"They sure are gone..."

Speechless, Felix could only look at what remained of the Bloody Mary fleet turn into a few dark dots in the sky before completely disappearing into the darkness of space.

"God damn it! We were just getting into the fun part!" Erik slapped the aircraft's dashboard in frustration and requested the Queen to take him back.

"I guess they didn't want to lose more spaceships?" Malak suggested while heading towards the Northern Sentinel.

"Probably." Felix shrugged his shoulders and said, "Since they are gone, don't sweat it too much. However, we need to restart the exploration as fast as possible. I don't know if they are going to sell the coordinates or hand it to someone. Whatever it is, these ruins need to be fully cleaned in less than 15 days."

"How can we do so?" Khodri shook his head, "Momo clearly wants us dead for god knows why. We can't put our trust in him even if we use the synchronization feature. After all, who knows if that sad f*ck is going to outright break the contract terms and screw us up big time."

"He is right." Malissa supported.

"It's too risky to work with him and I doubt it's possible to hire another experienced slime and also bring him to this planet in less than 15 days. It should take at least a month if we were lucky." Malak said.

"What a pain in the ass." Felix scratched his eyebrows with an irked expression and said, "Follow me, I need to get to the bottom of this rewardless and retarded betrayal."

"Wait for us boss!" Erik shouted as he requested the Queen to increase the speed of the aircraft.

In less than a minute, both Erik and Malak were on their way to Momo's room. When they reached it, they saw that everyone was waiting for them patiently.

Malak took the lead and knocked on the door twice. Then, she pushed it open and walked inside with the rest behind her.

The first thing that came in their point of view was Momo in his formless slime body, just spread on the bed like melting jello.

No facial features, no organs, no clothes...Nothing, just an AP bracelet swimming inside his body.

"The nerve on this dude to sleep peacefully in such a situation!" Jones gritted his teeth at the sight, trying his best to get hold of his anger.

The rest shared the same feeling as they were all anticipating seeing Momo with a hint of guilt, regret, or something like that.

Thud!

"Wake your ass up!" Khodri kicked the hard body of the bed, shaking Momo out of his slumber.

Just like an inflated balloon, Momo's formless body began expanding rapidly until his body returned to its humanoid form.

'What can I help you with?' Momo asked calmly.

"You little..."

"Enough." Felix extended a hand to stop Khodri and the rest. He couldn't blame their anger since Momo was truly good at pushing buttons with his attitude.

"Let's drop the act, I don't have all day to spend with you." Felix crossed his hands and asked indifferently, "Why?"

'Why what?'

"You seem hell-bent on acting dumb." Felix squinted his eyes dangerously.

'Sir Felix, I truly don't know what you are talking about.' Momo shook his head.

"So you are telling me that hiding Intel about the illusionary trap, turning off the recording video, lying about details of your descriptions all seem normal to you.'

'I was just doing my job.' Momo said.

"Your job huh. I guess this is it." Felix sneered and said, "Since you don't want to explain yourself, there is no need to keep you around."

Felix snapped his finger and said coldly while turning around, 'Queen, exterminate him."

Erik and the rest didn't feel an ounce of sympathy towards Momo after hearing Felix's execution order.

As slaves, they dreaded hearing it the most but they understood that as long as they did their job well and remained loyal, they would never hear it due to contract terms.

So, it came to them as a shocker to see that Momo still remained alive after the order was given. 

The Queen soon clarified Felix's confusion by saying, 'Your request has been rejected. It was deemed by me that Sir Momo didn't break a single term in the contract.'

The moment Felix heard so, his eyes widened in shock!

At first, he thought that the Queen was mistaken but then all the memories of everything had gone through in the ruins had resurfaced on his mind.

They made him realize that Momo truly never broke any contract terms!!

The sociopath had an unattainable control over his mind, allowing him to attempt and kill his squad by hiding crucial intel about the illusionary trap without having a single thought about it!

Literally none! 

It was the same as someone peacefully walking by while eating an apple, then suddenly he stabs a pedestrian and continues eating the bloody apple as nothing had ever happened!

Without showing intention, it was almost impossible for the Queen to prosecute him.

As for the lies and turning off his recording? First, he didn't have an AP bracelet so the Queen had lost her way to see and hear.

So, as long as he truly believes in his lies about what he sees and hears, she would consider him as saying the truth.

All in all, this sociopath had almost got this squad killed twice yet neither the Queen nor Felix could punish him!

'Hahaha, he truly put you in a dilemma. The Queen can't execute him, you can't kill him and if your squad did it for you, you will be punished by the Queen since everyone here is a property of yours.' Thor laughed in elation at the sudden turn of events, finding it quite amusing.

He seemed to understand contracts and the UVR better than the last time. If it wasn't for this shitty situation, Felix would have been quite glad that this troublemaker was learning something.

'So, you guys are telling me that he is actually unkillable even after trying to screw us twice?' Erik seemed to have difficulty grasping the situation, unlike the rest who realized it instantly.

All of them had ugly expressions as they looked at Momo who seemed nonchalant about the entire matter.

"I can't believe I hired such a time bomb even when the clues were right in front of me the whole time." Malak reprimanded herself, knowing that she had messed up big time.

"What do you mean?" Malissa wondered.

"I have just realized why is this f*cker so nonchalant about his death the entire time." Ashamed,  Malak lowered her head while covering her eyes.

"Mind sharing?" Nicci requested.

Malak glanced at Felix with an apologetic look. He simply smiled faintly and nodded his head at her.

"When I was looking for slime for our squad, I did extensive research on auctions that place only slimes for cheap prices." Malak sighed, "I have found one and attended it. That's where I saw Momo. He had a clean background, ample experience, and lastly, he didn't cost a lot to hire."

"But, looking back at it now, I realized that I was a bit hasty to hire him since I missed one crucial hidden detail in his background."

She lifted her head and stared at Momo's indifferent expression then said, "It's almost impossible for an adult slime to get enslaved since they are smart enough to split part of their body with their main conciseness and hid it safely."

"That's why slimes get enslaved from the moment of their birth when they still couldn't protect themselves with that mechanism." Malak let out a long exhale and went on, "So, for Momo to get enslaved for the second time after he got freed, it only meant that the real version of him isn't even here. We have been dealing with just a copy of his and that's the reason why he can do whatever he wants without worrying about dying."

The moment she finished speaking, only stiffened breathing could be heard in the room.

Everyone was left in a complete state of stupefaction, having a bit of difficulty that Momo before them was just a copy.

A copy belonging to probably a very vindictive slime, who wanted nothing in return but to simply wipe out another exploration crew who dared to take him in!

'How did I not see it?' Felix massaged his eyebrows, 'Malak is right, the answer was right there before us yet we failed to see it. That almost cost the squad their lives.'

Felix was certain that her hypothesis was correct since it also explains why the Queen didn't find that Momo was harboring ill intentions towards them...Even when the deed was already done.

How could a copy even think or have feelings? It was simply receiving orders from the main consciousness that was hundreds of thousands of light-years away!

Slimes might have shitty offense and defenses, but their kit was extraordinary!

'Besides Sir Felix, you guys aren't that dumb after all.' 

Out of nowhere, the Queen delivered a message to all of them from Momo whose blank face began manifesting a wide spooky smile that stretched from an ear to another!

This was the first time he ever showed a different expression!

It sure sent chills down everyone's spines, making them feel like they were being gazed at by a predator!

Powerful bloodliners and half-lings...If they told anyone that they had felt spooked by a slime, they knew that their faces would be a laughingstock in the entire universe!