Why did he do it? Maybe he wanted the riches to his own or simply to regain his freedom.

That's what Felix couldn't understand. If he was here with them in his flesh, he would understand Momo's attempt to bury them and free himself from the slavery's chains.

But, Felix was merely a hologram. Even if the party was wiped out, Momo would still be a slave of his.

After such a betrayal, Momo wouldn't be able to live for long.

'What's your gain from wiping my squad?'

'I already told you that wasn't my intention.' Momo refused to admit it, making everyone livid.

'Queen, is he telling the truth?' Malak decided to help.

'Based on his thought process, my conclusion is that he is indeed telling the truth.' The Queen shocked them with her proclaim.

They understood that since he had signed a slavery contract, this meant his thought process was under strict scrutiny by the Queen.

So, the moment he thought of trying to wipe them out or had terrible future agendas, she would relay the information to the master.

It was easy to fool others but it was difficult to fool oneself by doing exactly the opposite of one's thoughts.

This left them with two choices.

Either they were mistaken and that Momo truly made an honest mistake or the f*cker was a sociopath who had such astounding control over his mind, it's petrifying!

'Since the Queen cleared you out, I apologize for the accusation.' Felix brought down his tone a notch by saying, 'However, you still messed up badly by not telling us about that nasty thing.'

'I am sorry.' Momo apologized collectedly, 'It won't happen again.'

'That's what I want to hear.' Felix said while looking at his squad members' dumbfounded expressions.

They must have been shocked that Felix didn't press on him even more and just decided to buy his bullshit even though the facts support Momo's ill intentions towards them.

'Malak, keep them under control. It's not the time to lose Momo since we need his other copy to get find us the exit of the pyramid's ventilation system.' Felix informed.

He wasn't stupid to think that Momo was innocent but he understood that Momo was still a valuable asset in these ruins.

It was best to take advantage of him fully before getting rid of him.

Most importantly, he was locked inside that gate without any way to group up with them. So, he couldn't lead his squad to another illusionary trap.

In future explorations, he would be making the slimes use their synchronization feature to not get blindsided again.

He was done trusting slimes.

Now that he dealt with the traitor, it was time to check what the hell was that thing.

'Go inspect that fleshy thingy.' Felix ordered Momo.

Obedient, Momo had split his arm from his shoulder and sent it to touch that nasty thingy.

The rest of the squad stopped their private telepathic discussion about Momo and focused on the screen, wanting to figure out their fate if they had ever touched it.

After the arm reached a golden vein, it reached out to it and touched it slightly. However, there was no sudden movement or noise.

This made Momo get ballsy and control his arm to climb up on the thingy's skin.

The arm kept climbing and climbing yet nothing much changed.

'Go punch it.' Felix ordered calmly.

'Alright.'

Without an ounce of hesitation, Momo left behind him a small part of his body then went with his main body to the thingy.

After reaching it, he punched the golden vein as hard as he could!

They had received the reaction they wanted this time as the nasty thingy started to tremble slightly from its base.

Meanwhile, the golden blood could be seen coursing rapidly through the veins, appearing like someone experiencing a blood rush!

Shsshshs...

Out of nowhere, the flesh started separating from the middle akin to a monster, trying to open its mouth after a long period of time.

The moment it opened up fully, everyone felt like their heart was about to leap out of their chest at such a horrific image.

Who could blame them?

The insides of that thing were packed with millions of yellow eggs and larvas. There were also millions of Tombscreamers that were bigger in size than the previous ones!

'Is it a hive or just the birthplace of those Tombscreamers?' Malak wondered while trying to calm her heartbeats down.

'Shit, I can't image what would have happened to us if we got stuck with it.' Erik said.

'You are about to find out.' 

Sshshshs!

The Tombscreamers inside the hive all emerged at once, creating a golden cloud.

Then, they actually engulfed Momo even though he was wearing the spray!

This just scared the squad even further as the only defensive measure they had was clearly useless against those bigger versions of Tombscreamers.

In a few seconds, the golden cloud had withdrawn back inside the hive, leaving behind it absolutely nothing!

Momo had been utterly wiped out from existence, making the squad quite shocked by the implications!

'Aren't Tombscreamers meant to use their fangs to break our shields then send mental affecting signals?' Malak asked.

'I guess this newer variety simply goes for the kill.' Felix knitted his eyebrows and said, 'We need to leave this place as quick as possible and leave. There is so much Intel that hasn't been given to me.'

Everyone agreed at once.

'Check on Momo by using the camera on his copy.' Felix said, 'His consciousness would automatically take that copy as his main body from now on.'

This is how slimes refuse to die. They just need to keep one piece detached from them and their consciousness would always have a body to inhabit.

Since Momo's bracelet was destroyed, the Queen would have to rely on the signal from other nearby AP bracelets to keep her connection with his consciousness.

This way, Momo couldn't escape from the slavery contract. 

While Malak was checking on Momo, Felix went to the white gate on the right and started pondering, 'Without Momo, it's going to be hard to differentiate between illusion or reality behind this door. If I using my real eyes, then I could have noticed the differences with my truth eyes or simply used Asna who is immune to illusions.'

'If only I was here, things would have been much different.' Felix sighed, feeling quite hopeless in this holographic form.

He hated this feeling of having the ability to do something but couldn't due to the circumstances.

'You can leave the witch empire when I succeed in making you host lightning manipulation.' lady Sphinx proposed to him.

'Really? What about the other manipulations?' Felix asked a bit bewildered.

He thought that Lady Sphinx would keep him near her until he hosts at least five manipulations or so.

'It's already hard enough to create the perfect method to help you host two manipulations, don't even mention three or more.' Lady Sphinx said calmly, 'It will take me years of research to make it happen. There is no point keeping you beside me that long.'

'True, you need to go out and experience true danger in the real universe.' Thor took a big gulp of wine and scoffed, 'The games might be dangerous but you still have surrender coupon and many other ways to escape death, unlike the real-world.'

'Indeed, I have lost the sense of fighting in life and death battles, the moment I got that surrender coupon.' 

Although Felix agreed that didn't mean that he wasn't appreciative of the fact that he owned that coupon.

However, he knew that if he relied too much on it backing him up, he wouldn't feel courageous enough to fight without it anymore.

'I will be here in the exploration of the next ruins no matter what. I can't be just a spectator.' Felix nodded his head firmly then he approached the white gate.

After clearing his throat he uttered the answer to the riddle and watched how the gate slowly opened itself for him.

The others gathered in front of it and felt dreadful after seeing the same breathtaking glass garden behind it.

This time, everyone took a step back instead of rushing inside.

'Sir Felix, you think it's another illusion?' Malak inquired.

'Without Momo, there is only one way to find out.' Felix pointed at himself and said, 'I will go inside the glass and see if our synchronization is blocked or not.'

'Okay, it's better for me to go inside to make it easier.' Malak suggested while walking carefully behind him.

'Wait, use this.' Nicci stopped her and created a green vine from her palm. Then, she rolled it around Malak's waist and backed off.

In case shit hit the fan, she could easily get pulled to safety.

Felix quickly flew inside the garden and gestured for Malak to get closer as he couldn't smell anything.

Malak complied by increasing her pace. When she reached the glass door, she stiffened in her place as her nose got assaulted by the same nasty stench.

'Pull her away now!' Felix yelled at Nicci after getting hit by the same smell!

Whoosh!

Nicci swiftly ordered for the vine to withdraw the moment she saw that the gate was starting to close down.

Since they acted quite fast, Malak got outside unharmed before the gate closed shut on Felix.

Soon, he manifested above them and said with an irked expression, 'No wonder these ruins are flooded with those insects.'

Felix didn't know what researcher owned this lab and why did he create those hives. He wasn't planning to spend more time here to find out.

He quickly went to the golden gate in the middle and uttered the term 'Seek' with the hieroglyphics language.

The others lined up before it with a bit of anticipation in their eyes, hoping that real treasures would be behind instead of another hive.

Alas, they waited and waited yet the gate remained closed shut!

This had never happened before, making them somewhat distressed and concerned that the answer wasn't the right one.

When more than half a minute had gone by yet the gate still didn't budge, it became obvious to them that the riddle answer wasn't 'Seek'!