Mutagen

Day 252 - 12:02 AM -  Codon Settlement, Barangay Codon, Municipality of San Andres, Province of Catanduanes

The cry of fear and pain stood out from the sounds of lasers and gunfire. Those who were around the man wailing in pain could not help but feel horrified.

There, a man could be seen lying on the floor, flailing in pain. Only his left arm and his legs were flailing, however. It was because the entirety of his right arm, with the gun he was using to shoot the [Mechids], were disintegrated to smithereens. All that was left was a burnt injury that even ate a part of his right shoulder. The good thing was that the heat from the laser melted the wound, and blood loss was the least of his problem. Nonetheless, it did not lessen the pain.

And before anyone could assist the injured man, he passed out from pain shock with his mouth foaming profusely.

"Take him away!"

Parris immediately commanded.

While it was an unfortunate sight, Parris, who had more experience on the battlefield, would not give pity. The battlefield was as such, and it was the same for the apocalypse. Furthermore, letting that unfortunate guy linger longer would decrease the morale of everyone that would see him. And a situation where the morale of the combatants severely decreased was not an ideal one to have.

The injured man was immediately brought to the settlement's infirmary, leaving everyone else to continue the battle.

On the other hand, Parris fired his sniper rifle with a frown while glancing at Ulric from time to time.

In the eyes of Parris, Ulric was strong. Since they wanted to rule the settlement through fear, the powerful Ulric was the most suitable centerpiece. However, as a leader in both moral and political standards, Ulric was the most unsuitable for that position.

There was a description that suited Ulric. A Lone Wolf. He was never a team player, and as a leader, he always stood in front while the rest only followed behind. No one could stand beside him, or should, in this regard.

Like what happened just now, Ulric could only care about himself on the battlefield. He would never catch a bullet for someone else. Those who stood beside or directly behind him would likely end up dead.

This was why even in this scenario, Ulric was the only person outside. Not only would this make the enemies concentrate their attacks on the combat-capable Ulric, but it would also lessen the cases of deaths due to Ulric's negligence.

Leaving Ulric's annoying tendencies behind his mind, Parris focused his attention on the enemies.

Parris shot his gun, aiming for a flying robot. In this ragtag band of mercenaries and private soldiers, it was not wrong to say that Parris was the brains. While he was not exactly someone who could be called an all-around intelligent person, he was at least knowledgeable in terms of combat tactics and analyzing the enemies.

And that was what Parris was doing right now. Analyzing the movements and, possibly, the intentions of these cursed robots. In fact, he had already noticed something odd.

While it was clear that the robots were trying to surround the settlement, it seemed that their intentions did not include blindly attacking. The robots were raining attacks on Ulric, but not all the enemies.

For example, the flying robot he shot just now. It was hovering above a tree, not participating in the battle at all. It was strange since the robots that attacked before were more or less like the [Infected], like moths attracted to flames, albeit not as dumb as the [Infected]. Nonetheless, their intelligence was still limited.

But these ones... It was clear that these robots were different. They were organized and, as it appeared, had a clear goal. Were these robots being manipulated? Was it similar to the [Infected] having [Leader Types]?

Questions after questions rolled inside Parris' mind. But without enough information, it was hard to come up with a concrete answer.

But then...

"Heads Down!"

Parris yelled to their subordinates along the walls as he jumped down the watchtower, pulling the soldier beside him.

Unfortunately, not all of them were able to react to the warning Parris gave.

THOOOM!

Four beams hit the walls, with another one hitting the watchtower.

Fifteen people died in an instant, and another ten were injured.

The watchtower fell covered in flames as the laser hit two of its foundations and a large part of the platform. Four large holes were also left on the walls and began to burn. Luckily, there were enough people to put out the fire immediately.

"Sh*t."

Parris cursed as he saw the damage.

Those five attacks were not the same as the one Ulric dodged that ended up hitting one of the soldiers. Those were attacks specifically aimed at them.

"Retrieve the bodies and tend to the injured!" Parris commanded. "Stay alert! The enemies are different from those we previously fought!"

Parris was irritated. Even the attack patterns of these robots were different. The robots before would try to attack the ones closest to them. In this case, Ulric. However, these robots fired at the walls and the watchtower, ignoring Ulric, who was now on a rampage after destroying a number of these robots.

Luckily, he noticed the incoming attack, avoiding the worst outcome. Because if his warning did not come through, there would have been more deaths and injuries.

Parris grabbed his sniper rifle and ran towards the broken part of the wall. He then aimed his gun towards the forest.

There, Parris could see one of the very likely sources of the attack they received just now.

BANG!

Parris shot his gun towards what seemed to be a gathering of light. It was what he saw before the beams were fired at them. It was very likely a charging mechanism.

And to everyone's surprise...

CLANK! BOOM!

An explosion occurred, causing a giant ball of blinding light to illuminate the forest. That explosion swallowed the robot that Parris shot along with the other robots surrounding it.

Parris was surprised himself, but more importantly...

"EAT THAT! YOU F*CKERS!"

Parris yelled, not only to commemorate his kill but to increase the morale of the soldiers.

And seeing that Parris was actually able to cause a substantial amount of damage to the enemy forces, the morale did increase. While aiming to contribute to the battle, the soldiers shot their guns with renewed determination.

In the middle of the battlefield, Ulric was hogging the attention of the melee forces of the robots. Around him were the remains of robots he tore to pieces with his own hands. Of course, knowing that the goo from the robots was harmful, he avoided getting tainted by the foul-smelling liquid.

Ulric saw the explosion in the forest. However, he could not care less. He had his own fight to focus on.

The battle continued for several minutes more. And to everyone's surprise, they actually managed to shoot down a good number of the robots. It was too surprising since they struggled a lot when fighting the previous robots despite the lesser number.

While they managed to destroy a number of robots, the battle was not tipping to their side entirely. It was a battle, and the robots would retaliate to their gunfire. The walls, especially on the northeast side, were badly damaged. They incurred more and more casualties as the battle went on.

But then... The unthinkable happened.

The robots began to retreat.

This scene was far more shocking than receiving a sneak attack from these robots.

The robots that attacked the settlement before would continue causing damage until they were destroyed. Never once did they see any robot retreat or even attempt to. Yet, this army of robots was retreating.

Was this a good thing? No. This was far more horrifying.

It just meant that these robots were receiving orders from someone or something. And who or whatever these robots were receiving orders from, it was something far more intelligent than these robots.

The soldiers of the settlement managed to thwart the danger. However, none of them could let out a cheer, bewildered by what was going on.

"Assess the damage and get ready to fix the walls!" Parris yelled, causing the soldiers to snap back to reality. "We don't know when those bastards will come back. We have to fix the walls before that happens!"

Everyone immediately moved according to the orders given to them.

And at this time, Ulric returned, already turned back to his human form.

"How many people died this time?"

That was the first thing that Ulric asked Parris.

"Fortytwo," Parris straight up answered. "The casualties are small compared to the scale of the fight."

Fortytwo people might be a lot. However, considering that they once lost around the same number while fighting a single robot, it was indeed small.

Parris looked at Ulric's reaction. However, it was clear that he did not really care that much. Instead, it seemed that Ulric had a different thing in his mind.

"Is something wrong?"

Parris asked Ulric.

"The robots this time... They're weak," Ulric answered while clenching his hand. "Their bodies dent with a flick."

Parris could only agree with what Ulric said. He also noticed it after he caused that explosion. The robots before were hard to kill because bullets barely had any effect on their bodies. But the robots, this time, bullets could shoot through their bodies. There was still some resistance, but definitely not as strong as the previous robots they fought before.

"We should prepare," Parris said to Ulric. "Those robots might return any time."

"I know," Ulric frowned. "Those pieces of junk... They better not come back."

The current leaders turned towards the forest northeast of the settlement. It would be best if those robots never came back. But, of course, this thought was nothing but a pipe dream, and they knew that.

***

It was not only Codon Settlement that faced such adversity. The Military Outpost in the municipality of Virac faced the same kind of danger.

Fortunately, comparing the two settlements, the Military Outpost handled the situation better.

The Military Outpost did not have someone powerful like Ulric. However, they had proper weapons, equipment, and the walls that the Military Outpost had been far better than that of Codon.

And considering that the new [Mechids] were not impervious to bullets, a place with overwhelming firepower could face them better.

Unfortunately, while both Codon Settlement and the Military Outpost managed to defend against the attack, the few existing smaller settlements on the island did not have the same level of firepower.

This midnight, all but three human settlements in Catanduanes were destroyed.

As for the Rebel Settlement, they had no idea what was happening in the other parts of the island.

No, they actually had an inkling of what was happening as the whole settlement was on high alert. However, no danger came to the settlement even when dawn finally came.

This caused the people of the Rebel Settlement to wonder if the [Fortuneteller] had a wrong read of the future.

But then, the hunting party of the Rebel Settlement came with a piece of horrifying news as bodies of [Mechids] were seen littered all over the mountains southeast of the settlement.

The [Fortuneteller] did not read the future wrong. It was just there was an unexpected factor that protected them from the supposed dangerous event.

Upon receiving the news, the [Fortuneteller] tried to read the events that transpired during the previous night. However, the cards would not tell her anything for some reason.

But while in the middle of trying to unveil the mystery, the [Fortuneteller] managed to read a different event.

The [Fortuneteller] immediately left the meeting room amidst the confused stares of the leaders of the settlement. They followed her and ended up within the quarters where the [Fortuneteller's] family were staying.

There, inside their rooms, the [Fortuneteller's] son and daughter lay on their beds unconscious, in pain, and with a high fever.

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