Chapter 364:A passing feeling?

Chapter 364: 364:A passing feeling?

The officer glanced toward the blocked route.

"How much have you heard?"

"Tunnel collapse, parasitic beasts and some kind of expedition investigation. I couldn’t here some of tge other things said since people were arguing, that’s why I came to you."

"That’s enough."

Dillian waited, and smile on his lips.

The officer clearly understood that wasn’t going to satisfy him.

He sighed.

"An expedition entered the area under a registered extermination mission and something went wrong underground. The original threat assessment appears to have underestimated the colony, and there are questions about whether the group followed its registered route. We’re also investigating reports that some members may have deliberately entered a more dangerous sector."

"Casualties?"

"Not information I’m authorized to give you."

"Missing Contractors?"

The officer looked at him more carefully.

Dillian noticed.

"So there are."

"I didn’t say that."

"You didn’t need to."

The officer handed back the final identification card. "You’re heading toward Alpha Three, Contractor. My advice is to keep doing exactly that. Rank Two is respectable, especially for someone your age, but Death Row Valley isn’t a place where being respectable is enough right now."

He glanced toward the barrier.

"Is the restriction specifically for Contractors below Rank Three?"

"Restrictions vary by route and authorization, but don’t misunderstand that as an invitation. Even if your rank technically qualifies you for access to certain Yellow Zone sectors, the areas connected to the investigation are closed unless you’re part of an authorized team. If you decide curiosity is more important than instructions, you’ll be turned around at the next control point."

Dillian smiled faintly. "You sound like you’ve already had this conversation several times today."

"More times than I wanted. Apparently putting up a sign saying restricted makes Contractors believe something valuable must be hidden behind it."

He couldn’t help laughing because the man had just described his own thoughts almost perfectly.

The officer noticed.

"You’re one of them, aren’t you?"

"I was considering it."

"Then consider somewhere else."

Dillian nodded. "Fair enough. We’re continuing to Alpha Three."

"Good decision."

The officer stepped away.

Their vehicle moved through the checkpoint. Dillian remained quiet for several minutes.

The women noticed.

Eventually Iris asked, "You’re still thinking about it."

"A little."

"Why?"

He considered the question.

"I don’t know."

That was the frustrating part. He had no reason. He didn’t know the expedition, or who was missing. He had no mission there or information suggesting there was anything valuable beneath Death Row Valley.

Yet as the road carried them farther from the turnoff, Dillian felt as if he’d just passed something important. The feeling became strong enough that he looked in the rearview mirror.

The checkpoint slowly disappeared. Maya caught the movement.

"You really want to turn around."

He exhaled.

"Every once in a while, I get this feeling that there’s something worth finding somewhere. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it has happened enough times that I’ve learned to pay attention to it. Sometimes it leads to a beast worth hunting, sometimes a resource, sometimes information, and occasionally it leads to something that changes everything. Death Row Valley is giving me that feeling."

Maya became more serious.

"Then why aren’t we turning around?"

Dillian looked ahead.

"Because there’s a difference between trusting instinct and being stupid. The area is under investigation with its access restricted, and the officer practically told me the threat assessment was wrong. We don’t know what’s down there. I’m Rank Two, not Rank Ten. Whatever opportunity might exist isn’t worth throwing away the academy before I even reach it."

He paused before adding, "Besides, opportunities don’t belong to me just because I feel curious about them. If something happened there without me, then it happened without me."

That last sentence stayed with him longer than expected.

Something happened there without me.

Dillian couldn’t explain why those words felt strangely accurate.

He continued driving.

Eventually Death Row Valley disappeared from his thoughts. The road toward Alpha Three was long enough to provide other distractions.

There were beasts to hunt whenever they stopped; checkpoints, food, fuel, training, and, surprisingly, conversation.

Without Cruella, the atmosphere inside the vehicle had changed completely.

He noticed it gradually.

Nobody was constantly measuring their words. Nobody was waiting for the next argument.

The three women disagreed with each other occasionally, and they disagreed with Dillian even more often, but those disagreements ended instead of turning into hours of resentment.

At one rest stop, Selena even mentioned it.

She sat across from him while eating and said, "I didn’t realize how exhausting travelling with us had become until Cruella left."

Maya immediately looked toward her. "You realize saying that makes us sound terrible."

"I’m not saying we were innocent. I’m saying every small disagreement somehow became a competition. If Cruella disagreed with someone, she needed Dillian to agree with her too, and if he didn’t, then suddenly the problem became that he wasn’t supporting her."

Dillian continued eating.

Iris looked at him. "You’re being weirdly quiet."

"I’ve learned that speaking during conversations like this usually results in somebody blaming me for something."

That earned several laughs.

Selena shook her head. "That’s because you kept trying to keep everyone happy."

"What exactly was I supposed to do? Stop the car every time two people argued and tell them to fight beside the road until somebody surrendered?"

"That might have worked better."

He laughed.

"Next time, I’ll remember that."

Selena became quieter.

"Do you regret letting Cruella leave?"

Dillian thought before answering.

"No."

The answer came easier than he’d expected.

"I don’t hate her, and I’m not pretending everything that happened was entirely her fault, because it wasn’t. I made mistakes too. I kept overlooking things because I thought keeping the group together was more important than dealing with the actual problems. Eventually that made everything worse. Cruella found another path, and whether that path works out for her is her responsibility now. I’m tired of chasing someone who keeps treating every disagreement like betrayal."

Maya smiled.

"That’s probably the healthiest thing you’ve said in weeks."

Dillian pointed his fork toward her.

"I say healthy things regularly. Nobody appreciates them."

"Give us an example."

He thought but nothing came. The women laughed again.

The journey continued like that. It was not completely uneventful, but peaceful.

Dillian trained whenever they stopped for the night, testing the improvements that came with reaching Rank Two.

His ice abilities had become more stable, his physical enhancement was stronger, and the increase in his overall reserves was significant enough that techniques which previously required careful conservation could now be used more freely.

For once, progression wasn’t accompanied by disaster, which he appreciated.