Mutagen



Day 357 - 7:45 PM - Museum Bandar Cimanuk, Lemahabang, Indramayu, Indramayu Regency, West Java, Indonesia

The members of the Moon Chasers stared at the scene under a veil of various emotions.

Facing the rumored [Fogcrawler] caused the members of the Moon Chasers to feel fear. But then, confusion and shock replaced it as soon as they saw the attack that tore the giant enemy's head. And then, fear came back as they ran away from the rampaging headless centipede, only to feel relief as soon as they saw it stop moving.

Now, the Moon Chasers felt wariness.

"Just who are you people?"

Luna asked Mark, barely hearing Limabela's statement.

Mark, realizing that they coincidentally met the other candidate, gave a mysterious stare at Luna.

"We call our group Evernight. And as I said before, we're tourists."

"Tourists? What do you mean?"

Luna seemed to be having a hard time comprehending what Mark was saying due to the situation feeling too surreal. It was when a hand patted her right shoulder, making her turn to see Limabela.

"Tourists. Literally. They came here from another country. And, although I don't know why, they specifically came here to help us."

Limabela exclaimed.

"That's... Is that what your eyes told you?"

Luna asked Limabela.

"Yep, partly. You know these eyes don't show everything clearly."

Limebela replied while pointing at her eyes.

Luna turned to Mark and his group. She was still unsure of the things currently happening. It was the same for their other members.

That prowess, weapons, and even the mysteriousness of the group before them were both amazing and terrifying.

And now, Limabela told them that this mysterious group was from another country and came here specifically to help them.

But when doubt still filled Luna's mind, Mark uttered a single word.

"Thirteenth."

Limabela looked enlightened, finally knowing the reason for her visions. On the other hand, Luna and Bajing's eyes widened in surprise. However, the rest of the members of Moon Chasers only looked at Mark in confusion.

Mark looked at the group before him. It seemed to be the same situation in Japan. Only the Priestess and her niece knew about the [Eyes]. Here, only the three women knew. It made Mark feel confused. After all, the first time Thirteenth showed up, there were a lot of people around Mark. It meant that within Mark's group, there were more people who knew about Thirteenth.

But why?

Mark could not come to a conclusion.

"Ah! Crystal!"

Mark's thoughts were interrupted by Mei's surprised shout. As he glanced at Mei and her pet, he saw her chasing after the mischievous dragonfly nymph, which jumped off her shoulder and ran towards the decapitated head of the [Fogcrawler].

Crystal reached the pieces of scattered flesh of the [Fogcrawler] and began feasting on it.

Dragonflies and their larvae were carnivores. And not just regular carnivores but predators of the insect kingdom. Although they had just fed Crystal with raw meat during dinner, it still seemed to prefer the flesh of freshly hunted prey.

Mark looked at Chaflar. This giant lizard was also a predator. If it also wanted to chow down on the [Fogcrawler], he would let it. However, Chaflar did not seem to like the flesh of the giant centipede, as it did not show any reaction to it. It was also the same for Laelaps. Well, these two were far more intelligent than the newly hatched Crystal. The two already learned to have different preferences.

"Ugh."

Someone showed a disgusted reaction. Mark saw it was Emika.

"Uncle, it reeks."

Emika complained to Mark.

Sure enough, Emika was pointing at the [Fogcrawler]. Many species of insects release a bad smell upon death. It was the same for this giant centipede as it seemed, although most of it was probably the smell of its blood and flesh burnt by Mei's attack.

On the other side, the Moon Chasers watched the behavior of Mark's group. It was as if this was a normal occurrence for them. It really made them wonder more about this group named Evernight.

At this time, Mark turned to Luna.

"Let's talk about the details later when the others are not around. Now, you can be sure we're not dangerous people. At least, not towards you and your group."

Mark gave the rare instance of him offering assurance. He was not wrong, however. Limabela already vouched for them, and Mark mentioned a name that only the leader of Moon Chasers and her two close friends knew.

"Alright. Let's talk later."

Luna answered in a resolute tone. She should not show hesitation now, especially to someone related to Thirteenth.

"Everyone, check our equipment and supplies," Luna ordered her members and muttered. "I hope our stuff inside the museum is fine."

There was no way their things would be fine. That was what anyone would think after seeing the collapsed building. However, it seemed that the Moon Chasers had some preparations too.

Slowly, the members removed the fallen debris, unearthing a hidden pathway under the floor. It was the building's hidden basement where the Moon Chasers put their things.

After opening the door, a few members carefully entered. It did not take long, and they came out, saying that their things were fortunately unscathed despite the destruction the building faced.

"We're lucky we put everything inside after we arrived here."

Edge heaved a sigh of relief as he reported to Luna.

"Yeah," Luna agreed. "It wouldn't hurt to put some assurances here and there at times. If we did not do this, we might have lost everything."

The Moon Chasers went on this expedition to gather supplies for their settlement. They successfully unearthed a good amount of canned goods from the buried ruins of a local store. If not for the fog, they might have gotten more. They put the items, along with their other equipment, inside the basement for one particular reason. There was no guarantee of what could happen during the fog's spread. If they had no choice but to leave their things and evacuate in a hurry, they could at least come back here to retrieve those items afterward. This decision turned out to be a good one in this scenario.

And even without the building, the basement was still intact. The Moon Chasers could still use it for future instances. Furthermore, they had yet to find the reason why the mist could not cover this place. There was still a need to investigate.

Luna turned to the mysterious group. She could see most of their group already preparing to camp for the night while their leader and his wife were knocking on the body of the giant centipede.

"Should we begin preparing to camp, too?"

Bajing asked Luna.

"We should," Luna nodded. "We can't sleep inside these ruins, after all."

The Moon Chasers also began taking out more of their camping equipment from the basement. They also began checking other things that fell down due to the [Fogcrawler's] attack.

"Where's Limabela?"

Luna asked, looking at her group and not finding the person in question.

"She just left."

Bajing pointed with a sigh.

Luna turned to where Bajing pointed. It was actually Mark and Mei, now joined by Limabela. Luna had just turned around, and then her friend was suddenly there.

"Can we really trust those people?"

Edge asked Luna and Bajing.

"I don't know," Bajing replied. "How about you, Luna?"

"I don't know how much we can trust them, either," Luna answered. "But, at least, we can be sure they are no enemy of ours. I don't think they would need to trick us if they can easily kill the [Fogcrawler]."

Luna's answer resulted in a short silence among those listening. They remembered that beam of light the woman fired earlier. A single shot from her weapon would surely kill them all here.

"What about what that man said earlier?" Edge asked. "What's thirteenth all about?"

It seemed that Edge had some suspicions. He paid enough attention to Luna and her two friends to realize something strange with their reactions.

"Sorry, Edge," Luna bitterly smiled as she held his hand. "I can't answer that question for now. I promise I'll tell you about it once I'm allowed to."

Edge felt even more suspicious about Luna's words. However, he only shrugged and did not pose any more questions. He did not want to create a gap between himself and the three women due to being too privy to things he was not allowed to know.

At this time, someone joined the three's discussion.

"I'm back~!"

It was Limabela announcing her return.

"What did you do there?"

Bajing asked Limabela.

"I asked them about the remains of the [Fogcrawler]," Limabela replied with a smile. "It seems they only want to take some parts of the carapace and have no use for everything else. So, I went and asked if they could give the rest to us. And they gave it to us without hesitation."

"A-are you serious?" Edge seemed surprised. "They would just give that to us?"

"Yep," Limabela confirmed. "They have no use for the rest, apparently. They plan to leave it behind if we don't want it either."

The four leading members of Moon Chasers looked at the carcass of the [Fogcrawler]. Its head alone was as large as a family van, with its body as long as several train carriages. Some parts of its body were even left unseen through the thick fog. Even for the Moon Chasers, the remaining parts of the [Fogcrawler] would be too much.

However, the four would not hesitate to accept the unexpected grace given to them. They needed many things to improve the condition of their settlement. Some parts of the [Fogcrawler] alone would definitely fetch a high price inside the fortress, not to mention the military wanting a sample of this mysterious monster to use for research.

"But will the military acknowledge it as the [Fogcrawler]?"

Bajing posed a question for them to contemplate.

Several groups had been annihilated by this mysterious monster, with no one being able to see its true appearance. It would be like that no one would believe them.

The Moon Chasers might be one of the strongest groups in the fortress, but there was no way they would be able to kill the [Fogcrawler]. And even if they told that it was Mark's group that killed it, it would become even more questionable due to his group being unfamiliar to the people of the fortress.

"The head," Luna spoke. "If we can bring back the head, they would likely believe us."

"The head, huh?" Limabela spoke. "There's no problem then. Mr. Mark only wanted the mandibles, eyes, and the outer carapace around the forehead. He gave the rest of the head to us. The only thing we have to think of is how to transport it back."

Transporting the head alone might need a dozen people or more. The Moon Chasers had fifty people, so there should be no problem if they divide into groups to take turns carrying that.

"Hey," Limabela then spoke, looking at Mark and Mei, who were already trying to find a way to dismantle the parts they wanted. "Shouldn't we need to help them? I don't feel like just standing around when they already gave us a lot."

Limabela's words received no opposition. Even the other members just listening into the four's conversation nodded. Mark's group already saved them from imminent demise, and they would even receive most of the [Fogcrawler's] remains. It would be shameful for them to receive everything without doing anything.

Thus, the members of the Moon Chasers divided themselves into a few groups. The others would remain to work on the camp, while a group would help Mark process the [Fogcrawler's] carcass.

It was not easy, however. The exoskeleton of the [Fogcrawler] was able to resist even the explosion of the rocket that Edge fired. Dismantling the carcass became quite a daunting task for everyone. Nonetheless, they also made the members of the Moon Chasers feel awe even more. It was because Mei's shots easily pierced through his unbelievably strong carapace.

The night felt long for everyone. Nonetheless, they managed to process as much as they could from the carcass. It was unfortunate that only a third of the carcass could be processed, but there was no way everyone here could carry more.

There was no other choice but to leave the rest of the [Fogcrawler's] carcass behind.

After the joint processing of the giant centipede, the members of the Moon Chasers got to know Mark more. They became less wary and even started a few conversations while working. They also tried to talk to Mei, but to the men's dismay, she never uttered a single word to them. She replied to the female members just fine, however.

The processing took all night. The surroundings soon turned brighter despite the thick fog not showing any sign of dissipation.

In that situation, everyone thought that they could only wait until the fog dissipated before they could leave the place.

It was not until Mark requested to search the ruins of the building that served as a museum. Then, after digging at a certain location at the center of the building, he unearthed a wooden box inside a hidden compartment.

The wooden box, sealed by talismans and other unknown symbols, ended up being the cause of the fogless area. And with it in their hands, they could finally travel out of this place.

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