Chapter 255: The Hive Is Listening

Gideon was about to turn back toward the open chamber when the walkie-talkie finally buzzed. Static crackled through the speaker before a familiar voice came through.

"Report, Beta Team. What happened?"

It was Jade’s voice.

But something about it was wrong.

The difference was so subtle that an ordinary person probably wouldn’t notice anything at all.

To Gideon, however, the tone was slightly off, as though someone had listened to Jade speak and was now attempting to reproduce her voice without fully understanding how it should sound.

He narrowed his eyes. He remembered all the voices that had called his men through the mine.

Nobody had called him.

’Don’t tell me.’

Gideon grabbed the walkie-talkie from his belt and brought it close to his mouth.

"The hive mind is here. You need to evacuate as soon as possible."

He paused before continuing, deliberately making his voice sound hurried and anxious, even allowing a slight tremble to slip into it.

"How are things up there? Did Patrick say anything about the controller that escaped yesterday?"

"No, Patrick hasn’t said anything. But are your men already searching for him? Where was the last place you saw him? Maybe he’s still somewhere inside your territory, waiting until you’re gone so he can claim the new members for himself."

Gideon’s eyes widened. He covered his mouth as if the possibility had just occurred to him.

"You’re right. Shit! I should have thought of that!"

It was a test.

He wanted to know what the hive mind could actually perceive through its network.

Could it see his expression? Could it read his body language? Or was it limited to the information transmitted through sound?

The answer came quickly.

"Don’t worry, Gideon. We’ll take care of it. You only need to focus on your search. Keep going deeper until you find the Hive Mind itself. Then you can destroy it. If you’re not lucky enough, however, you’ll become one with it."

The imitation sounded almost excited. Jade would never sound pleased about the possibility of Cinders of Dusk being destroyed.

Yet whoever was speaking through the radio sounded almost delighted by the thought, as though it were already imagining Gideon failing.

"I’ll pray for you and the others to remain safe," the voice continued. "Now go."

The transmission abruptly cut off.

Gideon lowered the walkie-talkie.

So that confirmed it.

The parasite’s connection had limitations. Distance mattered, and whatever information it received from its hosts seemed to depend on their senses.

It could reproduce voices and manipulate perception, but it wasn’t omniscient.

More importantly, it couldn’t simply read his thoughts.

That was useful.

Gideon slipped the walkie-talkie back onto his belt and turned toward his team.

His expression hardened immediately.

He needed to keep acting anxious and worried. If the hive mind was watching through whatever connection it had established, showing it that he had discovered its trick would only make the next encounter harder.

For now, he would let it believe he was afraid.

Let it believe he was falling deeper into its trap.

Then, when he finally reached the thing hiding beneath Climber Rift, he would tear the entire parasite apart.

However, when Gideon returned to the others, he immediately noticed that Jasper’s gaze had changed.

He had been gone for less than five minutes, yet Jasper was now looking at him as if he wanted to strangle him with his bare hands.

There was something different in those eyes, something far more hostile than the sarcasm and irritation from before.

Fortunately, nobody seemed to notice it.

The others were clearly avoiding Jasper as well. Nick stood with his arms crossed and his brows furrowed, looking like someone had just insulted him.

Petter and Addam stayed close to him, occasionally glancing toward Jasper with obvious concern before quickly looking away again.

"Chief, you’re finally back." Nick sighed in relief and slapped Addam’s arm off his shoulder. "I’d rather die than keep listening to their bullshit."

"Hey, don’t mention death when we’re already standing in front of the God of Death," Petter said, and judging from his expression, he was completely serious.

"God doesn’t exist," Nick immediately replied. He looked toward Gideon and shook his head.

"We should move, Chief. I don’t want to stay in this fucking place any longer. It’s starting to mess with my head."

Gideon nodded without protest.

"Let’s go deeper. We’ll use the lift."

The others agreed. Addam and Petter moved toward the old mining platform first, while Nick stayed beside Gideon.

Jasper remained behind them. His eyes never left Gideon.

’Something happened.’

Gideon kept his expression neutral, but his awareness sharpened.

That bastard clearly wanted to kill him.

He didn’t know what Jasper had seen or heard while he was away, but something had changed. Gideon might be immune to aberrant toxins, but that didn’t make him immune to a human hand holding a knife.

He would need to watch his back.

***

Aaron continued walking through the endless stretch of white growth, surrounded by pale grass and strange sacs hanging from the ceiling.

The deeper he went, the more frequently he saw those bizarre mushroom-like organisms embedded among the parasite’s growth.

The entire place was uncomfortable.

The worst part wasn’t even the environment.

It was the silence from the men who were supposed to be following him.

His team had entered the mine with several men. Now only one remained beside him.

Eric... and even he was struggling to keep his composure. Aaron could see the slight trembling in his hands whenever he adjusted his weapon, despite his desperate attempts to hide it.

Victor had been left behind in a safer section of the tunnel, where the white growth had yet to spread.

They had tied him securely and moved him away from the strange mushrooms, praying that he wouldn’t wake up, break free, and run blindly into the darkness like Nolan had.

Aaron clenched his jaw. Too many had already disappeared. Too many had died.

’No.’ He shook his head and forced the thoughts away. ’I need to focus.’

Whatever was controlling this place wanted them afraid.

Aaron wasn’t going to give it the satisfaction.

Aaron continued through the white growth, the pale mushrooms had become more numerous as they went deeper, their soft blue-white glow spreading across the ceiling and walls, making all the situation more disturbing.

Then he noticed someone standing ahead.

He immediately raised his rifle and stopped, forcing Eric to stop behind him as well. The figure stood beneath the faint light of one of the glowing mushrooms, completely motionless.

For several seconds Aaron couldn’t tell who it was, but the shape of the body was familiar enough to make his stomach tighten.

"Wade?"

The figure didn’t answer. Instead, its lips continued moving rapidly, whispering something that Aaron couldn’t understand.

The words came too quickly and too quietly, almost blending together into a single murmur.

Aaron moved closer, keeping his rifle aimed at the man’s chest while Eric remained behind him, and the light finally revealed Wade’s face.

It was Wade.

His tactical vest, rifle, boots, and the rest of his equipment were gone, leaving him in nothing but his shirt and trousers.

"Wade, it’s me," Aaron said carefully. "We’re here to take you back. Can you hear me?"

The whispering finally stopped, and Wade slowly raised his head. His eyes looked strangely calm, almost empty, before his lips curled into a smile that made Aaron’s grip tighten around his rifle.

"You came back for me."

Aaron swallowed, refusing to lower his weapon completely. "Of course we did. You’re part of my team. We’re getting you out of here."

Wade’s smile remained as he took a slow step toward them. Aaron immediately raised his rifle higher, the hesitation in his mind fighting against everything his training was telling him.

He had already lost too many men. He didn’t want to kill another one when there was still a possibility that Wade was alive and could be saved.

"Stop there, Wade. Just stay where you are and put your hands where I can see them."

Wade obeyed for only a moment before continuing forward.

His expression didn’t change, and his voice became softer as he said, "You shouldn’t have come here, Aaron. None of you should have. They’re all waiting for you."

Aaron’s chest tightened. He knew exactly what the parasite had done to Jasper and the others, so hearing Wade speak like that only made the situation worse.

"Who’s waiting?"

Wade’s smile widened. "Everyone you’ve lost."

Aaron’s finger moved against the trigger.

Then Wade added something that made his hesitation disappear.

"Your wife is waiting too. She told me you would come."

Aaron had never fought anything this terrifying before. He still couldn’t see its true form, yet something cold was already crawling down his spine, warning him that whatever waited in the darkness was far worse than anything he had encountered before.

His mind was still fighting with itself, torn between saving Wade and accepting that his friend was already gone.

But Aaron knew the truth. He knew Wade was no longer himself, and if he hesitated any longer, Wade might take the rest of them down with him.

"What’s wrong, honey? Why are you hesitating? Aren’t you the one who killed us both?"

It wasn’t Wade’s voice. It was his dead wife’s.

Aaron’s finger tightened around the trigger. Whatever hesitation remained disappeared, and he fired, the gunshot echoing throughout the tunnel.