Chapter 353:Outside contact.

Chapter 353: 353:Outside contact.

The supervisor pointed toward the message.

"We have an authenticated Contractor distress beacon coming from inside the colony after almost six days, and that Contractor is reporting a new developmental form capable of flight. If he’s wrong, we waste several hours preparing. If he’s right and those things reach the surface before we prepare containment, we have an infestation outside Death Row Valley."

Nobody argued.

The call went out.

Another technician suddenly raised her voice.

"Sir, I found something."

The supervisor approached. She displayed several readings.

"These were recorded during the last twelve hours. We classified them as small flying-beast movement because the signatures were inconsistent and remained near the cliffs. Most disappeared before reaching open valley airspace."

"How many?"

"We don’t know. The sensors aren’t designed to track activity inside the mountain."

The supervisor stared at the readings. Silver’s warning became much more credible.

"Lock down unnecessary travel through the eastern valley sector. I want every surface team warned that the parasite may have an airborne stage. Nobody approaches an unknown flying creature without protection."

"Understood."

"And update the Rank Six subjugation request."

The officer looked at him.

"Change the classification from delayed subterranean extermination to possible containment emergency."

That would matter a lot. Rescuing one missing Contractor wasn’t enough justification to rush exhausted Rank Fives and higher teams underground against an unknown Rank Six queen.

Preventing an expanding parasitic infestation was different. Resources moved faster when thousands of people could become the problem.

The observation center continued receiving Silver’s beacon. It was weak, intermittent but alive.

---

Several kilometers away, on an elevated rocky position overlooking part of Death Row Valley, another receiver detected the same signal.

The man who had watched the collapsed cave for days lowered the binoculars hanging around his neck and looked at the small device in his hand.

A familiar identification code flashed.

Silver Ruddington.

The man’s expression barely changed. He immediately took out his phone.

The call was answered quickly.

"Speak."

The man’s posture straightened slightly.

"Young Master Silver’s beacon has activated."

There was silence for perhaps two seconds.

"Confirmed?"

"Confirmed. Association frequency authenticated his Contractor registration. He’s alive and moving through the upper western section of the valley."

Silver’s grandfather didn’t sound relieved but interested.

"What condition?"

"Unknown. The signal does not provide enough medical data."

"What triggered the beacon?"

"He appears to have activated it manually. He also sent a report to the observation center."

The man summarized Silver’s warning. The older man remained silent until he finished.

Then he asked, "How is the observation center responding?"

"They’ve escalated it. Regional Association command and military liaison are being contacted."

"Not fast enough."

The watcher understood immediately.

"I can push the matter through our channels."

"Do so."

The grandfather’s voice remained cold and controlled.

"I don’t want a rescue request sitting beneath containment paperwork for half a day. If the Association requires additional sponsorship for an immediate high-rank deployment, provide it. If they require political pressure, tell me who is delaying it."

"Understood."

The watcher hesitated.

"What about Shawn? He has apparently been contacted by Miss Ravenna and has been trying to reach the family."

"I know."

The response surprised him slightly.

The grandfather continued, "I’ll have Shawn deal with the academy side. He can keep the girl there and handle whatever questions arise. He has no business coming to Death Row Valley."

The watcher looked toward the distant mountains.

"And Young Master Silver?"

Another short silence followed.

"Silver has demonstrated spatial abilities far beyond what was recorded."

There was no warmth in the statement, only calculation.

"Space-type Contractors are too scarce to discard carelessly, particularly one capable of surviving this long inside a Rank Six colony. Whatever else Silver has become, he is now a valuable family asset."

The watcher lowered his eyes.

"Understood."

"Push the deployment forward."

The call ended.

The man returned the phone to his pocket, then he looked toward Death Row Valley. Somewhere inside that mountain, the young master he’d been ordered not to rescue prematurely was finally approaching the surface.

The watcher checked the beacon again. It was still active and moving, then the signal shifted sharply.

The man’s expression tightened. Something was happening underground.

---

Silver didn’t need a receiver to know that.

He felt it through the soles of his boots. The smaller worms had changed. They weren’t chasing as aggressively anymore.

Hr slowed despite every instinct telling him to continue running. A Sky-Borer flew through the passage behind him, then another.

Neither attacked. They passed overhead and disappeared into side tunnels.

He frowned.

Spatial Sense spread outward.

[Spatial Sense Lv2 Activated.]

The picture forming around him was wrong. The worms were retreating, not all of them, but enough. Several signatures that had been pursuing him were moving away.

The Sky-Borers were scattering. Even the worms ahead were leaving the main route.

Silver stopped.

His breathing remained heavy. His spatial reserves were already considerably lower than he wanted, his handgun magazine was nearly empty, and his clothes were torn again.

The distress beacon continued transmitting weakly from his equipment. Yet none of that concerned him as much as the sudden retreat.

Silver had learned enough about animals, beasts and people across two lives to understand one very simple rule. When everything smaller suddenly ran away, something larger was usually coming.

A vibration passed through the tunnel and dust fell from the ceiling.

His face slowly hardened.

Another vibration followed, stronger and closer. He activated Insight instinctively even though there was nothing in sight yet.

There were no results. Spatial Sense reached farther only to find stone, roots and empty passages.

Then something enormous entered the outer edge of his detection range. Silver went completely still.

The signature was too large to mistake. It forced its way through the tunnel with slow, violent movements, and the smaller worms scattered ahead of it.

He stared into the darkness. He didn’t need Insight anymore cause he already knew what was coming.

After almost six days beneath Death Row Valley, the queen had finally found him again.