Mutagen

Day 203 - 1:42 AM - Defense Line, Northern Slums, Corregidor Military Settlement, Island of Corregidor, Province of Cavite

The defense against the [Infected] had yet to settle down even after more than half an hour since it started. However, the situation had stabilized and became under control.

It was not only the arrival of Mark's group that led to the current situation. The Chief of Staff, Major General Bautista, abandoned the president's camp and led his loyal subordinates to aid the defense line.

Still, no one could deny that the members of Mark's group were crucial to this defense. Many people who saw their prowess as they fought the [Infected] could not believe what they were seeing.

Even the Chief of Staff had the same notion towards the members of Mark's group. Furthermore, many people here, soldiers or not, did not come from Bay City. None of them knew who the little girls or the rainbow-winged woman in the sky were. Most of them thought these strong people were hidden among General Perez's people. It was bolstered by the fact that the young woman who knocked down the humanoid [Behemoth Class Infected] with the thrown tree was talking to General Perez.

What shocked the people the most was, of course, the man who knocked down the beast [Behemoth Class Infected] just with his brute strength. Since that very same man jumped into the middle of the horde to attack the gigantic [Infected], he was swarmed immediately. However, to make the witnesses even more slack-jawed, the attacks of the [Infected] could not even leave a scratch on his chiseled body. It did not matter whether it was a bite, scratch, or even acidic bile. The man was uninjured as he began attacking the downed behemoth.

With all these combined forces, both [Behemoth Class Infected] were killed without a single casualty among the people. Even the horde showed signs of thinning out.

Reports of [Infected Marine Creatures] also occurred, with these kinds of [Infected] surfacing from the waters of Manila Bay. However, their numbers were far fewer than the horde coming from the north. These [Infected] were dealt with by Mark's group and the members of the other gangs.

After another half hour, the horde of [Infected] was now nothing but a mountain of corpses. This would be quite a hassle to clean up since it was literally blocking the way to the mainland. However, this mountain of corpses was also a trove of opportunities.

The people of Corregidor Military Settlement would refrain from butchering any human [Infected]. However, the claws and other mutated parts of the [Mutated Infected] could still be used for many things, such as weapons and traps. As for the [Infected Animals], their bodies were filled with materials that people could recycle.

In this mountain of corpses, a third was composed of [Mutated Infected Animals]. Since the horde was composed of more than a thousand [Infected], the number of animal corpses would be plentiful.

Of course, it was a pity since the meat of [Infected Animals] could not be consumed without repercussions. But it was no problem to use their body parts for armors and weapons. Some leather from [Infected Animals] was even harder compared to cheap bulletproof glass. Just how much could they harvest from this heap of corpses?

Another opportunity here was that...

The smell of blood would definitely attract [Evolved Animals] into the vicinity.

Hunting was one of the sources of food in this settlement. However, it was not easy since all the non-infected animals they could encounter nowadays had already evolved. It was hard to catch non-hostile animals while it was deadly to encounter hostile ones.

But if the animals were attracted to the smell of blood, they could just lay traps and ambush the animals.

The supposedly catastrophic event ended safely and turned into an opportunity.

And more than anything else...

The reign of the tyrants of the government has ended.

At the closing of this event, no one would object that General Perez was more suitable as a leader compared to those greedy politicians.

***

After the battle against the horde concluded, General Perez wanted to see through the clean-up operations. Even with the supposed benefits, they could not just leave the corpses of the [Infected] very near the slums. Although it would take a while to remove those corpses, they could at least separate the human corpses from the animal corpses that they could butcher. 

The human corpses would be thrown into a pit and burned to ashes before getting buried. This way, they could at least remove the possibility of something strange happening, like the dead bodies mutating or some magically reviving from the dead. After all, the current Earth was not the non-magical one they knew in the past.

General Perez wanted to oversee these things. However, his loyal subordinates disagreed. Some of them were privy to the plans that were unveiled tonight. Thus, they told the General to go home immediately.

And with his son, Lieutenant Rafael Perez, General Miguel Perez returned home.

"DAD! BROTHER!"

As the two soldiers entered the door, they were welcomed by a warm embrace of Angeline.

Even though Angeline was behaving like usual, she was definitely afraid when they were kidnapped. Even though she was safe already safe, she was still uneasy inside. This embrace was not only to assure her family but also herself.

"They didn't do anything to you, right?"

General Perez asked his daughter.

"I'm alright."

Angeline replied with a smile.

Inside the room, every member of the Perez family was present to celebrate Angeline, Elsa, and Paula's safety. Of course, Paula's mother, Pauline, was also present. She was alongside a few more important people.

"Is everything fine?" Angelise asked her husband. "We heard the horde was rather large, with two behemoths."

"It should have been disastrous." General Perez smiled. "But it's thanks to our friend there."

General Perez turned to Mark, who sat at the corner of the room with Elsa.

All of the things that happened were Mark's idea. The release of magical energy to attract the [Infected]. Spreading the rumors of the kidnapping among the people. Even the fact that he refrained from participating in the battle against the horde was an idea of his.

In fact, upon returning, Mark could have joined the defense together with Paula, Elsa, and Angeline. They were [Mutators], after all. However, Mark forbid them from doing so.

Having them join the battle would implicate things a bit. After all, they were supposed to be kidnapped. The propaganda that Mark planned first would have less effect if they suddenly appeared in the front lines.

And the reason why Mark did not participate was that he was still a wanted man. Although he could wear a mask, there were already people who knew that he was here. It could spread in one way or another. Most importantly could implicate the image of General Perez they succeeded in crafting tonight.

After all, the current government was not the only enemy of General Perez in this settlement. And even if some were not his direct enemies, there were those who were vying for the position of this settlement's leader. It was better to prevent things that could possibly be used against the General that was now going to become its leader.

In the least, since Mark did not appear in the front line, most people that would only hear rumors about him would think it was nothing but a hoax.

Besides, his interference was not needed. His group handled the horde just fine.

"What happened to your side?"

General Perez asked Mark.

"Don't worry, I didn't kill any soldier or members of the special forces. One of them might be lying on the hospital bed for quite a while, though." Mark replied nonchalantly. "As for the remnants of the self-proclaimed government and their allies, all are dead but two."

"Two?"

General Perez asked. Although he was not really fond of Mark killing them all, he was still surprised that Mark left two alive.

"There's more merit in leaving that Roderick alive. He'll be stepping down and will give the position to you. Have him by your side and keep an eye on him."

Mark then explained the situation, which made everyone in the room rather surprised. By the looks of it, it seemed none of them knew about the contract between the countries and the CNC. If this was true, then Mark was right in keeping the president alive.

"As for the other one..." Mark shrugged. "He's crap but he's still Mei'er's father. I let him keep his life, but I made sure that he won't be a nuisance anymore."

That was right. One of the allies of President Deroa was actually the head of Xiao Industries and Mei's father. Even if he was an enemy, it would leave a bad taste in his mouth to kill one of his wife's parents. The best he could do was to implant [Bloodmetal] into the man's legs, causing him to become permanently disabled. This way, there was little to no chance that he would cause more trouble.

In the first place, they were now labeled as traitors as someone who also came from Bay City. No one would lend them a hand anymore.

"Where is the rest of your group?" Rafael asked Mark. "We should at least thank them for the help. But immediately after the fighting ended, they all left."

And to that request, Mark shook his head.

"There's no need to," Mark replied. "We already overstayed. Unlike you guys who only needed to worry about surviving, we still had things to do."

"What do you mean?"

General Perez asked, noticing the hidden message in Mark's words.

Mark looked around, he was unsure about the others, but it was fine to let General Perez know.

Noticing Mark's eyes, Paula spoke.

"Should we all leave?"

"There's no need to," Mark replied. "General, just get closer."

General Perez approached Mark. Then, Mark let out a crystal causing the wind around him and the general to stagnate, forming a sound barrier.

From here, no one could hear what Mark and General Perez were talking about. However, they could see the general's changing expressions as the talk went on.

The talk took about fifteen minutes. Afterward, Mark removed the barrier with a gush of wind from the surroundings.

At this point, General Perez was already feeling exhausted.

Mark turned to the others, specifically, the three kidnapped girls.

"Well then, I need to get going. We might visit from time to time so make sure to stay alive."

"You better take care of Mei, alright?"

Angeline voiced out and Paula agreed.

"Do you really have to tell me that?"

Mark shrugged as his visage slowly vanished, using [Optical Camouflage] and [Shadow Mist Movement] to leave the room. Before he left, however, he gave the general's wife, Angelise, a vague smile.

"He's gone." 

Paula said as she could not sense any of Mark's presence any longer.

"Dad, are you okay?"

Angeline asked her father who slumped at the chair thinking.

Instead of replying to his daughter, however, General Perez turned to Pauline.

Before General Perez could say anything, Pauline already spoke.

"I know what you want to ask. It's the usual, isn't it? We can't hear anything but I can tell you. Whatever he said to you, none of it are lies."

Hearing that from the walking lie detector, General Perez could only sigh. He felt a heavy pressure on his back.

"Dear, what did he tell you."

Angelise approached her husband and asked.

"How should I call it..." General Perez replied. "I guess, we can call it the truth of the world."

Those words from the general made everyone present even more confused.

***

The next day, President Deroa announced the abdication of his position. Stepping down as the president and the leader of this settlement, he handed the position to the new leader, General Miguel Perez.

Many people witnessed it since the speech was done a day after the night a horde attacked.

Surely, people were shocked by the outcome, especially when the news about the rest of the members of the president's faction was found dead and the only other survivor was disabled.

Nonetheless, the General stepping into position was supported by the majority. The merits he had and his actions so far warranted such support.

Of course, not everyone was happy about this outcome. There were still other factions vying for the leading position. Unfortunately, General Perez had beaten them by a landslide. In the least, they would not do anything troublesome for a while.

The president's abdication aside, everyone waited for the general's speech.

However, no one expected that his speech consisted of unbelievable facts about the current state of Earth.

-Volume End-