Free Web NovelChapter 208: Crumbling Trust
Gideon looked at Elaine and she immediately understood what he meant, nodding once before leaving the meeting room to get medical PPE while he turned his attention toward everyone else.
"Everyone, move to the next room first. We don’t know whether this parasite spreads through the air or through direct contact, so until Elaine checks him, assume the worst and isolate yourselves."
His voice remained calm despite the sudden situation, making the panicked atmosphere settle little by little. "Don’t worry, it won’t take long."
Nobody argued. Delilah, William, Johan and the others immediately left the room, though they couldn’t help looking back at Jace every few steps. In the end only Gideon, Jade and Otis remained.
Otis refused to leave, but even then he carefully kept several meters away from his friend, his hands shaking as he stared at the black liquid on the floor.
"What should we do, boss? This has to be because of the wound he got from fighting those Major ants!" His voice was almost breaking. "If something happens to Jace..."
Jade didn’t answer immediately. Her eyes slowly moved from Otis’ face down to his boots, carefully checking every exposed part of his body as if searching for another wound.
Jace’s condition was obvious now. His face had turned unnaturally pale, the veins around his neck slowly darkened and even his fingertips were stained black, yet Otis looked completely healthy.
"I-I wasn’t wounded!" Otis hurriedly explained after noticing her expression. "I swear! I only twisted my ankle when the tunnel collapsed and some rocks almost buried my feet."
Jade quietly nodded before walking around the black goo on the floor and crouching beside Jace without stepping on any of it.
Gideon simply watched from where he stood. He wasn’t particularly worried about himself since the system had already reacted the moment Jace started vomiting.
[Ding!]
[Threat detected]
[Status: Moderate]
[Aberrant parasite detected growing inside the body of a human.]
[Dangerous to residents. Not considered a threat to the host.]
[Do you wish to ban the target? The target will be automatically teleported outside the Safe Zone.]
His eyes narrowed slightly. ’Can you identify the parasite?’
[Negative]
[Safe Zone level insufficient.]
[Barrier level insufficient.]
[Scanning feature unavailable.]
Gideon quietly clicked his tongue and looked up again just as Jade rested her hand on Jace’s shoulder.
"What are you feeling?"
"My head..." Jace grabbed his temple while trying to steady his breathing. "It hurts. I can still hear normally and I can see all of you, but I can’t feel my hands anymore."
"How about your sense of smell?"
"I... I don’t know."
Jade slowly stood up and rubbed her temple before letting out a quiet sigh.
"Don’t panic. I don’t think this parasite spreads through the air."
Otis immediately looked at her. "How can you be so sure?"
"If it was airborne, you would already show symptoms. The two of you stayed together for days and Jace was already sick before reaching Climber Rift. You’re still perfectly healthy, which means whatever infected him probably needs direct contact or an incubation period much longer than we expected."
Only then did Gideon shift his attention away from Jace and toward Jade. The more he listened, the more one question kept bothering him.
"Why would you bring a sick patient into my Safe Zone?"
The room immediately became quiet.
Jade looked at him for several seconds before answering. "Do you really think this is the right time to discuss politics?"
"I think this is exactly the right time." His voice remained calm, but everyone inside the room could hear the dissatisfaction behind it.
"You’re not an idiot, Jade. They spent days inside a parasite colony and one of your men returned with a wound from a Major ant. What made you think bringing him here without telling me was acceptable?"
Jade closed her eyes for a moment before answering. "I hadn’t heard their complete report yet."
"That isn’t an answer."
"No." She slowly lowered her head. "It isn’t."
Otis unconsciously stepped back while Jace leaned against the wall, his breathing becoming heavier every second.
Jade finally opened her eyes again and looked straight at Gideon.
"Yes, I deliberately brought him here. I believe your medical facilities are better than ours and..." She hesitated for the first time since entering the room. "I also believed your ability could save him if something happened."
"And Elaine?"
"I lied to her."
"So she wouldn’t warn me."
"Yes."
Silence filled the room for several seconds until Gideon suddenly let out a quiet snicker. He wasn’t smiling, but he also wasn’t shouting, which somehow made Otis even more nervous.
"You’re lucky I trust you."
Jade didn’t answer.
"But don’t mistake trust for permission," Gideon continued while looking directly into her eyes. "If something spreads inside this territory because you deliberately hide information from me again, the problem won’t stay between you and me anymore."
"It becomes a problem between my Cinder Dusk and Freebound. I am as important as every faction you have connections with, so don’t ever make decisions for my territory behind my back."
Jade slowly walked closer until only one step separated them. Her hand gently moved to his cheek and stayed there for a moment, her expression softer than before.
"I’m not looking down on you, Gideon. I never have. I just—"
Before she could finish what she wanted to say, the meeting room door suddenly opened.
Elaine walked inside completely covered in medical PPE, wearing gloves, face shield and respirator. Her sharp eyes immediately swept across the room before stopping on Jace, completely ignoring the strange atmosphere between Gideon and Jade. freewebnσvel.cøm
"Everyone except me, move back."
This time nobody argued. Whatever remained unsaid between Gideon and Jade would have to wait because keeping Jace alive was far more important than settling their disagreement.
But still, Jade was looking even more pressured than Gideon who looked calm or maybe detached. Whatever it was, he now realized that the probability of this happening because of that zealot’s faction turned higher as he clenched his hands.
Two problems happened at the same time near his territory? No way it wasn’t linked in any way.
