Mutagen

Day 357 - 6:02 PM - Museum Bandar Cimanuk, Lemahabang, Indramayu, Indramayu Regency, West Java, Indonesia

It was a sudden encounter between two groups amidst the thick fog. Both groups might have been expecting to face monsters but definitely not meeting other people. And this was why both parties showed a hint of surprise due to this unexpected situation.

"Who are you people?"

The people in the area clear of the fog were the ones to first jump into action, specifically, a man who appeared rather extremely wary of the strangers in front of him and his group.

With that man in the lead, his voice prompted the other members of his group to pick their weapons up in case of an attack.

"Put your weapons down!"

However, the woman with the purple hair had a different order.

"Luna?"

The man questioned the woman's order, but another woman stood beside him and gently pushed the gun in his hands to point to the ground. He could only look at the woman beside him, only to see her pointing at something.

Everyone soon realized why Luna told them to stand down. It was because the other group they were pointing their guns at had children with them.

While the group might be wary, pointing their guns at children would be something they did not want to do.

"UWAA!!!"

But a cry from another member caused everyone to raise their guns again as they stepped back in fear.

It was because, following behind the group in front of them, a giant black lizard emerged from the fog.

None of them had ever seen a creature like that. Not only was the lizard huge, but its appearance alone was intimidating.

Unfortunately, the fear of the unknown creature caused one of the armed men to trip as he stepped back. And along with his accidental fall, he pulled the trigger of his pistol.

In everyone's shock, the gun fired straight at the man in front of the unfamiliar group.

However, the man did not flinch at all. The next thing they knew, the man already had his large sword blocking in front of him. The sword's blade made a loud clang as it blocked the bullet completely. And with a muffled clink, the bullet fell to the ground.

On the receiving end of the stray bullet, Mark frowned as his eyes peeked over the blade of his sword. He, who always relied on his [Empath] abilities for detecting the surroundings, was also taken off guard in this sudden encounter.

It was an encounter without any preparations. Furthermore, while the crystals gave Mark's group some extended visibility, the effect of the fog on their magical abilities was still there. Thus, Mark could not get an on-point evaluation of the people in front of him.

Nonetheless, Mark could at least tell they were not bandits after seeing their reactions when they saw his daughters. They might not be hostile either but were just wary of strangers.

However, while these people were in the clear in Mark's eyes, his members thought otherwise. Mark got shot just now. They would not let that slide easily. Mei and the girls were ready to reap some lives already.

Mark stared at the opposite group. By the looks of it, the purple-haired woman wanted to reprimand their idiotic member that misfired his gun. However, she noticed the killing intent released by Mark's members after he received the bullet. As such, she could not help but feel wary of the situation. She also noticed that Chaflar was part of his group, considering that there was a weakened Hannah riding on Chaflar's back.

That purple-haired woman, Luna, was open-minded enough to realize the possibility of having tamed creatures. Or maybe they had seen some similar circumstances before. Still, her mind was clear enough, not letting fear swallow her thoughts in the instance of a strange and unexpected encounter.

Unfortunately, the same was not the case for the other members of her group. Looking at their group, only she and the other two women were of the same caliber. The man who was the first to react was behind the three, while the others were far behind the four.

Knowing that his members were ready to attack at his command, Mark raised his left hand as a signal. The girls seemed displeased, but they obeyed and stood down.

Luna did not show much emotion, but she was relieved that the other group did not attack in retaliation. She did not know whether they could win against the people in front of her in a fight, but she knew that they had no way of defeating that dragon-like monster.

Mark gave one last glance at the wary group. He then turned to his own group and gave his instructions.

On the other side, Luna and her members were already ready for confrontation. Sure, it was their side's fault here, but they had no idea what the other group's purpose was.

But Luna and the members of the Moon Chasers were surprised as the other group began to turn around and leave.

Luna could only sigh in relief after seeing that the other group did not want to fight. But before everyone could even settle down, someone spoke.

"Hey! Are you looking for a place to camp?"

The members of the Moon Chasers were all flabbergasted as one of their own shouted at the group who was about to leave.

"Limabela! What are you trying to do?!"

Bajing exclaimed in a low voice as she saw their friend making a risky move.

"Don't worry!" Limabela smiled. "Just trust me!"

The members of the Moon Chasers could only wonder where Limabela's confidence came from. Thus, they could only look at their leader.

Unfortunately for the wary members, Luna only stared at Limabela without stopping her. Luna was looking at Limabela's unique trait at times like this. It was the bluish-purple glint in her eye whenever she did something drastic and ended up getting things right.

On the other hand, Mark and his group could only turn their heads after hearing the question.

And with a rather broken Indonesian grammar, Mark asked.

"Can you speak English? I'm still not that proficient in Indonesian."

Those words became a surprise for the members of the Moon Chasers. Mark's words were right, but his accent and pronunciation sure needed work. It was a clear indication of a self-taught foreigner.

And in apocalyptic Indonesia, foreigners were pretty rare.

Fortunately, most members of Moon Chasers, especially the higher positions, were pretty proficient with the international language.

Limabela repeated her question in English. And Mark confirmed they were looking for a place to camp for the night.

"Then just stay here. It's a large place, anyway," Limabela suggested before turning to Luna. "It's fine, right?"

Luna stared at her friend in exasperation. And with a shrug, Luna spoke.

"Just in the yard. Keep some distance away from the building."

"Hear that?" Limabela asked Mark. "Just stay here until the fog lifts. Just in the corner of the yard, though."

Mark thought about it a little. While these people looked wary, they did not seem aggressively hostile. He was still unsure about the purpose of this lively woman, though. Nonetheless, there was no reason to refuse the offer.

However, without saying another word to Limabela, Mark made his group follow to a far corner of the clear area. There, they began setting up camp.

Was it rude to not say another word? In a way, yes. However, considering that one of them fired a gun at the other group even by accident, they pretty much deserved this amount of rudeness.

In any case, they managed to avoid a direct conflict. The first encounter might not be pleasant, but in the least, there were no clear hostilities.

Inside the structure in the middle of the clear area, the four higher-ups of the Moon Chasers had a meeting with a few members.

"Limabela. What is that out there? What are you trying to do?"

The man fastest to react earlier, Edge, questioned Limabela and her erratic actions.

This question was not surprising at all. Everyone in the group also wanted to know the reason.

Unfortunately, only Luna and Bajing knew of Limabela's peculiarities. The other members had no idea. They could only ask for explanations.

"Instinct?" Limabela gave a playful reply. "We needed help with many things. I feel like they were just what we needed."

The members listening could only frown at that answer. They could not believe that Limabela was pushing everyone into danger just because of a gut feeling.

"Luna, what do you think about this?"

Edge asked Luna. In the end, she was their leader.

However, Luna chose Limabela's side.

"Things are already done. We can only keep our guards up."

It meant that the group could and should do nothing in the current situation but look after themselves.

Soon, the night rolled in, and the tension among the Moon Chasers was pretty high because of the strangers outside. It was an unknown group of foreigners with a dragon-like creature and a few more animals. Furthermore, the Moon Chasers were often the target of other survivor groups for some reason. They could not help but think that the strangers outside might be some hidden forces of those enemy groups.

However, contrary to the cautious thoughts of their other members, Limabela dragged her two close friends to meet the strangers outside during dinner.

"Um, hello? Again?"

Limabela greeted the strange group, not showing fear, only friendliness.

On the other hand, Mark and the girls could only stare at the friendly girl in askance. The right reaction was what their other members had. This friendly girl was an odd one.

And in the apocalypse, true friendliness was hard to come by. Most often, someone showing this amount of friendliness had an ulterior motive.

Unfortunately, Mark could not tell. The fog still hampered his [Empath] abilities. He could not read the emotions of the friendly girl trying to talk to him and his group.

"Do you need something?"

Mark asked, neither friendly nor hostile.

"We would like to apologize for the accident earlier. It was fortunate that you are skilled, or that could have turned into a disaster."

The friendly woman apologized and bowed her head slightly. She then pushed her two friends to do the same.

Mark was pretty confused. He was pretty sure that Indonesia had no bowing tradition for apologies like Japan and Korea. Was it a mistake? Or maybe it was a mannerism these three women picked up.

And Mark had a single comment about this.

"Weebs?"

Mark uttered a question in front of the three.

And as a response to Mark's comment, the three blushed in embarrassment.

The three women were caught off-guard and could not answer in time, but their reaction by reflex was more than enough to answer the question.

At the least, these three women knew what it meant, unlike most of the disillusioned ones in the community. Furthermore, they were aware they belonged to the category.

"Y-you too?"

The friendly girl asked.

But Mark shook his head.

"I'm no Japanophile. I'm just a nerd. So, I categorize as an Otaku more than a Weeb."

Mark replied.

The three women looked at Mark with surprised reactions. It seemed they did not expect to meet someone in the same circle during this point in the apocalypse.

Weebs and Otakus might have differences, but they also had similarities, making both getting dumped into the same communities. Nonetheless, most of their interests started with Anime, causing both categories to often mix together.

And for the three Weebs to meet an Otaku in the middle of this thick fog, it might be fate.

This fortunate exchange caused the wariness to lessen even more. Well, Limabela did not show any wariness in the first place. It was as if she was sure Mark's group would not be a threat to them as long as they did not start fanning the flames first.

And with Limabela's friends finally warming up, Limabela asked to sit down to ask some questions while offering to answer some questions, too.

The information exchange began as Mark offered the three women some warm soup for dinner.