Mutagen

Day 250 - 3:40 PM - Central Mountains, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes

"That's it?"

Amihan asked, unable to believe what just happened.

[Mechids] were never this fragile. Even if Mei shot a bullet infused with [Magical Energy], it would usually take a few hits unless it was a fatal shot.

Thus, a regular bullet from Mei's [Shooting Moon Blade] should not be able to end the [Spider Mechid]. Furthermore, it was shot from the back, where the thickest part of its body was. No one expected that bullet to not only punch a hole in its thorax but pierce through its whole body and even the head.

The bullet even came out of the [Mechid's] body, hitting a rock in front.

"Don't let your guard down."

Mark warned.

The [Spider Mechid] might have fallen and was not moving, but as these were mechanical beings, the possibility of it still functioning was quite high.

After all, [Mechids] was unlike the [Infected] or any living being on Earth.

The [Infected] was basically declared as killed as long as the brain was destroyed or the head was fatally damaged. It was the common circumstance unless the mutation affected such weakness. For example, a distorted [Infected] where the body parts were all jumbled up.

As for living beings, a certain amount of damage could render them unconscious if not killed.

However, the [Mechids] could not feel pain, nor did all of them have their heads as weaknesses. As long as their circuits remained functioning, they would not stop moving.

There were three ways to stop with [Mechids] known so far.

The first method was to destroy their power source, which was hard to determine from the outside.

The second way was to destroy the processing unit, which was much harder than finding the power source.

Lastly, and the most common, was to bombard [Mechids] with attacks until it stopped moving. Basically, it meant to stop the [Mechid] using brute force. While effective, it required much effort and the [Mechid] mostly ended up as unrecognizable scrap metal filled with black goo.

In the current situation, it was rather hard to tell what happened. Did Mei hit either the processing unit or the power source? However, if it was the power source of the [Mechid] that was hit, there would be more violent reactions. For example, an explosion or electric sparks violently scattering all over the [Mechid's] body.

Then, it was most likely that Mei managed to hit the processing unit, or at least a vital part of the [Mechid's] body.

Carefully, Mark led the other two and approached the [Spider Mechid]. Of course, without deactivating the [Optical Camouflage] that hid them.

Sparks of electricity could be seen coming out of the hole the bullet pierced through while spewing the black liquid contained inside the [Mechid's] body.

And that was it.

Mark began to cautiously move parts of the [Spider Mechid] while observing it closely. He even pulled the hind leg of the [Mechid], trying to see if it would show any movement.

Fortunately, the [Spider Mechid] lay without any movements. It was clearly broken. Only then that Mark decided to deactivate the [Optical Camouflage] hiding them.

At this time, a shadow came to see the situation. It was Deriellio, who was clearly amazed as to how the enemy was killed too fast.

"Don't come too close yet."

Mark warned the leader of the [Yasaws] as he continued to examine the [Spider Mechid]. And knowing why, Deriellio nodded without question.

It was not only Deriellio who was surprised. There were a lot of [Yasaws] watching the situation. Since Mark's group was hidden, none of them saw what happened and only saw how something punctured the [Spider Mechid] before it collapsed.

The amazement was clear to these child-minded creatures. After all, they had to painstakingly deal with the constant attacks and having casualties and injuries repeatedly. Yet, the enemy this time was killed instantly.

Mark could not care about the emotions he was detecting from the surroundings. His focus was on the body and structure of the [Spider Mechid].

While making sure not to get in contact with the pungent black goo, Mark tried to measure the thickness of the [Mechid's] armor through the bullet hole. And as Mark had seen from most of the [Mechids] he saw before, it was the same thickness.

This meant that the only factor that allowed Mei's bullet to pierce through its armor was the material used in creating the [Mechid]. Now that they could look at it closely, they could see different discolorations on the [Mechid's] body, indicating undeveloped use of materials and wrong ratios to strengthen the metal alloy.

Mei's weapon sure was something powerful above the guns people normally had. Even so, its regular bullet was far from something that would instantly kill a normal [Mechid].

It meant that even if the [Mechids] were using Earth's resources to create more of their own, human weapons could fight them. It was a nice piece of good news over the fact that [Mechids] would presumably never be wiped out of existence after their arrival on Earth.

The old [Mechids] might become phased out like old gadgets. However, it was not because they were inferior but because the resources needed to make more of them did not exist on Earth. On the other hand, new [Mechids] made of Earth's resources would appear in increasing numbers.

While these new [Mechids] could be dealt with by Earth's weapons, it did not lessen the danger.

The population of the [Infected] might not face a large increase in the future. The living population was already decreased so much that fewer and fewer were joining the ranks of the flesh-eaters. However, the [Infected] was not growing weaker but stronger.

It was the opposite for the [Mechids]. They might become weaker as time went on. But if there were more [Factory Type Mechids] scattered around Earth and were not found and dealt with, their numbers would only increase as time went by.

In decades, the threat that could wipe out the living population of Earth might not be the [Infected] but these virus-hacked robots.

With those in mind, Mark's attention was then turned to the weapons that the [Spider Mechid] had. While the armor of the [Spider Mechid] was clearly made from a mix of metals from Earth, the weapons were not. It was installed on the [Spider Mechid's] body, but it looked too unnatural. It was due to the fact that it had the same color and design as the [Mechids] that originally crashed to Earth.

By the looks of it, the weapons of the [Mechids] from space could not be recreated using Earth's resources, or in the least, the resources that could be used as a substitute to create the weapons were not found inside the crater the [Giant Mechid] was trapped inside.

"We still have time."

Mark murmured while looking at the [Spider Mechid].

Yes, they still had time. A leeway until the [Mechids] found a way to utilize Earth resources properly.

Would the [Mechids] continue to develop?

They would, without a doubt. It was just a matter of time. These new fragile bodies [Mechids] would become stronger as the [Mechids] find the right way to create metal alloys using Earth's metals. The ones they could create in the future might even be stronger than what humans developed so far.

And worse, those weapons. Once the [Mechids] finally managed to create energy weapons out of Earth's resources, they would become more dangerous.

Mark then turned to Deriellio.

"Are you guys going to retrieve this?"

Mark then pointed at the dead [Mechid].

"Collect? Yes," Deriellio replied as he pointed at the black goo coming out of the [Mechid's] body. "Destroys forest when left alone."

Mark already suspected such. Given that Diwata Iraya had weapons of [Mechids] in hand, they were retrieving the bodies of the [Mechids] they defeated.

Furthermore, it seemed that they managed to find a way to dispose of the black liquid coming out of the [Mechids'] bodies when damaged.

"I'll call people," Deriellio said. "Carry dead enemy."

Then, Deriellio vanished, leaving Mark, Mei, and Amihan to guard the place.

It was not a hard task, and it was better to not let anyone approach the [Mechid] carelessly. Not like that the [Yasaws] in the area were stupid to not know that.

Unfortunately...

CREAK... CLICK!

A muffled creaking and clicking sound occurred unheard by everyone in the vicinity of the [Mechid].

No one noticed or heard the click, muffled by the crackles of the electricity on the [Mechid's] body.

Unknown to them...

Someone... No... Something... Something was watching them in the short moment they were discussing things around the [Mechid].

***

In a certain place somewhere, a large screen monitor reflected a scene on a certain mountain. The scene was relayed by a broken eight-legged robot, showing its assailants.

There was no living thing watching the feed on the screen. Instead, it was the screen itself that was watching what it was showing.

The camera zoomed in and out of the scene, showing faces, clothing, equipment, and many other things. In each zoom, patterns and what seemed to be letters encased by a dividing electronic window would appear, detailing descriptions, analysis, and even capabilities of the things and people the camera zoomed into.

But as if frustrated, the scene zoomed in repeatedly on the figures in the scene, unfamiliar to the one analyzing it. Letters and figures flashed faster and faster repeatedly, only to show errors here and there.

The analysis could not be done as there was barely any dater collected about the assailants.

It was because the eight-legged robot was instantly dispatched. As the remaining power within the robot was used up, the camera shut down.

CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

Sparks of electricity scattered around the screen. Upon closer look, it was cracked in many places, and its frame was broken.

Black goo oozed out of the walls around the screen, releasing impulses of energy unto the screen, forcing it to analyze the scene beyond its current capabilities.

The screen then glowed red, same for the surroundings. The unknown assailants at the scene were now marked as dangerous and needed to be urgently eliminated.

Then, the scene showing the enemies vanished from the screen, replaced by hundred to thousands of words, diagrams, equations, and calculations. None of which showed any similarity to Earth's way of doing such things.

The black goo in the surroundings began to boil, slowly gathering towards the screen and the dozens of apparatus around the room.

As the black goo engulfed everything, the things currently shown on the large screen began to move at an accelerated pace. Words flashed and disappeared, moving upwards and vanishing. Diagrams were created, erased, and recreated.

Graphs showing geographic measurements were drawn, rotating rapidly and selecting paths repeatedly.

Plans were being created, not only to traverse terrains but to fight enemies.

Programs followed in creation, making an artificial intelligence to install. A dangerous AI to eliminate enemies.

Then, figures of animals, insects, and even creatures from the northwestern mountain appeared on the screen one by one with each disappearing and replaced in a millisecond. From the weakest gigantic worms to the black-skinned children roaming the nearby areas flashed on the screen.

Sparks spread throughout the room. A blueprint was now shown. A blueprint of something akin to different creatures crammed into one body.

And from there, the rest of the factory began to move as it deployed its drones to gather resources they could find.

Robots with drill arms began to dig the land. Some bulky wheeled robots appeared carrying metals that fell from space.

Inside the structure, the robotic arms moved, ready to create. Old weapons in  storage were taken out, ready for use for the new creation.

The crater became busy due to the sudden appearance of enemies that could not be analyzed.

And starting here, from the factory trapped inside the crater in the mountains of central Catanduanes. A dangerous individual was about to be born.

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