Mutagen

<strong>Day 198 - 8:22 PM - Bay City Ruins, Pasay City, Metro Manila</strong>

The group set up the camp and put the little girls to sleep. None of the three wanted to, but it was clear that they were tired from both the travel and the fighting they did today. Iola and Abbygale fell asleep shortly, while even Miracle, who did not need to rest, went and hibernated for the night.

Amihan also followed the three girls to bed. It was not unusual since she's a creature that only had sleeping, eating, and playing in her typical schedule.

As for Spera and Feng Zhiruo, they were on guarding duty for now. They were being accompanied by the golems that only needed to standby to replenish their used energy.

It was a good advantage of Mark's group that they had three golems at their disposal. The golems did not need sleep and could keep watch for the whole night. If it was a regular group of survivors, they would need to have a person or two to stay on the lookout for a portion of the night.

As for the remaining four people, Mark, Mei, Chimetrice, and Illia, they went off to investigate. They formed two pairs. There was no need to ask who was a member of which group in this case.

Mark and Mei went to the southern parts of Bay City to investigate. It included the Lower District, where the civilians were supposed to be living in the past. They chose this area, considering that they were more familiar with Bay City than Chimetrice and Illia.

Chimetrice and Illia went to the northern side, of course. The scope of their search was smaller. It was something that could not be helped for the same reason of familiarity with the place.

Going to the southern areas, Mark and Mei walked while holding hands. It was to lessen the burden on Mark as they investigated the area. There was no need to say that the Lower District of Bay City had more population than the Upper District. And, of course, the death toll in this area could be much higher. No, there was no need to doubt it. As they went closer to the Lower District, Mark could feel the lingering emotions much thicker than the place they currently stood.

The two of them walked carefully, making sure that any suspicious detail would not escape their eyes. Along the way, they had to deal with a few wandering [Infected] in the area. They might have killed several hundred before, but with how large the Bay City was, it was impossible to clear just by fighting in one location.

"Gege, the bridge..."

Mei spoke, seeing the sight before them.

It was the bridge that connected the northern and southern sections of Bay City. The names were changed when the military turned Bay City into a settlement, however. The areas to the north were now the Upper District, and the two southern sections became the Lower District. The two districts were separated by a moat where only two bridges connected them.

Of course, there was no way the bridges would withstand the earthquake during the fusion of dimensions. All that was left was the ruins of the parts of the bridge that did not fall into the moat.

Unlike the eastern and northern areas, the moat here did not get filled up with the new land appearing from the Spirit Dimension. This, however, likely caused a great disturbance to the people. Without the bridges, the military, which had its main stations in the Upper District, would have a difficult time saving the civilians in the Lower District. This should have caused more deaths to occur in the Lower District due to the delay with the rescue operations.

Mark removed his attention from the broken bridge towards the other side of the water-filled moat. He could almost see the fog of negative energy that gathered there.

And this feeling was familiar.

"Gege..."

Mei muttered as she looked in the direction Mark was staring at. She could not help but feel the uncomfortable chill on her back.

At this point, it was not only the lingering negative [Emotional Energy] that gathered there. Other negative energies also began to gather. It included [Magical Energies].

"If left alone, a [Formless Demon] will be born in that place."

Mark said with serious eyes.

It was not the first time Mark saw this scene. The sealed Demon he absorbed in the past, the Deity of Bloodshed, had the same circumstances at its birth. Ignis, his Demon Sword, was born in the same manner.

"Are we going to stop it?"

Mei asked.

"I don't really know what should be done there," Mark replied. "I have a few ideas to try, but let's concentrate on investigating where the people here went first."

"Okay."

Mei nodded.

Since the bridge was destroyed and that thick negative energy lingered in the Lower District, Mark and Mei decided to continue their investigation eastward.

"Hmm?"

Mark noticed something and urged Mei to go in a certain direction.

"Gege, there's nothing but piles of rubble here."

Mei said as they arrived.

"That's what I noticed. The rubble." Mark pointed at the pile of rubble. "Don't you think it's piled up to be a makeshift wall?"

At Mark's assumption, Mei understood. The pile of rubble was actually a long pile that continued north. It might seem unstable, but the pile of rubble was actually about three meters high.

Mark and Mei climbed up the rubble. They noticed that there were stable footsteps in a few places. The top was flattened as much as possible, seemingly created to be parapets. There were even knee-high barriers. Furthermore, the east side and west side of the rubble had different steepness. It was steeper on the west side and would be hard to climb from this direction.

And from atop the rubble, Mark and Mei saw traces of battle. There were only bones left, but there were definitely lots of dead bodies in this place before. There were also traces of blood on the ground together with holes left by bullets.

It was a trace of a bloody battle. The remains of the struggle of the people of Bay City to survive.

Since constructing new walls would be hard, they used the rubble from the ruins to build a makeshift barrier. A wall of rubble might seem insignificant, but it was a line between life and death for them.

Although there were still no clues as to where the people here went to, Mark and Mei found traces of the survivors that were here not long ago.

"Did they leave after the barrier went down?"

Mei asked in thought.

"Maybe, even before," Mark said. "The radiation levels went down even before the barriers disappeared. That's why it's also possible they left way earlier."

It was hard to tell how long these traces of battle were here. If there were at least a few dead bodies intact, it would be easier to guess. However, the [Infected] seemed to have eaten the dead bodies, leaving those scattered bones.

"Why don't we check the previous military headquarters?" Mei suggested. "It should be destroyed already, but we might be able to find some clues around there."

"Alright, let's go."

Mark agreed.

The two left the wall of rubble and made their way north once more. They were heading to the central areas of the Upper District.

They could have searched in the central areas first. However, it would be easier to find traces of people leaving if they searched the outskirts of the place. Now that Mark and Mei determined that there were no clues of people leaving through the south and east, they could move north.

Arriving at the location, Mark and Mei saw nothing but rubble. They still had memories of the buildings here. In fact, the building where Mei's group lived before was just in the other corner. Everything was destroyed, giving Mei a few complicated feelings. One of the best memories she had was the rooftop where she and Odelina often sparred with Iola, Abbygale, Odette, and Seigfried studying at the side. Those were the good but also sad old days.

Sad because it was also the time they were worriedly waiting for Mark's return.

Remembering those memories, Mei's grasp of Mark's hand became tighter. Mark did not complain, knowing that Mei was having some reminiscence of the past.

They continued searching the area soon after. Like before, all they found were traces of people living here.

The makeshift cooking area where pieces of coal and ashes were left.

Holes on the ground which were left by the tents the military used.

And also the garbage dump where the trash was gathered.

However, the worst thing that Mark and Mei found was a wide area of recently dug-up soil.

At the side of the dug-up area closest to the footpath were many makeshift crosses. Some of the crosses had dog tags dangling on them.

"A mass grave, huh."

Mark murmured while Mei stared in silence.

It was a mass grave. It was not surprising since making separate graves for the dead was not something plausible in Bay City Settlement's situation. In truth, making graves was not really something they could waste time with. The fact that they even made this was clearly to appease their own minds while remembering the dead.

A certain dog tag on one of the crosses took Mei's attention. With her enhanced eyes, she noticed the familiar name on it. She could not help but bend down to take it off the makeshift cross.

Looking at the dog tag, Mei was a bit shaken. Mei brought the dog tag to Mark and gave it to him.

Mark had a frown, looking at the name in the dog tag.

"So, Captain Dela Rosa is dead."

Mark murmured.

Captain Edmundo Dela Rosa, the leader of the 7th Rescue Squad under General Miguel Perez. He was the middle-aged soldier that welcomed Mark's group when they arrived at Queens Row Elementary School back in the first few days of the apocalypse.

That captain was one of the good people that Mark would not forget. Their meeting might be short, but Captain Dela Rosa had proven himself to be a good soldier, leader, and father to his son.

Furthermore, while Mark was gone, Captain Dela Rosa was one of the people that helped Mei and the other people connected to Mark in Bay City.

To think that Mark and Mei would know of his death this way. It made the two wonder if Captain Dela Rosa's son, Keene Dela Rosa, was still alive. So as the captain's trusted aide, Irene McCarran.

Mark let out a sigh. Instead of returning the dog tag, he decided to keep it as a memento. In return, he created a similar dog tag using his blood and replaced it on the cross.

"Let's continue looking around."

Mark said as to Mei nodded.

As the two left, the new reddish-black dog tag dangled without wind. It was as if it was saying goodbye to the two.

Mark and Mei continued the investigation to no avail. It might have been a while since the people in Bay City left, and the traces they wanted to find were already gone.

It might have helped if they could find footprints or wheel tracks left on the ground. But with the [Infected] wandering aimlessly all over the place, those things might have been erased too.

"They didn't even leave a note or something similar."

Mei complained.

"They definitely did not think that someone would still arrive here after everything that happened."

Mark stated the fact.

All Mark and Mei found were traces of people and the fact that it looked like they left, bringing everything they could, like tents. But any clue about where they went was nowhere to be found.

As Mark and Mei continued the search, they suddenly encountered Illia, flying in the sky. She seemed to be looking for the two in a hurry.

"So this is where you two are!" Illia complained. "Master and I found traces of people that left towards the northwest."

Those words from Illia made Mark and Mei nod at each other. The two brought out their wings. The three flew to the northwest with Illia in the lead.