Mutagen

Day 35 – 3:25 PM – Marikina-Infanta Highway, Real, Quezon

Mark looked at the vials inside the case. While he was fighting… No, slaughtering the outlaws, he noticed that the woman in front of him take out the same looking vial and made their unconscious teammate drink it. He did not know why but using the name that the man called the contents of the vials just now, it should be something that could heal or at least, alleviate injuries.

It seemed that the military research of Mutagen finally brought fruit to something useful. Still, the first thing that came to his mind when he saw the vials and heard the name was HP potions but that would be a secret. He was an Otaku after all. Well, it was not totally wrong since the effect was the same and after apocalypse started and Mutagen came about, a lot of fantasy like aspects had come into life.

Beast people, plant dryad, bone wielders, tentacle monsters, slimes, sylphs and now, potions. What kind of surprises would this apocalypse had in store for him?

Still, Mark was kind of confused why there was pride in the tone of the man when he introduced the vials to him. It was as if he was among the people that developed it. However, there was also a little pain in his face when he said that he would trade one of these vials for his help indicating that these potions could be too precious in value.

Then, it would be fine if he got one of these.

"Alright, I'll help if you give me one of those." Mark said which made the two sigh in relief. "What do you two plan to do now?"

To Mark's question, it was the woman that replied.

"Do live around here? I wonder if you have any place to stay nearby."

"Do you really think that I live nearby the hunting grounds of those hounds? Why don't you look around and see what is this place."

Hearing what he said, the two looked around and noticed the things they did not pay attention to before. There were abandoned vehicles that were filled with bullet holes, dried blood in different parts of the road and many more signs. For sure, this place was where those outlaws operate. It looked like they really drove into their trap. The two could not help but feel dejected.

"Do you guys have any way to contact anyone for rescue like a radio or something?"

"I just checked. Our radio inside the jeep got broken from the impact."

The woman replied.

"There's no choice huh. We need to find a place to stay until those friends of you two wake up. Then, you can use the motorcycles to go back. It's not safe to stay here. The blood will surely draw the animals to this location. Alright, wait here for a bit, I have to get my things."

Hearing that, the two nodded. The two then watched Mark go back up the mountain slope to get his things but their eyes almost flew out of their sockets when they saw Mark return with a little humanoid creature sitting on his shoulder.

"What… what is that?"

Mark faintly heard the woman whisper to her friend but the latter just shook his head in utter disbelief. After all, they had just seen something totally out of the norm. In their eyes, it was an existence out of stories and fantasy, a fairy.

"Did you two see any houses or stores on the way where you are escaping earlier?"

Upon returning, Mark asked. Amihan on the other hand, stuck closely to his neck trying to hide from the stares of the two. However, there was no response.

"Hey… Done staring?"

Mark asked with annoyance which woke up the two. He then repeated his question.

"We didn't really pay attention. Sorry."

That was the reply Mark received. Their group was so panicked to escape that they did not pay attention to their surroundings anymore aside from the routes they could take.

"You heard them."

Mark said to Amihan making her nod and she flew away to search for a place to stay. As she flew away, Mark looked at her with a bit of satisfaction. The force she used this time to blow away that outlaw that came to her direction was way stronger than what she used in the village before and yet, she was still fine. Surely, Mark did not give her a [Mental Crystal] to enhance her abilities in one go but as she always stuck to Mark, she was always exposed to the energy that the [PsyCrystal] was emitting and was slowly enhancing her magical ability to control wind.

As for the reaction of the two towards the little sylph, he expected it to some extent. However, Mark had no plans to hide Amihan. There was only one reason. It was troublesome to hide her. Besides, she could help him more when exposed rather than being hidden. Her existence might still invite some trouble but Mark was more prepared for those than the outlaws.

When Amihan left, Mark made his way towards the bloody area of the road where most of the dead bodies were left. Mark then took out a [Physical Crystal] and absorbed the ability of Sir Fang. The two survivors could clearly see what he was doing but for sure, they could not fathom what it was. They could only see a marble shining like the sun and they could not stare straight towards it.

While that was happening, Mark proceeded to check the motorcycles and unexpectedly, the motorcycles were in very good condition. It seemed that these vehicles were thoroughly maintained which made it strange since the outlaws were too gross looking.

Suddenly, Mark turned his head towards the northern slope of the mountain. He felt like being watched by someone. For sure it was not Amihan since even if she stared at him, her stare would never harbor even a little bit of killing intent. The gaze he felt however was filled with anger and desire to kill. Unfortunately, he could only pinpoint the general direction but not the exact location where the stare was coming from.

"Hahh. How troublesome."

It seemed that there was really someone observing the operation of the outlaws. However, it seemed that the person came late and only saw the current situation. After all, Mark finished the battle rather too fast.

Now, Mark could expect that these trashes of the society would come after him.

Mark shrugged his shoulders as he felt the gaze vanish. The person probably went to report to his bosses now.

Amihan soon returned. She found a rather decent looking house quite a distance away from the highway and below the mountain. The little sylph was rewarded some praise as she actually bravely scouted the perimeter of the house to ensure that it was empty before she came back.

The house seemed to be owned by an orchard owner as there were fruit bearing trees enclosed by a fence west of the house. There was also a dirt road that connected the house to the highway.

Using the quad bike, Mark transported the group by going back and forth twice and having two people ride behind him every time. The first pair was the conscious woman, Karlene and the unconscious woman, Alana. The second pair was the man with bleeding forehead, Joash and the unconscious man, Tyson. They paired that way so the conscious ones could assist their unconscious friends on the way. They also preemptively introduced themselves to Mark since he did not stop calling them, 'you', 'you people' and 'you guys' which was quite irritating to their ears.

After that, Mark left the preparation of the house to the two and went back several times to fetch the three motorcycles and find a way to hide the rest of the motorcycles. In any case, these motorcycles were in good condition and were a waste to abandon. In the end, he drove the remaining motorcycles off the highway and placed them in a shack he found nearby. The shack looked like it was made by the hunters in the area and was quite hidden. Of course, there was no one coming to this dilapidated shack anymore.

Going back to the house, Mark questioned the two about the things he wanted to know. The two did not hesitate to answer as the questions were not private at all. Furthermore, Mark would also learn of the truth after arriving at the area.

Mark's first question was about the settlement in the east. However, he got an unexpected answer.

There were actually three settlements in the area. One was here in Real at the eastern coast. The second was in the easternmost coast of Infanta and the third was at the south-eastern coast of General Nakar.

However, even though all of them were all settlements, they all varied in nature. Among the three, only the one here in Real, Quezon was ran by the military. The settlement in Infanta was run by the local political and powerful families while the settlement in General Nakar was the most unwanted one. It could be considered as a crime district where most criminals and evil people in this area gathered.

'All the settlements are built by the coast.'

Mark thought but he was not surprised. That was a strategy where they would only expose three or in the best case, one side of their settlement against the threat of the infected and evolved animals. Still, it was a risky move if done in this country. After all, this country, the Philippines, was always hit by an average of twenty typhoons per year. It would be fatal for the settlement if they did not prepare some measures for natural disasters.

These four unlucky people came from the military settlement at the Port of Real. Unlike the military settlement in Bay City that was focusing in gathering survivors and researching the infected, the settlement here at the Port of Real was aimed more to fauna. All land, air and aquatic animals in the area were subjects to their research. There was also research in flora ongoing but even though there were a good amount of farm lands in the area, the variety of crops were too small and as such, the research was not proceeding as intended.

These four had also made it several times into the Infanta settlement in a commissioned assignment with the military. The situation there was not as optimal as the military settlement towards the normal people. Evolvers and Mutators had higher standing in that settlement. The only favorable thing was that the leading families strictly forbid crimes such as theft, rape and murder in the settlement. Criminals that were caught were publicly shamed and were executed by hanging.

Unexpectedly, prostitution was allowed in this settlement. Since there were many women who were incapable of fighting, working and scavenging outside the settlement, they could gain livelihood as a prostitute. This way, they had a source of food while it also lowered the chances of rape in the settlement.

As for the third settlement, these people had not visited the place before and would never want to. According to rumors, it was a place where the strong eats the weak. If you had no capability, it would be very likely that you would be robbed or worse, killed. There were also rumors that actual slave trading happened in that settlement. Survivors that were caught outside were being traded there as slaves.

The information Mark received from a single question was really unexpected. While Bay City was struggling to maintain its settlement, there was actually three here. However, considering that the population in this area was way lower than Metro Manila, it would be easier to maintain these survivor settlements.

As for why a crime prone settlement would be able to exist not too far from the military settlement, there was no need to ask. That place would surely be brimming with criminal Evolvers and Mutators while the military was actually suffering from the lack of manpower. The military would surely make a move if the operations of that criminal settlement entered the area of their jurisdiction but they would surely not go and try eliminating these criminals in their own turf.

Still, since that place traded people as slaves, it was perfect for him to find loyal people to bring back. After all, these people being treated as slaves already lost hope of living a good life. If he unexpectedly gave them that, they would surely be grateful and loyal to a great degree.

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