Chapter 94: Death Drop
Jewell patched Dexter up to the best of his abilities, then went off to do the same to the two other girls. Aiden stayed back, looking at Dexter’s rising and falling chest.
With nothing to do, he walked around the operating theater. That’s when he noticed something on a tray, covered in blood.
It looked like a big needle that had been snapped but was still three or four inches long. Honestly, it was more like a porcupine’s massive quill, only thicker.
"A bone?" Aiden mumbled, picking it up.
The thing looked like a bone, but Aiden couldn’t remember any monster in the Otherworld having a bone like that.
Well, there’s an easy way to know more about it.
+++
[Unknown Bone Fragment]
Type: Monster Material — Unidentified
Quality: Basic (?)
Durability: N.A.
Damage: Can’t be determined.
Description:
A needle-like bone fragment resembling a broken quill.
Roughly three to four inches long. Its surface is unnaturally smooth and dense. It does not match the skeletal structure of any known creature.
+++
"...did you just put whatever I noticed into the description?"
[...]
"You really don’t know anything about it?"
[Unfortunately, no, Host. It must be some creature exclusive to your world that mutated.]
"First, that Condor, and now this," Aiden shook his head. "It seems I need to encourage people to step out. Their skills would get rusty if they stayed inside for too long."
No sooner had he said that than Daniel, along with two nurses, walked into the theater.
"Oh, my apologies," Daniel hurriedly apologized, seeing Aiden there. "I didn’t know you were here, sir."
Aiden merely gave them a nod, leaving them to do their job. The nurses didn’t waste time and carried Dexter out of the theater to one of the private wards. Daniel was about to follow them when Aiden called for him.
"Yes, sir?"
"This bone, was it the thing that caused their injuries?" he asked.
"That is most likely the case," Daniel replied. "We found such fragments in all three of their wounds. As for what actually happened there, we can only ask them once they are awake."
"Alright, I won’t take up more of your time. And before I forget, inform their families about their condition."
Daniel nodded and left, leaving Aiden alone in the operating theater with his thoughts and the bone fragment.
As he walked out of the Medicare center, people were still gathered outside. Everyone wanted to know what happened with Dexter’s crew. But before Aiden could tell them to get back to work, a strange red notification appeared before him.
[Tenant: John Berkley was killed by ???]
[The location of his death drop has been updated on the map.]
[Current Tenants: 120/500]
What is this now?
[It seems someone died outside—]
I can read that, you dumbfuck. I want to know why is it showing up now? Didn’t Caleb also die at the talons of that condor?
[Host, the guy was expelled before his death. Hence, there were no notifications regarding his death drop.]
Right, I forgot about that part. Wait... was this John guy in Dexter’s crew?
The system didn’t have an answer for that, as there was no party function in the pseudo system to keep track of the teams. Aiden immediately instructed the system to add that while he looked at the gathered crowd.
"Aiden, is everything alright?" Alisha asked, walking out of the crowd. "Sorry, I’m late. I went to drop Lily at home first... just in case."
Everyone had been scared after seeing Dexter’s group in such a state. It had only been a few days, but it seemed everyone had forgotten about the dangers outside, and seeing Dexter’s state reminded them of the dangers outside.
Apart from those gathered at the medicare center, the others were already inside their units, not daring to leave. Naturally, Alisha was worried about Lily and had to get her to safety first.
After giving Alisha a nod, Aiden turned to the crowd.
"Does anyone here know one John Berkley?" he asked. "No one? Looks like I would have to use the system broadcast—"
"I do..." a female quivering voice replied. "He’s my grandson..."
An elderly woman stepped out of the crowd. It seemed that someone had told her about Dexter’s team, and she came to the Medicare Center thinking her grandson would be there as well.
"Where is he... sir?" she asked, trying to look behind Aiden. "He’s... safe, right? He said... he was going out with Dexter..."
If it had been a couple or at least a man there, Aiden would have told them the truth straight up. However, after seeing the trembling woman, he couldn’t bring himself to tell her the truth.
Instead, he leaned in and told Alisha about it. Her eyes widened in shock, but she quickly composed herself and took the elderly woman inside to deliver the news.
That way, if the woman went into shock after receiving the news, at least the nurses could help her out. As for the rest, he didn’t need to tell them anything just yet.
"Karina, assemble the wolves and get to the meeting room. I have a job for you."
"On it."
Within minutes, the eight-person group was standing before Aiden. He quickly briefed them about John’s death and the circumstances surrounding it.
"An unknown monster killed John and injured the rest of them?" Karina asked, pointing at the map Aiden had made. "And the clues to his death can be found here?"
"More or less," Aiden confirmed. "I would wait to send you people after interrogating Dexter’s team, but they are unconscious, and even Jewell doesn’t know when they’ll wake up."
He continued, "Unfortunately, the death drop is timed and would disappear in less than four hours. That’s why I need you all to get that drop ASAP."
The wolves looked at one another. They were the strongest group under Aiden’s command. If he was sending them there, it meant the threat was serious.
Naturally, the compensation he offered them was also generous, but that wasn’t what they cared about. They were worried about their own lives.
"We’ll go," Karina said, turning to leave. "If no clues are found about this monster, it will run rampant and kill god knows how many people. We must—"
"Your task is to get the death drop," Aiden cut her off. "Not to fight whatever that thing is. If you sense something is off, just return. No matter how many people die at the hands of that creature, it wouldn’t be worth losing you."
"But Aiden—" Karina protested, but got cut off again.
"Don’t make me repeat myself," he said, taking her hands in his. "You’re important to me. Way more important than killing that creature. You’re not to take any risks, and that’s an order."