Chapter 368 - Getting a Bit Closer.
If Erik's background turned out to be what wasn't written in the details, Felix had the right to send him back and get the money he lost.
He wouldn't hesitate to do so since he had no intentions to buy extra trouble.
"Erik, can you tell me more about your family, especially your mother?" Felix requested while resting his chin on his hand.
"Well, my family isn't really that big as there is only my mom, aunt, uncle, and me." Erik carried on with a leveled tone, "We own a planet and a couple of deserted planets near it for mining purposes."
"As for my mom, cough! How can I say this? She is quite overprotective when it concerns me. Maybe because I am her only child?" He said while scratching his nose.
'So far everything is matching with the details written beside his mom. She was never mentioned in the details.' Felix nodded his head in approval and inquired, "How about the empire? Is your family really in the Bardot Empire?"
"Yes." Erik nodded his head.
'Good.' Although Felix knew that the Bardot Empire was at a higher level of advancement and strength compared to the waned Mariana Empire, he still preferred having Erik's and Malak's background be as far as possible from him.
The Bardot Empire was nowhere near the Mariana Empire as they were on the opposite sides of the Galaxy.
"One last question." Felix narrowed his eyes and asked, "Does your family have an Origin Realm Bloodliner?"
"As far as I know, my family is focusing on the business side and not the bloodline side." Erik answered truthfully.
'Phew, had me worried for a second.' Felix believed every word mentioned since the moment he recruited them and got their contracts; they were not allowed to lie to him.
Well, they could totally lie but the Queen would notice this and inform Felix about it. Then, he would have the right to punish them as he saw fit but within the contract constraints.
He couldn't just kill them after they told a single lie but he could totally do so if they exhibited any signs of ill intentions towards him or planned to betray him.
With the Queen's existence who was supervising every thought they had, he would get straightaway notified if any of the above occurred.
In case they attempted to make a move and backstab him, the Queen wouldn't hesitate to pop their consciousness before they took even a single step towards Felix.
When it comes to killing, the Queen was the fastest executioner in the entire Universe without a single contender!
With that being said, Felix got quite muddled. Since so far everything that Eric had mentioned was written properly.
Even other details were written but not mentioned by him, like his favorite food, what he liked and hated, his bottom line that shouldn't be crossed...etc.
Details that could help Felix stay in favor with Erik without any issues arising between them.
'Queen, please run a quick search on the Boggous Family in the Bardot Empire.' Felix requested while smiling faintly at Erik.
In a split second, the Queen reported her finding which was just the detailed version of what Erik had mentioned. Like the name of their planet, mines, industries, culture...etc.
Felix spent two minutes listening to the Queen's report while asking Erik at the same time to confirm it.
In the end, everything turned out to be clean and Felix couldn't help but sigh in relief.
He understood that by owning those two, he would be targeted by their families, backgrounds, friends, masters, and anyone close enough to care about their disappearance.
Whether it was Malak, Erik, or another recruit.
The only difference would be the intensity of the search based on the background's resources.
Hence, it was a must to have slaves with families like Erik to avoid bringing more trouble.
Naturally, those slaves couldn't share information about themselves or contact their families when they logged in to the UVR.
The moment they did so without the owner's knowledge, they would straightaway get killed by the Queen since it would be deemed as a betrayal.
Felix knew about all of this since he wasn't a retard to get himself two slaves without knowing how the slave system works and its contracts.
"You said that your mom is overprotective." Felix coughed, "I don't want to get into your family matters but don't you think that your mom would be searching for you everywhere?"
"Don't worry!" Erik showed Felix a thump up and said with a confident tone, "I have left a note behind, telling her to not look for me and that I will be fine on my own."
Fine my ass!
Both Malak and Felix felt the need to beat Erik up for his baseless confidence. The dude got cheated and sold the moment he stepped into the real universe yet still was clueless about it.
What's worse, if he didn't get found out by the pirates he would have died from starvation!
"Sigh, I know that your mom f*cked up when she locked you like that and I don't want to know why she did it." Felix smiled bitterly, "But, you should treasure your mother's unconditional love as you will miss it only when it's gone."
Felix might not show it but there wasn't a single day that had gone by without missing his parents dearly.
Although he already let go of them since it was a long time since they died, he would trade anything in his possession just for another chance to meet them again.
Thus, he understood where Erik was coming as being locked up for 20 years in a palace without even full UVR access would result in taking extreme action as he did.
But, leaving a note behind wouldn't make his mother less heartbroken and worried about his absence. Felix didn't like that one bit.
"Whatever, I was planning to tell you about this when you make it to my place in real life, but it wouldn't hurt to tell you now." Felix looked at them solemnly and promised, "If you showed me that you are willing to serve me full-heartedly, I will not hesitate to modify the contract to allow you to contact your families and loved ones."
Felix added lastly, "I want you to feel like you are working for me as subordinates and being paid monthly. Hence, if you stayed loyal to me, you will never be treated as a slave or even think of yourselves like that."
"That goes without saying boss!" Erik didn't seem like he understood the implication of Felix's offer as he merely thumped his chest twice in agreement.
On the other hand, Malak's eyes widened in shock and agitation as she had never expected to receive this offer.
When she signed the contract, she always believed that she wouldn't see her family until her owner dies or breaks the contract.
Yet, she still signed it since at least there would be a chance to meet them again unlike getting killed straightaway.
Now, hearing what Felix had mentioned and seeing his sincere eyes as he looked at them, she sensed that he meant every word he said.
"What do you mean by modification and when are you going to keep your promise?" Malak fired off two questions while trying to suppress her agitation.
"Naturally, I can't allow you to see and talk to your families freely since they will definitely ask you about your location." Felix said calmly, "So, I will make sure to modify it to discourage you from any attempt to pull any tricks."
"As for the date?" Felix shook his head and replied, "That depends on your attitude, behavior, loyalty, obedience...All in all, give me a reason to reward you and I will most definitely do so."
Malak closed her eyes and went quiet for a second after hearing so. Meanwhile, Erik merely kept making grand promises that Felix doubted he could even achieve one of them with his naivety.
After a couple of seconds, Malak opened her crimson eyes and entered a staring contest with Felix, wanting to see if he showed any signs of deception or trickery.
When she didn't notice any smidgen of fakeness, she nodded her head willingly and said, "If I can see my family again, I will do my utmost best to support you in your journey...You have my word."
Felix smiled widely after hearing so and said, "That's exactly what I am hoping for."
Just as Felix planned on excusing them, he remembered that Malak still hasn't introduced her background.
Erik left him traumatized about trusting details fully as they could be deceiving.
Hence, he swiftly asked her if what was written in the details was real or not. Malak nodded her head in agreement and added a couple of details that weren't included.
First of all, she was a Fire Elementalist with a high-affinity rating of 74%. But she didn't have a secondary element.
Honestly, it was useless having a secondary element if the affinity rating wasn't going to be as high as the primary element.
Meanwhile, Her story was the same as Erik's but also different. While Erik had met with pirates and was exposed to their fake friendliness, Malak had faced the vicious side that they were infamous for.
She told Felix that she was traveling with a few clanmates towards a tier 1 Ancient Ruins that had been discovered and they were sent to scout the situation.
However, before reaching the ruins, they were intercepted by a pirate group who seemed like they were camping there specifically for them.
Malak figured as much since the pirates weren't weak in the slightest. The crew had tens of peak 4th stage bloodliners while their captain was a peak 5th stage bloodliner.
Her squad didn't have a single chance of winning as the moment the pirates entered their spaceship after destroying its thrusters and engines; a massacre had unfolded.
It ended only when less than five of them survived. They were offered either an agonizing death or to sign the slave contract.
It was clear what was Malak's choice.