Aftermath

The secretary Penny Xu returned to the office of Raku in just six hours. 

" You finished this fast ? " Raku asked, surprised. 

" No sir. I came to give an interim report. " Penny offered with a frown. 

This is a behavior that is not common. Whenever there are such behaviors, the trouble afoot is far more than what it seems to be. 

" I only analyzed data at this point, or I only analyzed half the data, but there's a very disturbing trend among the data, I came to report to you first. There are far too many asian recruits lost among Base 41, and all the bases that are adjoining the previous snow country. I believe they are categorically encroaching upon our bases, stealing our kills, killing our recruits. " 

Raku raised his eyebrows. 

" Form a task force, and report to me as soon as possible. " 

The next morning, Raku received a report. 

"The Reapers guild is using the recruits like wet towels. Many recruits who perform missions with them die in two to three years. The latest one to lose a recruit was an russian team from base eleven, who lost son of the sea, number twenty three. " 

" How many of these types are left ? " Raku asked. 

" He should be the last but one of his kind, sir. There's only one more. " 

Raku simmered with anger. 

" I want to know every last detail. I want to see the information about the loss of trainees, mothers, or even their fathers in the past five years ASAP. Also, prepare a twenty year analysis on where it went wrong. This can be done slowly. Get me those traitors A.S.A.P. " Raku spat out. 

His distaste for traitors could be seen in every word. 

Penny nodded, and exited the room. 

The requested men started arriving soon. 

" Sir, the captain of the team that went to the Rat dungeon. " 

" sit. " Raku pointed to a chair. 

" Tell me what happened on the day you went to the Dungeon. " Raku said, walking to the back of the chair. 

The moment the captain opened his mouth, Raku placed his hands atop the captain's head, holding his skull tightly. 

Five black worms wiggled out of his fingers, entered the skull of the captain. 

The captain screamed, like he was being tortured. 

After a minute, the worms wiggled back to Raku. the captain slumped in the chair. Raku waved his hands dismissively. Two suited men dragged the fainted captain away. 

" Demote him to hunter. Put a collar on him. " he said as an afterthought. 

' This should have been the first warning. Golden mouse is produced no matter what on the days leading up to the diamond mouse. He not only failed to report, but also was too lazy about the quest. He should have ported in the time when the rabid rat clearing was going on. ' Raku thought angrily. 

" Sir. Captain of the Reaper team. They lost a member in paradise beach, of base 91. " 

Raku repeated the same process from before. Only, this time, instead of staying a minute, he stayed more than an hour. 

" This bastard, put him in a nail cage, and hang him in front of the base. " Raku said, going to sit in his chair. 

This man came from being a pirate. He was the scum on the earth, immoral, disloyal, and petty on top of that. His only strength was that he was really good at slipping through cracks. He had been taking the top most elite child to a dungeon a tier above their level, due to extreme disparity in elements. This way, despite the children expending their all to fight, they will return injured. Once the injury level crosses a limb, Wulin discards their child soldiers. Then, this man will offer to buy them at a cheap price, then extracts their magic cores to supplement himself. 

This time around, he even dared to lay hands on their tier one elite. Only, this boy died in the dungeon, so he returned with no results. 

" Call Penny back. " Raku ordered. It seems they need to investigate injuries far more than deaths.

When Penny arrived, he was tapping his fingers in deep thought. 

" Let's make an announcement. There is a wild teleporter. Let all our agents search for one from bases from 85 to 105. The one to catch the teleporter will be given a chance to return, and become a member of the clan. " Raku ordered. 

Becoming a member of the clan means that they are living in white. There won't be being sold like chattel any more. They would be official UBO citizens, whose appearance and disappearance could become big problems, both for the country and base. Even if the soldier dies, his family will receive pension. The children will go to school, instead of being turned in to child soldiers. This is the ultimate prize that all the agents are working towards. 

❖✜❖

Claire was shocked to see the scene in front of her. A camp fire was set up, with flash criss crossing all over the dungeon. Fortunately, the area she appeared in was not on the ground. 

For the fear of being attacked by the rabid rats, Claire drew a yellow cross on the dungeon wall, in an area she knew will not reset with the dungeon. This time around, she returned to build a small bamboo platform attached to this part of the ceiling, but it seems she walked into something entirely different. 

She huddled in the air, making herself as small of a target as possible. 

Then, she teleported out. 

" Caspian ! There's something wrong with the dungeon. " She informed Caspian immediately. 

" Wrong ? Wrong how ? " Caspian mused. 

" There's a military in the dungeon. Not just that. The dungeon is empty. " Claire explained. 

Caspian frowned. 

" Take me there. " He said, his frown deepening. 

" Don't make a noise, and keep the shield up. " 

Claire said, then teleported with Caspian, to the dungeon. 

This time around, all the lights pointed at them straight out. 

Claire immediately teleported back to the slime dungeon, along with Caspian. 

Her legs gave out in fright. 

Even Caspian was struck dumb with the situation they have experienced. 

" Something went wrong. " he mumbled, in an unbelievable tone. 

They both stayed there, stunned. 

Claire recovered first. She could see Caspian's mental state was not right. 

" We need to go back. " he mumbled. 

" Yes ! go back. " he spoke out loud. 

" Let us go back. " he yelled, holding Claire's wrist tightly. 

" Caspian ! " Claire breathed out, as she struggled to get out of his grip. 

" It's useless to go back. " She shot back at him, as she backed away from him. 

" No. This is the dungeon through which the entire schedule is exchanged. We can not - not go ! " Caspian mumbled. 

" There must be a way. There must be. Calm down first ! Calm yourself and think… What could have gone wrong ! how people would have responded ! what measures will they take . "

" I have been found out. They laid the trap for me there. " 

" All the more reason to not go. We will lose you, and not rescue the person you are looking for. " Claire convinced Caspian. 

Only, Caspian disagreed. 

Acquiring golden mouse is a cardinal rule in the guild. Despite the trap, and size of the military, the mission will not be canceled. Caspian knew as much. It's just that he did not tell that part to Claire. 

"No. we have to go. We will come back if nothing's happening. " Caspian held on to Claire's wrist. 

" Hey ! Are you f*cking mad ? If you want to die, die alone ! I agreed to a rescue, not a suicide mission ! " Claire spat out, as she shocked Caspian's hand. 

Next moment, a water wave was coming for her, intending to drown her completely. Caspian had completely lost it. 

Claire simply affected a small part of this water prison, splitting the wave into two. 

Only, the water just did an about turn in the air, and wrapped around her like a bubble. 

Claire immediately created a gas bubble on her nose and mouth, allowing herself to breathe normally. The air is brought in from outside, while bubbles left the mask constantly. 

This is the extent of her abilities. She could make a small hole in the water ball, but she could not control it's general direction. 

" I can crush you into minced meat. I am capable of such a feat, I want you to know that. However, I will not do that, because you are my friend. " Caspian said, releasing her onto the floor. 

" Ally ! not friends. " Claire corrected. She revised her plan from yesterday. She would not let him meet her family. 

" We will just come back here if the situation is bad. But we need to go back. " Caspian insisted. 

Claire held his hand, and teleported to the same location as before. 

The guns are still aimed at the same location. The moment they appeared, soldiers fired at them. 

Cliare, who had been ready, immediately teleported them back. 

" Something is wrong. " Caspian mumbled. 

" Dude ! That's what I was trying to tell you ! " Claire exclaimed in frustration, her face screaming ' Now you realize ? ' her entire being was radiating the expression.