Mutagen

<strong>Day 162 - 12:11 PM - Outskirts, New Infanta Settlement, Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>

Leaving the infirmary, Jones guided the rest of the group towards the southwestern outskirts of the settlement.

"Are you sure leaving Dad there together with the General?"

Karlene slightly whispered to Mark as they stepped out of the military encampment.

"I'm pretty sure that Dad won't be able to refuse if General Faustino asked him about your place."

She added.

"Yeah, I already expected that would happen."

Mark answered nonchalantly.

"But..." Karlene was confused. "Didn't you declare before that no one should disclose details about the base outside? You gave that rule yourself. That's why I never actually mentioned anything about the base to Dad before we brought him there."

Of course, it was reasonable for Karlene to become confused with Mark's nonchalant attitude. After all, he strictly declared those rules himself in front of everyone. She did not want that if something bad happened due to leakage of information, her father would be the one to take the blame.

"I did give those rules." Mark shrugged. "But all that is way before we even knew about the second wave or the fusion of dimensions. At that time, there is still a high possibility of those things happening. Now, the situation is different. Don't even mention spreading the information. Just leaving or reaching the base without being able to fly is near impossible. The route in the sky is not exactly safe either. Even if the information leaked and someone wanted to bring us harm, they might even die before they reach the foot of the mountain. There was also the widened Agos River. The strong current isn't safe for boat travel either."

Mark's words made Karlene think. Sure enough, he was basically right.

Before, even if it was slim, there was a possibility for people to climb up the mountain and find the location of the Mountain Base. It actually happened thrice. First was Huey's group, fleeing from an evolved tiger. The second time was the group of survivors that camped outside the base. Lastly was the tribe led by the old Oracle.

Now, there were various threats that would stop people from finding the base. The [Infected], [Evolved Animals], [Mechids], and even the change in terrain alone was more than enough to stop people.

In that case, Mark's rules from before did not matter much anymore. It was also unlikely for anyone to betray the base and leave now, considering it was the only safest place they knew.

Karlene would admit it, and even her father would do the same. If they were to choose where to live at this moment, Mark's base was an indisputable choice. Not only that the base was intact, but it also had enough supplies to last them a long time.

One obvious problem in New Infanta Settlement right now was food and water. The Mountain Base did not have those problems currently.

Soon, they left the tent city and stepped onto the outskirts of the settlement.

Looking around, it seemed that compared to the Mountain Base, the area covered by the barrier in this settlement was far wider. It was not surprising considering the great difference between a few hundred people base and a few thousand people settlement. It seemed that everything, including the farming areas, was considered as part of the settlement. Those areas were included within the barrier, although there was nothing left of the crops. Now, depressed farmers could be seen slowly working on the farmlands from zero.

Unexpectedly, the farming areas in the southeast were devoid of humans. Instead, there was a small group of makeshift houses made of scrap wood and gigantic leaves. It was surrounded by a palisade made of cut wood and vines. It must be the group of people mentioned by General Faustino.

"That's the place." Jones pointed out the small encampment. "The people there were weird, and they speak a language that none of us can understand. That is why the farmers want to farm near them. They seem peaceful and did help around against the [Infected] and those robots. They also don't try to proactively interact with us, so we just decided to leave them alone."

It was still quite a distance away from where Mark's group was walking. The encampment was literally at the edge of the barrier. It indicated their lack of intention to interact with the people of the settlement.

But before Mark's group could get close...

<strong>"PUT ME DOWN! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? I CAN GET YOU ALL KILLED!"</strong>

A loud outcry of a male could be heard from the encampment.

Marks' group could hear the yelling loudly, and that definitely did not sound like someone with an unknown language.

"Sh*t..." Jones cursed. "That bastard really did it."

Karlene's expression also looked strange. She seemed to be familiar with that voice.

Soon after hearing that voice, several figures walked out of the encampment, carrying three men. Two of the three seemed to be unconscious, while the one yelling out loud was trying to break free from the person carrying him.

<strong>BAM! BAM! BAM!</strong>

The three were thrown out like dirty kittens, rolling on the ground. The people that carried them out went back to the encampment without a single word and closed the gates of the palisade.

<strong>"F*CK YOU, YOU BASTARDS! LET'S SEE HOW LONG YOU ALL CAN F*CKING STAY HERE!"</strong>

The man then stood up, patting the dirt off his body, when he noticed Mark's group watching from afar.

<strong>"F*CK!"</strong>

He cursed one last time as he left, half-running away. The man did not even bother picking up the two unconscious men and left them lying on the ground.

Mark did not bother looking at the escaping man at all. On the other hand, Jones and Karlene shook their heads.

"Who is that troublesome person?"

Spera asked Karlene, seeing their reactions.

"I'm not really that familiar with him," Karlene replied. "All I know is that he's called Jackson. A son of a Congressman. He had always been competing with Joash about many things. We had a few interactions before, and he's an extremely annoying person."

"What a stupid idiot..." Jones grumbled, feeling the headache that might come in the future because of that scene. "Just what are they trying to achieve by doing this..."

A son of a politician and one of the most influential people in the settlement. They had been trying to gather forces for a while now. Those politicians likely heard about the prowess of that group of strange people and wanted to rope them in. However, there was no need to mention enticing them. They had to overcome the language barrier first.

It was very likely that Jackson tried to communicate but failed and instead stormed into the encampment and resorted to threats.

What a foolish bastard.

"Don't bother about unnecessary things," Mark spoke, hearing the conversations behind him. "We are here for a different reason."

Mark took the lead and approached the encampment. He even ignored the two unconscious men lying on the ground and made a knock on the gates, loud enough for anyone inside to hear.

The people inside the encampment were in a rather bad mood. It was clear who the reason was. As such, a guard of the encampment abruptly opened the door and yelled at Mark while pointing a spear at him. The spear was directly below Mark's neck, and a short jab would pierce him on his throat.

Even without understanding the language, the action and the spear were more than enough to tell what the person was yelling.

But Mark was unfazed. He even slapped the spear away from his neck.

"I don't like being threatened like this," Mark spoke. "I'm here to talk, so don't make me turn this into a slaughter."

Mark spoke, but Jones and Karlene had question marks on their faces. Spera seemed to be a bit interested, while Karla was just as clueless as ever.

On the other hand, the guard whose spear was slapped away was stunned.

"You... You can speak our language?!"

The guard exclaimed. Of course, it was only Mark and Spera who understood it.

"Yeah. I can." Mark stared. "So, can you lower your spear now?"

The guard was in surprise, and he was still in a stance that was ready to stab his spear at any time. However, it seemed that Mark being able to speak their language was far more important than his anger that he nodded and pointed the spear down immediately.

"Are you not with those humans?"

The guard asked and pointed at the unconscious men on the ground behind Mark's group.

"I'm not." Mark stared at the guard. "I guess it's obvious."

That was true. If Mark's group was with the idiot earlier, they would have come together.

"I want to talk with your leader. Can we enter?"

Mark told the guard.

At this time, several more guards arrived, looking at Mark like a display in a museum. So far, they never encountered anyone that could converse with them from this human settlement. It was clear why there were both wary and interested.

Mark's inquiry, however, met some hesitation. After all, Mark was a stranger. It was reasonable for them to be cautious.

But then, a wave of energy was felt by everyone.

"Let them in."

A voice of a woman echoed inside everyone's ears. The voice was soothing like a gentle wave by the shore.

Without question, the guards opened a path for Mark's group to pass through. The same guard that pointed a spear at Mark took charge to lead them.

"Amazing..." Jones murmured as he tapped Mark's shoulder. "The General was right for informing you about these people. But what language are you speaking with?"

Jones and Karlene sure were curious. After all, it was a new language to them.

"It's [Spirit Language]."

Spera was the one who answered.

"[Spirit Language]?"

Karlene asked.

At Karlene's question, Spera looked at her in confusion.

"Why are you also asking? I'm sure you heard it before. Terremillio and his wives converse like this. You are also there in the [Spirit Dimension]..."

"A..hahaha..." Karlene let out an embarrassed laugh. "I'm not really paying attention."

Mark then spoke to Jones, who was being confused further at Spera and Karlene's banter.

"It's the language used by [Magical Races]. I'm sure that's already a good explanation."

Jones was a Super Soldier and an escapee from [Auraboros]. Of course, he knew what [Magical Races] were. It was just that he never had any concrete familiarity with the language.

"I see." Jones nodded in understanding.

But then... Jones realized.

"These people are not humans?"

This was something that did not enter Jones' mind before. After all, he might be a strong person but he was not magically sensitive. It would be hard for him to just realize if a person was a human or not based on their magical auras.

"Not exactly."

Mark tilted his head and replied.

"What do you mean?" Jones was confused. "Are they human or not?"

"Both, I guess," Mark replied with a nod.

"Huh?"

Jones was even more confused than before.

Mark just shrugged. He was not joking.

As the entire encampment was far smaller than his detection radius, Mark already got a feel of all the people in this encampment.

All of them were not entirely humans but not entirely [Magical Races] as well. Some of them might be a newer generation. But all of them were half-breeds of humans and [Magical Races].

That was why it became hard for Jones to realize that they were [Magical Races]. It was because the majority of them looked more human than not.

Even the guard that was leading them inside only looked like a caveman with a bushy beard and unkempt hair. He was on the taller side in stature, though. And his skin was a dark shade of brown.

If one was not sensitive enough, it was easy to mistake them as humans, especially now that [Mutators] with beast-like abilities exist and looked a lot less human than the members of this group.

Soon, Mark's group was brought to the hut at the center of the encampment. Unlike most of the huts and shelters, it was entirely made of vines and living plants.

"Come inside."

The soothing voice echoed once more. The guard stood outside and let Mark's group in.

Inside, a beautiful woman sat on a flower seat.

Mark realized why her voice was quite soothing.

The leader of the group was actually a half-Diwata.