"You feel like talking now?" Felix asked coldly, "Why are you doing this?"
'Why?' Momo's smile slowly disappeared as he spoke, 'I have been enslaved since birth and sent to tens of dangerous exploration after getting sold. Since birth, I was nothing but a tool to any exploration squad. When they got wiped out, helping me gain my freedom, I found out that I knew nothing besides being a tool in ruins.'
'This is not happening just to me but to most of my own people.' Momo showed a scary furious expression and said, 'Slimes are seen as nothing but tools and servants to everyone in this universe. I simply had enough of such bullshit and decided to start wiping out every squad I get placed in it.'
He smiled creepily again and dropped a bombshell on them, 'Hehe, good luck finding another slime to be your tool in your next exploration. Because I am not the only one who's doing this.'
'Queen, get rid of him please.' Felix gave one last glance at Momo as he waved his hand dismissively.
He had heard more than enough of this unsavory farce.
This time, the Queen obliged by his request since she heard what he had said and it was crystal clear that he harbored ill intentions towards the squad.
'We slimes aren't just tools. We will show you all!' Momo's left one last scary remark before having his copy's consciousness obliterated.
The moment that happened, peace was restored in the room. No one was speaking as they were still trying to digest his dangerous words.
They knew that if everything he said was correct, then the exploration industry was going to be shaken pretty badly.
Momo was right in one thing.
Slimes were tools of exploration. They weren't just any tools but the most important ones in the entire box.
Explorers could go without everyone but slimes.
They were the rock of every exploration team and without them, the dangers would increase by tenfolds!
Wasn't it showcased in the ruins? Without someone to see through illusions, they could have easily gotten killed inside the illusionary trap.
"I never thought in my life I will actually see slimes grew some balls to make an uprising." Khodri smiled bitterly.
"Who did?" Melissa shook her head, "Due to their trash physiques, they were being considered as harmless as a fly. So, it became a habit to overlook anything serious related to them since we expect everyone to flip but them."
"True, that's why we missed the fact that he was enslaved again as an adult." Nicci chimed in, "It became a natural thought for us to consider slimes as slaves and tools instead of actual living beings to be wary of. If it wasn't for Sir Felix's quick thinking, we would have paid the price dearly in the ruins."
"After I let this mistake pass by me, I should be cursed not thanked." Felix looked at Malak's disheartened expression and said, "Don't put all the blame on you. We both messed up."
"No." Malak rejected vehemently, "You could be excused with your busy daily schedule. You have some many things to deal with, you shouldn't even be here with us. But for me? This is supposed to be my main job and I have failed miserably at it."
Upon hearing so, Felix knew that Malak was taking this quite too hard. He knew that she was currently being consumed by shame and guilt.
There was only one way to help her out before it starts affecting her judgment and leadership.
"You are right, you dealt with Momo's situation poorly." Felix acknowledged her mistake to the shock of others then proclaimed, "Your punishment will be two years fine of monthly salary and also one day a week for the next three months in a quiet room to reflect on yourself."
For situations like those, comforting would do more harm than good. Better acknowledge her mistake and properly punish her so she would let this mistake stay behind her.
The punishment might seem too severe but in reality, it should barely be called a slap on the back of her hand.
Malak and the rest knew so. Hence, when she tried to make him reconsider it, Felix interrupted her, "That's my final decision. I don't want to hear about this issue anymore."
"You heard him, it's final." Erik said with a foolish smile.
"Damn two years of salary deduction?" Khodri coughed, "I honestly don't know how you are going to live."
"True, it's not like she has a percentage of the treasures we found." Malissa giggled.
"You guys…" Malak didn't know whether to laugh or cry at their friendly mockery.
Felix didn't let her keep thinking about this subject for too long as he brightened the mood by offering, "Now with Momo's gone, you guys can have his share split between you."
"Haha, at least he did one thing right!" Khodri laughed in delight so as the rest.
"How about we head back to the conference room and inspect our loot?" Jones proposed while leaving the room, "I don't want to remain in that bastard's room any second longer."
The rest agreed with him and were taken by the floor elevator towards the conference room.
Although most of them sympathized with the shitty condition of the slime race, that didn't mean they would simply forgive Momo for trying to kill them twice.
After all, they never planned on treating him like shit but an actual member of the squad and the family.
It was his own poor judgment and hatred that made him turn a blind eye to the care they showed him.
He simply wanted revenge against every exploration crew no matter if they were saints or devils.
He almost had his wish…
….
In the conference room, Malak and the rest were sitting on chairs at a white round table.
The room was inside a glass dome, giving them the impression of having the ability to talk freely.
"Alright guys, let's start with the worst natural treasures we got inside." Felix rubbed his hands in eagerness and said, "Put them all on the table without bothering with the containers."
The squad compiled by beaming the F/E grade natural treasures in the center, creating a big pile of bones.
Those were the mummies' bones that were discovered before the first treasury.
"They should probably belong to soldiers with adequate strength." Pualani guessed.
They nodded their heads in agreement as they understood that not all bones had such a trashy rank. Hell, there had been multiple discoveries of legendary bones with peak grades.
"Queen, please calculate their total tally based on the current market price for F/E bone-based natural treasures." Felix requested.
In less than a split second, the results were announced, "159 million SC for everything."
"Not bad." Felix smiled as he waved his hand dismissively at the pile, gesturing for Malak to clean it up.
Malak beamed everything inside and Felix requested, "Please, bring out the real bad boys."
Erik and the rest grinned faintly and beamed the natural treasures found in the 1st treasury. This time, the pile was packed with shriveled body parts and bones.
"Queen first scan them all for their grade and details if they matched with anything in the network." Felix asked.
Till this point, not a single treasure found in both the lab and the garden had been scanned properly due to time constraints.
Hence, when the Queen scanned everything and started naming the grades out loud, everyone felt an unforgettable euphoria!
Who could blame them?
The Queen said C grade only once! The rest were all B-grade natural treasures while two others were A-grade natural treasures!
There were tens of them on the table, appearing like a shimmering golden treasure filled with gems instead of a pile of disgusting flesh and bones.
"I have some information missing so it's hard to give the exact total number." The Queen informed.
"Can you give us an approximate price then?" Felix asked.
Queen took a moment then spoke monotonously, "The total price should be more or less 78 billion SC."
The Queen said a number that broke the jaws of everyone in the room but Felix.
"78 billion SC at a market price, so, so, it's should be actually 150 billion SC when they get auctioned."
Samir murmured in a daze as he counted with his fingers like they would ever be enough for such amount.
"We truly hit the f*cking jackpot, ahahaha!" Khodri's saliva kept being splashed everywhere as he laughed with his dog mouth wide open!
Yet, no one cared with a bit of spit when their mind was affixed on the last collection of treasures in their spatial cards.
The real treasures that could move even an Origin Realm Bloodliner to rob them off!
Felix didn't plan on wasting any more time gazing at those body parts as he requested them with an eager expression, "Boys and girls, please bring out the main dish on the table. I have been starving since the moment I saw the garden."
While everyone assumed that he meant this garden, Felix was talking about when he saw it in his previous life on the screen.
Just like everyone who watched that documentary, they all wanted a piece of that holy garden.
Too bad for them, only Felix was lucky enough to relive his life and achieve this dream!
