Mutagen

Day 71 - 5:22 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Malabito, General Nakar, Quezon

Reaching the base located in a flat area between two mountains, everyone was already dead tired. There might not be that too many battles along the way. However, just the rough new road out of Barangay Daraitan leading to the base drained out their energy because of the very bumpy ride.

When everyone saw the base, they could not help but feel amazed. Tall reddish-black walls surrounded the base. Above the walls, many odd-looking cross-bow like weapons were mounted. If that was not intimidating enough, the spikes protruding from the walls would surely frighten people enough to make them stay away from these walls.

"This is not just a base, it's more of a fortress."

Those words were what currently occupied their minds.

As for Mark, he felt rather proud of the base after seeing their reactions. The foundations of this base were laid out by him, after all.

Still, his proud feeling could not appear on his face at all as he frowned deeply.

The exterior of the base was all excellent and was even improved.

However, what was with the two tent villages outside the southern gates?

It was already surprising to find out that Barangay Daraitan was currently being occupied by a group of survivors. Yet, what was with this situation?

These two tent villages were set up with temporary huts separated by the road going towards the gate. By size, the people on the west side of the road numbered to thirty-two. On the east side, however, there were ninety-seven individuals.

The people on the west side looked really odd. By their appearance and the atmosphere around them, they seemed to be belonging to an indigenous tribe.

On the other hand, the larger group on the east side, many of them wore rags, they all looked normal citizens.

Since several vehicles arrived up the rough road, the people in the temporary huts were alarmed. They all went out of their dwellings to see what was going on. Amazement could be seen on their faces as they saw the Sci-fi looking vehicles leading the convoy. Of course, seeing Gifre, many were shocked that they ran into hiding.

Then, a commotion could be heard from the base.

Hurriedly, the gates opened. This seemed to have surprised the people on the east side of the road.

As the gate opened, several people went out with brightened faces. They were no other than Mark's direct subordinates left to lead the base. Huey, Joleen, Trisha, Ed, Ron were here. Along with them, Mark's friends, Hallie, Nicole, and Alana, also came. Unexpectedly, Aaron, Naomi, and Tullia, the slaves that were saved from Death Valley, were also present.

It was not hard to tell why they came out. Even without communication, it would be impossible for them not to recognize the same material used on the vehicles. After all, it was the same material used with the walls and weapons they had.

Seeing the vehicles modified with [Blood Metal] only meant that Mark had returned.

Their eyes lit up even more as they saw Mark going out of the vehicle leading the convoy.

""Boss!""

""Mark!""

The group coming out of the gates yelled in unison and greeted.

Mark nodded at their greetings and faced Huey, who served as the temporary leader, while he was not around.

"What happened? Why are there people outside?"

Mark asked while glancing at the people in the surroundings.

Hearing that question, Huey sighed.

"Actually, Boss, we don't know either."

According to Huey, this situation happened too suddenly.

The tribesmen seemed to have arrived first just a few days after Mark left with Miracle, Karlene, and Edzel. Since Mark made a very strict rule to not let any outsiders to the base, Huey did not let them in. Since the only way for them to enter was Mark's permission, Huey told the tribe that they have to wait for Mark or could just leave if they wanted to.

Nevertheless, they insisted on staying to meet Mark who was the owner of this base.

They did not seem to be bad people and that was why Huey and the others actually helped them make temporary dwellings for them. These tribesmen even helped with farming on the north side of the base in exchange for extra food and clothing. Since there were no problems with that, Huey and the others gladly accepted their proposition.

These tribesmen seemed to have some odd customs. Still, they were good people to work with.

As for the group on the other side, they suddenly appeared about five days after the tribe arrived. Furthermore, they arrived with a bit of commotion.

Apparently, this group arrived midday after the hornet nest northwest of the base were disturbed. Furthermore, when these people arrived, a lot of them were wounded, especially the ones wearing rags.

Furthermore, some of the people from this group tried to infiltrate the base one night. Of course, with Huey guarding the base entirely, there was nothing that could escape his ears within the base.

The intruders were eliminated without mercy. There were seven intruders and four among them were Mutators while the remaining were Evolvers. Unfortunately for them, their abilities were no match to the defenses of the base. They were killed even before they could climb over the walls.

When the other people from their group were questioned, they denied their involvement with the intruders. Since there was nothing that could serve as evidence, Huey could only maintain close guard towards that group.

"Alright, good work."

Mark tapped Huey's shoulder.

"It's nothing, Boss. We need to protect this place or we won't anywhere else to go."

Huey replied.

While the greetings were happening, some people from the vehicles also came out.

"Bessie!" Karlene shouted as she embraced Alana. "Look who's here!"

Karlene pointed at the person following behind her.

"Mizuki! Long time no see."

"Lynn!!!"

Alana shouted at Analynn in glee as the two embraced each other.

Mark was rather surprised hearing what Analynn called Alana though. However, asking about that would come for another time.

"Gege, who are the enemies?"

Mei, who also followed behind after Karlene and Analynn, approached Mark and whispered.

Sure enough, her appearance as she came out of the vehicle caused the world to still a bit. Everyone in Mark's group was already used to her appearance. The others who saw her for the first time were surely not.

What was unexpected was her question to Mark. She even had her sniper rifle and sub-machine guns with her. It seemed that she realized what Mark's frown meant. It was not only because there were people outside the base, but it was also because of something else.

"Huey, can you guys stomach killing people like animals?"

Mark asked which snapped everyone out of their trance at Mei's appearance. Still, the question made them shiver a bit. There was not a bit of joking on Mark's tone.

While the others hesitated to answer, three people nodded.

"Boss, I can if needed."

"Me too!"

"No problems with me."

Joleen, Hallie, and Alana replied respectively.

It was quite surprising that these three women were the ones to reply. However, it was enough.

Nodding, Mark gave his orders.

"You three go up the walls and man a needle launcher each. When I start, shoot all those that try to fight."

Hearing those orders, the three left without hesitation. Alana took along Analynn and Karlene while Hallie pulled Nicole with her.

"Mei'er, you also go up the walls. I'll do most of the things here."

Mark said to Mei.

"Okay."

Mei replied and embraced him a bit before following behind Karlene.

"Huey." Mark turned back to Huey who was a bit confused as to why Mark seemed to be releasing bloodlust right now. "Guide everyone inside. Also, let the tribe enter. I'll speak to them later."

Huey nodded as Mark signaled the vehicles to enter the gates. Still, he was surprised and glad that the tribe received the permission to enter.

When Huey informed the tribe about their entry, everyone was all smiling. Finally, they received what they had been waiting for all this time. As the tribe took out their very few belongings, they were escorted inside the base.

Among the tribesmen, an old woman took Mark's attention as the younger tribesmen helped her walk.

On the other hand, the old woman was also staring at Mark even though her eyes seemed to be already bad. It was questionable how she was able to look at Mark at this distance.

Furthermore, the old woman nodded at Mark with a respectful greeting. Mark could tell that the old woman was strange and possibly, a psychic. As the old woman did not harbor any ill intentions, it was fine to let them in for now.

Of course, the act of letting the tribe in caused some disturbance towards the other group.

While everyone entered the base, Mark stood in place watching them. It was when he was approached by some people.

"Sir, are you perchance the leader of this base?"

A bald man with a bushy beard and was had a shotgun strapped on his body asked while trying to be as respectful as possible.

Mark turned his head back looking at the man sideways.

"You're mistaken. I'm not the leader of this base. I'm the owner."

The rude and unfriendly tone Mark gave out made the representatives of the group make stiff expressions.

Mark's manner already showed it. They were not welcome in this place. However, they could not give up. If they could enter this place, they would not have problems looking for a place to live anymore.

"Sir, we saw that you let that tribe enter. I wonder if we could too. It was very dangerous for us to stay outside."

The man tried to persuade Mark.

However, Mark's response to that was a chilling smile.

"Before everything else, I want to ask you, people, something."

Mark finally faced them. Yet, they felt more uncomfortable for some reason.

"What is it, Sir?" The man replied. "As long as we could answer, there would be no problem."

"I'll ask then..." Mark's smile became even more chilling. "How many slaves did you people sacrifice to get here?"

That question alarmed them all as they all took a step back. The bald man even tried to retreat far from Mark as he was the closest.

However, he was not able to as Mark's hand grasped his neck.

"Let... me... go!!!"

The bald man struggled and tried to pull his shotgun.

"Unfortunately for you people..." Mark paid the guy no mind. "I don't plan to let the dregs of Death Valley enter my place."

The bald man's eyes became wide.

SNAP!

His neck was bent in an unsightly angle as his body went slump on Mark's right hand. Mark then threw the corpse of the bald man away like throwing a bag of garbage into a bin.

Seeing one of them die, the others immediately pulled their guns to point at Mark. However...

BANG! BANG! BANG!

SHOOV! SHOOV! SHOOV!

Their fates ended there. The men around Mark had either their heads exploded by Mei's sniper rifle or riddled with holes by the girls that manned the needle launchers by the wall.

"AAAAAHHHHH!!!"

Screams ensued as the group that approached Mark was killed in the blink of an eye. Of course, all these screams only came from those people dressed in pitiful rags.

As for the other members of this group that were the remains of Death Valley Settlement that managed to escape, the Mutators started to exhibit their abilities to counter-attack while many of the ones dressed in rags decided to run away.

Unexpectedly, despite how scared they were, many remained on the place covering their heads. These ones had no energy to run at all as the slave owners prioritized themselves for the food and water they had.

Finally, Mark gave his orders.

"Don't shoot the ones wearing rags! As for the others, kill them all!"