Chapter 115:Reports
Chapter 115: 115:Reports
For one long, impossible second, nobody moved. The contractors stared at the flowers lining both sides of the street, each blossom now angled in the same direction... Toward them.
No one spoke. No one wanted to be the first to admit what everyone had just witnessed.
Claire laughed nervously.
"...Please tell me someone else saw that."
"I did."
Jonah’s answer came immediately.
"So did I," Brian added quietly.
Even the contractors from neighboring convoys wore the same expression; confusion, disbelief, and fear.
Silver’s grip tightened around his sword. The wind had died and every petal remained perfectly still but only their direction had changed.
The silence was shattered beneath the crackle of a portable radio. Static burst through the evening air before a strained voice came over the emergency frequency.
*"...All contractor teams, remain calm..."*
More static.
*"This is the Association Command Post... We are investigating multiple emergency reports throughout Detroin..."*
Nearby conversations stopped. Every contractor instinctively reached for their own radios.
The voice returned, noticeably more tense.
*"Medical teams are being dispatched to several locations. If you observe unusual behavior among teammates, isolate the affected individual and immediately report your position. Do not travel alone. Repeat... do not travel alone."*
The transmission ended in another burst of static. Nobody liked the wording.
’Unusual behavior.’
It was far too vague. Silver slowly scanned the street. His instincts warned louder with every passing second. Something was changing inside the town itself. The breeze returned and white specks drifted lazily through the sunlight once again this time more visible.
Only now did every person wearing a gas mask notice them. Thousands upon thousands of tiny particles danced through the air.
Claire instinctively pulled her own mask tighter.
"...I’m suddenly very glad I listened to you."
Silver nodded.
"So am I."
Brian stepped into the middle of the road.
"Everyone!"
Dozens of contractors turned toward him but his voice remained steady.
"We stay together. No splitting up. If someone needs to investigate anything, they report it first. We have to move as groups."
Several convoy leaders nodded immediately. One older contractor raised a hand.
"What about the southern districts?"
Brian looked toward Silver.
Silver answered honestly.
"I wouldn’t go there."
"Why?"
"I think..." He chose his words carefully. "...Whatever is causing this is somewhere around or beneath the southern part of town. If my guess is right, anyone who went that side, is probably dead or compromised. There have been no reports from teams that have gone there. If this is really a plant doing, then it’s most likely in the botanical garden."
He said everything he knew and let them judge however they wanted. If one decided to go there, then he’s washed his hands of everything.
The older contractor studied him for a moment before nodding.
"I’ll trust your instincts, you warned us the first time, so..."
More radios began crackling again, this time, several went off at once. They were from different frequencies and voices, all talking over one another.
Fragments drifted across the street.
*"...Medical assistance requested..."
"...three contractors unconscious..."
"...keep everyone indoors..."
"...possible environmental contamination..."*
Static.
Another transmission cut in. The speaker sounded out of breath.
*"Command, this is North Market Team Two... we’ve evacuated civilians... requesting additional medics..."*
Another voice interrupted before the first could finish.
"...West Residential reporting multiple missing exploration teams... we’re beginning organized searches..."
The channel dissolved into overlapping voices. No one sounded calm anymore.
Ravenna quietly stepped beside Silver.
"They still don’t know what’s happening."
He shook his head.
"No. But at least people are starting to notice something is wrong. The Association should be able to figure it out by now what’s attacking us."
They both knew that whatever was happening, it had already spread farther than anyone realized.
Several Association officers wearing gasmasks hurried through the district carrying sealed medical containers. One paused long enough to speak with Brian.
"We’re advising everyone to minimize exposure outdoors."
Brian frowned.
"Exposure to what?"
"We don’t know yet." The officer’s tone betrayed his frustration. "Our medical staff suspects airborne contamination, but we’re still collecting samples."
Silver exchanged a glance with Ravenna. At least they were finally catching up, then... the emergency frequency activated again.
This time the speaker wasn’t an officer. It sounded like the commander of another checkpoint. His breathing was heavy.
Behind him, alarms echoed continuously.
*"This is Temporary Command Station Three..."*
The man paused, collecting himself.
*"Several contractor teams reported collapsing after prolonged searches. Medical examinations are ongoing. We have also confirmed casualties in isolated incidents across multiple checkpoints."*
The street became utterly silent. Nobody interrupted or even breathed loudly.
*"At this time... the exact cause remains unknown. All teams in Detroin are ordered to regroup immediately and await further instructions. Avoid entering unexplored underground structures until engineering units arrive."*
Another pause then, in a noticeably quieter voice...
*"Please remain calm. Reinforcements are already en route from the nearest checkpoints."*
The transmission ended. Silence followed. Nobody knew who had died, how many or why. Only that... people already had.
Claire looked down at the pavement.
"...This isn’t a treasure hunt anymore."
Nobody answered because everyone had reached the same conclusion. Silver briefly activated Spatial Sense once more.
[Spatial Sense Lv2]
Pain immediately flared behind his eyes but he ignored it. The glowing spores remained everywhere but the underground roots were far thicker and redder. They were no longer merely pulsing but visibly expanding as if feeding.
He deactivated the skill almost immediately. His vision blurred and a sharp ache spread across his temples.
Ravenna steadied him before he stumbled.
"Enough, you’ll collapse."
"I’m fine."
"You said that three times already."
Silver smiled weakly behind his mask.
"...You’re counting."
"Of course I am."
Brian watched the exchange.
"Can you still fight?"
Silver nodded.
"If I have to."
"Good."
Brian looked toward the gathering convoy leaders.
"Then we leave."
One man glanced over.
"Leave?"
"The Association told us to regroup."
"But they didn’t say abandon the town," one of the team leaders countered
Brian’s expression remained calm.
"They also said they don’t know what’s happening. I’d rather be outside the unknown than standing in the middle of it. I value the lives of my teammates too much to jump on this shit show, I don’t want blood on my hands."
Several experienced contractors immediately agreed while others hesitated. The hesitation lasted only seconds, then, one after another, groups began packing. Loading recovered supplies, checking weapons, and counting teammates.
The cheerful excitement that had filled Detroin all afternoon had completely disappeared. Now there was only disciplined urgency.
Silver glanced once more toward the botanical gardens in the distance. The towering trees stood peacefully beneath the sun, almost inviting.
Yet every instinct told him something beneath them was awake, watching, and waiting. A faint vibration traveled through the soles of his boots, almost too small to notice.
He looked down.
The flowers beside the road trembled, from the vibrations. Then, far beneath the pavement, beyond even what ordinary senses could detect, the immense root network contracted once.
Silver’s expression hardened.
"We have to move."
No one argued. As the convoys began organizing their withdrawal, none of them noticed that behind the dark windows of several abandoned houses... Figures had silently gathered, watching the street and the people. They were just standing there, waiting without a sound.