âYouâre fired. You are all insincere and have neglected your duties. Oh, and ask them if theyâve completed their tasks before playing around like this.â
Click.
[âŠâŠâŠ?!]
The enemies as well as the scheming Monarchs were all flabbergasted at the suddenly ended call.
âW, wait, thatâs not right!â
Ilya's team members dropped their jaws in shock while looking at the disconnected phone.
They were checking that Ju-Heon had really hung up. They even tried calling back thinking that they might have made a mistake.
HoweverâŠ
RiiiiiingâŠ
[I told you, they're fired. Iâm hanging up.]
Click.
The enemies became angry once Ju-Heon hung up again.
"Damn it! We havenât even said anything yet!â
âHey, call him back!â
RiiiiiingâŠ
[The person you are trying to reach is unavailable right now. Please leave a voicemailâŠâŠ]
âThis crazy son of a bitch!â
It looked as if Ju-Heon had taken the batteries out of his phone.
The abductors started to pound their chests in anger now that they were unable to contact the bastard they needed to draw out.
âFuck, what do we do?â
âCaptain Ilya should be waiting for him at the intersection!â
âDo you think that this bastard is crazy?â
âExactly! Does he not care if his team members die?!â
The team members inside the belly of the serpent were going crazy as well.
They might be in the belly but they were still able to hear everything because the call had been on speaker phone.
That was probably the reason. Yoo Jaeha and Julian were foaming at the mouth.
âHey. What the hell did I just hear?â
âFâŠâŠfired.â
âSeo Ju-Heon, that bastard!â
There was no way that that bastard did not realize that they had run into trouble! He should have noticed that his team members were in danger!
But what?!
Fired?!
The two Monarchs looked as if they would soon start shooting lasers out of their eyes.
âHow can that shithead call himself our leader?!â
âWow, I didn't think the Captain-nim was that kind of person!â
They were furious.
It was not because he had not saved them. They were tearing up at the fact that their cold-hearted Captain had hung up the phone even after hearing that his team members were in danger.
âWhat the hell?! How can he do that to his friend who was with him until his death?!â
âWhat the hell?! I might not have been there when he died but how could he do this?!â
Lee Seol-A became anxious after seeing them ready to spew out fire.
âU, umm. Both of you, please calm down for now. I'm sure that the Captain-nim has a planâŠâŠkyaaa!â
Seol-A covered her eyes and plopped down on the ground.
They were all hiding behind things because their clothes had melted away from the gastric juices.
Seol-A was covering herself with just a t-shirt but the men did not seem to care much.
She ended up seeing some things she didn't want to see as they jumped up in anger.
She might have enjoyed it if it was the Captain-nimâs, but unfortunately, the naked men in front of her were not Ju-Heon.
âPlease cover yourselves!â
âI donât want to know the sizes of you two!â
They finally realized what was going on and quickly tried to gather scraps of clothes that were still intact.
But the two of them still seemed angry even as they gathered the scraps.
"What the hell, how can he throw away his team members like this?!â
âI know, right? I guess the Captain-nim doesn't know how important we are at all!â
âI think we became his team members too easily once we got our memories back.â
âI know, right? Itâs not like weâd be pushed around regardless of where we went. Kongming, you were the captain of your own excavation team!â
âYeah. You can succeed without this tomb raiding team too.â
âWow, our nerdy bastard. No, no, our Vice Captain-nim. You're quite smart, sir.â
Was their relationship with each other good or bad?
âI can't handle it. Itâs time to go on strike. I need to get out of here to show the Captain-nim how important all of his team members are!â
âHow rare. We have the same thought.â
The two of them looked at each other with smiles on their faces but Seol-A started to shout.
"Whatever, just cover yourselves!â
âIs it really okay not to do anything?â
Chloe was shocked to see Ju-Heonâs reaction.
It would be one thing if Yoo Jaeha was the only one who was captured, butâŠâŠ
âIt sounds like the Vice Captain-nim is captured as well.â
âDidn't you hear Seol-A too?â
âIt doesnât matter whether she is there or not.â
Ju-Heon started to laugh after seeing Chloe start to pout.
Why were all of his team members like this?
âAnyway, Captain-nim. Is it okay to just stay here like this? It didn't sound like they were actingâŠâŠâ
âYeah, I'm sure it wasnât an act.â
Ju-Heon peeked around. He did feel a gaze observing him.
[A mirror artifact is reflecting your image.]
[The enemies are currently observing you.]
[The presence of a memory modification artifact can be felt.]
Even Pandora could not accurately determine Ju-Heonâs location.
Other people shook in fear at Pandoraâs power play and agreed to have their locations tracked, butâŠ
Ju-Heon looked at Pandora the same way he looked at dog shit.
But the fact that these people were able to locate himâŠ
âThey really seem to have been captured by the enemies. These enemies are probably some kind of aftermath clean-up crew?â
That shocked Chloe even more.
âThen itâs even bigger of an issue! An aftermath clean-up crew would be able to read their memories as well! If information about the past life is seenâŠâŠ!â
But Ju-Heon just snorted.
"Why are you so worried? All of them know how to deal with it.â
âButâŠâŠâ
Dragging out someoneâs memories was done the same way as forcibly lowering someoneâs Dominance.
It required shaking their mental fortitude.
Basically, people could be tortured, embarrassed or threatened to shake their mental fortitude, butâŠâŠ
âWhat could they do to scare people who have already experienced death?â
ââŠâŠI guess that is true.â
Death was the greatest fear for humans.
Unfortunately, even death could not threaten his team members.
âMost things would probably just get them to laugh.â
That was why he didnât really need to be worried.
What was annoying Ju-Heon was the fact thatâŠ
âThese punks were caught by a stupid aftermath clean-up crew?â
âThese supposed Monarchs really want me to kill them.â
That wasn't all.
Ding.
It seemed as if they decided to contact Chloe because Ju-Heon turned his phone off.
She received a voicemail and a video.
The contents were astonishing.
[Ahhhhhh!]
[You idiot! Donât get any closer!]
[Aaaaaaah!]
Chloe was shocked after watching the video.
It was because the video showed Yoo Jaeha, Lee Seol-A, and Julian all being gobbled up by the snake.
That wasnât all.
[Ahhhhh!]
[Kyaaaaaa!]
They seemed to have filmed the inside of the snake as there was even a video of them being attacked by the gastric juices.
She rubbed her eyes and looked again but the video had not been fabricated.
Ilyaâs team members were laughing after having sent those videos.
âThis should make Seo Ju-Heon burst out in anger!â
But forget bursting outâŠ
"What do you want for dinner?â
â?!â
Ilyaâs team members who were observing Ju-Heon gasped in shock after hearing him calmly ask that question.
âHow can that bastard not even blink an eye after seeing that?!â
âIs he crazy?!â
"Fuck, Seo Ju-Heon⊠Werenât his team members supposed to be his weakness?â
They started to shout as if they couldnât handle it any longer.
âHey! Tell him weâre going to spread that video all around the world! Tell him weâre going to broadcast them!â
âYeah! Even that bastard should care about the reaction of the world!â
They sent another video to Ju-Heon.
The contents were shocking.
[Hand over all of your artifacts while I'm asking nicely.]
[Aaah! Please donât kill me!]
It was a video of Yoo Jaeha, Lee Seol-A, and Julian threatening other excavation team members.
It was obviously a fake video, but it was such a high quality fake that even Yoo Jaeha would praise it.
Their threat was simple.
[Come out to the intersection if you donât want your subordinates being caught up in rumors.]
Ju-Heon just clicked his tongue.
âAh, they're so annoying. Block their number.â
âUhhâŠâŠâŠthey said they would broadcast the video. Wonât that make things annoying?â
âWho cares? It's not like Iâm the one in the video.â
Ju-Heon really looked as if he had no plans on going to rescue his team members.
Ilyaâs team membersâ asses were on fire after seeing his lack of reaction.
âThe plan will fail at this rate.â
"Captain Ilya. What should we do?â
Ilya started to frown after hearing his subordinates shouting on the phone.
âI need to lure him to the trap.â
Ilya looked at the barrier he had cast in between buildings.
It was invisible to the naked eye but this was a barrier created on the intersection by devils.
âAll I need to do is lure him here.â
Ilya thought for a moment before he seemed to have come up with an idea.
âI remember hearing that Seo Ju-Heon had a girlfriend.â
[GirlfriendâŠâŠ Are you talking about Irene Holten?!]
[You're not talking about the⊠Monarch of Destitution, are you?]
âYes. Letâs abduct his girlfriendâŠâŠâ
[Ahh! I'm submitting my letter of resignation! We have no connections to you from now on, Captain!]
[Thank you for everything until now, sir!]
âThese bastards?â
As Ilya was about to swearâŠ
[Aaah!]
The call suddenly ended. Ilya was shocked and started to shout.
"What the⊠hey! Whatâs wrong?! What is going on?!â
What else would it be?
âHaa, heâs really terrible.â
âThe more I hearâŠâ
The 'Lee Seol-A, Julian, and Yoo Jaeha' trio had forced them to hang up.
A pitiful looking snake that was ripped to shreds was behind them. They had ripped the snake from the inside to get out.
But oddly enough, they were angrier at someone else instead of the people who had imprisoned them.
âSeo Ju-Heon, you bastard.â
âI'm really submitting my letter of resignation. How can he say he treats us like family? He just treats us like dogs!â
âUhhâŠâŠover there.â
They looked quite comical just having a coat or a jacket to cover themselves, but they were angry.
It was because of the cellphone they had taken from Ilya's subordinates.
âSee! He ignored all of them! That damn Captain ignored all of them! How can he act like this?!â
Yoo Jaeha could not hold back any longer and made a call.
âAh, Stockfish? Hey! Why the hell is the Captain-nim not picking up his phone?! What? He turned it off because it was annoying?! Actually, forget that, what does he mean weâre fired?! Did he really fire us?!â
Chloe seemed to be trying to calm Yoo Jaeha over the phone.
[Thereâs no way the Captain-nim would really fire you guys. He just said that to motivate you guys.]
"Motivate my ass! He doesn't care if we die! What is the Captain-nim doing right now?!â
[Looking at a menu for dinner.]
Yoo Jaeha, who was crouching on the ground, started to scream.
âWhat did you say?! Heâs thinking about dinner when his team members are on the brink of death?!â
Ilyaâs team members started to groan and stand up.
âGâŠâŠgrab those bastards!â
âModify their memories first!â
âChange their memories of Seo Ju-Heon!â
HoweverâŠ
Craaaaaack!
âAhhhhh!â
Forget modifying the trio's memories, the trio just stomped on them.
âWow, these bastards seem to have some nice clothes. Aren't they brand names?â
âThanks for the clothes.â
The trio even looted them of their clothes.
The enemies who had instantly turned into the victims were flabbergasted.
"WâŠâŠwait, why is the artifact not working?! Why can't we modify their memories?â
Seol-A sighed after hearing that.
"Thereâs no need for you guys to know why.â
Seol-A calmly looted their wallets.
"All of our wallets melted in there. We're going to take these to pay for a cab.â
She even took their company credit cards.
The men who had all of their clothes taken except their underwear started to shout and call them thieves.
Yoo Jaeha, who went into a different room for a moment, took something out of his work clothes.
âHey Seol-A. Catch!â
He threw a letter of resignation at her.
A shocked Seol-A looked at Yoo Jaeha.
âU, umm⊠Why do you have this?â
Yoo Jaeha responded with venomous intent in his eyes.
âAn employee always has a letter of resignation on him!â
He seemed to always carry this with him.
He handed one to Julian as well.
Jaeha really seemed upset this time.
Seol-A was not sure about what to do.
"Wait, a letter of resignation?! Are you crazy?â
"Why not?! He was the one who said he would fire us first! I'm going to quit before he can fire me!â
âWait, hey! Vice Captain-nim, please try to stop himâŠâŠâ
âItâs a very good idea.â
âExcuse me?!â
Seol-A became flustered but an angry Julian started to draft his letter of resignation as well.
Seol-A's jaw dropped in shock.
âA, are you both really going to leave the Captain-nim?!â
âAre you crazy?! I'm just scaring him. But maybe weâll get to see the Captain-nim cry and beg us to say now. Right, Kongming?â
âHo, we are very important people. We would be scouted by numerous teams around the world.â
âYeah, we went under the Captain-nim way too easily if I'm being honest.â
âWait, excuse me. Please calm downâŠâ
"Why?! Seol-A, you have issues with the Captain-nim because of Irene. Donât you?â
"Well, that and this areâŠâŠ.â
Seol-A started to groan and Yoo Jaeha smirked before secretly drafting Seol-A's letter of resignation as well.
They then sent the letters of resignation over with excitement.
"Good, I sent it! He should finally feel our importance.â
âHey!â
âHa, Captain-nim. You won't be able to find talented people like us anywhere elseâŠâŠ.â
But the response he received was quite the spectacle.