenly remembered something.

"No, no, I need to prepare. There are enough sleeping bags, but I can't let her sleep with Exiled Immortal and me in the same room, can I? And I didn't prepare any supplies for a girl..."

After some thought, John also logged out of the game, waking up in the warehouse.

Seeing Exiled Immortal still sound asleep beside him, John sighed softly. After tidying up the warehouse, he decided to light the stove and start preparing some food.

At that moment, a hexagram magic circle appeared out of thin air before John, emitting brilliant light that shot straight into the sky, creating a passage connecting heaven and earth!

Seeing this, John stood up nervously, his breathing instinctively quickening.

Exiled Immortal nodded and smiled, "That's great! We can look out for each other from now on. John, you're not fair. How could you not tell me about something so important until now?"

"You eat my food, drink my water, and sleep in my place. What's the point of telling you? Alright, stop lazing around and go chat with Helena. I'm heading out."

"Where are you going, John? Big sister just got here, don't you want to spend some time with her?"

"I'm going to get some supplies. Helena might need them. Don't worry about it; I'll be back soon."

With that, John didn't give them a chance to ask further questions and left the warehouse directly.

...

Actually, there was something John hadn't told them.

To understand the [Trickster] class, he needed to return to the city center and meet [Deception Apostle] again.

Thanks to his previous experience, the journey to the city center was much smoother this time. John reached the ruins in less than an hour.

But the ruins had disappeared, replaced by a bottomless chasm.

"Sure enough, the [Abyss] has truly appeared."

John pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed softly.

When he had come here last time, there was no such chasm. It must have expanded rapidly after he left.

However, John was unsure whether [Deception Apostle] still existed within the Abyss or if he had lost all his powers after transferring his Authority to John.

Thinking of this, John walked straight to the edge of the [Abyss] and looked down. In that endless darkness, it felt as if a pair of soul-piercing eyes were staring back at him.

"[Deception Apostle], can you hear my voice?"

"To my surprise, what do you want from me?"

Though the voice came from within the [Abyss], it felt as if it was directly transmitted into John's mind. When he came to, [Deception Apostle]'s figure was already before him.

"I thought you had completely disappeared."

"You've only obtained my Authority, not my entire being. To make me disappear, you'd have to kill me, but with your current strength, that's unlikely."

[Deception Apostle] sneered, casting a disdainful glance at John, and continued, "So, speak plainly. Why did you come looking for me?"

"I want to know the full extent of the [Trickster]'s abilities. Or rather, what kind of help can your Authority provide me?"

"I can teach you, but... I have one condition."

"What condition?"

"Once you have the power to kill a god, I want you to help me kill a [Deity]."