Mutagen

<strong>Day 174 - 10:38 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Malabito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>

The appearance of the floating cube in the sky sure caused a commotion in the Mountain Base. With the [Mechids] arriving on Earth from space, something that resembled an Unidentified Flying Object could cause an uproar among the populace.

However, that commotion turned into a surge of curiosity. It was Mark's base, after all, where his words were trusted more than other things. Knowing that the ones that arrived were not enemies, they could not help but become interested in that gigantic floating object.

As the floating cube landed, many of the people of the base were around to take a look. Of course, they did not swarm towards the cube. In the first place, the people could only look from above the walls as the cube landed outside.

Mark went out of the cube as it landed. He was followed by two rather good-looking people. Especially the woman, she was gorgeous.

As the woman went out, however, someone began to release killing intent.

Of course, Mark immediately detected that and could only shrug as the owner of the intent retreated away.

"Seems like someone is unhappy with me... Not really surprising."

Illia coquettishly said. A Succubus like her would definitely sense that ill intent towards her. However, she did not know who the ill intent was coming from. Furthermore, when she was living, posing as a human in America, she had always been the target of jealousy from other women because of her natural charm and seductive body.

"This one is entirely your fault."

Mark said, giving the confused Illia a bad sigh.

"Me?"

Illia asked.

"Follow me."

Mark ignored Illia's question and told the two to follow.

As Mark did not answer, Illia could only look at Chimetrice, who nodded and followed Mark.

Following Mark, Chimetrice and Illia entered the Mountain Base for the first time. Behind the gate were the core members of the base, with Mei, Odelina, and Huey at the front.

"Ooh! Long time no see!"

Illia exclaimed, seeing Mei.

Of course, Illia's enthusiasm in meeting Mei once again was met with a silent stare. After all, they were not close with each other at all since they only met once. Furthermore, that meeting was not exactly in good light.

"How cold..."

Illia sulked and pouted. Her seductive appearance sure affected the male audience.

"Stop playing around."

Chimetrice scolded Illia. It seemed that even Chimetrice was irked by her behavior.

"Au... Okay, Master."

Illia said as she grabbed Chimetrice's arm. Chimetrice did not give any reaction to that and just allowed her to do so. The men around, however, seemed displeased as they decided to go back to work.

Seeing some of the people leave, Mark turned to the remaining people.

"You all should go back to your duties. We only have around two weeks left before the barrier vanishes. There is no time to slack around."

Mark said, which everyone obeyed. The only ones left were Odelina and Mei, who would definitely go with Mark to the Cliff House.

The group led the two guests to the Cliff House. It was the best place to welcome guests, after all.

As they walked towards their destination, both Chimetrice and Illia could not help but look around. There were a whole lot of interesting things around the base that was definitely unique to this place.

"Your place looks unique..."

Illia said to Mark, staring at the Night Everred Spirit Tree that covered more than half of the base.

On the other hand, while Chimetrice had the same thought, he did not say anything.

Soon, they arrived in front of the Cliff House. Both Illia and Chimetrice could not help but look up because of the rather weird house they were brought to. It was, after all, a house that was made on a literal face of a small cliff. Well, the back of the house was an unclimbable cliff. The house would look even more strange if they saw it.

"Odel, give them something to drink," Mark said to Odelina as they arrived at the living room. He then turned to the two. "Have a seat. Although I'll have you two wait for a bit. I need to change clothes."

"Okay."

Illia answered, and Chimetrice nodded. The two then took a seat on the sofa, and Odelina asked them what drinks they would want.

As for Mark, he left with Mei towards the bedroom.

Mark did need to change clothes for a reason. As the commotion began without warning, Mark was still in his work clothing when he spread out his wings and flew off. Although not ripped entirely, his shirt had three pairs of holes on the back. It was not something comfortable to leave alone at all.

***

It did not take long, and Mark returned, sitting down with the two.

"Where's your wife?"

Illia immediately asked, noticing that Mei did not return with Mark.

"She had other things to do," Mark replied and immediately shifted the topic. "Anyway, I don't think that you two only arrived now because you can't detect the feather, right? Did finding your Creator's laboratory take too long?"

It was a good question from Mark. Considering the very long time that Chimetrice was sealed, it would not be surprising if they did not find the laboratory. The geographical changes from that time and now were tremendous, after all.

However, considering that Chimetrice managed to change his face, it looked like that they did find it. They even had that flying vessel.

"It didn't take us too long," Chimetrice replied, shaking his head. "Using the clues we had, we managed to find the general location. Although it took some effort to find the exact location."

Chimetrice and Illia then began to explain to Mark what happened.

***

Apparently, they only spent about four days searching for Mark's whereabouts. It was not easy considering the drastic change on Earth.

There was no one to blame about it, however. Still, for Chimetrice and Illia, four days were not that long.

What made Mark frown was the reason for the delay in Chimetrice and Illia's arrival.

Chimetrice did not hide the findings they learned after reaching the laboratory, especially the creation of another [Humanoind Chimera].

A [Humanoid Chimera] similar to Chimetrice, yet the complete opposite.

Chimetrice was created to be something that could face against Gods and live. And it was a success, considering that Chimetrice could not be killed by the Gods, and they could not do anything but seal him instead. However, even though Chimetrice had a semi-immortal body, he lacked the prowess to kill a God. His attacks and abilities were powerful. But what it could do was deal damage to them but not enough to kill.

On the other hand, the other [Humanoid Chimera] created was designed with nothing but destruction in mind. It was a creature capable of breaking a wall that even gods were not able to. However, it also came with a cost. The Creator was not able to control it and died in its hands.

The two also explained the circumstances of the laboratory. It was already lost in the bottom of the ocean, and the flying vessel they were using was a part of it used for emergencies.

***

"What we had been doing in the past month was to search the traces of Master's younger sibling."

Illia explained.

It was not wrong to say that the other [Humanoid Chimera] was the younger brother of Chimetrice. They had the same Creator, who was, in a way, their father.

"But what are you two going to do if you found it?"

Mark asked.

"Kill him, of course."

Illia declared without hesitation.

"The Creator seemed to have done something with that sibling of mine," Chimetrice spoke. "It seemed that he was made incomplete. By the Creator's personality, it is done with only one thing in mind. He likely intended for my sibling to consume me to become a complete being."

Mark stared at Chimetrice, a bit speechless. It looked like his Creator was a total madman.

"But you are sealed, and that did not happen."

Mark said.

"Yes, fortunately," Chimetrice agreed. "However, we don't know whether my sibling is dead or where he vanished to. We tried to follow some leads that were left by the part of the consciousness of the Creator, but we soon reached a dead end."

"Furthermore, the world suddenly changed too much. All the remaining leads we had vanished."

Illia added.

And what pushed the two to finally find Mark. Without any leads left to follow, it was better to give up for now and focus on other things.

"What are your plans?"

Mark inquired.

Both Chimetrice and Illia looked at each other for a second and nodded. They then faced Mark.

"Is your offer last time still available?"

Illia asked.

"About staying in my place?"

Mark replied back.

"Yes." Illia nodded. "If it's possible, we want to stay here. We really had no place to go now. Of course, we will contribute to the base."

"That's not a problem. But I think that's not all, right?"

Mark sure would not decline. Having someone as powerful as Chimetrice in the base would bolster its safety.

And even if The Great One came back to cause more trouble, what happened in the past would never repeat itself.

But, of course, there would be a catch, now.

"Yes," Chimetrice answered. "We want your help in case that my sibling reemerged. Which hopefully won't happen."

It was a gamble. If that sibling of Chimetrice was still alive, it could implicate the base.

Mark fell silent. He was racking his brains for all the knowledge he had about myths and legends. However, he never came across anything that might possibly lead to that [Humanoid Chimera].

In the least, the tree where Chimetrice was sealed had some eerie background to it. As for something similar, there were many. However, none of them seemed to have any resemblance to something like a destructive [Humanoid Chimera].

Thus, this gamble was rather hard to win. But, in the least, it would benefit the base in the long run.

"I agree." Mark accepted the two. However... "But I need some help from you too, Chimetrice."

Mark said, looking straight at the [Humanoid Chimera] in front of him.

"Can we hear what it is first?"

Illia asked as Chimetrice would likely agree to it without asking.

At that question, Mark told them the circumstances, especially the enemies that they might need to deal with in the future. The most urgent one was Sinogo, who became a gigantic [Mutated Infected Crocodile] with Godly powers.

"Damn..." Illia voiced out. "You're making enemies with Deities, huh."

Mark looked at Illia, annoyed.

"They are the ones making enemies with me."

Those words were not wrong. Mark was not the one to cause trouble first but them.

"Hmm..." Illia thought about it and turned to Chimetrice. "I guess we won't have any problem with it, right? Master?"

And to Illia's words, Chimetrice nodded.

"They are just Deities."

Chimetrice said in a noncaring tone.

It might sound arrogant. But to Chimetrice that fought with Gods thousands of years ago, Deities were definitely nothing.

"If you two agree, then welcome to my base."

Mark said with a lightened tone.

It was rare for Mark to show courtesy, but these two would be helpful allies for a very long time.

Mark then scratched his head.

"Looks like we need to prepare a dwelling for you two."

"There is no need for that," Chimetrice interjected. "We can live in our transportation vessel."

"You sure?"

Mark asked.

"It only had a few rooms, but it is spacious enough for a small group of people. And there are only the two of us, me and Illia. If there is something we need, it is likely a place where the vessel could land and would not disturb people."

"I see..." Mark nodded. "If you say so."

And there, Mark gained two new people for the base. They might become the source of trouble in the future, especially Illia, in many ways. However, their value and strength were more than enough to make up for the trouble.

Not to mention a flying vessel and some of the research that the Creator had in the past. Both these things would bring great benefit to the base, considering that the world was going back to the same state as it was in the [Lost History] the [Era of Gods].