Chapter 374:Arrive.

Chapter 374: 374:Arrive.

Silver woke to movement beneath him and the low rumble of several engines travelling together. For a few disorienting seconds, he didn’t remember where he was.

His right hand moved automatically toward the place where his handgun should have been, his body tensing as Spatial Sense tried to activate before his thoughts had fully caught up.

Early morning light came through the windshield, the passenger seat was reclined beneath him, and an Association vehicle was driving several meters ahead of his own car.

He stared through the windshield, then everything returned.

He slowly relaxed.

"How long?"

The woman driving glanced toward him.

"Good morning to you too."

He rubbed his eyes.

"How long was I asleep?"

"Just under four hours."

He immediately sat straighter but his body protested.

"Four hours?"

"Approximately. You fell asleep around three in the morning, and we’re approaching the observation post now. Considering how quickly you passed out, I was expecting you to stay unconscious until noon."

Silver looked outside.

The landscape was familiar enough to tell him they had moved a significant distance from where the investigators found him.

He checked his body.

Pain remained; his ribs hurt, his shoulder complained whenever he moved too quickly, and his legs were stiff, but compared with the previous night, his thoughts were dramatically clearer.

Four uninterrupted hours felt luxurious after Death Row Valley.

The woman noticed him testing his arm.

"Don’t mistake feeling better for being recovered."

He glanced at her.

"I wasn’t."

"You were."

"I was checking mobility."

"You rotated your shoulder, moved your neck and tested your grip. That’s what Contractors do immediately before telling a medic they’re perfectly capable of returning to combat."

Silver considered denying it, then smiled.

"You’ve dealt with too many Contractors."

"I’m a field medic attached to an investigation division. I spend most of my life dealing with people who think surviving an injury means the injury wasn’t serious."

He looked at the road.

"I won’t be fighting anything today."

"Good."

"I have somewhere else to be."

She looked suspiciously toward him.

"Where?"

"Alpha Three."

The medic eyes narrowed slightly as the disbelief set in.

Silver looked back at her.

"What?"

"You were missing for nearly six days."

"Five days and considerably more hours than I wanted."

"You escaped a Rank Six colony, drove yourself away from Death Row Valley while injured. And your first plan after being recovered is travelling to Alpha Three?"

Silver nodded.

"I know that all looks and sound crazy but it is important... Academy admission."

The medic stared at him for several seconds, then she returned her attention to the road.

"I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that until the commander hears it, because I want to see his reaction."

Silver smiled.

"That seems unnecessarily cruel."

"After taking your car keys away, I’ve decided annoying you is entertaining."

Silver leaned back.

"I regret verifying your credentials."

"Too late."

The road curved, then the observation post appeared. He had seen the place before from a very different state of mind.

The reinforced walls and surveillance towers stood against the morning sky, with Association vehicles moving through the outer checkpoint and several military transports parked near the eastern side of the compound.

What had once looked like an ordinary outpost facility now resembled the center of an active emergency response.

Temporary command tents had been erected, personnel moved between buildings, and aerial drones were being prepared near one of the equipment sections.

Hr frowned.

"That looks busier than when we left."

The medic’s humor disappeared.

"It is."

Silver turned toward her.

"The flying worms?"

She didn’t answer immediately.

"You’ll be briefed."

That was enough to understand what was going on. The convoy entered the post.

Silver’s beacon was scanned at the gate. The guard looked toward the passenger seat, his eyes widening.

He noticed that.

The guard looked at the scanner, then at Silver, then back at the scanner.

He lowered the window slightly.

"Something wrong?"

The guard hesitated.

"You’re the survivor?"

"Apparently."

The guard stared for another moment before remembering he was holding up the convoy.

"Welcome back."

He nodded.

"Thank you."

They continued.

Silver noticed more people looking toward the car. He understood why almost after a few more weird glances. His beacon had probably become attached to the incident report by now.

A missing Rank Two Contractor walking out of a Rank Six colony wasn’t exactly normal.

The moment the car stopped, the medic pointed at him.

"Medical wing."

Silver opened the door.

"I feel significantly better."

"Medical wing."

"I already took recovery medicine."

"Medical wing."

He stared at her.

"Do you have another response?"

"Yes. If you make me repeat myself again, I’m going to personally escort you there."

He got out, hand playfully raised.

"Medical wing it is."

She smiled.

"You’re learning."

The examination took longer than he wanted. His injuries were cleaned again, bandages were replaced, several cuts that had partially closed were checked for infection, his ribs were examined and his shoulder was assessed.

The medic who handled most of the examination became increasingly confused by the difference between the apparent age of some injuries and how far they’d already healed.

"Your recovery is unusually fast."

Silver looked down at the fresh bandage being wrapped around his forearm.

"I have physical enhancement abilities."

"Strength?"

"Among other things."

"That explains some of it. Your musculature and bone density are responding better than I’d expect from a Rank Two Contractor."

He didn’t elaborate. The system had changed his body substantially.

The medic finished securing the bandage.

"You’re not cleared for combat."

"I don’t plan to fight."

"You’re not cleared for strenuous physical activity."

"Does walking into an academy count?"

The medic slowly looked at him.

"Why does everyone keep mentioning an academy?"

He smiled.

"I have somewhere to be."

She sighed.

"You’re medically stable enough to travel as long as you’re not driving yourself for another several hours and you rest afterward. If you start feeling dizzy, experience severe pain, difficulty breathing or anything abnormal, you stop whatever you’re doing immediately."

Silver stood.

"Understood."

"That sounded suspiciously easy coming from a Contractor."

"I’m capable of following medical advice."

She looked unconvinced.

Silver didn’t blame her.