Mutagen

Day 358 - 6:21 PM - Ex Pueblo La Noria, Pozo Almonte, Tarapacá, Chile

In a very uncanny place in Chile, a mysterious location of a haunted abandoned mine. South America had been devastated thoroughly without the help of the missing [Eye]. However, this haunted location somehow survived the Fusion of Dimensions intact.

Now, it was a place where Demons gathered. It was a place where the ominous beings of the past began to form their schemes.

In this abandoned town, an ominous tower appeared out of nowhere. It became the central location of this place. It was where the rulers of these Demons lived.

"Have you found them yet?"

A deep and haunting voice from a robed man echoed within the highest chambers of the tower. His body exuded a dark aura as he moved around his newfound toy.

"Do not rush me," The blond and beautiful man replied while looking at his golden hand mirror. "Chasing after anyone with the ability to travel through space would be a hard task. Even you would not be able to chase after me in a frontal confrontation. Here, we are trying to chase a group of mortals on the other side of the world."

"Even Gods are not omnipotent in this, not to mention lower beings like us."

"Stop that. It is annoying," The robed man turned his head to the blonde man. "How come you are humble with everything else but as arrogant as Zeus when it comes to your appearance."

"Why should I be humble about my appearance?" The blonde man smirked. "Which man can be as beautiful as me?"

The robed figure stared in silence. If not for the fact that this blond man had useful abilities, he would not accept this alliance.

"It would have been easy if we could just infiltrate their base of operations using one of your toys," The blonde man said. "But we could not do such because of the layers of defenses they had. Their population is also small. Infiltration with an unfamiliar face would be useless. And the worst thing is that a being with an aura not any weaker than us is now guarding the place as if an [Eye] is not enough. Out of all the creatures in this world, you had to pick the most annoying kind of enemy."

"Hah," The robed man sighed. "Just hurry up and find where they went this time. The previous puppet might be an [Eye], but it became greatly weakened because of the lack of emotions it needed due to the apocalypse. The new puppet should be more competent to defeat that bastard who damaged my spirit."

The robed man then turned at his new toy.

However, it was not any toy that a child would play. It was a human with red markings on his body, with eyes opened wide and pupils filled with flames.

It was a living being. It was before its soul got stripped away, leaving an empty body.

This puppet received a fitting fate for a person drowning in jealousy and revenge, a toy for a corrupted being of the Lost Era.

***

Day 358 - 8:21 AM - PT Pertamina Persero Terminal BBM Balongan, Balongan, Indramayu, Indramayu Regency, West Java, Indonesia

The next day, after encountering the [Fogcrawler], the joint groups of Evernight and Moon Chasers started their journey.

"This is really convenient. We can continue moving despite the fog." 

Luna said as she adjusted her backpack.

"It's convenient but also scary."

Bajing commented while staring at the same backpack.

As Luna had just said, the [Magic Overflow] had yet to end. The thick fog still obstructed the view of the surroundings. However, due to Mark finding a hidden item inside the ruins of the museum, they could now safely navigate through the fog.

The clear area was just around forty meters around Luna, who carried the item. However, the difference compared to not seeing a thing in this fog was like night and day. It also diminished the effect of fog on everyone's senses. 

However, there was one problem. The item was a box stuck with a large number of paper seals, tied with a blood-red string. Anyone who would look at it would think that it was a cursed item at first glance. Even Mark warned them not to remove the seals or open the box since none of them knew what could be inside it.

In any case, the sealed box was helpful in the current situation despite its ominous appearance. And considering that the [Magic Overflow] could continue happening in the future in this country, having an item like this would be a great advantage.

While Luna and Bajing were chatting at the center of the formation, Limabela walked with Mark's group at the back.

"Sorry, and thanks about this, really," Limabela said to Mark while looking at Chaflar. "You already gave the rest of the [Fogcrawler] to us, but we still had your pet carry it."

"Your leader already said the same thing before," Mark replied. "You don't have to repeat it."

Chaflar had a large wagon attached to its body as it walked behind everyone. The wagon created with barely processed wood along with [Metal Blood] fixings and wheels carried the large head of the [Fogcrawler] and a few of its body parts.

The wagon was Mark's creation. The Moon Chasers saw Mark cutting the wood from the surroundings to make it but were confused as to where he got the fixings and the wheels. Nonetheless, no one questioned it. They already saw his wife fire an absurd, high-tech-looking gun. These fixings and wheels were far too primitive in comparison.

It was Mark's decision to help the Moon Chasers carry their share of the [Fogcrawler]. After all, they already got the item that created the fogless areas. There was no need to leave their items inside the ruined museum's basement.

With everything packed up, they left early in the morning after a short breakfast and preparation.

Many of the members of the Moon Chasers did not have enough sleep after taking turns to dismantle the [Fogcrawler]. However, they still decided to leave since they already had the means to traverse the fog.

They followed the trail that Mark's group was following yesterday. However, after reaching the ruins of the natural gas company in Balongan, the Moon Chasers began clearing the path south instead of following the trail.

"Where are we going?"

Mark approached the center and asked the man who called himself Edge.

"We're making a shortcut," Edge replied. "This trail, which followed the national road, is only used during emergency situations. The military was the last to use it a few days ago. We have an already cleared road frequently used by groups in the fortress when exploring the areas near here. We could use the previous route we took before going to the museum, but it also meant going deeper into the direction where the fog came from."

Edge was still wary of Mark and his group. However, he did not answer Mark's question with any hostile attitude. While Edge was yet to trust Mark's group, he was not against cooperation.

The journey south took a whole day. It was already fast since Mark and Feng Zhiruo also helped in cutting large trees on the way, to the amazement of the members of the Moon Chasers. The more the groups spend time on this journey, the more the members of Moon Chasers find Mark's group to be a group of monstrous people.

Along the way, they encountered enemies from time to time. However, the number of enemies during each encounter would only be one or two at most. Even the [Infected] and the mutated creatures could not traverse the fog that hindered everyone's senses and ended up wandering away from their groups. The only exception for that so far was the [Fogcrawler].

When they reached the road Edge mentioned, it was already sunset. However, reaching the cleared road meant that their journey tomorrow would be much faster.

Unfortunately, the fog had yet to disperse. Even after everyone finished setting up camp at the side of the cleared road, the fog showed no changes.

The change appeared past midnight. After covering everything in its veil for more than two days, the fog finally began to disperse.

At three in the morning, everyone could finally see the sky once again. Those awake had to wake up the ones sleeping to see the beautiful starry sky. It was a happy occasion. The fog had passed, and everyone here survived.

But as the fog alighted, trouble came.

Without the fog's effects on the [Infected] and mutated creatures, they regained their senses, including the ability to sense high concentrations of human presence.

For the rest of the night, the campsite turned into a constant battlefield with an annoying number of hostile encounters. The number of enemies in each instance was not high. After all, the fog had just dispersed, and the enemies had yet to gather once again. However, it also meant that each lost enemy could attack the campsite one after another. The fact that the fog scattered enemies all over the place did not help either.

One or two enemies would not be a problem for a group of more than fifty people. However, everyone became jumpy after the apocalypse began. Every instance of battle was more than enough to wake them up. As such, the poor members of Moon Chasers never lost a good amount of time to rest.

It was different for the members of Evernight, though. They managed to sleep through the night. The golems were in charge of the lookout and also helped to dispatch enemies. Mark only had to jump in a few times. With their side of the camp having a sound barrier using Amihan's magic, the noise was the least of their problems.

***

Day 359 - 7:21 AM - Cleared Road, Jengkok, Kertasemaya, Indramayu Regency, West Java, Indonesia

The next morning came.

Most members of the Moon Chasers were tired, opposite of the Evernight's refreshed state.

Since the members of the Moon Chasers did not know about the noise barrier, they could only wonder how the members of Evernight could sleep through all the commotion. Moreover, they also wondered how the two pets and the younger maid could fight all day without rest.

After another breakfast on the road, everyone continued their journey.

Following the cleared road was much easier than following the trail before. If Mark knew of this beforehand, they would have gone west faster. But then again, if that happened, they would have missed the encounter with this group, and worse, they could have died due to the [Fogcrawler's] attack.

Sometimes, fate would play its tricks on people, even on those unbound by its strings.

Mark observed the surroundings as they continued on. After seeing some metal debris sticking out of the ground on the cleared road, he realized they were following a former train track. No wonder it became a cleared road. Even if the world changed, the changes on the ground brought by heavy train cabins passing every day would be hard to revert to an untouched state.

Following the cleared road, although enemy attacks occurred at a high rate, it was way faster. Just in a half-day journey till noon, they had already traveled more distance than a whole day following the overgrown trail. If they continued this pace, they would reach their destination soon enough.

Another few hours passed, and another night was about to come in another hour or two. And as they came closer to the fortress, it was time for something inevitable to happen.

It was an encounter with other humans.

"Hey."

Mark approached Luna's group while they were searching for a good place to camp.

"What's the matter?"

Luna asked Mark.

"Want to get some recognition?"

Mark asked back.

It was a strange question. What did Mark mean by recognition?

Then, Mark explained.

"There's a group under attack a few hundred meters south. And they seem to be surrounded, with many of them heavily injured. They might be from the same fortress. You guys understand what I mean?"

The members of Moon Chasers looked at Mark. They could not fathom how Mark knew this stuff. When did he do some scouting? However, they understood what he was saying.

If they saved those people in trouble, their good deeds would likely spread within the fortress. The group they helped would be in debt, too.

However, Luna and her friends had a different thought in mind.

"Straight south?"

Luna asked Mark.

"A little bit southeast."

Mark answered.

Luna and Bajing then locked eyes before the latter wordlessly rushed into the forest. The former then began to organize her people.

Mark smiled as he saw the reaction of Luna and her close friends.

Recognition or not, they were willing to help people in trouble. They were not even taking advantage of Mark and his group.

Mark could only shrug. If the other candidate and her group were this kind of people, he would not mind helping even if he did not promise Thirteenth.