After those heavy, ominous revelations, Mao read the room correctly and quietly slipped away, leaving Gil, Kuro, Greg, and the other two to digest his words.
There was certainly plenty to chew on.
For a brief moment, Gil found himself lost in the grim implications of everything they had just heard.
Then, he shook the darkness from his mind.
Noticing his two partners sinking deeper into a bleak spiral, he tried to clap his hands together to snap them out of it—only to stop mid-motion as he remembered he only had one arm left.
Dammit! he cursed under his breath.
Forcing a tough, defiant front, Gil spoke up, pouring as much brazen attitude into his voice as he could muster:
"Honestly? It doesn't change a single damn thing for us."
Greg and Kuro both snapped out of their daze, looking at him to see where he was going with this.
"Look, all of that is fine and good," Gil continued, waving his remaining hand dismissively. "It gives us an idea of what kind of twisted future might be waiting for us, but as interesting as it sounds, it doesn't change our immediate reality. Look around you. We're still stuck right here in this hellhole. The bastards who dumped us in this dump are still sitting pretty, and we aren't on that hypothetical battlefield yet."
He leaned in, his eyes locking onto theirs with fierce determination.
"So even if everything Mao said is true, it doesn't affect us right now. What we can do with this intel is figure out how to make it useful and plan ahead. If it's true, at least we've got a head start on what's coming. So drop those gloomy faces. You're gonna ruin my day—and I've already lost an arm, so you can hardly do worse than that!"
It was rough, clumsy, and pointedly foolish, but his attempt at a joke—despite missing an entire limb—did the trick. It distracted his companions enough that their expressions brightened, if only a little.
At least that's something, Gil thought to himself.
Not wanting to lose his momentum, he turned his attention toward the two remaining intruders.
"Alright, what about you two?" Gil asked, eyeing them up. "You got more bad news to dump on me, too?"
The hummer and the red-haired giant snapped out of their dark reverie and focused on Gil.
The giant glanced at his companion, making a subtle gesture that clearly meant: You do the talking.
The other paused for a long, agonizingly quiet moment before finally blurting out: "Us. Friends. Team."
"Huh?"
Gil, Kuro, and Greg all stared back at him with gigantic, metaphorical question marks floating above their heads.
What the hell is wrong with these people? What is he even trying to say?
Realizing he hadn't made himself clear, the hummer rubbed the back of his neck, a faint, embarrassed flush creeping up his cheeks.
In a clear, melodic voice, he muttered, "Well... you said to convince you in three words, so..."
Silence hung in the air.
Pfft... Hahahaha! Hahaha!
Gil burst into laughter, taking a moment to compose himself before responding.
"Well, I had a good laugh at least. No way... you're hilarious, man. That rule was only for the Scholar. I just don't like him."
A short distance away in the dark, a certain Scholar who hadn't quite walked out of earshot almost stumbled over his own feet before hastily scurrying off into the shadows, completely ignored.
A smug smile tugged at the corner of Gil's lips.
Take that, you sneaky bastard.
Now that they were finally left in peace, Gil refocused on the pair. He remembered them well, especially the giant.
Pointing a finger at the massive red-haired man, Gil asked, "I get the feeling this guy doesn't understand a word we're saying, right?"
The hummer looked genuinely surprised. "Wait, you noticed? Yeah, he speaks a different language. I've been translating between him and everyone else."
"Ah, I see. That explains a lot."
The hummer tilted his head, curious. "How did you figure it out?"
Gil pondered for a second, deciding to just be upfront. "He's the only one who didn't look affected by anything the Scholar was saying. I won't lie, even I had a lot to chew on after that speech, but him? Nothing. In fact, I could feel his confusion, but nothing else the whole time. It was pretty easy to deduce he didn't have a clue what we were talking about."
Hearing Gil mention feeling people's reactions,
Greg couldn't hold back his curiosity any longer.
"Hey, Gil," Greg chimed in, "the first time we met and started talking, you mentioned you could 'know' when people lie to you... Can you actually read people?"
Gil answered casually, as if talking about the weather: "Yeah, yeah. I can tell when I'm being lied to, among other things. But that's not what we're talking about right now."
Turning back to the duo, Gil's expression turned dead serious. "So tell me, what do you two actually want with us?"
Dropping his easygoing tone, the hummer stepped forward. "First off, my name's Orphée. And this big guy next to me," he pointed to the red-haired giant, "is Hugo. We came to ask if we could join your group, your team, or whatever you want to call it."
Gil raised an eyebrow, scanning them both. "And why us? We're the smallest group here. Besides," he gestured to his empty left sleeve, "I'm essentially a cripple right now. So why pick us?"
Orphée scratched the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. "Well... we had a bit of a clash with the other two groups. I don't think Hugo or I are particularly welcome over there anymore. And if you're going to trust someone with your back, it's better if it's not people you have bad blood with, right?"
"Oh?" Gil crossed his remaining arm. "And why's that? What happened?"
"Let's just say... they didn't appreciate how relatively well off we came out of the trials."
"Huh?!" Greg blurted out in complete surprise.
Neither Kuro nor Gil looked particularly shocked, though. It was obvious just looking at them—both Hugo and Orphée were in far better shape than the rest of the captives.
Even setting physical injuries aside—since someone here possessed healing abilities—emotionally, the pair were unnaturally calm. Orphée had literally been humming to himself like he was taking a casual stroll through a park. If that wasn't bizarre in a death trap like this, Gil didn't know what was.
"Hmm," Gil hummed, reconsidering them. "I see. I don't inherently object, but I have two other questions for you first."
"Go ahead," Orphée invited cheerfully.
"First... why stay with us? In case you haven't realized it yet, I've drawn the sights of some extremely dangerous bastards in this organization. You might actually have a better shot at surviving on your own."
While Gil addressed Orphée and Hugo directly, he intentionally left a silent door open for Greg and Kuro as well.
He had dragged them into his circle, but the lethal weight of Hector's personal interest was now hanging over his head. If either of them wanted out, this was their chance to walk.
Because the ethereal links were a two-way street, Gil didn't even need to say it out loud. He could feel their emotions, and they could feel his intent.
Greg looked like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on, suddenly realizing the gravity of the target on Gil's back. Kuro, meanwhile, remained entirely impassive, her face a mask of cool detachment as if she hadn't even heard the warning.
Yet, despite their different reactions, neither of them moved an inch. Neither even entertained the thought of backing out.
A quiet warmth bloomed in Gil's chest.
Well... for guys I just met in a death hole, they're pretty alright.
A subtle smile touched Gil's lips before he turned back to Orphée and Hugo.
There was a brief pause while Orphée translated the exchange to Hugo in a strange, fast-paced language that made zero sense to Gil.
Hugo grunted a short response, and Orphée turned back.
"We still want to team up with you," Orphée stated clearly.
Gil narrowed his eyes, his gaze turning razor-sharp. "Oh? And why is that?"
Orphée locked eyes with Gil, not flinching for a single second.
"Because," Orphée replied smoothly, "precisely because of that, I think you're the most likely one here to actually survive."
"Whatever reason that bastard put a target on your back, I don't think standing a little closer to you is going to change much," Orphée said with a casual shrug. "Given how this organization treats all of us... what's the difference? A bit more attention now, followed by a slightly more painful death later? Death is death. I'd rather take my chances with you."
He tried to lean back against Hugo to look cool, missed his footing, and stumbled slightly before regaining his balance with a quick chuckle.
"Besides... neither Hugo nor I are harmless pushovers either," Orphée added with a sharp, confident smile. "Don't worry, we won't be dead weight. We can pull our own weight." You'll see—you'll be glad to have us on your team."
Gil listened quietly from start to finish, then gave a single nod.
If they were still eager to throw their lot in with him despite his clear warning, he wasn't going to turn down extra hands.
The old Gil—the one from before this nightmare—would have scoffed at all these social formalities and tried to brute-force his way through everything alone. But after everything these past few brutal hours had thrown at him, he crushed any lingering urge to play the lone wolf. He was going to use every single tool and ally at his disposal to get out of this place alive.
"Alright then," Gil said. "Welcome to the crew."
Still, he didn't link them with his chains; a subtle line remained. Unlike Kuro and Greg, with whom he had bled, fought, and survived a literal trial by fire, Orphée and Hugo hadn't earned that unspoken, absolute trust yet.
As Orphée and Hugo settled down beside them, Gil turned his gaze past the dark hallway, his eyes locking onto the shadows where a faint, approaching presence lingered.
"Now, before we go any further..." Gil called out, his voice laced with cold, sharp impatience as he stared into the gloom. "Whoever you are, you better have a damn good reason for sneaking up on us—or that organization healer better be working overtime. Because I swear, I've had just about enough..."