Mutagen

Day 150 - 2:45 AM - Forest Area, Military Outpost, Santo Domingo Elementary School, Barangay Santo Domingo, Municipality of Virac, Catanduanes

Val Flora received the shock of her life in this meeting. As Mark handed his downpayment to her, she received the item with her shaking hands.

A single small crystal to have a value equivalent to a thousand kilos of gold bars. It was an extremely valued item. However, the price was not the crucial thing here, but the rarity of something that was not supposed to exist in the current times.

With the crystals in her hand, Val Flora moved the crystals in front of Odessa. The [Wise Owl] then began to judge the value of the crystals.

To her surprise once more, the crystal with a similar size to the first one had the exact same value. It was as if the crystals were mass-produced. On the other hand, the small crystal was priced at seventy-six thousand points.

The value of the three crystals was far more than enough as a downpayment.

Receiving the intended payment, Val Flora took a deep breath, returning to her business behavior.

"The value of the items exceeded the intended downpayment. Is it fine for the exceeding points to reflect into the final price of the information?" Val Flora asked. "If not, I can establish a temporary point account in which you can store the remaining points."

"Is that point account similar to a bank account?"

Mark inquired.

"Rather than a bank account, it is more of a point storage for future transactions." Val Flora answered. "It is a service open to VIPs and possible long-term clients."

Mark nodded, understanding the explanation.

"Then, just reflect it to the price of information I needed."

"If you wish." Val Flora vowed. "With, the transaction between I, Information Gatherer: Val Flora, and the Client Mark, had been finalized."

Val Flora then put her left hand on the mark on her neck once more, causing it to glow. At the same time, the [Wise Owl], Odessa, flew off from Val Flora's shoulder and circled above her.

It was when a large feather from Odessa's wings fell in front of Val Flora, who caught the feather calmly.

"Please, accept this." Val Flora handed the feather to Mark as Odessa landed on her shoulder once more. "Put a drop of blood on the feather, and it will serve as the proof for this transaction."

Being told that, Mark received the feather from Val Flora. Without hesitation, he let a drop of his blood trickle onto the feather.

CRACKLE!

Suddenly, the feather released red sparks like an electrical appliance that suddenly short-circuited. That even obviously caused Val Flora to panic a little, although she tried her best not to show it. She only heaved a sigh of relief after the sparks were gone and the mark of the organization appeared on the feather with a golden glow.

"That's not supposed to happen, right?"

Mark turned to Val Flora.

"Dropping blood to the feather should only make the mark appear. Only the red sparks are unexpected." Val Flora explained. "Your blood might be special for such a reaction to happen.

"I see." Mark played with another drop of his blood, feigning curiosity on his face. "Don't you think it might be because I'm a demon?"

"No." Val Flora shook her head. "We had transactions with different kinds of races. Only people with special blood are likely to cause an unexpected reaction like that."

Hearing that, Mark shrugged. He did not want to continue with the topic and expose himself in the process.

"Anyway, since I already gave the downpayment, how long will it take for me to get the information?"

Mark changed the topic.

"My apologies but the scope of your request started from six years ago. It would be hard to estimate the timeframe."

Val Flora replied.

Mark understood that. Even with a worldwide information network, it would not be easy to trace things all the way from six years ago. Nonetheless, Mark was not rushing.

"Then, how can I check if the information I wanted is ready?"

Mark asked another question.

Here, Val Flora pointed at the feather on Mark's hand.

"There's no need to find me. As your commissioned agent, I will find you instead."

There was no need for more explanation. Mark understood what Val Flora was implying.

"So, this feather also serves as a tracker?"

"In a sense, yes." Val Flora replied. "Normally, we would ask our clients if they wanted such service. However, we did not have such luxury at the moment. I believe you also know that."

Mark nodded. This transaction was abrupt anyway. Furthermore, Mark would not have much time to check every now and then. It would be better if the results were delivered to him instead when it was ready.

Of course, there was the risk that came alongside this situation. After all, Val Flora would be able to know his location at times. However, as Mark could not detect any hostility from Val Flora, he began to think that there would be no risk this time around.

Furthermore, Val Flora's group was afraid of Mark. It was seen when Felix immediately fled with Emellynn after his threat.

In any case, Mark was now their client and someone with a fat wallet. They would definitely not want to lose such a client that could provide rare items.

Although there was a chance that Val Flora would double-cross him in this deal, it was rather low considering the confidence that she and Felix showed towards their organization.

Anyway, it was not like Mark was afraid of being double-crossed by these people.

"So we are done here, right?"

Mark asked.

"If you had no other commissions to give, then yes."

Val Flora nodded.

"Then, I'll go first. I'll be waiting for the information." Mark said as he bid goodbye. "By the way, here's something for you. I don't know what you guys are planning on this island, but it's likely that I will end up standing on your way. So here's some compensation."

Mark suddenly threw something at Val Flora in which she hurriedly caught in surprise. He then vanished in a puff of black smoke, which Val Flora did not expect to happen.

Val Flora stared at the place where Mark stood before. She tried sensing the surroundings if Mark was still around, but she could not find any trace. Knowing that Mark actually left, Val Flora's straight back and shoulders drooped.

"I feel drained." Val Flora complained before turning to her [Wise Owl]. "Odessa, you can return now."

As Val Flora commanded, Odessa flew off from her shoulder. Val Flora then tapped the mark on her neck, causing the summoning magic circle to appear once more. There, the [Wise Owl] flew and entered the magic circle before vanishing.

"I should call for retrieval of the payment and send other information gatherers for this task." 

Val Flora said, looking at the three crystals and folded page of a notebook in her hand.

She then looked at her other hand. It was the thing that Mark threw to her before leaving. Looking at the item, she did not know how to react anymore.

Mark actually threw another pure energy crystal at her for compensation. Was he being generous or not? Val Flora could not tell. In any case, it was confirmed that Mark might tip the power balance on the island soon. In that case, they would likely fail their other mission and would not be able to do anything to prevent it.

In any case, the value of this crystal was far exceeding the cost of failure. With this, there was no need to struggle. They might as well cancel the mission, return the payment to the political faction, and also pay the penalty. Even after all those, there would still be a hefty sum for them to share.

As it appeared, Mark was not heartless to his possible allies.

"What a mysterious guy."

Val Flora said as she made her way back to the outpost. This time, she was not in a hurry and took her time to relax along the way.

As Roach said, Mark was a dangerous person. Now, Val Flora could attest to that. The pressure around him while talking alone was quite intense, even for her that was trained since childhood.

In the least, it was good that Mark was not their enemy at this point.

***

Finishing the deal, Mark returned to the outpost. He was in a good mood since one of the things he was worried about finally had some progress. Furthermore, the progress was not just a small step but possibly a large one. If it went well, there was also a possibility of locating all the remaining [Inheritors] in one go.

There was no way that Mark would not feel even a little bit of happiness in this scenario.

After all, Freed was literally his benefactor. His wish was one of the priorities that Mark had now.

As Mark returned, he expected Mei to be awake once more. Well, she was. However, it seemed that she was lying down inside the tent, trying to go back to sleep.

Mark could not help but smile. His beautiful wife was sulking. 

Well, it was not like Mei was against him leaving her side now and then. She only wanted Mark to tell her if he was going out.

On the other hand, Mark did not want to disturb her sleep just to tell her that he would be going out.

Thus, it ended up in this situation.

Mark shrugged and entered the tent. Surely, Mei knew that he was already there, but she was not opening her eyes at all, feigning to sleep deeply.

With a smile, Mark laid down beside Mei. And then, gave Mei a kiss on her forehead. 

Mei did not show any movement. She was still feigning to be in deep sleep. However, her face was already red from Mark's action.

"Sleep already." Mark caressed Mei's hair. "We still have a lot to do tomorrow."

Mei opened her eyes, pouting. Then, she embraced Mark, even tighter than the previous two times this night.

Finally, she went back to sleep while Mark also took a bit of a nap.

***

Day 150 - 7:14 AM - Military Outpost, Santo Domingo Elementary School, Barangay Santo Domingo, Municipality of Virac, Catanduanes

The sun rose once more in the apocalyptic world.

Outside the Santo Doming Military Outpost, a lot of people were gathered by the gates. Those people were no other than the workers that were saved from the hands of the Anti-Government Faction of the rebels. Among them, there was also General Padilla's entourage.

They were all here to bid farewell to Mark's group that was already climbing up Chaflar's back.

For the last time, the workers conveyed their gratitude to Mark's group for the new leash in life. The world might be harsh at its current state, but they still had the hope which Mark's group gave to them.

Even though Mark and Val Flora met last night, the two did not even try to show any sign of deep familiarity. It was the right conduct considering the circumstances.

It did not take long that Mark's group were done with their preparations. Soon, on Chalfar's back, they flew off, towards the mountains to the north.

Even after Mark's group flew away, the workers did not leave immediately. They watched the silhouette of the flying dragon until they could not see it anymore as it flew over the trees and hills.

Only when the silhouette of Chaflar could not be seen anymore was when the workers left. They also had to do their own preparations. Like Mark's group, they also needed to leave the outpost together with the General's convoy.

They would be starting their new life in the Catanduanes Military Settlement in Codon.