Chapter 2 CHAPTER 2 — A VOICE THAT SHOULD BE DEAD

I stood there frozen, water lapping at my thighs, while Mei-Ling’s voice still echoed in my skull like she was standing right behind me.

“Wei?” Lian’s voice snapped me back. She splashed closer, her face tight with concern. “You okay? You just… stopped.”

“Yeah. I’m good,” I said quickly, forcing my legs to move again. I shook my head hard, like that could dislodge the words. Stress. Had to be the Thread pull combined with the fight. Nothing more. “Just a head rush from the adjustment. Let’s not stand around chatting. Seal that Gate before anything else crawls out.”

Ren barked a laugh ahead of us, already pushing deeper into the flooded chamber. “That’s the boss I know. Thought you were about to take a nap on us. Come on, these things don’t seal themselves!”

Zhao Yun’s voice came through comms, calm and measured. “Gate core is two hundred meters ahead, Captain. Spatial readings are fluctuating. Recommend we keep tight formation.”

“Copy,” I replied, falling into step beside Lian. My joints already ached from the minor pulls I’d made. Not bad, but I could feel the hours stacking up. “Lian, how are you holding up? You were pushing those beasts pretty hard back there.”

She gave me a quick smile, but her eyes lingered on my face a second too long. “I’m alright. But Wei… you felt different for a moment. Like your emotions spiked and then flattened. It threw me off when I was trying to read the swarm.”

“Different how?” I asked, keeping my tone light even as my stomach twisted.

“Hard to explain,” she said, stepping over a submerged bench. “One second steady as steel, next second… something warmer. Almost like someone else was there. Then it was gone.”

Ren snorted from up ahead. “Warmer? In this shithole? Lian, you sure you’re not picking up on your own feelings for the captain again?”

“Shut up, Ren,” Lian shot back, but there was a laugh in her voice. “I’m serious. Wei, if the Thread is costing you more than usual, you need to say something. We can handle a few extra beasts.”

“I said I’m fine,” I answered, voice firmer this time. “Focus on the mission. Zhao Yun, talk to me about those spatial readings.”

Zhao Yun replied without hesitation. “The layout ahead doesn’t match our last scan from three days ago. Hallways are connecting that shouldn’t. Probability of distortion interference: seventy-four percent and climbing.”

“Great,” Ren muttered, kicking a floating chunk of concrete out of his way. It splashed loudly. “Just what we needed. More hell bullshit trying to play games with us. Hey boss, want me to take point again? I’m itching to swing this axe some more.”

“Stay sharp, Ren,” I said. “No hero shit. We move together.”

We pressed on through the half-drowned corridors. The emergency lights flickered worse the deeper we went, casting long shadows across walls covered in pulsing black veins. The Gate’s influence was thicker here. It made the air taste metallic.

Lian stayed close. “Remember that time in the lower districts when the Gate flipped the entire floor upside down? We almost lost Zhao Yun to a falling vending machine.”

Zhao Yun’s dry response came instantly. “I had it under control. The probability of survival was never below sixty percent.”

Ren laughed. “Sixty? That’s basically suicide odds and you know it. Good thing the boss was there pulling strings again. Speaking of, Wei, you gonna tell us how you made those swarm bastards trip over each other back there? Looked smooth.”

“Practice,” I said simply. “Keep your eyes open. Something’s off with this place.”

The hallway ahead should have led straight to the core according to our maps. Instead, it curved sharply left into what used to be a maintenance tunnel. The walls shimmered, like reality was folding in on itself.

“See what I mean?” Zhao Yun said. “This connection wasn’t here yesterday. Gate distortion is accelerating.”

Ren pushed forward anyway. “Then we adapt. I’m not turning back now. You coming, boss?”

“Yeah. Stay close,” I replied.

We followed the new path. My skin prickled. Every step felt heavier, like the world itself was resisting us. Lian kept glancing my way, worry clear in her eyes. Ren moved with that aggressive energy of his, axe ready, but I could tell even he was getting tense from the constant shifts around us.

“Talk to me, team,” I said to keep everyone grounded. “What are you feeling?”

“Pissed off,” Ren answered first. “These Gates always cheat. One minute stable, next minute they rewrite the damn building. Makes me want to smash something.”

Lian’s voice softened. “I feel… confusion from everything around us. The Gate doesn’t know what it wants. Or maybe it does and we’re not supposed to be here. Wei, your Thread… it’s glowing brighter in my senses. Are you using it right now?”

“Not yet,” I said.

But I knew I would have to.

The corridor twisted again, forcing us into a narrow stairwell that definitely hadn’t existed on any map. Water poured down the steps like a small waterfall. Ren slipped once but caught himself with a curse.

“Careful!” I called out. “Ren, slow down a bit.”

“Can’t afford to slow down,” he shot back. “Feels like the whole place is trying to trap us. You sense that too, right Yun?”

“Confirmed,” Zhao Yun replied. “Distortion index rising. Survival probability dropping to seventy-one percent if we delay.”

I reached for the Thread again. This time I held it a little longer, maybe four seconds. Golden lines flared in my vision as I tugged harder, forcing the spatial folds to realign just enough for a clear path forward. My knees protested immediately. The ache spread up my spine. I felt older already.

The walls stopped shifting. A straight shot opened up toward the pulsing violet core visible at the end of the passage.

“There we go,” I muttered.

Mei-Ling’s voice returned, clearer than before, warm and teasing in that way only she could manage.

“You always overcorrect.”

I stumbled. My boot caught on nothing, a misstep I never made. For a fraction of a second my hand twitched on its own, like another will had guided the Thread pull alongside mine. The sensation vanished as fast as it came, but it left my pulse hammering.

“Wei!” Lian cried out, grabbing my arm to steady me. “What happened? You almost fell.”

Ren spun around fast. “Boss? You good? That looked bad.”

I forced a breath, pulling my arm free gently. “I’m fine. Just the water making everything slippery. Let’s keep moving. The core is right there.”

But inside, my mind was reeling. That wasn’t stre

ss anymore. That was her. And for one terrifying moment, it felt like she had helped.