Chapter 219: Greenwarden Arrival
Gideon took a deep breath before gently resting both hands on Jade’s shoulders.
"It’s different, Jade." His voice remained calm. "What you did was personal. I trusted you, and because of that trust, you took advantage of me."
He gently rubbed her arms, making sure the tension in her shoulders gradually eased.
"So instead of directing your frustration toward Delilah, turn it into something useful." He looked her straight in the eyes. "We’ll find a way to destroy those flowers, and we’ll find a way to end Jace’s suffering. Getting angry at her won’t solve either problem."
Jade remained silent for a while before letting out a long sigh and rubbing her face with both hands.
"You’re right." The stiffness in her shoulders finally relaxed. "I should be using my frustration to find a solution instead of looking for someone to blame."
She paused before narrowing her eyes at him again. "But I still hope you won’t become too soft on Delilah."
She folded her arms. "Be fair to the rest of your harem, because I can see the way you look at her." A faint smile slowly appeared on her lips. "It’s different."
Gideon didn’t answer immediately. He actually stopped to think about it.
Was she right? For several seconds, he replayed everything that had happened since Delilah arrived, but eventually he simply shook his head.
’That can wait.’
He quietly changed the subject before continuing down the corridor.
"Let’s not keep our guests waiting."
Truthfully, Gideon had never wanted to invite Greenwarden researchers into Cinder of Dusk in the first place. His agreement with Percy had always been simple.
Greenwarden would conduct their research outside the Safe Zone while Gideon quietly supplied whatever resources they needed, remaining nothing more than an anonymous benefactor.
But circumstances had changed. There were simply too many pieces he still couldn’t put together, and right now he needed more experienced minds to examine the situation from different perspectives.
By the time they reached the military-grade medical tent, Gideon immediately noticed five people standing outside the reinforced glass containment room.
All of them wore thick robes made from aberrant fur, and every single one of them was staring at Jace with expressions somewhere between fascination and disbelief.
Percy was the first to notice them. "Chief!" he called while waving them over. "Perfect timing. These are my colleagues. We usually work together whenever Greenwarden organizes field expeditions."
The others finally turned around.
Gideon smiled politely. He recognized several faces from the reports Percy had shown him before.
These weren’t ambitious politicians or administrators. They were researchers who had helped build Greenwarden from its earliest days, people far more interested in knowledge than power.
’For the sake of my own sanity... Please don’t let any of them be part of that heretic group.’
An older man stepped forward first. He looked to be in his mid-fifties. Dark hair streaked with silver framed a face lined by years of fieldwork rather than office work, and the confidence in his smile came from experience instead of arrogance.
Without hesitation, he extended his hand. "My name is Patrick Foster, Chief Gideon. Percy has written quite a lot about you."
Gideon accepted the handshake.
"I hope we’ll work well together." His grip gradually became firmer as he looked Patrick in the eyes. "But I’ll tell you one thing from the beginning. I don’t care how brilliant someone is if they can’t stay professional, I will kick them out of this project. I believe the Greenwarden are the type to avoid interpersonal conflict."
Patrick blinked once before the smile on his face widened. Instead of pulling his hand away immediately, he lightly patted the back of Gideon’s hand.
He leaned in slightly, lowering his voice just enough to sound conspiratorial. "Oh, don’t worry Chief. As long as you aren’t a prick, the type of leader who ignores evidence, looks down on researchers and insists he’s always right simply because he’s in charge. We will stay professional."
Gideon stared at him for a second before letting out a genuine laugh. "I think we’re going to work together just fine."
"So do I."
Patrick finally released his hand before immediately turning back toward the glass containment room. His smile disappeared almost instantly.
"But... I’ve honestly never seen anything like this before."
He stepped closer to the reinforced glass, watching Jace’s every movement.
"Look at his eyes." His voice became noticeably quieter. "He’s tracking every single person in this room. He isn’t trying to escape. He’s waiting for an opportunity to infect someone."
Jade frowned. "They don’t usually behave like that?"
Patrick slowly shook his head, his eyes never leaving Jace’s black pupils that continued following every movement outside the glass.
"Miss Jade, if every parasitic aberrant behaved like this, humanity would’ve gone extinct a long time ago." He folded his arms before continuing.
"Most parasitic aberrants are surprisingly simple creatures that live to completel their life cycle. No matter how much they evolve, that fundamental instinct rarely changes."
He tapped a finger lightly against the reinforced glass. "The only known exception is the parasite living inside the King."
"So whatever infected this young man..." Patrick looked back at Jace. "...is behaving in a way we’ve never documented before. It isn’t merely trying to survive. It’s actively searching for new hosts, almost as though spreading itself has become a priority."
She slowly closed her eyes before letting out a quiet breath. "Do... Do you still need to conduct more experiments on him? Or... is there still any possibility that Jace can recover?"
Patrick didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he looked toward Gideon first.
Although this was Greenwarden’s field of expertise, Jace was still inside Cinder of Dusk, and Patrick clearly wanted to respect Gideon’s authority before making such a decision.
Gideon simply gave a small nod.
Patrick understood. He turned back toward Jade, and the confidence that had filled his expression until now gradually disappeared.
"Unfortunately, no. With the technology and medical knowledge we possess today, saving him is impossible. I’m truly sorry, Miss Jade."
He looked through the glass one last time. "At this point, we only have two choices. We continue observing him in the hope of learning something useful or we let him go."
Nobody spoke. The silence was broken only when footsteps approached from behind.
Elaine casually walked over while brushing the smell of cigarette smoke from her coat before placing a thick stack of documents into Patrick’s hands.
"These are all the observations my staff and I recorded over the last forty-eight hours." She glanced toward Jace before quietly adding, "I hope they’re enough that we don’t have to make him suffer any longer."
Patrick accepted the reports with a grateful nod before flipping through several pages.
"This will help us tremendously. Chief, do you have somewhere quieter where we can discuss these findings? I’d rather not hold a scientific meeting in the middle of a quarantine tent."
Gideon smiled faintly. "Of course. Follow me."
***
The meeting lasted for almost two hours before Patrick finally put down the last report Elaine had written. Beside him were several sketches of Jace’s anatomy, black goo samples inside sealed glass bottles, and pages full of observations from every Greenwarden member.
Patrick rubbed the bridge of his nose before looking at everyone inside the room.
"I’ve reached a conclusion. The man inside that containment chamber is already dead."
Jade slowly lowered her head while Otis, who had been standing in the corner the entire time, clenched both of his fists.
Patrick continued, his tone remaining calm despite the heavy atmosphere.
"His heart is still beating, but it no longer serves its original purpose. From this report, the staff extracted blood from three different locations, yet less than twenty percent of it is still human. The rest has been replaced by that black substance."
He pushed one of the glass bottles toward Gideon. "Calling it blood would be inaccurate. It’s closer to a living colony than a bodily fluid."
"Chief, your Safe Zone isn’t prepared for biological threats. Though, I don’t think a lot of factions have that, but if you are able to prepare this kind of military containment, I guess you can give more." Patrick finally said.
Gideon narrowed his eyes. His observation was correct, or was it Percy who told him via letter?
Either way, it was still beneficial to hear a professional opinion.
"What do I need?"
Patrick didn’t answer immediately this time. He glanced at the documents again before speaking.
"For now, we don’t need anything excessive. This is only a single case, and we still don’t know if it only spread through wounds. But we still need to be prepared."
He raised one finger. "A proper pathology laboratory. Right now we’re relying on basic observation and most of the equipment I saw in your tent are proper medical equipment, we need a more specific and comprehensive type of machine. If something like this appears again, we need to identify it quickly; blood, tissue, anything abnormal."
He paused briefly before continuing. "And a more controlled quarantine area. The tents worked this time, but only because we caught it early. If the situation escalates, we won’t have that luxury."
"As for incineration... we can manage with what we already have for now."
Patrick looked directly at Gideon. "We don’t need to overreact."
Gideon nodded, but Jade suddenly interrupted. "Actually, Climber Rift is in a crisis right now. There are three or four men who have a high possibility of carrying a parasite of the same nature as this one, but we have no way of identifying which ones are infected and which ones are healthy. If you were in my position, how would you separate them?"
Comments