Leave The Monster Alone

"Let's think about it after we clean up" the teen did not complain over the order and they started the cleanup.

It was a mindless hassle for them to perform. Mark had already sent a small message to inform the base commander about what had happened and updated them about this situation. People had started to filter out of their hiding spots.

Some of the dead bodies they had dumped were still intact, the others had visible holes inside them. 

"Let's burn them all. They could be carrying infection in them" Mark advised Alan who agreed with a nod. He might not agree with Mark's decision from an emotional point of view but he did understand it from a logical point of view.

"Do you have some samples saved for me?" Rika asked as soon as she saw them. In reality, she had wanted to ask if they were alright and if she could help with anything but she had been unable to voice it. 

In the end, she had decided to default her concern to a language she had been most known for. She could guess the rest by their voices and make a decision logically afterwards.

"I might have some you would be interested in. Thankfully, both of us did not sustain any injuries we cannot overcome shortly" Mark gave her a status report, including what she wanted to actually hear. 

Mark had guessed her real intentions very easily and had assured her accordingly.

"We should contact Liam and the home base now. He must be worried" he must be livid with them for dealing with this conversation but they did not have any choice. Mark should have sent him a message as well but he had not found the time to compose one.

He could send one now but it was just better to have the communication array connected first before they went anywhere else.

'Your report is four hours. Was there a complication on your side?' Liam sounded pissed as Mark had expected. The other had likely been looking into their channel throughout the day.

"We had a communication jam due to a divine beast. The situation had been handled and the divine beast had been dealt with '' Mark's words only made sense to a few of them. Beside him, Alan and the commander jumped a little for different reasons.

"That was a core? Why did you not tell me that?" the commander asked, her voice almost shaky. Mark did think to keep this a secret but it would not work out in the long run once they started observing the bodies.

Alan, on the other hand, was tense because he did not know what to expect from this statement. He had not expected Mark to bring this point up and was not sure if he would be exposed as well.

"WHAT HAPPENED? YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO KEEP ME INFORMED'"As Mark had expected, Liam exploded. He seemed to be doing that a lot around him now and could tell from the commander's expression that it was not a common occurrence at all.

"Things happened faster than we would have liked. The girl, Suzy, was a divine beast who had affected more than 30 people. Her death was what solved everything but her core disappeared when she did" technically, it was true.

Her mind raced with ideas to make the situation seem more legit than it actually was. Mark had to keep Alan's involvement to a minimum while also giving out as much information as he could present the party with.

Alan also let out a silent sigh of relief and guilt. He should not have doubted Mark who had been nothing but kind to him all this while. Just because he was no longer fully human did not mean Mark was going to cast him aside.

Mark was not someone like that at all.

The system was starting to buzz once again which meant he was about to hit his limit.

"Fine. We will have a briefing later, Mark. Agent 009, I want a status report from you" the female straightened up, her back straight as a rod. It was clear that 'Agent 009' was her. They were avoiding using real names.

"If you want Agent 003. Give agent 005 my regards" she called out sweetly and received a glare from Liam. There was a history there Mark was not privy to and he had no intention of digging either. 

Also, those statements were a huge spoiler for Mark. if Liam was agent 003, then there were likely two more above him. These ranks and numbers seemed to be based on their overall position in this operation or something.

Since Liam had never talked about it to Mark, he was not sure how many there actually were but there were at least 9 of them. So far, Mark had met 4 of them which left 5 more to discover.

Were they at the other bases? Or were they somewhere else. That was a curious question to ask right now.

"Aright, are there people unaccounted for right now? I want a status update on everyone" the female was more capable than the last base, maybe due to the task force she had. She was commanding and everyone was listening with full attention.

"Some people are protesting to get the dead bodies back. What should we do with them?" the commander turned to Mark, her eyes asking him what he did with the bodies.

"Burned them to not risk contamination" the female just sighed in response, her eyes showing how tired she actually was. But Mark could see that she agreed with him as well.

"I'll look after it then. You can go" She shooed them all out while she muttered a few plans under her breath. Mark allowed himself to go out, his gaze ignoring the angry looks of people outside.

Many had not been happy with his behaviour and how he handled this situation but he had known that it was the best way to deal with this all.

Rika led them to their assigned rooms. Out of them all, she was the only one who had any idea where their assigned rooms were at. 

"So, would you now tell me what it was all about now?" Rika asked as she cornered the two people inside the room. She knew she was missing far too much in the context here but she would only come to know if they wanted her to know.

And from their expression, she would not be privy this time either.

"Fine, never mind. Just tell me what you have planned next. Are we leaving this place anytime soon? I get the feeling that we will no longer be welcomed here" Rika had felt the hostility of the common masses.

She was more than sure that there would be an attempted murder in the next few hours at least. If not on her and Alan, then at least on Mark who had been the cause of this problem.

"We need to stay one more day. We can leave tomorrow if you like. I just need to check on a few more things" Rika did not object. If Mark had decided this then he likely had a plan he wanted to follow.

In reality, Mark really did not have a plan but he just wanted to have a look around before they left this place. His system had picked up something for a brief moment before it had gone quiet once again.

It might be a fluke or it might turn out to be something of incredible value, it could not be said right now what it would turn out to be. But Mark had a hunch that it might be important. Every base had at least one such spot and it was a pattern.

It could not be a coincidence.

"I see. Will you be going out now?" Rika asked, having guessed his thoughts. Mark nodded and the female let him go. As for her? She decided to go back to the labs to retrieve the last of the information she needed.

They had an incredible breakthrough that could help her further in her research. She felt as if she was almost there but she still lacked a certain important ingredient that would make it all into a perfect mixture. 

Once she had that, she would be ready to get her revenge.

"Alan, would you like to come with me or stay here with Rika?" Alan looked startled at being addressed because this was likely the first time Mark had made such an offer to him. In other situations, he was more than content to leave him behind.

But he wanted to go and he could take this chance now.

"I would like to" and so it was decided, Kuro would stay behind this time while Mark and Alan went out to check things out.

The base had settled down after some time but it was still filled with the hostile air which screamed that they were no longer welcomed there.