Mutagen

Day 263 - 10:14 AM - Coastal Mountain Range, General Nakar, Province of Quezon

The emotionless Mark received emotional damage as he saw the scene before him. Unfortunately, this damage stemmed from the roots of human DNA. It was disgust to an instinctual level.

Mark could not help but open his clenched fists. Black sparks of electricity crackled from his palm as the urge to destroy the scene before him appeared in his mind.

However, Mark closed his fists once again, calming himself as he dodged the parasitized birds charging at him with their spear-like beaks.

"It's not the right time."

Mark murmured.

While the urge to defeat the enemy and immediately end this disgusting mess appeared in his mind, his intuition also told him that it was not the right time. That something was amiss.

Furthermore, given that these things were found near his base, Mark should also take the opportunity to observe them closely. To deduce the capability of these [Latchers] and see how they work. At least until the urge holding him back was gone.

Mark waved his arms forward. A hole in space opened in front of his right hand that wore the [Spatial Ring]. Two sword handles appeared from the hole, which Mark pulled quickly.

Two whip-blades stretched out with full force as they were pulled out of the hole, just in time to bisect two birds charging at Mark in half. Black goo splattered in the air as the [Latchers] on the birds' heads were sliced through.

Several more birds shot toward Mark, their beaks wanting to bore deadly holes into his body. With how big these [Evolved Birds] were, their beaks could punch a hole the size of an American football with the smallest bird.

Mark spun his body, making the metal-stretched blades dance with his moves. With the movements of the whip-blades, more enemies fell, and more black goo splattered to the ground.

While he fought, Mark observed the enemies. It was even to the point of purposely landing to be attacked by the enemies on the ground.

As Mark landed on the ground, the fierce beasts immediately besieged him from all directions. At this point, Mark saw a subtle difference in the movements of the enemies.

When Mark reached this area and was attacked by the first few enemies, they felt more controlled, holding back as he saw. They were aiming to kill him, yes, however, not with the current level of aggression.

At this moment, the aggression was on a whole new level. All the enemies, the [Latched Evolved Animals] or the parasitized Metal Giant, were now clearly wanting to tear Mark into pieces.

It was such a mystifying behavior. [Mechids] were smarter than the [Infected]. They were as aggressive, but like the rare types of [Infected], they could display odd behaviors.

However, those odd behaviors mostly had a reason. It was due to the fact that despite the [Mechids] being hacked by the [Mechid Pathogen], making them aggressive, they still use calculations and actions programmed into them.

The examples of these odd behaviors were the changing aggression level and the fact that these [Mechids] were throwing random stuff at the Stone Fortress and retreating.

As these thoughts passed through Mark's mind, he realized the reason he was holding back by instinct.

Mark wanted to know the reason why these [Mechids] were behaving this way. And there was possibly another thing.

As he realized what was holding him back, Mark began to take the fight a bit more seriously.

Mark's pupils glowed purple. The movements of everything around him were now projected into his eyes a second into the future. His actions became more precise, and the number of enemies attacking him decreased faster.

Nonetheless, Mark did not make any large moves to kill enemies more than he should have. Although he continued to decrease their numbers consistently, he did it one by one.

While on his killing spree, Mark continued to observe the enemies. Not only the way they attack but how the [Latchers] behaved.

Mark even tried a few times where he only aimed to destroy the parasitized body and left the [Latcher] intact. However, the [Latchers] that lost their hosts only had one thing in mind. It was the same as the first [Latcher] he encountered and caught.

The [Latchers] tend to run away after losing their host. Of course, Mark did not let them escape. While he fended against the other enemies, Mark "accidentally" stomped or waved his sword at them.

Why was Mark acting? It was to make sure that the [Latchers] would not calculate that they had no chance of winning against Mark. As these pesky mechanical parasites had the tendency to run away, it was possible for them to opt for escape if they deemed that it was impossible to win against him.

A wide acid spit rained upon Mark. He could only jump away, only to find himself under the arm swing of the Metal Giant.

Mark gave a quick shrug as he "stumbled" away from the giant's attack. The ground shook, making many parasitized animals stumble.

The smart [Latchers] took advantage of their enemy stumbling. The unaffected ones, especially the birds and flying insects, immediately swarmed at Mark.

However, Mark managed to evade their attacks, taking down more of them as he did so.

Mark sneakily smiled. The enemies' aggression continued to increase the longer Mark lasted. The acid spit and the Metal Giant's arm swing, for example, actually caused collateral damage to their own. It was something that did not happen earlier because of the [Latchers'] almost perfect coordination despite their numbers.

At this time, Mark was already finished with his observations. There were barely any changes and details worth paying attention to.

Still, Mark observed a few amazing things. It was like how the [Latchers] had full control of their hosts. It was as if they were originally part of the host. They could perfectly utilize the natural strength and speed of the host and even use their host's abilities. And in Mark's assumption, it was also possible that these [Latchers] were utilizing their hosts even better than when the hosts were still alive.

What made these [Latchers] a bit terrifying was the possibility of them having a communication network. If not, how could anyone explain their seamless teamwork and coordination? This factor alone could be the reason why none of the warriors that tailed the Metal Giant managed to escape. Of course, the number of parasitized animals was a factor too.

Mark decided. While these [Latchers] did look disgusting when clumped together, he would still catch a dozen to take home. If they did have a communication network, it would be nice if Mark could find a way to utilize it. It would be best if he could hijack that network, although it was the most impossible thing to do.

TING!

Mark's eyes opened wide. The urge to hold back suddenly vanished.

It was then Mark spun his body midair as he felt danger from behind him.

A sneak attack. These damn alien robot parasites were not only capable of ambushes but also mid-battle sneak attacks.

But then, Mark's eyes fell on the weapon that passed just over his right shoulder. It was a primitive stone spear. Seeing that weapon, he knew that what he was waiting for finally came.

Mark landed on the ground, facing where the spear came flying from.

Another group of parasitized enemies came. It looked like these [Latchers] could also call for backup.

However, it was not just ordinary backup. The backup was unlike the animal hosts Mark was fighting until now. And it was possibly why the Metal Giant kept harassing the Stone Fortress but not attacking head-on.

"These parasites were baiting people to come after them, huh..."

Mark surmised.

The new enemies before Mark were a few of the warriors that tailed the Metal Giant. Right now, they were all dead, with the top of their heads replaced by these alien robot parasites.

Joining the fray, the new enemies attacked Mark. They carried weapons like spears and bolo knives. Most importantly, they were utilizing the warrior's racial traits perfectly.

Among the warriors of Stone Fortress, and possibly the whole Philippines, the fastest runners were the [Tikbalangs]. Two of the parasitized warriors were of this race. The two turned into blurs and zoomed toward Mark with their spears.

Mark was ready for the attack. However, the speed was still unexpected. It was better to say that they were faster than the usual [Tikbalangs].

The spears pierced through Mark's body... Well, his afterimage. Mark moved faster than the [Tikbalangs] and avoided the incoming attacks.

At this time, Mark's urge to hold back was all gone. It meant that his intuition was telling him that it was okay to go all out.

But why? Why now?

Mark flew to the sky, creating a trail of falling dead bodies of birds and insects. His eyes fell on the parasitized warriors. They arrived just now, which meant that they were somewhere else. If Mark had eliminated all the enemies before these reinforcements came, there was a huge possibility that they would not go here and fled instead.

But since Mark was acting, holding back, and giving the enemies some leeway, the [Latchers] probably calculated that Mark would be defeated using the reinforcements.

Mark was glad that his intuition had kicked in. However, why and how? Was it a bonus after he got the blessing? Or was his [Future Sight] on the verge of upgrading too? Mark could not fathom why.

But mulling over the reason was for later. Mark should begin cleaning up since all the players were now on the field.

Mark's eyes moved around, searching the attackers he was mowing down one by one. He then picked [Latchers] that fully occupied their host's brain area, ripped them off their hosts, and tossed them inside his [Spatial Ring].

It seemed that the [Latchers] noticed what Mark was doing, and they became even more aggressive.

But their aggressiveness did not matter anymore. Mark was finished acting.

With a single wave of his whip-blades, several [Latchers] were destroyed. The blades moved on their own, seeking the parasites latched on the dead hosts and destroying them.

The sudden increase of deaths among their kind seemed to have made the [Latchers] frantic. The Metal Giant rushed toward's Mark, trying to swat him with its gigantic hands.

Unfortunately, Mark evaded the giant's attacks with ease while black-colored sparks began to crackle on his hands.

Mark was finished collecting a dozen different [Latchers].

And then, as another swat from the Metal Giant came, Mark flew at it and gave the giant an electrifying high-five.

BOOM!

[Miasmic Lightning] exploded into the Metal Giant's body. Given that its skin was metallic, it made it easier for the lightning to travel all over its body. The Metal Giant began to exude smoke from its body and orifices, and the disgusting clump of [Latchers] on its head exploded one after another.

The [Latchers] on the ground froze. Seemingly recalculating the unexpected seen and the damage they incurred.

And then, seeing Mark as a critical-level threat, the enemies began to disperse.

However, Mark already anticipated this move as it was nothing new.

Using the body of the Metal Giant as a pillar and conductor, Mark spread out the [Miasmic Lightning] from the top of the giant's head and a few feet under the ground from the giant's foot that sunk unto the ground. The magnetic field created by the cage kept the Metal Giant from falling and making it the pillar of the deadly cage.

A thirty-meter tall cage of black-colored lightning was created, preventing the escape of the [Latchers] that swarmed Mark earlier.

Many [Latchers] tried to jump through the lightning cage. After all, lightning was not solid. It was not blocking anyone from going in and out. However, as the [Latchers] touched the ominous lightning, all their systems died. Not to mention the black goo inside their hardware getting erased from existence.

The remaining [Latchers] stopped in their tracks, seemingly looking at the death of their kind before their eyes.

Mark smiled as he looked down from the sky. The hunter and the prey switched just like that, inside an inescapable cage.

Now, it was time to finish his work here while getting a few more [Latchers]. He also chose to get a few of the "dead" [Latchers] that touched the cage. After all, it would not hurt to bring a few more specimens for experiments and scientific studies.