My Slime Wife: Training and Pampering Her Makes Me Stronger

Captain Armstrong’s office had fallen silent.

Liam stood in front of the enormous screen displaying a map of the world. Dozens of points glowed across different regions of the planet, representing the dungeons that had appeared or changed over the past few days.

Beside him, Lydia watched the map with a serious expression.

The other five sub-captains stood before them.

Amber sat with her arms crossed, while Wayne leaned against one of the walls. Don Rouch occupied one of the armchairs near the desk, and Timothy was reviewing some documents that Armstrong had left on the table.

Jane Armstrong, the captain’s daughter, stood beside her father.

Liam had crossed paths with them several times since becoming a sub-captain, but this was probably the first time they had all gathered to discuss a situation of such magnitude.

Armstrong picked up one of the reports.

"We have seventeen confirmed dungeons that evolved from S-rank to SS-rank."

Liam frowned.

"Seventeen?"

"For now."

Wayne raised an eyebrow.

"For now?"

Armstrong nodded.

"There may be more. Some countries still haven’t been able to conduct a complete survey of the affected areas."

Don Rouch let out a sigh.

Amber picked up one of the documents from the table.

"And did they all undergo the same alterations?"

Armstrong shook his head.

"Not exactly."

Everyone paid attention.

"Some experienced temporal alterations. Others completely changed their internal structures. We also have reports of creatures changing their behavior and new species appearing inside the dungeons."

Timothy looked up from his documents.

"And the ranks?"

"They all started as S-rank."

Jane chimed in.

"But they didn’t all behave the same way after evolving."

Armstrong looked at her and nodded.

"Correct."

Liam crossed his arms.

"Then we can’t assume that one SS-rank dungeon works the same way as another."

"Apparently not."

Amber rested the document on her lap.

"In my case, the temporal alteration was absurd."

Liam looked at her.

"James told me your squad was trapped for two years."

Amber nodded.

"Two years."

Liam still couldn’t imagine it.

Don Rouch crossed his arms and asked,

"And outside?"

"Five hours."

Wayne let out a small laugh.

"To think I used to complain when a mission lasted three days."

Amber looked at him seriously.

"It wasn’t fun."

"I can imagine."

Don Rouch let out a laugh.

"At least you didn’t age two years."

Amber stared at him.

"That’s not something you can be sure of."

Don Rouch stopped laughing.

"Good point."

Liam smiled slightly.

Even in such a serious meeting, the five sub-captains still had very different personalities.

Jane was the first to bring the conversation back to the main topic.

"What do the other guilds want?"

Armstrong changed the image on the screen.

Several different requests now appeared.

"They want help."

Liam looked at the documents.

"To defeat the dungeons?"

"To investigate and control them."

Armstrong pointed toward several countries.

"Some SS-rank dungeons are already too dangerous for local squads. In certain places, they haven’t even been able to reach the second sector."

Timothy frowned.

"And they’re asking for Platinum-rank hunters?"

"Yes."

Everyone looked at Liam.

Liam blinked.

"Why are you all looking at me?"

Wayne gave him a small smile.

"Because you’re the latest hunter to reach Platinum rank and join our guild, so you should be one of the best candidates to travel overseas."

Liam fell silent.

He had momentarily forgotten that little detail.

Don Rouch smiled.

"I suppose being the new sub-captain has its downsides."

"Apparently."

Lydia moved slightly closer to Liam.

"And what are you planning to do?"

Armstrong placed the documents on the table.

"That’s precisely what we need to decide."

Amber raised a hand.

"Before deciding who will go overseas, we should determine what’s happening with our own dungeons."

Wayne nodded.

"I agree."

Timothy also spoke up.

"If we send too many hunters out of the country, we could leave ourselves exposed."

Jane looked at her father.

"Do we have enough squads to cover all the dungeons that are still active?"

Armstrong slowly shook his head.

"Not if they keep evolving."

The room fell silent again.

Liam remembered the strange energy they had seen inside that structure.

"Is there any dungeon showing that energy again?"

Armstrong looked at Liam.

"Yes."

The answer was immediate.

"How many?"

"Three."

Liam felt a shiver.

"Three?"

"For now."

Amber let out a sigh.

"I don’t like that."

"Why?"

Amber pointed at the map.

"Because the dungeon we were in started showing that energy before it evolved."

Liam nodded.

"The same thing happened in ours."

"Then we have a pattern."

Timothy leaned forward.

"What kind of pattern?"

Liam answered before Amber could.

"That energy could be an indicator of an evolution."

Wayne crossed his arms.

"Are you saying those three dungeons could become SS-rank?"

Liam shook his head.

"I don’t know."

Armstrong spoke up.

"But there’s another possibility."

Everyone looked at him.

"That a dungeon that has already evolved could begin accumulating that energy again."

Don Rouch frowned.

"And what would happen then?"

Armstrong didn’t answer immediately.

James had brought up that possibility earlier that morning, but they still didn’t have enough evidence.

Liam decided not to jump to conclusions.

"We don’t know."

Jane looked at the screen.

"Then we need information."

"Exactly."

Armstrong nodded.

"That’s why I want each of you to review the reports from your own squads and determine which members could participate in a reconnaissance operation."

Amber raised her gaze.

"Are we going to divide the dungeons among ourselves?"

"That’s what we’ll discuss now."

Liam looked at the map.

There were too many points.

"If we send an entire squad to each dungeon, we won’t have enough hunters."

Wayne nodded.

"Then small groups."

"That would be too risky."

Timothy shook his head.

"If something similar to what happened in the dungeons we went to happens again, a small group could get trapped."

Don Rouch gently tapped the armrest.

"Then we need a combination."

Everyone looked at him.

"Small squads for reconnaissance, but with a response team prepared outside."

Liam began to think.

"That could work."

Amber looked at him.

"What do you propose?"

Liam pointed at the map.

"Divide the dungeons according to their risk level. The ones that aren’t showing that energy yet can be investigated first. The ones already accumulating it should be considered a priority."

Jane nodded.

"And the response teams could remain nearby."

"Exactly."

Wayne smiled.

"The new sub-captain is already organizing our strategy."

Liam let out a small laugh.

"I’m just stating the obvious."

Don Rouch shook his head.

"No. You’re thinking like a sub-captain."

Liam remained silent for a moment.

Those words reminded him of how much his life had changed over the past few months.

Before, he had only wanted to become a hunter so he could find work and earn enough money that he wouldn’t have to worry about the debts he and Lydia had.

Now he was sitting alongside the other five sub-captains, discussing how to protect not only his city, but possibly thousands of hunters around the world.

Armstrong spoke again.

"All right. Then we’ll begin by dividing the dungeons according to priority."

The screen changed, and the points began grouping together.

"But there’s something else."

Everyone looked up.

Armstrong pointed toward three points that began blinking.

"These three dungeons are accumulating energy at a much faster rate than the others."

Liam felt his expression change.

"How much time do we have?"

Armstrong slowly shook his head.

"We don’t know."

Amber stood up from her seat.

"Then we should prepare for the worst."

Jane looked at her father.

"Do you think they could evolve again?"

Armstrong stared at the map for several seconds.

"It’s a possibility."

Liam slightly clenched his fists.

’SSS...’

That idea hadn’t been mentioned yet.

But something told him it wouldn’t be long before someone had to.

And as the meeting continued, a question began to linger in his mind.

’What happens when an SS-rank dungeon evolves again?’

For now, no one had the answer.