Chapter 24: “Caught”
Neo threw away all his dignity and instantly devoured the cockroach that Charlie stuffed into the special cylinder tube where Neo stayed.
After making sure that Neo had devoured the cockroach, Charlie quickly closed the zipper of his backpack to cover up the light from Neo's special effects.
When Neo was using the [Devour] skill on the cockroach and quickly linked it with the [Slime Transformation] skill, the inspectors had already operated the inspection tools.
In front of the two hunters, there was only a tightly-sealed huge metal box, so simple yet mysterious.
Seeing that Neo was still inside Charlie's backpack and no one knew whether he had finished his transformation or not, John volunteered to enter the box before Charlie.
"I'll go first."
Under the two inspectors' stern gaze, the man calmly opened the metal door and walked into the huge machine.
Pssshhh—
The moment John stepped into the box, a white mist sprayed out from the four walls, covering his whole body with the mist.
This disinfectant gas quickly killed all viruses and bacterias that John might get from the dungeon.
After the white mist slowly dissipated, a huge red laser light scanned the man again from head to toe, from front to back, tightly inspecting John's whole body and his belongings.
BEEP.
The red light quickly turned green, and the two inspectors on the left and right side of the metal box immediately invited John to step out of the box.
"Okay, hunter, you've passed the check. Please go to the left to calculate your tax."
The inspectors directed John to another two people in black who were standing behind a long metal table.
The inspectors beside the strange machine quickly sent John's scanned data to the two people in black.
In no time, the tax officers behind the metal table, the people in black, got a thorough detail of John's spoils from the dungeon.
Then, they smoothly calculated the tax that John had to pay.
"You got around this number of slimes. The tax is 10%, so you have to hand over around this amount of slimes— "
"Or you can also pay a sum of money with an equal value…"
The whole inspection and tax calculation was so fast that Neo, who was still doing the [Slime Transformation] skill effects, didn't have a chance to transform into a cockroach yet.
But it was already Charlie's turn to enter the strange machine!
Charlie trembled as he walked into the machine with small steps, trying to delay time as long as possible.
The young man looked like an ordinary shy and awkward teenager with his head down, but inside, he was screaming in the "group chat".
[Ah, ah, ah! Uncle John! Help! What to do? Neo is still in the process of transforming and has not left the cylinder tube!]
That white mist spray looked ordinary, but it could seep through clothes and things, effectively eliminating many dangerous microorganisms.
What if the freshly-baked cockroach Neo died in that white mist??
Even Neo, who had just transformed into a cockroach in the last few seconds, couldn't help but tremble.
[Let me out! Let me out! Just say you want to re-check your cylinder tube or something, and then I'll slip out!]
But before Charlie could even open his backpacks, the two inspectors had already impatiently pushed him into the machine box.
"You are so slow! Quick! Do the inspection and just pay the taxes honestly."
One of the inspectors, the one who approached Charlie and John before, rolled his eyes at this slow-moving teenager.
He had seen a lot of sneaky hunters like this one, who thought that they could smuggle some beasts and evade taxes.
Their bureau was already lenient enough not to do the inspection every single time a group of hunters entered their slime dungeon, yet these hunters were still not convinced.
These hunters were simply stingy and greedy!
Charlie was pushed into the machine box with no preparation.
The metal door closed with a bang, and in the blink of an eye, the same white mist sprayed out of every corner at the box, rushing straight towards the boy!
Of course, his backpack was not spared either.
Neo, who was still staying inside the cylinder tube, saw the white mist seeping into the backpack.
It even slowly approached the wall of the tube.
Charlie was already so nervous that he almost bit his lips until it bled, while John kept an eye on the closed metal box with a poker face.
But his back was already soaked in sweat.
Damn it! Ancestor! Don't die from something as simple as a disinfectant!!
Neo himself held his breath, waiting for the white mist to envelop his whole body, but to his surprise...
The mist couldn't enter the special cylinder tube and was stopped outside.
It just "lingered" around the tube and after a few seconds, it slowly dissipated.
Neo instantly sighed in relief.
Thank God! Damn it, it's over—
Before Neo could celebrate, the whole box that was not so dark before, suddenly turned pitch black.
Then, a glaring red light appeared from the box's four walls, tightly trapping Charlie in the middle.
Even Neo, who was safe and sound inside the sealed cylinder tube, could somewhat see the ominous red light coming towards him.
This time, Charlie's legs trembled and he almost fell to the ground.
The red scanner quickly scanned the human being and his backpack from head to toe, but unlike the green light that John received before...
The red scanner suddenly flickered and a loud alarm rang inside the box.
BEEP! BEEP!
BEEP! BEEP!
[ABNORMAL LIVING EXISTENCE DETECTED]
A cold female voice came from the machine and in an instant, the two inspectors outside of the box opened the metal door with a bang.
"Hands up! Take off your backpack and show it to us!"
The two inspectors took out a handgun from their waist and actually aimed the guns at the poor Charlie!
Charlie was so scared that he fell on his butt, still sitting inside the box with eyes and mouth wide open.
H-help!
They're caught!