No matter what, don't become a _____

(A few days ago)

"Hey, did you ever heard of this saying? 'The best place for a snake to hide is in the eagle's shadow.'"

"What do you mean by that?"

Mike didn't reply and only grinned at Diehauser's question. And that grin didn't give a good feeling to Diehauser. "Mike, why do I think that you are planning something even more absurd than me?"

"Oh, not really. You know, we want a base but we can't create a new base. Devils have a lot of secret facilities, right? How about we take over one of them. Of course, we also have to make sure that they don't know that their secret facility is taken. So, when everyone is searching, they will make sure that the search doesn't reach their facility which will keep us safe."

Diehauser just opened his mouth and stared at Mike for a while. "You realize how absurd you sound, right?"

"Relax... It is an open fact that the underworld has many secret facilities run by different families. And when people are maintaining secret facilities, they don't go there directly but they will teleport there so that they won't be found. So, if I hacked the teleportation system of the Underworld, I can easily find all of them. And after that, it is just a matter of finding the most convenient one. After we take over, I will make sure they won't be able to teleport there. And to avoid suspicion, after we take over the base, I will take over the teleportation system of the whole underworld. They will be thinking that the problem lies with the whole underworld. We just have to make our move during that time."

Mike clearly explained his plan to Diehauser who kept listening with a shocked expression. "You can seriously do that?"

"Most Probably..."

"What are you?"

Mike gave a sarcastic smile to that question "I have been asking myself that question for 3 years and even I don't know the answer to that...."

********************

(Back to Present)

After that, Mike became busy in hacking the underworld while Diehauser tried to get a King Piece into his custody. Diehauser somehow managed to acquire it secretly. In the meanwhile, Mike laid out the groundwork. He gathered all the information about the locations of secret facilities through the secret teleportations that are happening throughout the underworld.

And the reason for Mike choosing the facility that belonged to Naberius is simple. They are teleporting too many food resources. No matter how many researchers work here, the food was too much for them. So, Mike concluded that they are experimenting with living beings or there is something big here that requires a lot of food. So, he tried to gather more information and decided that this would be the best base for him.

Mike is not a person who will turn a blind eye on the people who are getting mercilessly killed even if it means that it will be too problematic for him and he won't care even if he gets exposed. He is just too kind. And so, Mike put on a disguise, took a sword from Diehauser because he can't use Ascalon and let it's holy power be traced. He hacked the security system of the facility so that it won't trigger and silently killed everyone working in the facility like an assassin since he is a master at hiding his presence.

And he is currently standing in front of a white-haired adult Nekoshou who is crying at her partner's dead body.

"Do you want to get revenge on me?" Mike asked the crying Fujimai. Mike was not an idiot. If she has intentions of coming back for revenge, Mike has to take care of her.

"No..." Fujimai answered back understanding Mike's question, still weeping, "I can't say that I am not angry with you but I don't resent you. After all, my husband was in the wrong. I just regret not being able to change him sooner. If only I tried harder..." She stopped speaking and cried again.

Mike understood Fujimai's situation. Normally seeing a lady cry would make guys pity them and comfort them but this is Mike we are talking about. His reaction is "You are a fool."

Fujimai looked at Mike not expecting something like that from him. Mike continued "Changing him? How are you gonna change him if you are too soft on him? Even I can say that he was taking your love for granted. What did you think? Being there to protect him and doing whatever he wants would make him know your value? That will just make you his servant! How did you fall in love with him if you don't even understand your partner?! If you are trying to change the whole character itself, then what's the point in falling for the previous character?! It makes me think that you just fell for a delusion and were making a slothful attempt to turn that delusion into a reality. Just how desperate for love were you that you can't even realize something that simple?!"

Mike is sensitive to the topic of love. So, he couldn't control his outburst. And his sudden outburst surprised Fujimai. She never expected to be scolded by the very person who was the reason for her current sorrow. There was a moment of silence. And the next moment a laugh is heard. It's not Mike but it was Fujimai who was laughing and also crying.

"Hahahaha... I am sorry *sniffle*. I guess I can't realize unless I am scolded by someone. I really am... slothful..."

She got up and prayed over the dead body and bowed in front of the dead person and turned to Mike and bowed in front of him "I don't want to make the same mistake again. I have two daughters that I have to look after. So, I want you to let us live. I will do whatever you want. I already understood that you are too strong to defeat."

Mike gave her a deadpan stare for how foolish she is that she had two children with this guy.

"I know that I am foolish. Could you please stop staring at me like that?"

Mike instinctively put his hand on his mask to make sure his face is covered. And the mask was still there. That means she guessed. This made Mike give her another stare for not realizing her actions even though she has good intuition. Mike understood that this woman is the textbook example of 'Love is Blind.'

"I don't know what you are thinking about me but I feel really insulted," Fujimai commented at Mike's silence.

Mike sighed and started talking "I am not going to kill you. In fact, I came here to stop all the experiments that are using Nekoshou as subjects. Let's go to where the rest of your clan are."

Fujimai looked at her partner's dead body one last time and followed Mike. She saw a pile of dead bodies along the way. She understood that Mike can be ruthless. Fujimai wondered about who trained a child to this extent. Fujimai cleaned her partner's blood on her body so that her daughters won't get scared. They talked on the way. She told her name to Mike.

Mike explained to Fujimai on the way that many Nekoshou, other than her, are sacrificed for the research. He said that they might even use her daughters if this went on. Fujimai was not shocked. She already knew somewhere in her heart that the Nekoshou are not just prisoners but also sacrifices, but she chose not to accept it because of her foolishness. She could only laugh at how foolish she has been.

They went to where the remaining prisoners are. And the moment Fujimai entered, two girls came and hugged her " " Mother! " "

One of them is a Nekoshou older than Mike with black hair, ears, and a tail. The younger one is about 3-4 years old with white hair. Her face looks a lot like Fujimai's. Fujimai gently patted them. "Everything's fine, Kuroka and Shirone. You don't have to get scared."

After getting their heads patted, Kuroka and Shirone turned to the masked child behind their mother. "Who is that?" They asked.

"Ah, this is... our savior, I guess. He came to help us get away from here." Fujimai's statement is not only directed to her daughters but also the other Nekoshou present. The Nekoshou instantly became happy hearing that.

Mike analyzed the situation. It seems that all the other Nekoshou are younger than Fujimai. They look happy but also a little scared to approach him. Mike turned to Fujimai "It seems you are the older one. So, you will be leading them. I will find a suitable place for you to stay. But for the time being, I will teleport all of you to a place. That place will be locked and you won't be able to get out from there for a week. You will have food supplies enough for ten days. I will most probably be there within a week but just in case, if I didn't come, some other person will get you out of there. And when I am not there. it is your responsibility to manage these Nekoshou, okay?"

Fujimai understood that there is no other choice but to trust him. So, she nodded. After that, they went to the facility's teleportation room. Mike already took over the teleportation system in the underworld. But the underworld doesn't know that yet. Mike made arrangements to teleport the Nekoshou. Fujimai convinced all the Nekoshou to follow her.

After completing the arrangements, Mike stretched out his hand to Fujimai "See you in a few days, Miss Fujimai."

She took his hand and shook it "Once again, Thank you for helping us."

Mike nodded "No problem. I just hope you won't become a simp again in the future."

The word 'simp' shot right through her heart. She couldn't say anything against that. So, she silently waited for teleportation. After teleporting to another place, Kuroka asked her mother "Mother, what is a simp?"

"It's something that a person must never become." Fujimai couldn't say anything more than that.