Mutagen

<strong>Day 263 - 7:29 AM - Military Encampment, Infanta Settlement, Municipality of Infanta, Province of Quezon</strong>

Another morning had arrived for the struggling Infanta Settlement.

A new morning in the apocalypse. Was it a good or a bad thing?

At the least, this morning was far more peaceful than the previous ones.

Well, until the soldiers near the General's tent were alerted to a strange phenomenon.

A hole in space suddenly appeared at the center of the encampment.

Fortunately, many of these soldiers were already familiar with that scene. Nonetheless, the current ruling individuals of the settlement were immediately informed.

The leaders of the settlement and the other important people quickly arrived. They all lived here in the encampment, and informing them required no effort at all. Even if one soldier just went and shouted what was happening, those people would still get the message immediately.

Just in time for their arrival, a person stepped out of the portal.

It was a man familiar to the soldiers. It might have been more than two months since this man was last seen by them, but it was impossible for them to forget about him.

"MARK!"

A girl's voice echoed as a purple-haired girl rushed and hugged the man that stepped out of the portal.

"Woah, there..."

Mark responded to Karla carefully. Receiving this girl's full-on charge was more or less like getting hit by a speeding motorbike. Regular people might get injured in the least and worst, a few fractured bones.

Aside from Karla, a shadow flew towards Mark excitedly. It was no other than the [Demon Sword], Ignis. After finally reuniting with its master, no wonder it was excitedly flying towards him.

Patting the excited girl's head and letting the sword hover by his side, Mark looked at the group nearby.

"Long time no see."

Alana greeted Mark before he could say anything. She looked a bit haggard compared to the last time Mark saw her, but she still had the energy.

"Yeah, I guess..." Mark replied and added. "Is two months really that long?"

"Of course it is, you freaking shut in."

It was Karlene's turn, interjecting with quite rude words but a happy tone.

Mark looked at Karlene but did not have any intention to retort on something that was quite true. If one was a hardcore shut-in and introvert, a few months was pretty short.

"Welcome back."

Mark received another greeting. This time, it was from Karlene's father, Major Bautista, who stepped forward with a handshake.

It was an unexpected sight. After all, knowing the protocol, it was most likely for the leader of the settlement to greet Mark first. But as Mark observed, General Faustino was also present, sitting on the wheelchair Mark gave him. Yet, it was Major Bautista that moved first to greet Mark.

This arrangement... Mark immediately realized.

"You went up the ranks, huh."

Mark said as he accepted the handshake.

Major Bautista was quite surprised that Mark noticed and was also a bit embarrassed.

"He's now a General and the one currently leading this place."

The mercenary, Jones Galley, declared as he pushed General Faustino's wheelchair forward.

"It's just an unofficial rank."

Major Bautista said with a bitter smile.

"I'm unfit to continue leading this settlement anymore, as you can see," General Faustino said while looking at his missing leg. "I can still do my duties, but the people needed a figure that can stand in front of them to lead them."

Mark understood where General Faustino was coming from.

While it was true that the loss of one leg would not hinder General Faustino in most of his duties, it would still make him look weak compared to his state in the past. To be able to help with many things, especially morale and trust that the people needed in these harsh times, a strong figure was needed as the leader.

And the most suitable person left in the military of this settlement to fill General Faustino's spot was no one else but Major Bautista.

"Is this just decided yesterday?" Mark asked. "Berrak did not say something about this when he returned."

"That's right."

Major, no, General Bautista replied.

"Morale is getting low after the recent attacks, so we had to make some changes."

General Faustino explained.

"Why are we talking here outside?" Karlene interjected. "We're getting in the way of work."

Those words made Mark look at Karlene strangely.

"What?"

Karlene asked as she noticed his stare.

"Looks like you grew up in these past two months."

Mark jeered.

"Shut it."

Karlene puffed her cheeks. It looked like she had recovered a bit of her maturity as an adult, but her childish trait was still there.

Still, as Karlene suggested, they moved to somewhere more private. By the looks of it, they moved the officers' quarters. Instead of a flimsy tent where everyone had stayed before, it was now a neatly made wooden shack.

But before they could continue the conversation, someone else arrived.

"Oh? I knew I felt your presence."

A female voice entered Mark's ears, and the owner of the voice entered the shack without hesitation.

In her young human form, it was the [Half-Diwata]-[Half Demon], Artenaris. The leader of the half-breed Magical Creatures that now settled in Infanta Settlement.

As he looked at her, a question immediately came out of Mark's mouth.

"Why do you still look like a beggar?"

As Mark had said, Artenaris, in her human form, looked the same as before. She appeared as a girl in her teens, which looked ragged and wore torn, dirty clothes. This form of her was more or less a disguise to go around the place without being suspicious way before striking up a proper discussion with the military. Now, Mark felt this appearance of hers to be unnecessary.

Artenaris immediately replied, not bothered by Mark's question and his lack of formalities.

"It's the stares. I get a lot of unnecessary stares at my true appearance, while humans would not even waste a glance at me when I look like this."

It turned out to be an understandable reason.

There was no surprise that Artenaris' true appearance would gather unnecessary attention. She had the pure beauty of a [Diwata] and the appeal of a Demon. Not to mention that she's an unusual being in the eyes of humans. And considering that most Magical Creatures were uncomfortable with humans, those stares were not something she would like.

With everyone Mark had to meet present, he decided to start with his reason for coming here.

As Mark planned, he wanted to check Infanta Settlement's current situation. Although Berrak gave a summary of the situation, Mark still wanted to see it for himself and properly assess it.

After hearing Mark's intentions, the two Generals did not have any problems with it. General Bautista even said that he would personally guide Mark around the settlement. His presence would basically give Mark a free pass to any place in the settlement. Mark could even ask questions without getting any questions asked back to him.

"But before I take a walk around the place, here."

Mark said, taking out a few pieces of folded paper. He then handed the papers to General Faustino without further explanation.

General Faustino received the papers. The others were also interested, but since it was given to the old General, they decided to wait for him to finish reading it.

And as the old General went on to read the contents written on the papers, everyone saw his expression change every now and then. This made the curiosity of everyone watching rise even more.

It was about fifteen minutes of silence, waiting for General Faustino to finish reading. And when he did, he closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose, clearly digesting the contents written on the papers.

The moment General Faustino opened his eyes, he immediately turned to Mark.

"Just who are you, really?"

The old General asked Mark.

Everyone was confused by the question the old General posed. But before they could ask what was going on, General Faustino gave the papers to General Bautista to read, and the others, except Karla and Artenaris, rushed behind General Bautista's seat to read the papers from behind him.

The papers were actually a long letter from General Perez. It stated everything that happened to Bay City, its survivors, and the events that unfolded in Corregidor Settlement. Of course, it included the change of rule there, with the president being thrown out of his position. Most importantly, things that Mark told General Perez.

"Is it really fine to share this stuff?"

Another question was given to Mark later. It was from Alana, who was also privy to some confidential stuff since she and Karlene stayed in the Mountain Base for a while. It was just the two were told to keep silent about this stuff due to the effects of this information on regular people. After all, it included the reality of this world and the origin of the apocalypse. One more reason why the two kept silent was the fact that the [Eyes] could be watching.

"They never really said to keep it a secret," Mark replied. "It's just those who know should better keep it to themselves since the truth will cause more trouble."

Learning about the truth without having an open mind would result in chaos. It would be an inevitable event if the information Mark had on his hands was shared with the public.

"It doesn't mean that we can't share it with the people who needed to know about it," Mark added. "It will help a lot in managing everything that's happening and preparing countermeasures to possible future threats."

"So, you two knew about this?"

Jones Galley asked the two women.

"Not all of it," Alana replied. "It's just Mark told us to keep it a secret. Besides, look at it. Who's going to believe us if we just went and say it? People will think we are crazy. It will be different if Mark is the one to say it, though."

The most unsettling piece of information filled General Faustino's mind as he threw a different question at Mark.

"Is it true that this mess is happening even on other planets?"

"Yeah," Mark nodded. "A few planets had already fallen to other variants of [Mutagen]. One of which is the artificial planet where the [Mechids] came from. They fell here on Earth after their planet was destroyed."

"This is quite the information to digest," Jones said with a sigh. "If I didn't know any better, I'll definitely think that it's nothing but fiction."

"It would have been nice if this was just fiction," Alana said with a slight shake of her head.

"General, what about the invitation?"

At this time, General Bautista asked, changing the topic a little bit.

The invitation General Bautista was talking about was within one of the papers.

It was General Perez asking General Faustino for Infanta Settlement to go to Corregidor, joining the two settlements.

"Deciding on that won't be easy," General Faustino replied. "We are still far from recovery, but we are steadily getting there. If we accepted the invitation only thinking it would be better there, it would be just wishful thinking. We have nothing there."

The people of Infanta Settlement might be struggling. However, they were already in a state where they were able to feed themselves through various means. Once they joined Corregidor, those means would be gone. Competition for food through hunting and fishing would also be harsh. The soldiers might have preferential treatment, but General Faustino clearly did not want to subject their people to that kind of unstable state of living.

"It's not like General Perez is forcing you guys," Mark chimed in. "Though I'll also advice against it for the same reasons."

Mark and the two Generals were on the same page regarding General Perez's invitation.

It was not like General Perez meant ill. It was just many things need consideration before deciding.

In any case, Mark already passed on the letter from General Perez. While General Faustino was digesting the information he got, Mark decided to leave and look around the settlement.