This wasn't the first time that Lux and Gaap had camped outside, so they already had the necessary items to do so.
Lux had obtained one of the tents from the Rowan Tribe that was compressed into a storage ball.
All he needed to do was throw the ball on the ground, and it would activate, constructing itself without too much effort.
The tent was very spacious and was the size of a house. Clearly, Cai made sure that her fiance only had the best, so the tent she gave Lux could house a dozen people comfortably.
Even Cleo was pleasantly surprised when she entered the tent and immediately fell in love with it. There was already furniture inside it, including several beds that were very comfortable to lie on.
Lux took the initiative to prepare their dinner, while Cleo and Gaap sat on the couch, making themselves feel at home.
An hour later, they all finished eating and decided to talk about their plans for the night.
"Who will be on watch duty?" Cleo asked after they had eaten dinner. "That Wicked Queen Slime is still out there, and I don't want to take chances."
"You don't have to worry about that," Gaap replied. "My subordinates will handle the watch duty. Just get your beauty sleep."
If it were in the past, Cleo wouldn't have believed Gaap's words and would just think that the Halfling was spouting nonsense. However, after the battle in El Hazard, the Saintess no longer looked down on the Halfling due to his low Rank.
"I'll take you up on that offer then," Cleo said before going into one of the "rooms" inside the tent that she had claimed as her temporary lodging.
When only Lux and Gaap remained, the Halfling smiled before taking out a pipe to start smoking.
"You should rest as well, Lux," Gaap stated. "You will not be able to think of ways to cross this sea in your current state. I know you've been on edge due to Lilian following us, but rest assured, as long as I am here, she will not be able to lay her hands on Eiko."
"Pa!" Eiko nodded as if to support Gaap's words.
Although she didn't hate Lilian, the thought of being separated from her Papa made her feel upset.
"Understood, Master." Lux nodded. "I will rest for now. Thank you."
"You're welcome," Gaap replied. "I'll handle the rest."
Lux then went into one of the rooms to sleep, leaving the Halfling alone. Truth be told, he had already thought of a few ways to cross the Purple Sea of Death.
It was just that he still needed to conduct experiments to check whether his ideas would work. However, since Gaap insisted that he rested, he decided to follow his Master's advice and sleep for the night.
Gaap then stepped outside of the tent and looked at the beautiful lady who was standing hundreds of meters away from them.
Even without light, the Halfing could feel Lilian's strong life energy, which was like a beacon of light in the dark night.
"We need to talk," Gaap said before blowing white circles with his pipe. "You won't make any progress if you use force. You can try, but Eiko will only resent you. Is that what you want?"
Lilian didn't answer right away and instead looked at the red pillar of light in the distance.
"The Pantheon of Exile." Lilian narrowed her eyes. "So you and your disciple plan to cross this Sea?"
"That's the plan," Gaap replied. "Are you one of the Pantheon's former residents?"
Lilian smiled sweetly before glancing at the Halfling, who was still smoking his pipe.
"That place couldn't possibly hold me for long," Lilian stated. "Getting in and out of that place is mere child's play. How about I help you guys cross the sea and, in exchange, you give me Eiko? This is a win-win situation, and it sounds like a fair trade to me."
"Give it up, Lilian," Gaap commented. "Lux will not part with Eiko, and Eiko will not part with her Papa. How about I give you an offer instead?"
"An offer?" Lilian arched an eyebrow. "You want to reach a compromise with me?"
Gaap nodded. "Something like that. This might also be a good thing for you."
"Oh?" the smile on Lilian's face widened after hearing Gaap's words. "Start talking, Halfling. We'll see whether your proposal piques my interest or not."
The next day…
Lux did some light stretches while facing the sea.
The guards that were stationed on the walls of the Stronghold were looking at him with great interest.
Although it was not rare for them to see visitors coming to the Atlas Stronghold, seeing a Highlander in the flesh was something they didn't experience often.
If it weren't for their duties, they might have approached Lux and asked the Half-Elf to shake their hands.
Highlanders only existed in Myths and Legends, and although they knew that they were real, seeing one was not something they expected to experience in their lifetime.
"Eiko, are you ready?" Lux asked the Baby Slime on his head.
"Ei!" Eiko jumped in place, as if telling her Papa that she was ready to start their experiment.
"Okay, you do it first." Lux crossed his arms over his chest.
"Pa!" Eiko jumped off Lux's head and crawled closer to the beach.
When the Baby Slime was only a few meters away from the receding waves, she shouted, and a magic circle appeared in front of her.
"Come!" Eiko ordered.
A moment later, an Argonaut-Ranked Diabolical Acid Slime World Boss appeared.
This was the same Slime that Eiko had summoned back in the Gladiator's Tournament. Lux thought that Eiko's slime might be one of the keys to allow them to cross the Purple Sea of Death.
"Go!" Eiko ordered.
The Diabolical Acid Slime nodded its head and crawled towards the Purple Waters.
A moment later, it began to swim in it, looking perfectly fine.
Cleo, who was watching this from a distance, looked at the World Boss Monster with wide eyes.
"I forgot that she can summon one of those," Cleo muttered.
Originally, she thought that Lux would give up if his experiments bore no fruit. However, she was able to regain her calm after a few minutes. The sea's acidity was just one of the many hurdles that would block their path.
Although the Argonaut-Ranked Diabolical Slime could indeed swim in the highly acidic waters, there were still powerful Monsters and Wraiths in the sea.
If they were to face a Dreadnaught or Empyrean Ranked Monster while riding on the Diabolical Acid Slime, their chances of survival would decrease drastically.
Just as the Saintess was thinking that riding on the Diabolical Acid Slime wouldn't be good enough, Lux also walked towards the beach and raised his hand.
"Come," Lux ordered. "Deus Gigantia!"
A moment later, a gigantic Skeleton King appeared and walked towards the sea with steady steps.
Lux eyed the Skeleton King's body as it waded through the waters.
Seeing that the Acid couldn't melt its bones, an idea came into his head.
He then relayed his orders to the Skeleton King, and the latter continued to walk through the sea until its body slowly submerged little by little.
"It's quite deep," Lux commented.
The Skeleton King was over a hundred meters tall, yet its entire body had fully submerged under the acidic waters.
Even so, Lux wasn't worried because his experiment was still underway. As long as he confirmed that his hypothesis was correct, crossing the Purple Sea of Death wouldn't pose too much of a problem.
Not a problem even if the sea was infested with Sea Monsters and Wraiths, who were all Deimos-Ranked Monsters and above.
"Wait for me, Aurora," Lux muttered. "I'll be there soon."
