Chapter 173: Hostages

Leonel looked down toward two unconscious men. He had already guessed that taking them down wouldn't have been a problem, but even he hadn't expected it to be so easy. In fact, it could be said that he was a bit too heavy handed. 

However, Leonel hadn't had a choice. This whole knocking people out and taking hostages things was completely new to him. TV shows always made it look so easy. Just a simple karate chop to the back of the neck, right? So why had it given him such a headache?

'Forget it. I'll use those vines to tie them up in the Segmented Cube and bring them back.'

"How do I harvest these plants?" Leonel asked. 

[ *Ping* ]

[ Replying to Seed, the best choice is to make use of the Segmented Cube's Suspended Animation ability. ]

'Suspended Animation?' Leonel was confused for a second before he understood. 'Oh… It must mean the snowglobes.'

The snowglobes of the Lab Setting had always been a mystery to Leonel. At first, he had thought there was a finite number. But, after he had collected the corpses of a couple hundred beasts, he realized that the 'snowglobes' multiplied without end. It seemed there would always be enough for his needs. 

Also, he realized that corpses weren't the only thing he could hold in them. All of the ores he had collected had been taken in by them as well. 

"What exactly does the Suspended Animation ability do?" Leonel asked. 

[ *Ping* ] 

[ Suspended Animation: Phase One ability of the Segmented Cube's Lab Setting. It is able to house the living and the dead in the exact state they entered as no matter how much time has passed, evading the harshness of the passage of time. ]

Leonel nodded. This was about what he had expected. His spatial bracelet could somewhat replicate this feat, but it wasn't the exact same. 

The reason why things in his spatial bracelet were non-perishable was because living things couldn't exist within it. As a result, there was no bacteria or fungi, so how could things go 'bad'? 

But, from the explanation of the dictionary, it seemed that the ability of the snowglobes was far more profound than this. It also didn't seem like it restricted the living either. 

'This is perfect. I was worrying about how I would store all these plants, but if this is the case there shouldn't be a problem.'

Though everything seemed to be going smoothly initially, Leonel was soon lamenting his plight. Unfortunately, the space within each snowglobe was limited. So, he had to uproot each plant individually before moving on. 

How could this not leave him feeling aggrieved? If the Lab Setting could produce these snowglobes endlessly, why couldn't it make one with more space in it? 

Soon, Leonel realized that it wasn't a matter of space. Despite the bear king being over five meters tall, it still fit in one. Yet, these plants, root and all, were barely a foot tall in most cases, but they took up an entire snowglobe to themselves. 

It seemed that the ability of the Suspended Animation wasn't as simple as Leonel thought. It was likely that the snowglobe was capable of perfectly adapting to the object it took in, adjusting its settings appropriately depending on the item. 

Unsurprisingly, it took Leonel several hours to take in every plant. It would have been faster, but he didn't want to accidentally harm them. So, he could only move slowly. 

Soon, the garden had fallen into darkness, the only hint of light coming from the shimmering stalactites above. 

Leonel gasped for breath, stretching out his back. 

'Plundering treasures is actually such hard work…' 

Though he said this, he looked around the garden with a sigh. Who knew how many years it had taken for it to reach this state? 

He wanted to take away the soil beneath his feet and the stalactite on the ceiling of the space, but he really had no means to. It had already taken him so long just to uproot the plants, how could he shovel all this soil into the Segmented Cube? Even aside from that, he had no idea where to even begin with the stalactites. They were easily 20 meters above him and each the size of a tall human man. 

Just when Leonel felt that he could only leave such treasures behind, the Segmented Cube appeared on its own again. It separated into its jigsaw-like puzzles and shot across the room, enveloping it completely. 

Leonel blinked and by the time his vision cleared, the once beautiful garden had become just as bland as every other cave in this place. The only hint that it was once something more were the vines and lush patches of moss that covered the walls. 

'…'

Leonel was speechless. If it could do this, why the hell had it let him waste so many hours here? 

'Forget it, forget it…'

All the things his father left him were too mischievous. He couldn't help but feel that they were making fun of him at every corner. 

'Let's clear out the ores in this network of tunnels then return to the group. I shouldn't leave them for so long…'

Leonel didn't hesitate any longer. He didn't know how long it would take for the rest of the Brazinger Clan to notice the absence of their two family members, so he worked quickly, exploring the new network of tunnels. 

His luck was great. He managed to find a Water Elemental Vessel. Though it would have been better to find a Dual Water-Earth Elemental Vessel, having a Water and an Earth Elemental Vessel was definitely the second best option. 

He also found more Vein Ores that would give him greater flexibility in the Force Arts he could draw and even found a few large deposits of Urbe Ores. It was clear that this network of tunnels was more greatly influenced by the Force Eruption and thus had more treasures. 

As expected from this conclusion, Leonel found that this network of tunnels had several paths leading several tens of meters downward. 

'Since this is the case, it'll be easier to make it to the Force Crystal Mine if this is our starting point…'

Leonel quickly made his way back to where the garden once was. Then, making use of the vines and bits of moss that remained, he cleverly covered up the hole he had come from. Afterward, he made his way back to the cave the youths had taken as their base.