Mutagen



Day 342 8:21 AM - Laboratory, Ariake Docks, Ariake, Reclaimed City

A day after the attack. The restoration efforts for the Reclaimed City began.

Soldiers ran around with construction materials on their shoulders. The experimental [Vanguard] armors intended for combat now functioned as heavy construction machinery. And the soldiers aside, many [Freelancers] and non-combatants began helping with the restoration efforts.

The first and most urgent projects were the bridges and proper dwellings. 

All bridges connecting the Reclaimed City's landfill islands fell due to the battle. The island the territories of Ariake and Shinonome shared was now isolated from the rest of the islands and even the mainland.

As for the dwellings, the current shelters were not enough to comfortably accommodate everyone. These shelters were supposed to accommodate only workers in Ariake, military and laboratory affiliates, and certain important people. These were not shelters designed for public use. As such, with the influx of survivors from the other parts of the Reclaimed City, these shelters were full to the brim.

Assigning the dwellings could be worked on immediately. Converting some factories and facilities for temporary shelters was possible. However, the same was not possible for the bridges.

Rebuilding bridges in the current state of the Reclaimed City would not be easy. Foundations, machinery, materials, and many other factors, there was a whole lot to consider and plan if they wanted to connect Ariake and Shinonome to other parts of the city and to the mainland.

However, despite how hard it was, building bridges would be one of the priorities. The remaining people of the Reclaimed City could not remain isolated from the rest of the country for too long. With the large part of the Reclaimed City pulverized to flattened ground, the supplies they had left and saved were too little to support the large population. This catastrophe might have reduced the city's population to less than a third of it initially was. Nonetheless, that third was still near forty thousand people. The reserves would not last long to support them all.

The remains of the government and the military needed to gather as many supplies as possible in order to support everyone. They also need more materials for the reconstruction. As such, building new bridges was crucial.

Without any bridges, the military could only rely on the boats and the Amaterasu Warship to traverse the waters separating Ariake from the mainland. This option, too, was not viable in the long run due to the limited supply of fuel they had left.

Barges would be a temporary solution, too. However, it also came with more dangers.

Fortunately, there was a temporary option left that they could use, although it also meant another debt to the group that came to their rescue.

It was to ask the Evernight Group, specifically Louis Morgan, to raise another seabed wall to connect Ariake and Toyosu.

And that was something they did. The Prime Minister personally asked Mark for the favor. And Mark, taking the opportunity, requested a copy of all the development blueprints of the [Vanguard Armors].

Normally, the Prime Minister would not agree to such a request. The [Vanguard Armors] were their trump cards. A research that was only supposed to belong to their country.

However, a sturdy bridge they could use to hasten the reconstruction in exchange for a far-from-finished experimental product was quite a good deal. Thus, the Prime Minister accepted, although the scientists working on the project were not too happy about it.

With that deal done, Louis received the task from Mark to build a two-hundred-meter rampart across the channel between Ariake and Toyosu. It was wide enough to be traversed by two heavy-duty vehicles and strong enough to allow tanks on it without breaking. 

Because of the bridge Louis created, the reconstruction immediately started.

But if there was one unexpected thing, it was that Toyosu ended up with a single building intact.

It was the TEPCO Building, which vanished due to the machinations the Mitsui Family tried to pull.

The vanished building reappeared at dusk while the soldiers were surveying the flattened Toyosu. After it reappeared, the soldiers immediately surrounded it and scouted its premises. After all, it was where the traitors from the Mitsui Clan were left.

Unfortunately, what the soldiers found inside were the cold bodies of the elders and the clan head after they killed themselves. It was unknown why they killed themselves. However, people speculated that they failed the entrapment of the Priestess and the Empress, and the only way to escape the shame and consequences was to end their own lives.

As for the Mitsui Clan, only four people remained. First and second were Ren and Sayuri, who participated greatly in the battle. Their family might have been traitors, but no one blamed the two for the things they had done for the city during the crisis. As for the remaining two, it was unexpectedly the mistress of the Mitsui Clan and the second young master.

Same with Sayuri, the two were not really tied tightly with the clan. They were following the clan since they had no other choice, and the Clan Head also left them out during the planning of the betrayal. Unfortunately, unlike the sisters, the two had to remain hidden from the public. They still had yet to prove their innocence, after all.

After the battle, the Black Lotus became the prospect to become the most influential group in the Reclaimed City. Not only their contribution to the battle was pretty high, but there was also a clear increase in the strength of their members upon their return. Many people witnessed their new prowess as they fought the Demons and saved people from [Miasmic Residues].

Unexpectedly, there was another territorial group that remained. It was the Yakuza Group, Dawn. It seemed that all other territorial groups got roped in by the betrayal of the Mitsui Clan. On the other hand, Dawn never received any proposal from the Mitsui Clan head. In the first place, Dawn's leader and the Mitsui Clan head were at odds with each other. Due to these circumstances, Dawn would become one of the pillars of the Reclaimed City in the near future.

Aside from reconstruction and supplies, there was a third goal the people of the Reclaimed City had to work on. It was to secure the immediate area around the city. It was the task of territorial groups before. It was to patrol the streets of the surrounding ruins in the mainland and keep the immediate areas as free from the [Infected] and [Mechids] as possible.

But right now, there were no ruins to secure. There was nothing but flatlands devoid of anything. The effects of the magical storm the Serpent God created seemed to have spanned over a few kilometers, creating a barren wasteland centered around the Reclaimed City.

The effects of the magical storm were both a bad and a good thing.

Without any ruins to block the view, any threat entering the wasteland could be seen from afar without hindrance. On the other hand, it was the same for the Reclaimed City, which could now be visible from far away without needing to travel near the coastal areas.

The problem was that while the current barrier the Priestess created blocked the [Infected] and [Mechids] from being attracted to the presence of humans in the city, many of them still gathered because of the battle and the lingering strong magical energy in the surroundings.

Not only were these [Infected] and [Mechids] dangerous to leave alone, but if the [Infected] were to hang around exposed to the lingering magical energy, the chances of them acquiring magical mutations would become higher.

Thus, the task of clearing these dangerous enemies fell into the hands of the Black Lotus and the Temple. It was unexpected since the Temple's duty was always to protect defensively and not to attack. Such a task supposedly belonged to territorial groups, and Dawn should be the one taking it. However, unlike the Black Lotus, a large number of members of Dawn were either dead or injured as they tried to protect their territory from the [Mechids'] invasion. While the Dawn group remained, they were not in the right state to fulfill all their supposed duties.

Speaking of the Temple, which was one of the driving forces in yesterday's battle, the other two forces with the same contribution were nowhere to be seen.

It was because most of the members from the Auraboros Japan Branch and Evernight had already returned to their respective homes.

The Empress had left as soon as her subordinates regained consciousness after the battle. Though to say, she looked more like she was fleeing. Well, with two Goddesses and three [Eyes] present, the Empress would rather get away from the Reclaimed City and hide inside her palace. However, she seemed to have plans to return to the Reclaimed City once things had settled down. 

As for Evernight, there was really no need for them to stay for a prolonged period of time. Their members only arrived due to the urgency of the situation. Now that the crisis ended, they had to go back to their own duties left at home. Some of them thought to go sightseeing, but considering everything was already in ruins, there was nothing to sightsee. Thus, they returned without much fuss.

The only ones left of the Evernight were the initial group.

And right now, the said group was spending their free time in a dedicated suite in Ariake. It was not exactly a hotel suite or something similar. It was actually a workshop within the laboratory, hastily renovated to accommodate their stay. After all, their base in Kachidoki became part of the crater Gar'Vlam's explosion created.

***

Mark stared at the white ceiling. The fluorescent light was bright but not painful to the eye. He was lying down motionless. Considering everything that happened yesterday, he really did not want to move around today.

During the battle against Shin, Gar'Vlam, and the Yamata-no-Orochi, Mark sure gained some valuable knowledge and experience. But to say, he really did not expect those experiences to include getting knocked out in the middle of the battle and then getting out of control and becoming a blob monster.

That was right. Mark had lost control of himself during the fight. He barely even remembered turning into a giant blob. At that time, all he had was hunger and the will to devour the enemy in front of him.

Fortunately, all that hunger diminished after he defeated the Serpent God. Finally, Mark turned around menacingly at the last minute before wobbling toward Ariake. It was because Mark could barely remain conscious and had no idea how to return back to normal. Fortunately, Mei picked him up at that moment. Her presence caused him to calm down, which automatically dispelled his transformation.

When the [Eyes] arrived, Mark did not even have the energy to talk to them. However, they only came to ensure Mark did not get taken over by the malicious entity they were expecting. After they confirmed that Mark was still Mark, they seemed relieved. Nineteenth immediately bid farewell, while Sixteenth returned to accompany her candidate.

As for Thirteenth, she was still here.

THUG.

Mark felt a rather strong tug on his hair as he lay down motionlessly.

"Can you do it gently? The younger girls are doing better than you."

Mark said, glancing at Thirteenth as she held a few strands of Mark's hair.

"I'm not used to this, you know? But unexpectedly, this is pretty fun."

Thirteenth replied with a child-like smile.

What was Thirteenth doing? Well, she was rather bored. That was why she decided to join Abbygale and Miracle as they played with Mark's hair, putting hair ties and hair decorations on Mark while he rested on his bed.

Seeing an [Eye] playing like a little girl sure was quite a surreal sight. But well, it was no problem since it coincided with her current mission. It was to monitor Mark. After all, weird things clearly happened to him during the battle.

Mark fell silent with a short sigh. He only wanted to rest, and his hair became a toy for the little girls to play on. It was not bad, really. Well, only if not for the slight pain on his scalp when they strongly pull on his hair.

The rest of the girls were also present. However, Iola and Emika were just watching, but Mei and Amihan were playing along while teaching the little girls how to do braids and stuff. Yes, Mark had turned into their practice dummy.

Well, this was not a bad way to spend time while resting. After all, they had many things to do after this.

For example, to search for Shin, who managed to escape.

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