Chapter 342:Rest.

Chapter 342: 342:Rest.

"Do I have to buy new shirts every single time...I should’ve bought them in bulk."

The system shop probably would have happily offered him a discount.

He ignored that thought.

He moved closer to the stream. He tested it again with Spatial Sense, then he began washing. The cold water shocked him awake immediately.

Silver hissed when it touched the healing wounds. He cleaned the blood from his arms, chest and back as well as he could manage. It was hard for someone who felt pain just from twisting a little.

Mud came off his legs in dark streams. He washed his feet carefully, especially around the blisters, then used antiseptic from the medical kit afterward.

The simple act of becoming clean again made him feel more human. For hours he’d been operating mechanically, now, sitting beside running water while washing away dirt and blood, he finally felt the accumulated exhaustion properly.

Silver looked down at himself, there were more scars; some would fade but others probably wouldn’t. His body was beginning to look like the body of the soldier he’d been before transmigrating.

That thought made him pause. He seemed to have the same habit of getting injured in places he had no business being.

He shook his head.

"Some things apparently survive reincarnation."

He finished washing and dried himself using a towel purchased cheaply from the system shop, then he bought another clothing set.

[Standard Contractor Clothing Set ×1 selected.]

[Purchase Confirmed.]

Silver didn’t even check the AP cost this time. He was emotionally beyond caring about shirts.

The clean clothes went on and fresh socks were especially welcome. He treated the blisters before putting them on, adjusted his boots carefully and loosened them slightly to reduce pressure.

Much better.

Then he returned to the network module, maybe the open cavern made a difference. Silver walked toward one side and activated it.

[Searching for External Networks...]

Nothing.

He moved toward the stream.

[No External Signal Detected.]

Silver climbed onto a raised rock formation and tried again. He walked toward another part of the cavern, still nothing.

He eventually stopped and looked at the device.

"I’ve been climbing for three days and you’re still giving me zero."

He knew that wasn’t technically true. A lot of those three days had been spent unconscious or wandering sideways, still, complaining made him feel slightly better.

He stored the module.

Silver studied the stream. The water entered from somewhere behind him and flowed steadily toward the opposite side of the cavern.

There had to be a source and somewhere it drained. Whether either helped him escape was another question but his body wasn’t ready to find out yet.

He searched the chamber for somewhere defensible enough to rest, and found a raised shelf of stone about two meters above the stream. One side pressed against the cavern wall.

The approach was narrow enough that a large beast couldn’t charge him easily. More importantly, there were no nearby burrows.

Silver checked thoroughly.

[Spatial Sense Lv2 Activated.]

He searched deeper and found no movement or hollow spaces large enough for another Ironclaw Burrower to explode through while he slept.

Silver deactivated the skill.

"This is good."

He climbed onto the shelf. He took his equipment off, placed his sword within reach, the gun beside his hand, the beacon and network module remained close.

He opened the system storage and retrieved medicine. This time he used one of the stronger general recovery doses he’d saved.

The system confirmed compatibility.

[Recovery Medicine Consumed.]

[Accelerated tissue regeneration initiated.]

[Muscular recovery increased.]

[Recommendation: Extended rest.]

Silver nodded.

"Finally, something we agree on."

Before sleeping he took two meals. His body demanded more food than usual after the ridiculous level of exertion he’d been putting it through.

He drank, then lay down. The stone wasn’t comfortable but Silver didn’t care. He used part of the climbing rope and folded clothing as a makeshift support beneath his head.

Silver looked at the stream below. The sound was strangely calming. For once, the cave almost felt peaceful.

His eyes closed.

He intended to sleep for maybe an hour but his body had other plans. Silver was unconscious within minutes. He slept surprisingly deeply.

For the first time since awakening, his body received several uninterrupted hours to recover without walking, fighting or using spatial abilities.

The recovery medicine spread through him while he slept. His muscle tears repaired, inflammation decreased, the wounds along his shoulder and back tightened, bruising faded, and even his spatial reserves gradually returned toward full capacity.

Silver slept for four hours.

Far behind him, the mountain was no longer quiet. Several parasitic worms moved through the tunnel where the Cave Stalker had died.

They weren’t part of the groups Silver had previously encountered. These had been moving downward from another section of the colony.

The first worm stopped, its body shifting, sensitive feelers moving across the stone. It found blood, old but recognizable.

The creature crawled toward the dead Stalker. The massive predator’s corpse had already begun cooling. Several bullet wounds and sword injuries covered it.

The worms moved around the body.

One found a bloodied dressing Silver had discarded. Another encountered part of the ruined emergency meal packaging he’d left during the fight.

Human scent remained.

The creatures became restless. One released a low clicking vibration and another answered. The sound travelled through the stone as something older and simpler.

Colony communication.

The information spread through the whole colony as it climbed up. Far above, deep within a different section of the tunnel system, the queen reacted; its enormous body shifted.

The colony around it became agitated. The queen had not forgotten the humans, it remember what they had done to its home, and one particular scent that had disappeared beneath stone after it struck the smaller creature down.

That scent was here again clearly alive.

The queen’s body tensed. The assumption it had made days ago had been wrong; the human had survived. Something resembling rage moved through the enormous beast.

This was not human anger, nothing so complex, it was something simpler almost instinctive. Its territory had been invaded, and the young had been threatened.

Prey had escaped, and now the same intruder was moving through its tunnels again. The queen released a violent vibration through the surrounding earth.

Across the colony, worms responded. Small groups changed direction; some began descending while others moved sideways through connecting tunnels. Routes that had been empty for hours gradually filled with movement.

The queen did not rush.

Its enormous body couldn’t move through every passage the smaller worms used. Instead, it began shifting downward through the major routes, forcing its way through stone whenever necessary.

The colony would search first. It only needed one group to find the human, then the queen would follow.

Far below, Silver remained asleep beside the stream. His breathing was steady as his wounds continued healing and his spatial reserves recovered.

The network restoration module remained silent beside his phone. Four hours passed before he finally moved.

His eyes opened slowly. For several seconds, he didn’t remember where he was, then he heard the stream.

Silver sat up.

His body felt remarkably different. He rolled his shoulder carefully. There was still a little pain but it was negligible. He stretched his leg, it was much better. Hs ribs barely complained.

He opened his status.

[Physical Condition: Recovering ~ Near Stable.]

[Major external wounds: Closed.]

[Residual muscular trauma: Minor.]

[Residual skeletal trauma: Minor.]

[Mobility: 91%.]

[Mental Capacity: 97%.]

[Spatial Reserves: 100%.]

Silver stared at the positive results. A genuine smile appeared.

"That’s more like it."

He climbed down from the stone shelf. His feet remained sore, and the blisters hadn’t magically disappeared, but even those felt more manageable after treatment and rest.

Silver approached the stream.

He looked toward the direction the water flowed. The queen’s route had almost killed him twice. The stream offered another possibility.

Maybe it went nowhere, maybe it eventually disappeared underground or maybe following it would cost him more time, but the water had to be moving toward something.

He picked up his equipment. He fastened the sword, checked the handgun, and secured the climbing gear. Then looked at the flowing water again.

"I gave your route enough chances."

He was talking about the queen. Silver stepped beside the stream.

"For once, I’m following something that doesn’t look like it wants to kill me."