Mutagen

<strong>Day 197 - 11:21 AM - Central Tent, Military Camp, New Infanta Settlement, Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>

The return of Karlene and the others touched the hearts of Major Bautista and General Faustino. Right now, manpower was what they needed the most. And although uncontrollable in the past, Karlene was a powerful [Mutator] that needed dozens of soldiers to subdue. Since her powers were now controlled, it would not be wrong to say that she could be one of the most powerful individuals in this place.

With the help of Karlene and the others, they might have more chances to withstand the dangers that the settlement would face in the future.

While it was true that Karlene's case made people from the ruined Real Settlement hate her existence, they would not have any say in this case now. They could only accept her return as the settlement needed it.

Of course, General Faustino was sure that not everyone would see this situation in a positive light. It would definitely be the case in the Political Faction of the Settlement. With the return of this group, the military would have more strong people in their lines. It would be harder for the Political Faction to make any movements against the military, even in the dark.

Furthermore, the people from the also ruined East Port Settlement had no grievance towards Karlene. If they knew how strong she was, those people would choose to cooperate with the military more than before.

It would be nothing but a win scenario for the military in this case.

With those thoughts, General Faustino felt a gaze. He turned and saw that it was coming from Mark. The general could only nod, realizing that Mark might also have these things in consideration.

"By the way," Mark spoke to the general. "Do you guys have any place to store supplies?"

"Store supplies... You mean a warehouse?" General Faustino replied in thought. "Unfortunately, no."

"Most of the supplies recovered are placed in a specific area outside, only covered by stitched up tarpaulins."

Jones Galley chimed in.

"That is right." General Faustino nodded with a sigh. "We prioritized the construction of the palisades since the last time your group visited. Even dwellings for the refugees and soldiers were lagging behind in schedule that we are receiving complaints already. In the least, we put more important necessities like food, water, and medicine, inside tents."

It was not surprising. Everything was ruined, after all. Still, Mark asked just in case.

"Why did you ask that suddenly?"

Major Bautista asked.

It was when Mark said the surprise.

"We brought some supplies," Mark answered. "Well, it's not really a donation or anything. Both Karlene and Mizuki worked hard to gather supplies for the base together with everyone. It's only natural for me to bring their share since they are returning and staying here."

Then, Mark turned to Major Bautista.

"We brought some for you too."

Mark said to the major's surprise.

"For me?"

Major Bautista asked, speechless and confused.

"It's your salary, Dad."

Karlene answered her father with a smile.

"Salary?"

The major was even more confused.

"You helped instruct the training this past month, right?" Mark said. "That's a payment for instructing my people."

The surprise of Major Bautista intensified.

"But I didn't really..."

The major was about to deny, but Mark did not let him continue.

"I know you didn't expect to receive something. But just accept it. I don't want to owe favors to people."

Major Bautista fell silent. Mark did not say it directly, but he knew the meaning of Mark's words.

Mark did not want to owe anything to outsiders.

It was quite a frustrating thought, but it was true nonetheless.

"Alright, I'll accept it."

Major Bautista sighed. Even so, he looked a bit happy about the unexpected things he would be receiving. How long had it been since he positively received a surprise? The surprises during the apocalypse were mostly negative, after all.

"Well, there's still a problem on where to place them."

Mark said.

"I think it's fine to put them behind this tent," Jones suggested. "We should still have some unused tarps to cover it."

"Is his suggestion fine?"

General Faustino asked Mark.

"Don't ask me." Mark shrugged his shoulders. "These supplies aren't mine."

That turned the attention to the people Mark mentioned to receive the supplies. And, of course, they did not have problems with it.

There, everyone wanted to move to the back of the tent. They all wanted to see what Mark brought as even Alana and Karlene had not seen it.

"Then, Alfonso, Jones, you two oversee the things."

General Faustino said to the major and the mercenary. After all, he was now a disabled person. There was no way for him to move on his own from place to place unless he was being carried by someone. He could ask Jones to carry him, but it would look shameful, especially since he needed to keep his pride as the leader of this place.

"Oh, right." Mark suddenly spoke. "General, this is for you."

Mark then stood, facing an open space at the side of the tent. He then stretched his hand forward and caused a black hole to open. It was not a new sight to everyone here, except for Artenaris, who looked really surprised.

And out of that hole, a pretty large item came out.

As he saw the item, General Faustino's eyes started to get wet.

General Faustino lost his right leg while his left leg was already diagnosed to be permanently broken. His left leg was severely injured, and his bones were broken into pieces. It was too severe that even the [Regeneration Medicine] had no effect on it.

To a dedicated soldier, the loss of his legs was similar to losing the life he knew. Still, what made the general not lose his mind and heart was his duty to the people of this settlement.

Even so, it could not be said that he was mentally healthy after the incident. Losing his legs, not to mention being cooped up in either the infirmary or this tent, made his mental health even worse.

In fact, Jones and Faustino began to worry about General Faustino. Although the general was fine outside and was smiling when facing other people, he was already showing signs of depression when left alone. The most that the two could do, however, was give General Faustino company inside his tent.

Going outside for a walk might have helped. However, as said before, General Faustino did not like the idea of being carried around. Not only would it show others that he was not in a good state, but it would also harm his dignity as the leader of this settlement.

It would have been good if they had a wheelchair. However, where were they going to get one? Everything was destroyed, after all. The thought of making one was also scrapped since they did not have the right equipment.

But as Mark took out the item, even Jones and Major Bautista could not help but become shaken in delight.

The usually indifferent Mark took out a finely made wheelchair.

It had wheels and even other rubber and none-metal parts that a wheelchair had. However, the frame and other metal parts were all black-colored.

The color made Jones remember the first time he and Mark met. This reddish-black sheen was the very same metal that was used in his weapons at that time.

It meant that this wheelchair was personally made by Mark's hands.

"This..."

General Faustino was speechless. He was also trying to hold back his tears.

This scene made Mark sigh. He could tell how grieved the general was since the first time he saw him injured. No one might be able to see it since General Faustino was good at hiding his emotions. But an [Empath] like Mark would see through it clearly.

And here, General Faustino was extremely delighted to the point that he could tear up at any time. Mark just gave him hope, after all.

The atmosphere in the tent turned sour but in a good way. Seeing General Faustino unable to say anything as he stared at the wheelchair while holding up his tears was heartbreaking. Just how much depression did this man shoulder up to now?

"Why not try it?"

Mark suggested.

"Can I... really?"

General Faustino asked.

"Just try it." Mark insisted. "Or do you want me to take it back?"

That question made everyone speechless. And by what it looked like, Mark was not joking either.

Mark's sudden change of attitude made General Faustino shaken that his emotions turned from delight to fear that Mark would actually take it back. His tears vanished as he turned to Jones.

"Help me get into that."

Of course, Jones happily complied.

Everyone's attention was now on General Faustino as he tried the wheelchair.

"It's a perfect fit."

General Faustino said in surprise. There was no feeling of discomfort at all as he sat in the wheelchair. It was as if this wheelchair was made solely for him. This made him wonder how Mark got his measurements.

"Then, you can go out now," Mark said. "It's better if you also oversee the supplies since I also brought some extra things."

General Faustino nodded. It would also be the first time he would be able to go out without being carried by anyone.

And there, everyone in the tent was present as Mark and Mei took out the supplies from their rings.

The space in the rings was not exactly a cube. Each item was separated inside if it was not put in a container. The shape of the item was also measured by its surface area, which meant that an irregularly shaped item would not take extra space. But by Mark's estimate, both the rings had a five-meter by five-meter space inside if measured in a cube.

These [Spatial Rings] could sure fit a whole load of items.

And both Mark and Mei emptied both their rings, filled with boxes upon boxes of supplies divided into several groups stacked together.

Alana, Karlene, Karla, and Major Bautista had their shares.

Even the other members that returned had some supplies grouped together as they also worked in the base, albeit not a lot.

But what made them wonder was an extra stack of boxes. Furthermore, a few boxes were not stacked together and sounded like they had glass bottles inside.

"What about these?"

Major Bautista asked since no one could tell what the boxes contained with the boxes turned inside out.

"The stacked boxes are food and drinks," Mark said, opening one box containing cans of cola. "These will expire soon, and we are sure that we can't consume these before they expire. So we decided to give these to you guys."

Those words made the soldiers happy. It might be expiring soon, but with how many people here, relying on the military, it might not even be enough. Even so, it was a big help.

"And these..."

Mark opened one of the boxes that were not stacked.

And to the surprise of General Faustino and the others, the contents of the boxes were liquor. A high-quality liquor at that.

"Some idiots took boxes of liquor back to the base instead of carrying food and water," Mark said as his eyes looked to the side towards Karlene and Alana, making them blush. "I'm not really against it, but they took too much, so I'm giving some here."

Mark then turned to General Faustino and Major Bautista.

"I'm pretty sure you need something to motivate the people into work. You can use these. There are also a few boxes of cigarettes there. Just look for it."

"Are you sure we can have these?"

General Faustino asked. For sure, it was too much that they were receiving all these from Mark all of a sudden.

"You can have it," Mark replied with a nod. "Besides, it's not a donation or something. I'll be borrowing Professor Sandoval for a prolonged time, so I thought I need to give some compensation."

Mark's words made the three heads of the military look at each other. With a shrug, they could only nod. It was not really necessary. After all, even if Professor Sandoval returned, there would not be a lot of work to do for him. Most of the laboratory equipment they had was destroyed, and they were only able to salvage necessary ones.

However, what Mark said was true. They needed something to drive the people to work more. For example, liquor and cigarettes, which were now luxuries. It would definitely help a lot, and they could only agree to accept.

In any case, General Faustino managed to show a smile he could not for a long time. He was really grateful for the sudden blessing that came unexpectedly.