Mutagen

Day 321 - 9:25 AM - Temporary House, Black Lotus Compound, Kachidoki, Chuo City, Tokyo

After more than an entire day of hiding, Mark's group finally went out once more.

And the people in hiding wanting to gather information about Mark's group... Well... They were still frustrated.

While the people behind these stalkers planned to establish contact with Mark's group at the right time, they still needed information. That was why these hidden people were sent to observe the group and gather information.

However, what information could they gather and report to their superiors if the targets were not even taking a single step out of the house they were staying at. They saw a glimpse of Mark at night, but he was just going back and forth to the office just a few steps away.

Some of them were even getting criticized by their superiors, and they could not do anything about it. These poor people could only sigh in frustration as they waited for the opportunity to gather information.

And now, they finally saw a clear sight of Mark's group... only to get more frustrated.

Ever since they arrived in the Reclaimed City, Mark's group never left the confines of the Black Lotus Compound without any escort. Worse for the information gatherers, if the escort was not the [Dancing Lotus] herself, it would be either the [Blood Shade] or the [Undying Assasinatrix]. These three were among the upper management of the Black Lotus Group. And, of course, among their strongest.

What were these absurd names? If one became famous, especially due to their prowess in combat, it would not be a surprise if one title or two would get stuck under their name. And while the titles that stuck to Ren, Tadashi, and Mako sounded pretty embarrassing, those titles directly represented their abilities and styles in combat.

With these three always around Mark's group, there was no way these information gatherers could do their job efficiently.

Unfortunately, there was no option for them to just leave. They could only try to lurk as close as possible, but just close enough that it would not look like a sign of aggression.

When the group stepped out of the compound, Mark could only sigh.

This time, Mark's group was with Ren, Tadashi, and Mako, along with a small group of guards. Was this number of people unnecessary? It was quite a bit. However, Ren wanted to personally guide Mark's group to potential home locations, and the members of the Black Lotus would not let her roam around without guards.

And different from the previous days when they used vehicles to travel around, the group would walk around on foot since the potential home locations were not that far from the compound, with the nearest location right beside the compound.

And due to this, the group was literally exposed to the eyes of the curious people they passed by as if the stalkers were not enough.

"Too many prying eyes..."

Those words escaped Mark's lips.

"That is your fault, I believe."

Ren responded to Mark's sigh.

The interest in the [Sylph] was natural, while the events during the Combat Examination could not be helped. However, the performance of Mark's group during the hornet attack, while helping minimize the casualties, was deemed unnecessary if Mark did not want to get attention. They even revealed those mysterious pieces of equipment and showed their outstanding prowess in combat in a place where many people could see.

Ren could not fathom why Mark would risk that when he did not seem like the person to want attention.

Mark could only shrug in silence. He had plans, after all. It was just the response he wanted had yet to appear.

The group left the compound and set off to the first location.

Mark did not have strict requirements for the place he wanted to move to. It was just that the place should be manageable for their small group and secure enough. While it would be nice if it had a yard or free space around that was surrounded by walls, that kind of place was hard to find here in the Reclaimed City. After all, the vicinity encompassed by Reclaimed City was originally aimed at commercial establishments. Most of the structures, big or small, were within the road vicinity.

And the first one came into their sight after a few steps out of the southern area of the compound.

It was a small two-floor building at the corner of an intersection. Right at the opposite southwest corner of the compound. A former grocer. It was a boring-looking building, just the typical style for a small store. Security-wise, it was good since it was just the opposite of the road from the Black Lotus Compound. However, no one within Mark's group had positive feedback about the building, not to mention that the northern wall had some damages yet to be fixed. These damages were the traces left of the tragedy that happened to the building that previously stood where the Black Lotus Compound was currently located.

Since it was a pass, the group immediately faced north, where they could see the next location at the end of the road.

The building was a bigger one than the previous one. It had four floors and twice the land area too. Security was better too. The building was exactly beside the Black Lotus Compound, even without a road separating the two. It was also aesthetically better. However, the issue now was the former purpose of the building. It was a ceremony hall. The place where funerals were held. This was also the main reason why it was left unused. Given the religious beliefs and traditions of the Japanese, any sane person would not live in places where the dead lingered. Furthermore, it was also damaged like the first one, although it was the eastern walls this time.

And like the first one, it was also a pass. Mark had no problem with it. He actually liked how serene-looking the building was. However, the girls disliked the idea of living in a ceremony hall, which was understandable.

The group had a few more jumps and stops around Kachidoki. They exhausted all the empty locations near the compound and a block away from it.

Of course, Ren was quite disappointed. Whether it was to protect Mark's group or just to monitor them closely, it was better for the location to be near their compound. However, there were very few empty locations nearby, and none of them were up to the taste of Mark's group. There were a few close calls, but Mark's group only put those locations in mind in case they did not see anything perfect for their eyes.

And then... they found it after getting back to the main road connecting the north and south entry and exits of Kachidoki. At the corner of the road a few blocks south of the Black Lotus Compound, there was an abandoned gyudon restaurant.

The restaurant had a wide space in front, away from the main road. The building was big enough, housing the restaurant on the first floor and other home necessities for the owner on the second floor. It even had a three-vehicle parking space at the back. It was not too far from the compound either since the ride would not even take a minute unless the pre-apocalypse road rules were to be followed, which would make it around five to seven minutes. Of course, the road rules were useless now, with barely any vehicle using the roads.

The interest in the place finally set in. They then entered the empty building. However, the place did not look abandoned but was pretty lived in. It was as if someone was living in this place not long ago. There were even belongings left in the rooms on the second floor.

Mark looked at Ren, who looked a bit sad, for an explanation.

And there, the sad story was unveiled.

Just before Mark's group arrived in the Reclaimed City, a group of [Freelancers] called the [Asterisk] used this restaurant as their base. It explained some of the spoils-looking stuff lying around. There were even weapons and vehicle maintenance equipment present on the first floor.

Just like what other [Freelancers] do, they go out to hunt things to eat or sell.

But after setting out a week ago, the group of nine people never returned. It was until another [Freelancer Group] located the vehicle used by the [Asterisk] by chance. The vehicle was trashed beyond recognition without any sign of the owners. It was not hard to imagine what had happened to them. It was the apocalypse, after all.

Now, the restaurant was left empty. It was not like it could not be used by someone else. However, since the previous owners faced an uncanny fate just recently, nobody had moved in yet.

Was it already certain that the previous owners died? Unfortunately, the answer was yes in the eyes of the people of the Reclaimed City. The trashed vehicle was found far east, and it was already a whole week since they went missing. Within the ruins of Tokyo, a week would already warrant a zero chance of survival. If there was anyone left alive, they should have returned by now.

Mark discussed it with the girls. The decision was unanimous. They wanted this place.

That decision made Ren feel relieved. It was a nice location with easy access, after all. She was afraid that Mark's group would choose a location far and hidden which was luckily not the case.

And there, the group decided to immediately move in. After all, they needed to clean the place up. Furthermore, it was a place where someone lived before. The necessary furniture and items were already present, and even security measures were already installed. For example, the windows were already steel barred on both the first and second floors. The doors had multiple locks, but, of course, the locks needed to be replaced. It even had some solar cells on the roof, and the battery was fully charged to use for lighting.

There was no doubt. Mark and the girls would be busy sprucing this place up to their liking. It would be no problem, fortunately. Mark was a lot of money now, after all.

Of course, they still had to return to fetch their things back at the Black Lotus Compound. Mark also had to sign some papers with Ren since she was the landlord of the largest part of Kachidoki.

And there, Mark's group officially left the Black Lotus Compound to a new place of their own. There were still things to renovate and adjust. Nonetheless, they could do things their way here.

After getting their things and signing the land contract, Mark's group went back to the restaurant with a vehicle. Ren dropped Mark's group before going somewhere else. Mako was also left with Mark's group to help prepare things if needed.

Mei and the girls were happy to prepare the new house. And the first thing they cleaned was the kitchen, of course. And Mark, not taking any chances, told the girls to gather the previous owners' personal belongings into one of the rooms upstairs. After all, while the larger furniture was one thing, it was better not to use other people's belongings, especially people deemed dead.

While the girls worked inside, Mark worked outside to see if there were things to fix in the building exterior. Although it was the main reason, it was Mark just feeding the curiosity of the people nearby. Mark being outside to fix things showed that there were new owners living in the building while stopping them from approaching due to Mark's natural unapproachable aura and demeanor.

And the ones happy with this development were not only Mark's group. The information gatherers were the same. With the group now living outside the Black Lotus Compound, their work was expected to become easier.

But then, it actually ended up being the right move for Mark's group following their performance during the hornet incident.

It was because once the sun had set that day, a pair of black and white foxes appeared inside the living room without any sign or warning.

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