Mutagen

Day 317 - 6:21 PM - Kachidoki Bridge, Kachidoki, Chuo City, Tokyo

Three military vehicles traversed through the ruined Tokyo. It was not a comfortable ride. While the roads the vehicles passed through were clear enough to allow passage, there were many unmovable debris and bumps along the way. Traveling through an unpaved rural road in the mountains would have probably been a smoother ride than this.

Furthermore, the loud sounds the vehicles made attracted quite a bit of unwanted attention from the [Infected]. From time to time, the road would get blocked, and the members of the Black Lotus would deal with the enemies.

The three vehicles drove across the road in a line. Mark's group sat on the military truck in the middle.

Mark was in the middle of conversing with the woman that spoke to him at the camp. He had his calculations done in the past week of camping. Within the possible encounters with people from the Reclaimed City, Mark assumed that it could be scavengers or the military who would come to "rescue" them.

However, from the information that the woman, Mitsui Ren, shared, the Black Lotus was a private group hired by the current government to guard the northwest area of the Reclaimed City. By the looks of it, the remaining Japanese government gave privileges to some powerful groups to manage areas of the Reclaimed City.

It was likely to be a mock application of a feudal system. These groups were still under their own leadership. However, they still had to answer to the government to keep their privileges.

This situation was kind of similar to the state of the outer areas of Corregidor Settlement. The only difference was that the territorial groups here in the Reclaimed City were legitimately hired private personnel by the government. They were not just some unrestrained gangs controlled by politicians in the dark.

One more thing outside Mark's plans was Mitsui Ren's status. She was actually the leader of Black Lotus. In the current system that the Reclaimed City had, she was more or less at the status of a landlord or a vassal.

Mark noticed how Mitsui Ren was glancing at Amihan from time to time. He realized that letting Amihan in the open might have been too much of a bait to use in his plans.

While talking with Mitsui Ren, Mark was observing the members of the Black Lotus that was present. Surprisingly, half of the twenty-four members present were regular humans. He could not tell whether they were [Evolvers] since that was something that was hard to determine with his [Empath] abilities. However, each of these members was powerful.

Mark saw a few of them fight the [Infected] from the back of the truck. Despite being regular humans, their strength and speed were on par with the average [Mutators]. This made Mark think if these people were professionally trained soldiers or members of the secret elite forces.

Mitsui Ren was also asking questions about Mark and his group. Mark knew that she was gathering information about his group. It was not with ill intent, though. It might be needed for proper entry procedures. Not to mention that enemies were everywhere in the apocalypse. Asking questions to remove suspicions was necessary.

Mark did not hesitate to answer the questions given to him. It was expected that he would be the one to be asked questions since the rest of the group could not speak Japanese, with the exception of Emika.

And the more Mark answered the questions confidently, the more Emika's stare bore holes in him. After all, she could understand the conversation. And she could tell that more than seventy percent of Mark's answers were pure bullsh*t. Worse, more than half of that bullsh*t was made on the spot.

Of course, Mark already told everyone what story they would have as they posed as regular survivors. But most of what was coming out of Mark's mouth right now was not within the story they discussed.

Mark was taking full advantage of the fact that only he and Emika could converse with the locals. Mei and Spera would be able to converse using English. However, it was well known that English literacy in Japan was quite on the low side.

Of course, there would still be the chance for someone English proficient to go and ask them questions after arriving at the Reclaimed City.

However, did that really matter?

Not really.

Mark was only doing this stuff to make a legitimate entry to the Reclaimed City. After all, it would make things easier for him and his group to gather the information they wanted that way.

But if it was not possible or something made it hard to do so...

Mark was willing to drop the idea as soon as things had gone south.

Soon enough, the convoy of Black Lotus reached the Kachidoki Bridge. Of course, it was destroyed by the earthquake during the [Fusion of Dimensions].

When the convoy arrived, a barge was waiting for them at the Sumida River with more members of the Black Lotus aboard. The barge was docked at a newly built dock on the northwest side of the river. With the help of a ramp, the three vehicles drove up the barge. It then left the dock and floated to the other side of the river, following a pair of steel lines extending to both sides of the river as a guide.

All the while they were traversing the river, all members of the Black Lotus were on high alert. It was clear that traversing the river was not that safe.

Mark also noticed. There were creatures underwater. However, it seemed that the creatures underwater were not [Infected]. They were likely to be [Evolved Fishes] that turned to eat humans that fell into the river.

Unfortunately for these hungry fishes, Mark would not let these fishes disturb their way to the Reclaimed City. The [Evolved Fishes] was about to attack when Mark closed his eyes. Covered by his closed eyes, his pupils turned red. A sudden feeling of danger made the school of fish swimming underwater freeze. Sensing a predator nearby, the school of [Evolved Fish] immediately turned their tail and scurried away in fear.

The barge made it to the other side of the river safely. And it was to the confusion of members of Black Lotus. Before, there were at least a few shakes of the barge due to the creatures in the water. It was rather strange for the way back over the river to be this smooth.

"Is something wrong?"

Mitsui Ren noticed Mark's eyes closed.

Mark opened his eyes, with his pupils turning back to normal. Well, at least the normal eyes he had now since his other eye still had a purplish tint. It was not that noticeable under the shade, but its purple tint was visible under bright light.

"There's nothing wrong, Mitsui-san," Mark replied. "I'm just feeling a bit tired."

It was not just Mark. The girls were also getting sleepy. It had been a long time since they had ridden a car. And considering the bumpy and uncomfortable ride, it was much more tiring than walking.

"Please endure it a little more," Ren replied. "We're almost there."

The vehicles left the dock and drove up the slope. In front of them was the Kachidoki Gate of the Reclaimed City.

pAn,Da-n0v e1,c,m After entering the gate, the vehicles drove into a compound right beside the gate. It was where Mark's group alighted the military truck and finally had a chance to freely look around.

The compound was only separated by a chainlink fence to the outside. It allowed Mark to see the immediate surroundings and the familiar scenery outside. After all, while Mark did not enter the Reclaimed City, he did some reconnaissance.

And to say, this area was quite a seedy place.

After all, the Kachidoki Area, while pretty peaceful, was one of the most poor-looking areas in the Reclaimed City.

In fact, Mark already saw that the areas of the Reclaimed City were divided by class. The northern areas, while having a moderate amount of security, were the poorest areas. As the areas went south, the richer and more secure they became. It was easy to assume that the most important people were in the central areas, while the southern areas were where the important facilities were located.

"Miss!"

As Mitsui Ren jumped out of the military truck, people within the compound immediately greeted her with respect.

"Is the special housing ready?"

Mitsui Ren asked one of her subordinates.

"Special housing?"

Mark interjected and asked.

"It is an empty house in our compound reserved for important people."

Mitsui Ren answered honestly.

"I don't really think that we're important people."

Mark humbly denied it. Of course, another stare from Emika pierced his back because of his blatant lie.

"That could be the case, but..."

Mitsui Ren turned her eyes to Amihan, that was sitting on Mark's shoulder, before also turning to Emika.

"I see..." Mark shrugged as he glared at the woman before him. "You're not going to force us into handing them over, are you?"

The sudden glare caused the members of Black Lotus to take out their weapons.

"What are you idiots doing?!" Mitsui Ren noticed her subordinates and was startled. "Put your weapons away!"

"B-But Miss-!"

One of the subordinates was about to say something but was met with Ren's glare. Knowing their Miss' fiery personality, the subordinates reluctantly put their weapons in confusion.

Why were they confused? Well, they themselves were unsure why they took out their weapons.

"My apologies about my subordinates," Mitsui Ren sighed as she turned back to Mark. "Forcing anyone isn't my intention, although I have some proposition for you. But since it is already late, let us postpone the talk to tomorrow. We also need you to undergo registration and some medical examinations tomorrow morning. This process is mandatory. Everyone entering the Reclaimed City had to undergo that."

Mark looked at the members of the Black Lotus warily before turning back to Ren and asking.

"There's no need to immediately check for bites or something?"

"Oh," Ren understood why Mark asked that question. "We did that initially. But now, it didn't really matter much. We have a few sensitive people around. It is easy to determine who is bitten or not since people bitten would immediately start showing symptoms a few seconds after getting bitten. Your group doesn't seem to show the symptoms."

Mark nodded, understanding the explanation. It was true, after all. While the time to turn could vary depending on the part of the body that was bitten, the person's immune system, or their health state, they would immediately show symptoms like fever soon after getting bit.

"Follow me," Ren then urged the group to follow her. "I will bring you to where your group can stay for the night."

Those words from Ren caused some reactions from the subordinates, although none of them voiced anything. It seemed that their Miss treating the newcomers in such a manner was quite a big deal.

Following Ren, Mark's group was brought to a house beside the central building within the compound of the Black Lotus. The buildings in the compound were new, but this house looked like something that was built recently.

The house was not that spacious and was not divided into rooms either. It was just a dwelling that was built to be spacious enough for a group of people to sleep with some leeway for important baggage and some renovation.

"You can rest here," Ren said as they entered the house. "Sorry, but while the door won't be locked, your group will be restricted from going around without an escort. The places you can go within the compound will also be limited. So please, if possible, do not go out until tomorrow when we finish the procedures. We will also deliver food, so please wait for the dinner schedule."

After that, Ren left Mark's group inside the house while two members of the Black Lotus stood guard outside the door.

Inside, Emika sat on the bed and spoke to Mark. Not in Japanese but in Tagalog.

"Hey, Uncle. Isn't that Onee-chan awfully polite? She looks interested in me and Amihan. But still..."

"Hmm? It's more like she's experienced in her job."

Mark replied.

"What do you mean?"

Spera, who was patiently silent all this while, interjected.

"Well, they might be people working to rescue survivors when they spotted one. However, the survivors they rescue would probably be untrusting and agitated. Her polite manner of talking would make her sound more trustworthy, allowing the rescued people to feel safe and make them calm down to some extent. It could prevent many accidents and outbursts from unstable survivors. Although, in our case, her interest also contributed to how she spoke to us."

"Oooh..."

Emika said, amazed by the logic behind that simple behavior.

"Anyway," Mark said, looking around the house. "Looks like they prepared this house specifically for us."

Everyone could only agree with what Mark said. After all, why were there exactly seven beds inside the house? Well, the beds could be a coincidence.

However... what about that basket with a small bedsheet and pillow atop the side table? Was it still a coincidence that Amihan could fit in that basket?

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