Erik’s hand got frozen on the glass doorknob after hearing Felix’s loud scream.
He didn’t spend even a split second to think why did Felix warn them to leave as he simply let go of the handle then bolted as quickly as possible towards the gate.
Malak who had absolute trust in Felix’s judgment also did the same the instant she broke out of her daze.
Since Khodri and Malissa were half-lings, their instincts to danger were more enhanced than humans. So, the moment they started tingling, they were already preparing to move.
However, the moment they turned around, they were shocked to see that the gate was slowly closing down while Erik and Malak had just made it outside!
Scared shitless, Malissa unfolded her wings and flew rapidly towards the exit.
Meanwhile, Khodri had morphed into a four-legged dog amidst his running!
No one looked back or bothered to spend a single moment thinking of other squadmates!
Who are we kidding here? They barely spent three months together!
So, they might look chummy and friendly, they would absolutely not endanger themselves to save their squadmates!
‘SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!!’
The instant Jones broke out of his daze, he entered a cursing frenzy while his heartbeats were accelerating through the roof.
He could see that the last one to run away was Pualani as he was right behind Khodri. They were quite close to the gate that was 50% closed already!
He realized that they might barely make it but for him? Even if he moved now, it was already too late.
Although he didn’t know what going to happen to him, he understood that it wasn’t going to be pretty if the gate got locked on him.
Since his abilities were absolutely worthless in this situation, Jones could only look at Felix with a pleading expression.
He didn’t even bother to glance at Nicci and Momo who were still with him.
That’s because he knew that Momo was useless and Nicci was probably about to piss herself from fright.
Alas, he was completely mistaken about Nicci.
Her head that was almost always lowered from shyness was lifted high above akin to a proud queen ready to declare her next conquest!
Whoosh!! Whoosh!!
Abruptly, Nicci fired off two green vines at the gate that was 60% closed and detached one of them from her palm! Then, she slapped it on Jones’ chest and held on the other vine tightly!
Phew, Phew!
Before Felix or Jones could comprehend what’s going on, the vines started contracting swiftly in direction of the gate!
Nicci and Jones ended up getting pulled with the contraction as well!
While Nicci had prepared for it, making her fly two meters above ground in a straight form, Jones was getting the beat down of his life as his body was being smashed against the ground like a doll.
The moment Nicci saw that she was merely a few meters away from the gate, she canceled her ability to make her regain control of her body but still have the same momentum!
Whoosh!!
That allowed her to go through the 70% closed gate somewhat smoothly!
However, in the case of Jones? He ended up having his body smash against the gate, making him somewhat dizzy from the impact!
But, he quickly got his shit together after sensing that the gate was about to get closed!
He detached the vine from his chest roughly and tried to squeeze through the remaining space between the gate and the wall.
His face was terrified alright but he kept wiggling through like a worm until his left arm made it through.
The moment it got out, Erik and Pualani clutched it tightly and dragged him outside just barely before the gate closed shut.
Thud!
Jones fell on his knees while trying to take deep breaths but the helmet had been broken after his impact with the gate.
“Use this!”
Malak beamed her emergency helmet and wore it on his head after seeing that he wasn’t thinking straight to beam his own.
Cough Cough!
He started coughing while clutching his beating heart, feeling like he had escaped from the jaws of death.
“You feeling better?” Malak asked while checking on him.
“Than..k you, thank you.” Jones spoke while trying to catch his breaths.
After he finally regulated his breathing, he stood up with some difficulty and bowed deeply towards Nicci, “Thank you for saving my life. I will never forget your help!”
“Don’t thank me.” Nicci shook her head and said, “We all need to thank Sir Felix. If it wasn’t for his timely warning, we would have all been wiped out.”
It was a bit strange to see the shy Nicci talk with such confidence and with her head lifted.
Everyone started to have some doubts about her true personality but they knew that it wasn’t time to address it.
“Where is Sir Felix now? Wait, where is Momo as well?” Khodri asked while checking around him. When the others heard him, they quickly looked for Momo but realized that he was gone!
“I think he is still inside…” Malissa said speechlessly.
Sure enough, Momo was currently standing on the opposite side of the gate with a composed expression and a bit of dejection?
He was staring at a giant fleshy red sphere that had golden vines mapped out on its skin!
There was no garden, no glass dome, no natural treasures…Just this creepy and nasty giant flashy ball.
‘Momo, you alright back there?’
Abruptly, the Queen delivered Malak’s message.
‘Not dead.’ Momo replied calmly.
Just as Malak wanted to continue her questioning, she received a request for permission from Felix.
She agreed instantly and a newer version of Felix had been manifested above the pack. The moment the door got closed shut, his holographic image had been destroyed.
When he appeared before them, he seemed quite pissed off, making the squad withdrew all of their prepared questions on what happened inside.
‘This is the first time I see the boss being this angry.’ Erik gulped a mouthful and asked Malak telepathically, ‘What do you think is the reason?’
‘Don’t know.’ Malak said, ‘But we are about to find out.’
“Malak, get me Momo on your suit’s speaker.’ Felix requested with a suppressed tone.
Malak nodded her head and sent a message to Momo, letting him know that everyone was hearing him.
‘Why didn’t you warn us that we are stepping into an illusionary trap?’ Felix interrogated with a cold tone.
‘Illusion?!’
‘What the hell?’
Everyone expressed their shock at his inquiry as they didn’t think that the garden was a sham!
They believed that the trap was hidden inside the garden or in the ceiling, or something like that.
That’s because they weren’t worried at all by illusionary traps when Momo was in their team.
After all, slimes were immune to illusions!!
This entailed that Momo had seen the real danger inside and willingly allowed them to enter an illusionary trap!
‘Motherf*cker! He was trying to cause a squad to wipe out!’ Jones cursed with bloodshot eyes.
He was the most affected since he had the least chance of survival.
Before the others could get riled up, Felix gestured with his hand for them to quieten down.
‘Momo, answer now.’ Felix stressed.
‘That’s because I didn’t know what you guys were seeing isn’t what I was seeing.’ Momo explained himself with a neutral tone.
‘Then synchronize your eyes with the Queen and let her show us exactly what your eyes are feeding you currently.’ Felix ordered.
Felix didn’t know exactly what was underneath the illusion since he was just a hologram. Whatever Malak sees, he sees as well.
So, he didn’t want to assume that Momo wanted to harm his squad before getting the facts straightened up.
Maybe what lays underneath the illusion wasn’t worth warning them about?
Alas, this thought had been removed from Felix’s mind the instant Momo synchronized his eyes with the Queen.
The image of that giant nasty-looking flashy sphere was an obvious red flag that should have been reported!
‘No wonder I smelt something nasty when I approached the glass.’ Malak thought with a squinted eyes at the flesh sphere.
When she saw Felix stepping inside the glass with an excited expression, she believed that it was safe for them to get inside since he wouldn’t show such an expression if he wasn’t certain about the room’s safety.
Just like the rest, she was extremely eager to get inside the garden and harvest those high-graded natural treasures.
However, the instant she got closer to the glass dome, she got hit by a peculiar stench. Before she could think thoroughly about it, Felix had shouted that warning for them to bail.
She believed that since their senses were synchronized, Felix had smelt the same stench while inside the glass, making him realize that was an impossibility.
After all, he shouldn’t sense what she couldn’t sense. The glass should have been blocking their synchronization!
‘So you saw this and didn’t think for a second that it might be a trap?’
‘No.’
‘Even when you saw us as happy as a kite when we were looking at it?’ Felix sneered coldly, ‘You think of me as a fool?’
‘No sir.’ Momo was still replying calmly, appearing not affected by either the environment or Felix’s interrogation that wasn’t going well for him.
By now, everyone was certain that he wanted them dead, and nothing that he said would change this fact.
If it wasn’t for Felix’s timely realization, they would have been doomed and he would be the last survivor.
Just like his previous squad that had gotten wiped out…
At the start, no one saw anything wrong with it since slimes were knowing for being the last to survive in most expeditions, but now?
They began to believe that the previous squad was a victim of Momo’s scheme as well!
