Mutagen

<strong>Day 248 - 11:02 AM - Kawasan Falls, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu</strong>

The [Mini Cube] approached the location from the sky. Seeing the giant cluster of trees that had been shaped into a living mansion, the members of Mark's group who had seen it the first time were pretty amazed.

As for Mark, he could only wonder.

The last time that Mark saw that cluster of trees, he was with Pefile and Edzel to rescue Celine. They had to enter the secret realm of [Tamawos] through a secret passage. At that time, the tree was not visible outside.

However, Mark and the rest could see the cluster of trees from afar even though was no way they were within the supposed vicinity of the realm where the [Tamawos] lived.

It only meant one thing. The subspace where the home of the [Tamawos] was located was broken. It caused everything inside that realm to be integrated into the real world, which was what they were currently seeing.

Mark stretched out his right hand, calling the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] out of the [Psycrystal] embedded on his wrist. As the marble-sized crystal glowed, the giant silhouette of the [Mini Cube] became invisible to everyone outside.

The sight of a flying vessel would surely cause trouble, especially when the witnesses were humans. While it was unlikely that the members of Mark's group would be defeated in direct combat, it was questionable about stealth attacks. Mark could also detect any living creature inside his detection range. However, abilities that could affect them silently, like Bella and Donna's, did exist. It was better to cause less reason for conflict and not let down their guards.

Besides, it was better to investigate the situation from the sky without getting seen by anyone below.

With the [Optical Camouflage] surrounding the floating vessel, the [Mini Cube] flew towards the cluster of gigantic trees.

They closed in enough that they could see the ground below. However, the [Mini Cube] did not try to fly too close to the ground. The [Tamawo] was still a magical race. The magical fluctuations of the floating vessel might alert them if it got too close.

But, unfortunately, or maybe, fortunately, it seemed that their concerns were unnecessary.

Mark told Chimetrice to keep the [Mini Cube] afloat above the village. He then went out and jumped off to the ground below.

And what Mark saw was...

A scene long after chaos ended.

The huts where the tribesmen lived were all in shambles. The other structures and the parts of the walls of the village were broken and in tatters.

Most of all... No one, at least alive, lingered anywhere nearby.

The village where the [Tamawos] lived just a bit more than a month ago was utterly abandoned.

One would initially think that the village was destroyed due to the earthquake caused by the [Fusion of Dimensions]. The most prominent signs around the village pointed to that possibility, such as destroyed surroundings and structures.

However, it might not be the case.

Mark approached a nearby collapsed hut. The hut was already covered in vines and grass. For some reason, Mark found a trace of a strong, lingering sentiment from there.

And he was not mistaken.

Mark approached the thick cluster of vines and cautiously cut it to pieces with the whip blade, the [Divider], he took out from his ring.

Underneath the cluster of vines was a pile of bones. Furthermore, it was just a pile of bones belonging to someone's torso with its whole right arm seemingly missing.

Mark left the pile of bones and began searching the whole area further. It took him around fifteen minutes, making the others above wonder what was taking him too long.

Finally, they saw Mark take flight, and he entered the [Mini Cube].

"Let's go. There's nothing to see here."

Mark said as he entered. By his tone, he seemed a bit disappointed.

"What happened?" Spera asked the question everyone wanted to ask Mark. "Is it already abandoned?"

"More than abandoned," Mark replied as he sat down at the corner of the bridge. "It got destroyed."

"Really?"

Ilia asked in surprise.

"Yeah," Mark nodded. "It looks like the people there did not leave peacefully. They were attacked by something. It must have happened right after the fusion. Most of the traces of the battle either got covered by grass or were almost gone already. The blood stains left behind were also washed out a bit."

"Something, not the [Infected]?"

Spera asked, noticing Mark's unsure words.

"I think it's not the [Infected]. More like [Feral Evolved Animals]," Mark explained. "There are claw marks on the destroyed parts of the walls and sharp teeth marks on the bones scattered around the place. The marks also varied in size, which is likely because they were attacked by multiple enemies."

"But it could also be the [Infected], right?" Ilia thought of the possibility. "I mean, after fighting the [Infected] for almost a week, their kinds and mutations really varied. Besides, even animals can become one of those abominations."

"I know," Mark shrugged and then pointed at the window with a shrug. "But look at the terrain first before saying that."

Ilia did as Mark told. It was the same for Spera and the others.

"Ah."

Ilia came to a realization.

The village of the [Tamawos] was built in a strategic location. The south and east sides faced a tall cliff, while the remaining directions were surrounded by steep mountainous terrain.

This kind of terrain was not something the [Infected] would be able to traverse in large groups. The only creatures that would be able to traverse this type of terrain in large numbers would be, as Mark said, [Evolved Animals].

While it was true that an intelligent [Infected] might be able to traverse the terrain around the village, it would still go against Mark's findings that the [Tamawos] were attacked by multiple enemies. Intelligent [Infected] were still rare to come by, and even if they were smart enough to lead hordes, they still would not be able to overcome the common horde's weakness. Being brainlessly dumb.

As for [Infected Animals], the same logic applied. Yes, [Infected Animals] were more agile and nimble than most common [Infected]. However, even the [Infected Animals] would have a hard time traversing terrain that needed careful thinking. This was one reason there were fewer [Infected] in the mountains, including [Infected Animals].

On the other hand, [Evolved Animals] were getting smarter than before. Although it was still not at the level of trained animals, it would be easy for them to climb up and down hard terrain. Even feral

Without a doubt, it was more likely that the village of the [Tamawos] was attacked by [Feral Evolved Animals] than the [Infected].

And as Mark commanded, they left towards their main destination after this short stop.

Mark found what he was looking for. The end of the antagonists of Pefile's story. However, he somehow felt a tinge of discontent. It was as if he wished he was there to watch their downfall.

"Gege, are you okay?"

Mei asked as she sat down with Mark.

Mark glanced at Mei and then leaned his head on her shoulder.

"I'm kinda bored, I guess?"

Mark replied.

It was not wrong to say Mark was bored. He was cooped up in Margaha Valley for six days to recover his strength.

Mark had a bit of anticipation to see how the [Tamawos] ended up. And while he did find the answer, it was rather lackluster.

"Why don't you lay down for a bit and relax?"

Mei suggested as she presented her lap.

Mark gave Mei another glance and followed her suggestion.

Then... There was silence. Everyone on the bridge of the [Mini Cube], without a single word, had a tacit understanding to keep silent and avoid that corner.

Mark felt relaxed under Mei's care. If he could sleep at this time, he would. However, while traveling, they would come across enemies here and there. In their case, the [Flying Infected]. As such, Mark and Mei would need to deal with those nuisances.

However, it seemed that Mark's thoughts were unnecessary. As they flew further away from Mount Canlaon and Tañon Strait, the encounters became lesser and fewer in the number of enemies. They also decided to take a path that would make them travel further from the strait to avoid more troubles along the way.

Mark and Mei did not have to interfere anymore. Since maneuvering the [Mini Cube] was unnecessary when facing an enemy or two, Chimetrice just went out by himself to deal with the troubles, leaving the piloting of the [Mini Cube] to Ilia.

After leaving the destroyed village of [Tamawos], the journey was a bit peaceful compared to earlier. If they had known that it would be like this from the start, they might have avoided passing directly above Tañon Strait or, at least, away from the area the battle occurred a week ago.

With a more peaceful ride, Mark could relax. The others were the same since having enemies while traveling in the sky would surely make people that could not fly a bit on edge.

However, barely uneventful changed after they reached the mountain ranges in the Municipality of Sibonga.

As they were passing through the sky west of the mountains, Spera noticed something.

"Hey, is that smoke?"

Spera said, looking at the smaller window on the right side of the bridge.

Normally, such words would not warrant such attention. But in the current state of the world, smoke could either mean survivors or enemies.

Mark immediately surrounded the [Mini Cube] with [Optical Camouflage] while telling Chimetrice and Ilia to move east towards the mountains.

As Spera said, there was smoke rising towards the sky. It was not the kind of thick smoke that one would witness during forest fires. Instead, it was the kind of smoke that would dissipate soon after reaching a certain height. A smoke that one would see if there was a person cooking using firewood.

If the [Mini Cube] was flying any lower, Spera would not be able to spot the smoke at all. However, as they were flying high and the mountain near them was a bit low, she managed to get a good look at it.

The [Mini Cube] carefully approached the source of the smoke. They found it coming from a hilly valley in the middle of the mountains.

And there... They found a small settlement.

Mark checked the place using the offline map on his phone. This place seemed to be a valley between Mount Lanhan and Mount Kalatkat, an area with wide plantations and small settlements.

However, the settlement they were currently seeing was definitely newly built. It was all made of huts using leaves from coconut trees that were plenty in the area.

On the map, however, a similar settlement was located in the same area as the new settlement was built. It was not surprising. The old settlement would not be able to withstand the earthquake more than a month ago.

But for a new settlement to be built in the same place, did people from the previous settlement managed to survive?

That was what they had thought until they reached the distance where the village entered Mark's detection range.

Mark was genuinely surprised.

There were familiar fluctuations coming from the people in the settlement.

Mark told Chimetrice and Ilia to land the [Mini Cube] nearby. There was no way Mark would pass this event.

More than a month ago, Mark did give a group of people a piece of subtle advice. That group followed that advice and managed to survive the catastrophe Sinogo soon brought in Matutinao. They also followed the other advice Mark told them.

Nonetheless, the advice Mark gave had no guarantee of allowing them to survive the incoming catastrophe.

That was why Mark was pleasantly surprised.

The people they met before fighting the [Tamawos], although reduced by a number, mostly managed to survive. Furthermore, it seemed their group had actually grown in number.