I think the reason I like Mikaele Salesa so much is that he falls into a very specific trope I love that is: Criminal is a pretty decent boss all things considered.

Despite not being a good person, Salesa does seem to try and look out for his workers. He’s honest with them about how dangerous retrieving the camera will be and he gives everyone a honest out of the situation before it happens. Which sure isn’t something someone like Elias would have done if he were in a similar situation.

He also gives his chiefs one of his artifacts for a reasonable price when he notices him eyeing it instead of selling for a large price to someone like Mary Keay who would drop a lot of cash for a fear artifact.

I honestly just think Salesa is a fun character because morally he’s awful, but he also seems like the type of guy who would draw the line at bureaucratic evil. Any of the main cast would have been better off working for him than Elias. I bet Salesa is even open to union’s.