Mutagen

Day 360 - 4:11 PM - Exchange Center, Military Compound, Southside Peak, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia

First, it was just a rumor coming from the 41st Satellite Settlement. Then, a battle occurred in the market area as a giant appeared out of nowhere. However, according to the witnesses, the giant was said to be a doctor who ran to escape from the hospital. There were also witnesses who saw the mask on his face peel off and break when he transformed. That mask was clearly similar to the details regarding the previous rumor.

The fight in the market caused the rumors to spread even further. And these rumors were not good for both the people of the fortress and the impostors.

These rumors would hinder the movements of the impostors for whatever goal they might have. On the other hand, knowing that the people in the fortress might not be the people they thought to be would cause distrust among the populace to blossom. Worse, this distrust could even turn families into strangers.

Nonetheless, while many people began to worry about the rumors, there were also those who did not seem to care. After all, rumors were just rumors until it was absolutely proven. A few coincidences could not turn a rumor into an absolute truth.

Instead, those who did not believe the rumors focused on a different thing.

Those people turned their eyes towards the little girl who ended the trouble in the market area. The little girl's speed and power were something many people would covet. She might even be better to have than a dozen or two armed soldiers.

Of course, there was no one trying to just go and abduct the little girl. They might as well try to commit suicide to do that crime within the territory of the military. The only way to get the girl into their ranks was to approach her guardians.

However, these people suddenly felt that getting the girl was a task far greater than attacking an [Infected] nest.

The little girl's likely guardians or parents were easy to spot. The girl's guardians were the man who appeared at the end of the battle in the market and the woman wearing a veil currently with the girl.

Unfortunately, although they were in public to see, approaching them was one hell of a task. The woman was together with the leaders of the Moon Chasers, chatting with them in a friendly manner. On the other hand, the man was just sitting in the nearby waiting area. However, he was having a conversation with General Wijaya with a few high-ranking officers surrounding the vicinity.

There was no way to approach them at this time without compromising and sacrificing things.

***

"Look at those people. They are itching to approach but can't do it."

Edge remarked as he noticed representatives of various survivor groups lurking in the area despite having no business in the exchange center.

"It will take an extremely thick skin if they want to do it right now," Nelia shrugged. "They are probably thinking Sir Mark's group are our members, so they can't just march blindly and offer invitations while we are here."

"It will be different if those bastards from the north are present, though."

Edge said with a rather aggressive tone.

"Right, those people won't care. They won't even hesitate to insult people right at their faces."

Nelia agreed.

"They had the backing of another General, so they won't even feel afraid with General Wijaya present."

Limabela chimed in.

Fortunately, they had yet to see any members of those people Edge called bastards from the north.

"Still, Sir Mark's pretty cunning, isn't he?"

Limabela suddenly added, getting the attention of the other members around her.

"What do you mean?"

Bajing asked.

However, Bajing's question was not answered by Limabela but by Nelia, who spoke while counting on her fingers.

"He could pick any other location to have a talk with the General, but he chose something where the people in the Exchange Center could see them. He also made sure to show them that the General came along with us. And, also because of the General, those having ulterior motives can't approach at all."

"Mark is hitting several birds with one stone, and we're benefiting from it."

Luna said as she glanced at the frantic people in the Exchange Center.

Trading in the Exchange Center was never easy for the Moon Chasers or any other survivor groups without strong backing. Corruption was strong in this division. Sometimes, exchanged items would be claimed by thieves and other times, people within the center would nick items traded by the survivor groups. There were even those adding unlisted fees and stuff.

Given how large the trade Luna's group was about to claim, they were already prepared to argue. After all, they had the General's token to claim the items in the trade he personally oversaw.

However, not to mention arguing and illegal fees, the people in the Exchange Center were frantically moving the items to the trucks on their own.

The Moon Chasers never experienced this kind of VIP treatment from these corrupt individuals.

"Look at those idiots," Edge said, stealthily pointing at the division head and officials in charge of the Exchange Center. "They look like someone fed them bugs."

Edge's words were not wrong. The current trade the Moon Chasers established with General Wijaya was rather large. It was the value they received in exchange for the important research material, the [Fog Crawler's] head. With this large number of items, the corrupt soldiers could charge a higher "fee" and even steal things, and the Moon Chasers could not do about it.

But General Wijiaya was just there outside the Exchange Center. These corrupt soldiers would not dare do anything scandalous in front of the General.

"Well, let's take advantage of this," Limabela gave a playful smirk as she took the list of items Mark wanted from Luna. "Might as well ask them about these items. They should have some of these, and we'll save a bit of time while getting back at these pricks."

Limabela then approached the counter with the list in hand.

Everyone watched Limabela's back. No one in the group even had the slightest intention of wanting to stop her.

***

Within the waiting area, Mark and General Wijaya sat in front of each other with a wooden table separating them.

There were soldiers surrounding the area, but all of them had their backs facing the two. The only other soldier facing Mark was Captain Randy Wahid, who was standing behind the General.

At this time, Mark was listening to the General.

From the General's words, there had been reports of strange occurrences within the fortress for a while now. It was not strange in a way that it was impossible or unbelievable. It was just that no suspects had been found for these occurrences.

There were a few instances of break-ins within the military facilities. There were also some instances of missing people. The worst was instances of sabotage of military equipment. Some of these sabotages actually caused some deaths and failures in a few missions.

At first, one would think there was no connection between the military incidents and the missing people. However, there was one blaring similarity among these incidents.

All possible witnesses had no idea of the incident. It was as if their memories were manipulated en masse.

The investigators began thinking that the perpetrators caused mass delirium among the witnesses, causing them to become confused and forget anything they had seen.

"But the rumors that circulated brought in another possibility, correct?"

Mark asked the General.

"Yes."

General Wijaya nodded.

"At first, none of us believed the rumors," General Wijaya explained further. "However, this morning, when the rumors began circulating, one of our investigators who was in the middle of questioning a witness tried to jokingly grab the witness' face. The rumors said that the impostors were wearing skin masks. That was what sparked the investigator's action."

"But something happened?"

Mark asked, and General Wijaya gave another nod.

"The witness began acting strange. It was as if he did not want his face to be grabbed in the way the investigator did. Normal people would not have that reaction unless they were wearing something on their face, like makeup or masks. The witness was clearly not wearing any of such. The investigators grew suspicious and attempted again. The second time was not just a joke. The witness then began spewing smoke from his mouth and attempted to flee the room."

Mark remembered the impostor of Wahyu from the Fire Fighters. That one also spewed smoke from his mouth before escaping.

"Capturing the witness was impossible barehanded. Our soldiers had to tranquilize him," General Wijaya continued. "However, when he was incapacitated by the tranquilizer, he froze and turned to ash. It was just like the rumors. After that, our soldiers began to check the witnesses in our protection and tracked the witnesses from previous incidents we let go."

"The ones in our protection were gone from their rooms. The only thing found in their rooms were piles of ashes on the floor and masks made of human skin. We also failed to track the witnesses from previous cases. It was as if they just vanished without a trace."

"We learned that the rumors were true. The worst thing is that this might have already been a problem for a long while, and no one noticed," General Wijaya then stared straight at Mark. "That was until you came."

"We already questioned Farel and his group after the incident with the witnesses happened," General Wijaya continued. "We learned what happened to their group and the impostor of the man named Wahyu. It was the very first instance of these "creatures" being revealed."

"So, you need my help? I thought this conversation would be about the fog."

Mark asked.

"The fog is also a problem. I also want to hear the information about it," General Wijaya replied. "However, the problem with these creatures pretending to be people is far more urgent. Even if we learned anything about the fog, we won't be able to do much while knowing any one of us might be just another creature in disguise."

"So, you want me to check all the people in the fortress one by one or something?"

Mark asked another question.

"Although that would be a plausible action, it would not be efficient," General Wijaya answered. "If possible, we want to know how you are able to distinguish them and teach these methods to our soldiers."

However, hearing what the General wanted, Mark shook his head.

"It's not possible," Mark said, continuing before General Wijaya could respond. "It's not about the reward or if I wanted something from you."

The General was surprised. He could not but look at Mark because he answered the question that he could not even ask.

It was as if Mark could read his mind.

"I can't read your mind," Mark shrugged, surprising the General even more. "What I can read are emotions. The energies emotions had, to be exact. This is also what allows me to find the impostors because emotional fluctuations differ greatly from humans."

"So, you're a [Psychic]," The General was surprised. "Then, you really can't teach us that method."

General Wijaya accepted Mark's reason without further questions. Although he was surprised, Mark was not the first [Psychic] he had seen, and he knew that being a [Psychic] was a characteristic that could not be passed on unless it was inherited.

"But I didn't mean that I can't help," Mark suddenly said, surprising the General. "I'm not talking about checking everyone one by one."

Mark then took out a dagger and placed it on the table.

"What is this?"

General Wijaya asked.

"This is a dagger with a [Dispel] enchantment. If you guys asked Farel before, then you must have heard about it."

The General then realized. The dagger Mark took out must be the item that forced Wahyu's impostor out of his disguise.

"But... Enchantment?"

The General asked. He had a suspicion. As a General, he was pretty young. He knew some fantasy terms because he would play some games with his children in the past.

"Yes, it's a magical item. The [Dispel] enchantment can force the impostors out of their disguise because what they used to disguise themselves was some kind of magical spell."

What Mark was saying would sound bogus if it was before the apocalypse. But now, rather than doubt, General Wijaya and Captain Wahid were just amazed to see a magical item before their eyes.

"How many of these daggers do you have?"

General Wijaya asked. He heard that Mark threw this dagger and dispelled the impostor's disguise despite getting parried. If they could arm a few soldiers with these daggers, a simple touch by these daggers would reveal the impostors.

"It's just a prototype, so there's only one."

Mark replied.

The General was about to feel dejected. A single dagger would not change a lot of things. But he realized something from Mark's words.

"A prototype, you say?" General Wijaya asked. "Then..."

"Yes, I made this one," Mark admitted. "Unfortunately, we had just arrived in this place. If I had the materials and equipment, I could make more, and probably in different forms as needed."

General Wijaya understood what Mark meant.

"What materials and equipment do you need?"

General Wijaya asked, making Mark smile.

Mark knew that Luna's group would not be able to get all the items and equipment he needed to make a workshop. If that was the case, the rest of the missing items would be handled by General Wijaya.

Just like Luna had said before, Mark was hitting several birds with one stone. And each bird was a bullseye, so far.