Chapter 244: About a Specific Man

They stepped out of the interrogation tent.

Freya finally released Gideon’s wrist and let out a long sigh, as though she had been holding her breath the entire time.

Patrick, meanwhile, looked surprisingly satisfied. The professor studied Gideon with the quiet approval of a teacher watching a student exceed his expectations.

"You’re good at that, Chief," Patrick said with a faint smile. "Making people angry without raising your own voice, making them feel smaller than they really are. If you sharpen your ability to read people, you’ll become even more terrifying."

Gideon gave a small shrug. "I plan to. Slowly, of course. Most of our enemies are aberrants. They rarely show emotions, so I haven’t had much opportunity to practice."

The dry remark earned a quiet laugh from the older man.

Freya looked between them, her brows knitting together.

"What just happened? I still don’t understand any of it."

Gideon rested a hand on her shoulder.

"I’ll explain everything later. Right now, I need to speak with Professor Patrick. Alone."

Patrick merely nodded, while Freya looked both curious and slightly offended.

Still, she didn’t complain.

If anything, she looked relieved that Gideon wasn’t about to drag her somewhere else by the wrist again.

She turned and started walking away.

"Just don’t touch anything suspicious," Gideon called after her. "I’d rather not deal with another parasite outbreak because you got curious."

Freya glanced back, stuck out her tongue at him, and continued toward another tent.

Gideon couldn’t help chuckling before turning back to Patrick.

"Let’s find somewhere private."

The professor nodded, and the two of them headed toward the tent currently serving as temporary quarters for the Greenwardens.

---

Compared to the command tent, this one felt considerably more comfortable.

A narrow hallway stretched through the center, with four small private rooms separated by heavy canvas flaps, two on each side.

At the far end was a modest common room where the researchers could rest between shifts.

A sturdy wooden table occupied the center, surrounded by five mismatched chairs. In one corner stood a water dispenser, while several crates filled with military ration packs had been stacked neatly against the opposite wall.

Simple and functional.

Exactly the kind of place Gideon expected researchers to neglect while burying themselves in work.

Patrick pulled out a chair and sat down with a slow, tired movement. Only now did Gideon notice the dark circles beneath the professor’s eyes.

Between the investigation, the medical trials, and the constant dissections, the old man had probably slept very little these past few days.

Gideon took the seat across from him.

Patrick folded his hands on the table.

"So, what brings you here, Chief? If it’s about the medicine trials, I’m afraid I still can’t give you a conclusion. We’ve separated the infected according to the progression of their symptoms, but we need more time before we know whether the antiparasitic drugs are having any meaningful effect."

Gideon shook his head. "No. I’ll leave that to you, Jade, and Elaine."

He leaned forward slightly. "I actually wanted to ask about someone."

Patrick waited.

"Do you know Leon Miller?"

For the first time since they met, the professor’s expression changed.

It lasted only an instant.

A faint flicker of recognition passed through his eyes before his face returned to normal.

If Leon really was as capable as Delilah and Jade had described, it made sense that someone like Patrick would remember him.

"I know him," Patrick answered after a brief pause. "We worked together once during a joint expedition. Why do you ask?"

He adjusted his glasses. "As far as I know, Leon died during the last large-scale expedition."

Gideon smiled casually. "Oh, nothing that serious. Since I’m with Delilah now, I became curious about her late husband. She still carries a lot of guilt over him, so I thought understanding the kind of man he was might help me understand her better."

Patrick stared at him for several seconds. Then he laughed.

"You really can’t lie to me, Chief." He shook his head, amusement still lingering in his voice. "These old eyes may have wrinkles around them, but they’re still sharp."

The smile slowly disappeared from his face.

"You’re wondering whether Leon had something to do with these engineered parasites... aren’t you?"

Gideon remained silent for a moment before giving a small nod.

"Yes. Judging from your reaction you’ve suspected the same thing, haven’t you?"

Patrick remained silent for a moment, as though organizing memories he hadn’t revisited in years.

"Well," He adjusted his glasses before continuing. "One of Leon’s biggest achievements in Greenwarden was the book Arthur mentioned in his report. Surviving in Senduro Highland."

A faint smile appeared on the professor’s face.

"The title was simple. The book also used simple words, anyone could understand what the book was about, and that was precisely why it became so influential. Every new Greenwarden assigned to the highlands read it sooner or later or even anyone wanted to cross the land."

He paused briefly before his expression gradually turned more serious.

"Leon also had a rather... peculiar fascination with parasitic aberrants."

Gideon remained quiet, allowing him to continue.

"I still remember one conversation we had after dissecting a parasite together." Patrick lowered his gaze as though the memory had become unusually vivid.

"He looked at the specimen for a long time before saying, ’It’s a shame, really. Their life cycle is fascinating, but far too simple. They’re dangerous, yet nowhere near dangerous enough.’"

Patrick let out a quiet sigh. "I asked him what he meant." A bitter smile crossed his lips. "He simply laughed and said, ’If they could evolve just a little further... they’d control this planet.’"

Silence settled between them.

Patrick slowly intertwined his fingers.

"Knowing Leon..." He looked back at Gideon. "...doing something this insane honestly wouldn’t surprise me."

Gideon listened without interrupting. Something, however, continued bothering him.

Patrick had spoken as though Leon’s survival was almost expected.

He hadn’t even questioned how a man officially declared dead could still be alive.

"Professor, you don’t seem surprised that Leon survived."

A faint chuckle escaped the older man. "If you’ve ever met Leon Miller or worked with him for more than a week, you’d understand why."

"What do you mean?"

Patrick was quiet for several seconds before answering.

"Someone capable of surviving Senduro Highland doesn’t simply disappear because an expedition report says so."

He folded his arms.

"Especially not someone as obsessed with knowledge as Leon. That’s what always made him dangerous, Chief. Not only his intelligence, but also his curiosity."

Patrick’s fingers lightly tapped against the tabletop.

"Most people pursue knowledge because they want to help others, earn recognition, or satisfy their curiosity. Leon was different. He pursued knowledge because he couldn’t stop."

"There was no finish line for him. If an experiment was immoral but answered a question, he’d seriously consider doing it."

"If crossing a line revealed something humanity had never seen before," Patrick slowly shook his head. "...that line stopped existing."

He looked directly into Gideon’s eyes.

"People like that don’t become villains out of hatred, revenge, or ambition. They become monsters because they genuinely believe knowledge is worth any price."

"The more they discover, the more questions appear and eventually the pursuit itself becomes more important than the lives sacrificed along the way."

Gideon slowly exhaled and leaned back against his chair.

Patrick’s explanation fit Leon disturbingly well.

If Delilah and Jade had described his personality accurately...

Then Leon probably hadn’t engineered the parasite because he wanted power. He had done it simply because he wanted to know whether it was possible.

The realization chilled him more than any revenge story could.

Someone driven by hatred could eventually be satisfied.

Someone driven by curiosity never would.

Worse still, Leon probably didn’t care where the parasite spread as long as it continued evolving and producing new data.

The Scions of the Lord didn’t need to control him.

They only needed to give him opportunities.

And if Gideon had learned anything from this disaster...

It was that Leon Miller was almost certainly already several steps ahead, preparing the next experiment while everyone else was still trying to understand the last one.

After that, their conversation shifted away from Leon.

Instead, they discussed Climber Rift’s next course of action, what they should do if the antiparasitic treatment failed, and Patrick’s theories about the mysterious hive mind Isaac kept hinting at.

They reached no clear conclusion, only more possibilities that needed to be investigated.

Eventually, Patrick closed his notebook and stood up.

"My presence isn’t really needed here anymore, Chief. If possible, I’d like to return to Climber Rift and monitor the treatment personally. I’ll be more useful there."

Gideon stood as well.

"Then I have one favor to ask. If you see Jade, tell her to gather every blacksmith she can find. Greenwardens, independent craftsmen, anyone capable of producing specialized ammunition."

Patrick immediately understood. "For the Grave Flower bullets?"

"The second month of winter is almost here," Gideon replied. "We can’t afford to waste time."

Patrick nodded. "Understood. I’ll inform her."

Not long afterward, Patrick and Otis departed for Climber Rift, leaving Gideon standing outside the tent.

Only then did he notice Freya waiting nearby. She had been sitting quietly on a wooden crate, but immediately stood when she saw him.

For a moment, Gideon found himself looking at her differently.

Patrick’s words about Leon still lingered in his mind.

How could someone willing to cross every moral boundary for knowledge also become the loving father Freya kept remembering?

"What’s wrong?" Freya asked, tilting her head. "You’re staring at me like I’ve done something."

Gideon smiled and gently rubbed her shoulder. "Nothing."

He looked at her for another moment before saying, "Tell me more about your father."

Freya’s eyes immediately lit up.

The two of them slowly drive back toward the house while she happily shared one memory after another, and Gideon quietly listened to every word until they arrived to their destination.