Mutagen

Day 161 - 10:21 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Malabito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon

The public meeting had just ended. The people, humans or not, who attended began to return to their duties. In everyone's faces, a variety of emotions could be seen.

That plethora of complicated emotions was not surprising, considering the unpredictable future they had to face.

All the things that [Mutagen] started already caused the world to collapse. And after facing the world-changing disaster, these things called [Mechids] appeared to terrorize humans even more.

The only good thing they heard was the radiation dissipating at a fast rate. And it seemed that there would not be any complications on the soil and plants due to the radiation. It was all because of the magical energy in the air cleansing the surroundings of contamination.

It was a piece of good news because it would not impact their ability to grow crops. The farmers were happy to hear this as only farming was what most of them were adept at. They might have been able to help in transporting supplies, but it was not enough for them. Only farming crops and livestock would satisfy the farmers, and it was a contribution only they could give to the base.

On the other hand, hunting animals for meat in the forest was expected to become even more dangerous.

Mark displayed the [Mechid] he brought back yesterday for everyone to see. A thing that small could sneak on anyone and kill them without noticing it. It was very different from creatures changed by [Mutagen] that grew bigger as they mutated.

Even Mark had that thought when he caught it yesterday. 

The [Parasite Queen] and [Spider Queen] he caught before was actually larger than the [Mechid] thing, he decided to call [Mechid Latcher]. He derived it obviously from how it latched onto the dog's head and controlled its body.

While everyone returned, Mark also went home with the people living in his house. But this time, he was accompanied by Emika's uncle, Chervil, and the Scientist from Felicia's group, Ernst.

The two scientists were not joining Mark's family for a meal, of course. Their destination was Mark's basement dungeon.

It was not the first time for these two to go there. Since Ernst and his group arrived from America, he was already given access to the basement dungeon. As for Chervil, he was going in and out of that place since two days ago.

There was no need to guess why Ernst and Chervil were going there. The two scientists were going into Mark's basement dungeon to study his collection.

Arriving at Mark's house in the face of a cliff, Mei and the others went up while Mark led the two down.

In the past three days, the basement had gotten some renovations.

The jail cells and dungeon doors were now turned into observation cells. [Transparent Blood Metal] replaced the metal bars that separate the rooms and halls. Everything was evenly lighted, and there was a small office laboratory near the entrance. Of course, this office lab was not something where they could conduct large and dangerous experiments, but it was enough to test small samples of plants and animals.

All the changes here followed the requests of the two scientists, considering they knew more about security and other important stuff about laboratories.

"Master."

As they entered, a voluptuous woman greeted Mark respectfully with a tint of fear.

It was Il'vella, the Succubus that was the widowed Ninth Queen of the Black Duendes.

Different from her native attire, Il'vela was wearing a lab gown, gloves, and boots. It was also by request of the two scientists considering that she was in charge of Vem, the [Failed Mutator] from the group of raiders in Las Piñas who could release arousing pheromones from her body. 

Well, the Succubus felt uncomfortable wearing human clothing at first. Nonetheless, the most important thing inside a laboratory or anything that contained dangerous materials or creatures was safety. Even as a Demon, Il'vella's previous skimpy Succubus clothing was not even as safe as wearing casual clothes.

As for her standing, Il'vella already gained the freedom to at least roam around the base. Il'vella herself had grown accustomed to this place and had no intention of leaving at all. Given that the Black Duendes and their plan to attack the Stone Fortress had failed, her return would likely cost her her own life.

Besides, while Il'vella lacked authority in this place, she had more freedom here as a prisoner than a being Queen in the Kingdom of Black Duendes. Being a Queen, not to mention a conspirator against the other magical races, held a whole lot of responsibility.

Here, the only thing she needed to do was take care of Vem and teach her slowly. It was hard. However, as Vem learned things, she could not help but feel a sense of accomplishment. Something that she did not experience while being a political tool of the Demons.

At Il'vella's greeting, Mark nodded. He could only commend this woman's efforts. The current Vem was now able to control her pheromones to some extent. In fact, if she could not, Mark would not allow the two scientists to enter the basement in the first place.

Of course, Vem's control was not too reliable. She would stop releasing that pheromone if she could not see any males. It was different if she saw one, though. Even towards Mark, Vem was still the embodiment of Lust as she would try to use her pheromones and seduce him.

It never worked, though, and she would end up being tied up for Il'vella to handle.

That was why right now, Vem was locked up in a cell where she would not be able to see anyone aside from Il'vella.

Aside from Mark, Il'vella tried to greet Ernst and Chervil. The three had seen each other ever since they were allowed to enter this place.

Unfortunately, the two returned the greeting with a nod before going straight to the office laboratory, leaving the Succubus pouting.

"I feel like I'm just a pebble in the roadside around you three."

She grumbled.

Mark only shrugged before going to another cell. There, he placed the case containing the [Mechid Latcher]. Right now, it was sealed in a [Transparent Blood Metal] container. After all, there was no way he would show this to everyone unsecured.

BAM! BAM!

Even now, the [Mechid Latcher] was trying its best to break its transparent cage. Unfortunately, it was not glass but an extremely dense metal. All it could do was leave faint scratches inside its container.

Aside from the case, the [Mechid Latcher] also had its own room, doubling the security. There was no way that Mark would let it escape and cause havoc inside the base.

"I'm going. I'll leave this place to you two." Mark said to the two as he stopped by the office laboratory. "As for lunch, I'll send someone to call you two."

"Okay, Boss! We'll be fine here. No worries."

Ernst replied without even looking at Mark. His attention was focused on the microscope they burrowed from the military. He was currently studying the composition of the skin of [Mutated Animals], wanting to know the changes that occurred during the mutation.

On the other hand, Chervil could not hear Mark anymore. He was a botanist and the Night Everred Spirit Tree fascinated him a lot. He was studying its leaves at this moment and was peering through another microscope.

Mark shrugged. Scientists were definitely eccentric people.

At first, Mark watched the two work. However, the more he heard the two converse inside the office laboratory, the more Mark's head hurt. They always use words that even Mark did not know. Unless one was an expert in scientific research, they would not be able to catch up with the conversation of the two.

That was why Mark left the two to their own studies while did some of his own research from time to time. As the leader and owner of this base, he had lots of things to do and supervise, especially in the current state of Earth. There was no way he would be able to sit down and research for a long time.

As Mark went out of the basement dungeon, he was greeted by Felicia, who was waiting for him in the living room.

There was only one reason she would be here.

"Is he awake?"

Mark asked.

"He did after we dispersed."

Felicia replied.

"Alright. Let's go."

Mark said as the two left the cliff house together.

As for who they were talking about, it was no other than Louis Morgan.

The idiot actually fainted again after the safety of the base was secured. It was no wonder that there was not a single damage to the base. He used up all his magical energy, even all the crystals that Mark gave, to ensure that the whole base was intact to the core.

In short, Louis overdid it.

Of course, Mark was thankful for it. That was why he told Felicia to inform him immediately the moment that Louis woke up.

Mark and Felicia entered the infirmary. There, they saw Sandy helping Louis eat a bowl of rice porridge. The guy was unconscious for another three days. There was no way that he was not hungry.

"Ah!... Ahem... Sir!"

Louis immediately saw Mark and tried to greet him. He ended up coughing rough, however.

"You don't have to greet me out loud if your throat hurts," Mark spoke and turned to Felicia and Sandy. "Can you two leave us alone for a bit? I have something to say to him."

Felicia hesitated a bit until she saw Louis nod his head. There, the two women left, leaving only Mark and Louis inside the infirmary.

"This discussion had been delayed because of the circumstances," Mark spoke, taking the seat beside Louis' bed. "I'll answer the question you wanted to ask last time."

Hearing Mark's words, Louis nodded as he reached for the glass of water on the side table. He drank a few sips and finally spoke.

"I heard from Felicia. I'm the reason you saved us. Why? Is it because of my powers?"

"Exactly." Mark nodded. "The powers that you got from a crystal that fell from the sky."

As Mark said those words, he let out the [Mental Crystals] he had, making  Louis' eyes turn wide.

Of course, he would be surprised. Although different in color, these crystals floating around Mark were similar to the one that landed in front of him six years ago. The very same crystal that gave him strange powers. The powers that kept him and his group alive for a long time in Atlantic City.

With things set, Mark gave the same explanation he told Nia and Allen in Bay City. Since Louis had proven worthy of the ability he inherited, Mark told him the details without hesitation.

The origin of his powers surprised Louis. That crystal he found six years ago was not just a crystal containing a [Psychic Ability]. It was actually an item that carried a heavier weight than anyone would have thought.

Eriellis, the struggles of the survivors because of the [PsyPathogen], and even the death of the previous owner of the [Psychic Ability] he currently held. Although it was hard to believe, he could tell that Mark was not lying.

Since the very first time Louis saw Mark when he returned, he had the subtle feeling of familiarity towards him. It was something odd, considering he did not know Mark at all.

Now, Louis could understand what the feeling was. It was not coming from him but the power he received.

"What is your goal for telling me this?" Louis hesitated as he asked.

Mark, however, only shrugged.

"Nothing, really. Even if I don't say anything, you will protect this place because it's also your home now."

Mark then stood up and began to leave. The floating crystals returned to where they came from. But before stepping out of the door, he turned and said.

"You passed the criterion and deserved to wield that power. And because of that, I told you its origin because someone did not want his precious comrades to be forgotten."

Leaving those mysterious words, Mark opened the door and left.