Mutagen

<strong>Day 263 - 5:21 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Malabito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>

After receiving the core, Mark surrounded it with [Miasma] and stored it inside a metal case he created from [Blood Metal]. Only then did he put it inside a backpack he took out of his [Spatial Ring].

Why not put the core inside his ring? It was not like he did not try to. But apparently, he could not.

Mark could not put the core inside with his [Miasma] covering it. His [Miasma] could enter the ring. However, the inside of the ring was an entirely different enclosed sub-space, and he would lose control of his [Miasma] inside it. After all, [Miasma] was neither a solid nor a stable energy. It may run amok inside his ring and destroy it.

And unfortunately, the core alone could not enter his ring either. Mark tried it too. Since the core was extremely hot to affect the surroundings, he tried to put the core into his ring while slowly receding the [Miasma] he covered it with. However, the spatial pocket began shaking when the core touched the entrance.

Mark immediately halted the attempt. While he was unsure if the core would actually break the ring, his ring was too rare and precious to take the risk. That was why Mark had no choice but to put the core within the case he prepared while keeping it encased within a cover of [Miasma].

The [Spatial Ring's] inability to store the core was unexpected. However, it made sense. It was a Deity-level Demon's core. It was powerful but unstable. A ring with a small space would not be able to handle its energy.

Mark and Spera spent the next few hours with Teremillio and his harem as they had a tour around the Stone Fortress. There were a lot of things still far from being rebuilt. At the least, the walls around the fortress were already finished.

Aside from the Metal Giant and a few random attacks, there was not much danger to face in the Stone Fortress. The illusion created using the forest by the foot of the mountain was still there, not allowing both the [Infected] and [Feral Animals] to pose much danger. Only [Mechids] were the ones who posed trouble as they could pass through the illusion without problems.

It was the same issue that the Mountain Base had since illusions that would affect the mind of organic beings were ineffective against mechanical enemies. Enemies also needed to enter the forest cast with the illusion to be effective, rendering it useless against flying enemies or enemies taller than the trees.

From this perspective, Mark realized why the [Latchers] used the baiting tactic against the Stone Fortress. Not all the [Latchers] fully occupied the brains of the hosts. Most of them only had control over the brain of the host while still relying on it for most of the host's body functions.

Those hosts of [Latchers] with intact brains were being affected by the illusions that were cast on the forest while the others were not. Such anomaly might have caused confusion among the [Latchers] since they could communicate with each other but receive inconsistent information between hosts. It might be the reason they could not orchestrate a full-on assault on the fortress, causing them to rely on such tactics.

Of course, it was just Mark's speculations.

Following Felenia and Teremillio as their guides, Mark and Spera also went to speak a little with the remaining leaders of the tribes that Mark's group met before. Of course, only those that left a positive image on Mark. For example, the royals of the Stone Fortress, the Chieftess of the [Anggitays], and the royals of the [Sylphs].

The meeting with the leaders did not take much time. In fact, Mark was just checking on them to gather some information. After all, the [Spirit Dimension] had already fused with Earth. All the treasures and resources that existed in that dimension should still be around, hidden in these new mountains.

Right now, Mark needed materials, especially magical ones. He wanted to make things and do experiments. Thus, getting information from these magical creatures was a must. And due to Mark's deeds before and now, they gladly shared what they knew. The information Mark got should keep him busy for the next week or so.

After Mark and Spera spent the next few hours around the Stone Fortress, the only thing left to do was go home.

Going home, Mark and Spera did not have to ride on Chaflar's back all the way. They only took off from the Stone Fortress, and after gaining enough altitude, Spera opened a portal where the three vanished into mid-air.

Before entering the portal, Mark looked at Diwata Luwalhati. Mark did not know how much time she had left, but this would be the last time he would see the grumpy imprint. Surely, they did not see each other on a good note. However, as Mark witnessed when the imprint joined the others to see his group off, the imprint had a bit of a change of heart.

The imprint of Diwata Luwalhati might still hate Demons to the core. In the least, Mark had taken his name off the list.

***

Mark and Spera returned tired. Not because they had to walk around the Stone Fortress the rest of the day. They were tired because of all the social interaction they had to do. The two did not want to, but they had to, unfortunately. No, only Mark had to. Spera was just dragged along for the most part of it.

Fortunately, Mark and Spera now had a warm home to go back to... A nice home they could peacefully relax and get a good rest... unlike before the outbreak.

***

In the following days, Mark was busy.

First, Mark had to go back to Corregidor Island. Fortunately, there was Spera's portal to go there almost instantly. He had to fulfill the promise and brought General Faustino with Jones Galley, General Bautista, and a few important officers.

General Miguel Perez, now the leader of Corregidor Settlement, was both surprised and happy about the sudden unexpected visit.

The close friendship between General Perez and General Faustino was well-known within the military. In fact, General Faustino was once General Perez's superior before he was promoted to the current position. And the happy reunion between the two was witnessed by many people, soldiers or not.

These kinds of events gave people more hope. Humans, while scattered, were still striving to survive. Still, seeing the old General's current state, many soldiers that looked up to him felt disheartened. After all, the brave and righteous Military General was now sitting in a wheelchair with a missing leg. Well, while dismayed, many saw this as something better. After all, death was something that could be found in every corner of the current times.

This sudden visit caused an immediate information exchange witnessed by the officials of the Corregidor Settlement. While the Infanta's side was led by General Faustino, General Bautista led the exchange. While General Bautista was promoted as the new leader of the Infanta Settlement, his status as a General was still unofficial. As such, he was the right person to serve as General Faustino's assistant.

Unfortunately, Mark had to join in on the information exchange as he was the only person with concrete information about what happened in two settlements that the military organized when the apocalypse came. The first was the Codon Settlement in the province of Catanduanes, and the other was the Liloan Settlement in the province of Cebu.

The events in Liloan Settlement and its fall caused some dismay, while the aftermath and where its survivors ended up lifted up the atmosphere a bit. However, what happened to Codon Settlement sparked a debate.

Some of the officers present were politicians. The newly replaced president was also present, albeit not holding any authority over the meeting. A few of them were among the faction of the perpetrators in Codon Settlement. As such, a few accusations came flying. The notion of removing the politicians from the commanding scene was also pushed. After all, Codon Settlement's destruction was attributed to the meddling of the politicians that could not let go of their greed for power.

Unfortunately, that greed was also true in most of the politicians present. Some of them were those that abandoned the president at the last minute. Although they received sanctions, they refused to let go of their current positions. Unfortunately, getting new people to replace them would also take time. As such, some of them were still in the position.

The information exchange turned into a heated fight between military officials and greedy politicians. Thus, the information exchange was postponed due to the heated up arguments.

Mark was annoyed. His time was being wasted by these greedy pigs, after all. If not for General Perez giving a heartfelt apology, he might have just left them already.

The postponement of the information exchange gave the visitors some time to see what the Corregidor Settlement looked like.

Seeing it for himself, General Faustino understood why Mark was not supportive of the Infanta Settlement joining the Corregidor Settlement.

The facilities of the inner circle of Corregidor Settlement were good. They had an intact laboratory, a running weapon facility, and other things that Infanta Settlement lost due to the disasters they faced.

However, it had a problem with living space, a steep differentiation with status, not to mention that annoying clash between the military and the remains of the government. Not to mention that the current leadership of General Perez was not fully established yet.

If General Faustino decided to move the people of Infanta Settlement to Corregidor Settlement in its current state, they would face more problems. Not to mention that the security was only good within the walls, where only the powerful could live. Most of Infanta's refugees were just regular people. As such, they would all end up in the slums around the inner walls.

Furthermore, there were not enough soldiers to protect the whole Corregidor Settlement due to its size and population. Even if Infanta's soldiers joined the soldiers in Corregidor, it would not be enough. There was also the problem of people needing to adjust to the new environment. The people of Infanta had already adjusted to their current living conditions. They were now slowly thriving. If they moved, the people needed to readjust once again, not only the difference in the environment but also the kinds of danger present in Corregidor.

Thus, while not fully trashing the thought, General Faustino and General Bautista also postponed the intention to join the larger settlement. Though the two Generals agreed that it would be better if the scientists in Infanta moved to Corregidor as it had the facilities they needed for research.

The work in Corregidor took a few days to finish. It was the typical government stuff, taking a lot more time than it was supposed to. Fortunately, Mark could just go back and forth without problems.

At this time, Mark's friends wanted to see the place he now lives, the Mountain Base. Mark was not too supportive of their intentions, but he still agreed. It would be good for the residents of the Mountain Base to see new faces from time to time, although Mark wondered if the resolve of his friends would waver after seeing the place he founded.

The visitors came, and they all had the same shock and surprise as the first people that saw the Mountain Base.

Fortunately, while the visitors did waver, none of them pushed to stay in the Mountain Base. They had their own duties and responsibilities to fulfill, after all.

Of course, they asked Mark to fetch them from time to time so they could visit. Mark had no problems with that as long as it was not too frequent.

***

Mark had a lot of work even after those already tiring days. Picking up the remaining spoils left in the Stone Fortress, gathering some strange information from the other settlements, and of course, things Mark wanted to do.

After all the work outside, Mark stayed within the Mountain Base. He could be found either within his workshop or inside the subspace of Chiyo, the [Night Everred Pure Spirit Tree]. Of course, he was working with things, experimenting, and studying.

Mark was doing many things to the point that Mei and the little girls had to drag him away from his work from time to time.

It was not that Mark became a workaholic. He was the same Otaku before the outbreak. It was just... his Otaku tendencies found something new to focus on. Of course, aside from Japanese entertainment stuff and Video Games, Mark still spent time on during his breaks.

***

And just like that, another month and a half passed in a flash.

<strong>-Volume 15 END-</strong>