Mutagen

Day 129 - 4:06 PM - Newton Lake, Veteran's Memorial Park, Oaklyn, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America

Several minutes before the barrier vanished, Mark was already frowning as he detected new guests arriving one after another. 

It was a pretty problematic situation. Many people were approaching. Some of them were humans, but none of them were regular people. Luckily, the energy from the curse in the area they sat at was thick. It was to the point of obscuring the view from outside the barrier. 

In the least, before the barrier vanished, none of the guests outside could see them.

"Gege, what are we going to do now?"

Mei could not help but ask as she readied her weapon.

There, Illia thought of something.

"You have some space pocket, right? Can't you put Master inside that? After that, we can run away and escape."

"You are going to trust us with that?"

Mark asked.

"It's not like we have other choices, do we?"

Sure enough, even Illia felt the pressure of the situation. She was willing to risk it rather than letting her Master get harmed here.

Mark smiled. It kind of felt nice, being trusted by someone you just met. Unfortunately, he could only shrug.

"That's not possible."

"Why?" Illia frowned. "Isn't that woman inside?"

Mark stared at Illia. Even though this woman was over five-thousand years old, she was an airhead towards things like this.

"That's a bluff," Mark replied. We can't store living creatures inside. Elise already escaped with her brother. I just said that to make sure that you won't chase them."

Illia stared at Mark with a blaming look. She just realized that the man outside the barrier before was now gone. No wonder now.

"Gege, what about your Miasma?"

Mei whispered. If Mark used it, there would be no problem even if several times more enemies were surrounding them.

"I'll leave that as our last card," Mark replied with a shrug. "I can't risk things with an Eye lurking around."

Mei nodded. It was a reasonable thing to do.

Back then, Mark could just use it without regard for anything. It was because he barely knew things he should watch out for. Ignorance was bliss, as they said.

Now, along with gaining knowledge about the hidden face of the world, he had many factors to consider before using his best abilities.

It was even more now because the creatures and people that lived hidden in the society before the outbreak started coming out.

If it was before the outbreak, most of these guests that appeared now would not even come here. Even the first thing to happen if the curse activated at that time would be the American Military securing the place and controlling the information from coming out.

Well now, the military could even barely keep themselves from collapse, not to mention taking control of these matters.

"Why the hell did we suddenly get thrown into a Chinese Novel setting..."

Mark murmured with a deep sigh. Both Illia and Mei heard that but could only look at him with confusion. The two could not understand why he said that, after all.

***

Soon, the barrier vanished, and Chimetrice was still not finished absorbing all the energy from the crystals.

Illia could not help but stand up, ready to fight. On the other hand, Mei was waiting for Mark's instructions.

"You should sit down."

Mark said to Illia.

"But..."

"Just let me handle this for now. Don't make any rash moves unless I said so."

Mark said with a serene expression. Illia seemed hesitant. Furthermore, she had never taken any orders that did not come from her Master. However, her Master was still in a meditative state, and she knew that she was not too smart enough to deal with these kinds of situations. Thus, she could only back down and sit as close as possible to her Master.

Mei, on the other hand, remained on position. Still, it was clear that she was ready to act whenever Mark called for it.

"Mei'er, hide your wings."

"Okay."

While Mark told Mei that, he also hid his. If things go awry, it could serve as a good surprise.

As Mark stood up, he took a deep breath. He was not scared. And rather than saying that he was calm, it was better to say that there were no traces of any emotions in his face.

In this condition, it was easier to face the guests.

Mark stared at the guests rushing towards the center of the place affected by the curse.

Many of them did not even look human. There were even beasts that were only heard off from local mythology, legends, and folklore.

It was somehow unexpected that there was a strange flying vehicle about the size of a bus. Furthermore, it was moving without making any unnecessary sound.

There was also a small group of people riding on flying swords and were wearing traditional Chinese clothes. Without a doubt, they were cultivators from China. It was quite mysterious that they were here despite their county being on the other side of the globe.

But the strangest thing that made Mark frown was that even though he could sense the presence of the Eye in the surroundings, he could not see it or even pinpoint its exact location after the barrier vanished. He could feel that the Eye never left, but it disappeared as if its existence earlier was nothing but a lie.

On the other side, these guests that rushed towards the source of the curse could not help but stop on their tracts as they saw Mark's group. They could not fathom how there were people inside the barrier.

"Who are you, people?"

It was the middle-aged man with white hair that asked. He was the leader of the first group that arrived. Because they were riding on a Thunderbird, they reached the center faster than the others.

There was a deep frown on the man's face. It was as if his house had been robbed empty or his wife had cheated on him.

"Aren't we supposed to be the ones asking that question?" Mark replied. "Just because the barrier vanished, it doesn't mean that all of you can barge into our business. All of you should just leave."

A reply that was rude but rational, that was what Mark said in return.

"On what grounds should we leave?"

One of the lackeys beside the white-haired man seemed to be offended and barked at Mark.

"Because we are the ones that released the curse?" Mark said nonchalantly. "It's our business and not any of you. Most people will say this to anyone sticking their noses where it doesn't belong. Mind your own business, right?"

Many were appalled by the way Mark replied. Nevertheless, no one could refute him as it was the truth.

"Then tell us what happened here. Why would something big like this happen?"

Unexpectedly, it was a young man from the group of Chinese cultivators that chimed in.

But Mark looked at him with a ridiculing look.

"Are you deaf or an idiot? I already said that mind your own business."

With that reply, the young man's face distorted in anger. If not for the elder behind him holding his shoulder, he might have rushed towards Mark already.

"Hey, are you sure about this?" Illia suddenly whispered from behind. "I don't think provoking them will do anything aside from making things worse."

Mark did not reply to Illia. Who knows whether there would be anyone among the uninvited guests with very keen hearing.

However, it was never his intention to negotiate. In the face of these people, that would be a sign of weakness. Once that happened, they could consider themselves fish on the cutting board. These people would not hesitate to attack and try to get what they thought that might have caused this mess. It was even though there was nothing at all but Chimetrice.

By standing his ground, however, Mark saw his desired result.

None of these people could tell why Mark was unafraid despite facing many powerful beings. It was even more strange since he looked nothing but a human. He might have a hidden card that could be used against them.

Furthermore, the existence of Chimetrice was already giving them pressure. Just him sitting there without moving worked as a ward over those with weaker hearts.

Thus, none of them wanted to sacrifice themselves and test the waters.

Then, Mark ignored the others and focused on the spaceship.

"How are you all connected to Professor Alphfa Alston?"

Mark asked, sensing the five aliens aboard the small ship.

While that question made the other guests confused, the spaceship unexpectedly made some movements.

On its bottom, a hole opened, and a device that looked like a disc with a green lens showed up. From the lens, a greenish light beamed down in front of Mark. There, a holographic image of a creature that looked similar to Professor Alston appeared, a Greyling.

"Who. are. you. and. what. is. your. connection. to. Professor. Alston?"

The alien asked Mark in a pretty much broken speech. It seemed like compared to Professor Alston, this alien was not that proficient in speaking human language.

"An acquaintance. We met three days ago and exchanged information."

"Is. that. so?" 

The alien replied. Then, it roamed its head around as if looking at something. Soon, it had a look of understanding.

"Your. telling. the. truth. Professor. Alston's. acquaintance. we. won't. disturb. you. any. longer."

As soon as the Greyling finished saying that, the holographic image vanished. And as quick as they arrived, the spaceship left.

"Did that guy look at something like a log?" Mark murmured. "Anyways, that got rid of one problem."

Mark smiled slightly. It was just a gamble. He was not sure whether those aliens were connected to Professor Alston at all. However, he expected that there was no way that different alien groups would operate in a single area.

The spaceship left, leaving everyone in awe. With that conversation, Mark had just revealed that he had some connection to an otherworldly force even though he looked like an ordinary human.

That fact caused the remaining guests to became even more hesitant to make a move.

It fell according to Mark's intentions. Now, without anyone testing the waters, none would make any drastic moves. Between Mark and the guests, it was correct to say that they were at a standstill.

What Mark made dismayed, however, was the fact that none of the remaining guests had any intention to leave. It was quite expected, though. They were already here, and they would not go home without gaining anything.

It looked like they really wanted to know what happened here. If Mark's group left, they would surely scour the area for clues.

If that was the case, Mark had no problems with that. Once Chimetrice woke up, there was no need to fear these people anymore. Even Gods could not kill Chimetrice, not to mention these people.

Unfortunately, it would not be easy, though.

Sitting on the bench not far from Mark, a child sat without being noticed by everyone. He was no other than the Eye that arrived earlier.

"This guy is good." The boy murmured while looking at Mark. "He managed to stall for time with just his words and actions."

"What a strange bunch. An unknown being, the [Body of Void], a Succubus, and a Humanoid Chimera." Then, the boy's eyes fell on Chimetrice and seemed to be trying to remember something. "Ah... I remember now. This one should be the anti-god weapon created five-thousand years ago. Looks like the sealing curse that got broken is from him, huh."

The boy then panned his eyes at the hyenas waiting for their opportunity to receive some gains in this mess.

"It's no fun if it continued like this..." He murmured in a bored tone.

There, a playful grin was showed on his face.

That was when a voice echoed in everyone's ears except for Mark and his group. No one could tell where it came from and felt more like it was directly transferred into their heads.

It was like a Devil's whisper.

"Don't fall for that guy's schemes. He is just biding his time since that person with wings can't move while absorbing the treasure they unsealed. You should take advantage of the situation and steal the treasure before it is fully consumed."

That was the voice said, triggering the greed in the hearts of these people.