Mutagen

It was a rural barangay where most houses were rather aged and the commercial facilities were kind of lacking. If there was something abundant here, those were the tree plantations and farm lands.

After the outbreak started, this place was abandoned. Scavengers did not view this place highly either due to it being a rural area. The only ones that frequented this area were the people from Death Valley Settlement due to the main road going in and out of General Nakar passing through this barangay.

Now, thousands of people could be seen around and were currently working on a lot of things.

The Military could be seen occupying the only school in this barangay, the Banugao Elementary School. On the other hand, the other people started to occupy the surrounding houses by the arrangement of the military.

This place was the area the military chose to build the new settlement after both Port of Real Settlement and East Port Settlement became nests of dangerous animals and the infected.

The place was chosen due to the fact that Agos River ran to the north and west of this barangay making a natural barrier against the evolved animals coming from the mountains of General Nakar. On the other hand, the south and east side of the barangay were filled with farmlands making it easier to spot incoming danger.

Because of the loss of the two settlements due to the strange storm that passed by and suddenly vanished, they had to relocate. The process was very tedious especially arranging the people to their new dwellings. There were also the additional people that came from East Port Settlement that gave the military quite a headache and heavier load to worry about. However, it was their duty to protect them as the military. It was also good that they got more capable people, especially the Evolvers and Mutators.

There were no walls to protect them and that was why they needed more people to guard the area while they slowly built the new walls. The military also had to prepare new facilities they would need especially to continue their research. A lot of materials were needed but fortunately, they would be able to gather some good stuff to use from the remains of the ruined Death Valley Settlement that was just about fifteen minutes away north of Banugao. It was quite dangerous but the military was also planning to retrieve materials and equipment from the previous settlements in the future while employing manpower from the civilians.

Since there were no walls yet, there were attacks happening from time to time but due to the new Evolvers and Mutators in the settlement, these attacks were dealt with even before they could harm anyone. Aside from that, they were fortunate that the attacks were lesser than before. It was because most of the possible threats in the area were more drawn to the coasts at this moment. They still had time to secure the perimeter of the new settlement before everything returned to normal.

In the new settlement, things had been going well on the side of military development. On the side of the civilians however, there were some scruples happening. Due to the difference in status of Mutators here compared to East Port Settlement, there some Mutators that were having a hard time to adjust. Their haughty attitude was causing troubles here and there. It was also the same for the normal people from East Port Settlement which mostly tried to stay away from Mutators even the ones from the Military Settlement. This caused the normally behaved Mutators to have problems with these people.

There also the problem with discrimination. Although there were not many voices that frankly discriminated them, it was obvious that the female slaves and the prostitutes were being looked down upon. After all, the former lost their chastity in an unsightly manner while the latter gave up on theirs. In the least, it was good that no one tried to trouble them in a front confrontation because the Military highly forbid it.

"Social relations are such a handful."

General Faustino sighed as he finished reading the current issues they were facing. He was currently in the former principal\'s office in the elementary school. This office became his official working office here in this place.

"Say Old man, why don\'t we legalize prostitution here?"

Jones asked the general. This guy had just returned after the general made him run around these past days.

"Are you itching for a woman that much?"

The general looked at the mercenary with a scornful look.

"Well General, don\'t look at me like that. Think about it, there were more merits than demerits here."

Jones replied which made the General sigh.

What Jones had said was true. Back in the days before the outbreak, it might have been a disgraceful thing to the eyes of many if a woman was a prostitute but now, aside from being looked down upon, there was not really much demerit. In fact, there were still cases of rape in the settlement from time to time. Although they placed proper punishment on the perpetrators, it was still happening.

If there were prostitutes, the rate of these cases would be reduced drastically and the prostitutes would also be able to gain a living. After all, not all people were capable of working in the fields needed by the military. In fact, there were more women in the settlement that was suffering from hunger since all they could rely on food was the rations distributed by the military.

Still, allowing that would be against the constitutional law.

This issue alone was giving the General quite a headache.

"Enough with that. Let\'s just see the issue in the future." General Faustino then turned to Jones. "How are the things I told you to retrieve?"

Upon hearing that, Jones placed two steel cases on top of the table in front of the general. Upon opening the cases, one contained papers while the other contained vials with murky liquid inside.

"Is this the thing?"

General Faustino picked up one of the vials and examined it.

These vials contained the fruits of the research the people in Death Valley Settlement conducted.

"[Berserk Liquid]." Jones spoke. "That is what they called it. It is already stated in those papers along with their findings and how they managed to create this."

General Faustino returned the vial back into the metal case and turned to the papers on the other. He then started to skim through the documents.

"So, it is an ongoing research to create Super Humans and taking advantage of Mutagen."

"That is right. However Old Man, the research is yet to be finished. [Berserk Liquid] is just a byproduct unintentionally discovered and far from being perfected."

The General skimmed through the documents with a stern look.

"Jones, duplicate these documents. Create two more copies. We also need to set aside a few vials. As for the rest, we will send it to Bay City so they could study it."

"Alright. But Old Man, why do you need two more copies. Also how are we going to send these? It is already hard to traverse the highway due to Evolved Animals not to mention the infected cities just to get to the other side of the country. I don\'t think that our few helicopters will work too."

Hearing that, the General sighed.

"You don\'t have to worry about that. We already have someone to deliver that. One of the copies of the research and a few samples will also go to him."

"Him… that guy?"

Jones asked with realization.

"Yes, that guy." General Faustino sighed once more. "He mentioned that he was going to BayCity yesterday when he asked if we can still communicate with Bay City. However, we still had to relocate our relay antennas so we don\'t have any available communication line right now. That is why he only left after we allowed that woman named Audrey to leave with him."

"Is that really okay? This settlement\'s debt to him is getting deeper and deeper you know?"

"You are right. Our debt is too deep that I won\'t even be able to disagree if he asked for my granddaughter. However, we don\'t have any choice but to rely on him once more."

"Hey, Old man, aren\'t you thinking too much. I don\'t think, he will have an interest on your granddaughter. She\'s just eight, right?"

"Who knows? If you ask me, he\'s in the same wavelength as Professor Suzuki and his niece."

"Well, I guess that\'s also true. Those weapons he had are solid proof of this."

Jones scratched his head.

"In any case, we will just have to prepare for his demands in the future."

General Faustino rubbed his temple.

"I guess, there will be no demerit in being prepared."

***

Day 43 – 11:03 AM – Mountain Base, Mount Malabito, General Nakar, Quezon

"Achoo!"

Mark rubbed his nose.

"Father, are you sick?"

Miracle asked with worry.

"I\'m not. Rather, it is quite impossible for me to get sick."

Mark replied while rubbing Miracle\'s head.

What he said was true. Since controlling his blood was his ability, paired with his absurd regenerative ability, he could expel any foreign and harmful substances in his body. It even included poison.

There was also the fact that one of the most common and fatal issue on zombie apocalypse novels and dramas, diseases, would less likely happen due to Mutagen. Not only that Mutagen enhanced the bodies of everyone on Earth but some common diseases like common cold received a rather negative effect from Mutagen. According to research Alana heard from her uncle, most viruses and bacteria could not handle the potency of Mutagen and died out. In fact, the causes of most of the common diseases on Earth started to go extinct.

Currently Mark was standing outside while looking at the crevice where he made his house. He was thinking of making this whole crevice a part of his house and he would create a high balcony above and a second floor inside.

"A basement could also be good."

Mark murmured. Somehow, he started feeling like he was playing a game.

Digging caves, building houses and decorating it was what he always did in a certain game about mining and crafting.

POOF!

Mark vanished with Miracle on his hands. They then appeared atop the crevice. One of Mark\'s favorite spot in his base since here, he could oversee the fruits of his work. Of course, he was not the one who built the new houses or dug the farmlands to the north. However, without him, all of these would not exist either.

Tomorrow, he would stop by to the relocation site of the Military Settlement to get some things. He had to bring a few things back to Bay City. It was not free of course but another debt that settlement had to pay later on.

It would look like as if he would be running some errands for the Military but he did not really mind it as he was in a good mood.

Things were getting better in his base. The slaves he brought started to feel living once more and they were all looking at him with reverence and gratitude. Especially the case of Tullia and Audrey, he could feel that the two would likely lay their lives for this base which was a good thing.

He looked down and saw the children starting to line up. It was good that these children were learning proper manners and were not unruly while lining up. In front of the line was Trisha and Althea who prepared the food for lunch and were distributing it already.

As for Elona, she was also in that line and she was already getting used to her new arm. The other children that saw her told her that it looked cool which reduced her trauma even further.

The farmlands to the north of the base were also being developed nicely under the leadership of the old couple. Inside the base, the houses were being built uniformly by Huey, Ed and Ron. At the northwest inside the walls, a lot of cut meat was being dried neatly.

His base was developing nicely. He could not wait to let his beloved ones see this sight.