Mutagen

The road was a very rough one, even for Mark. If it was just other ordinary people, that kind of journey was, without a doubt, deadly.

There was a lot of trouble that they came across. First, a city that was isolated from the mainland, brimming with infected, prominent in both power and quantity. Then, the existence of Aliens. There was also the outlaws here and there. The curse that sealed five-thousand-year-old Anti-God Weapon, the Cultivators, Lesser Demons, and even the Jersey Devil, and lastly, the Monarchs among the infected that Mark came across.

Among all that, the most important was the encounter with the 9th Eye. He called himself as Ninth, The Embodiment of Boredom. This encounter revealed the other side of the story.

It was the other side of the events that transpired during the ousting of the Gods on Earth.

Ninth also gave Mark the announcement of the incoming Second Wave of the Apocalypse. Something that everyone that received the news should prepare for.

With all those things in mind, Mark took a deep breath. Their journey home might have ended.

Still, other things were just starting. Specifically, the preparation for the incoming second wave would start from now on.

While punishing the four troublesome women, Mark asked Spera, Aephelia, Huey, and Jolleen about the current happenings while he and Mei were gone.

Usually, it would be Odelina that he would ask since she was basically the one left in charge of everything if he was not present. However, he sent her to have more time with her niece, Hannah, while welcoming the people he brought here.

And there, Mark listened to the reports starting from the most urgent ones.

First and foremost, the reason why The Pagoda that was supposed to be just a temporary meeting place turned into a fully fortified outpost.

The reason made Mark frown. It was not unexpected, but it was still annoying.

All of this was because of Auraboros and its members.

Like before, they sent Shadow people to infiltrate The Pagoda and learn about what was happening here. Although they were caught because of Huey, who had heightened senses, it still happened several times with different methods of infiltration. Thus, they decided to develop the place instead and apply more security methods.

Furthermore, the Pennsylvania Branch of Auraboros blatantly built an outpost just below Mount Penn. It was not created discreetly but was an open declaration that Auraboros was watching their activities. In fact, both sides could see each other\'s outposts without problem any obstacle blocking the view.

Mark asked them to point where the outpost of Auraboros was. He confirmed that it was true. There was no way that he would not be able to see that large condominium building below the mountain. Well, it seemed that the other party was having a hard time observing, though, because of the mist created by the Tikbalangs using their Illusion Magic. Their magic was very effective around this area since the mountain was quite filled with trees. On other places that were not, the Dryad helped in it.

The Pagoda had already turned into a defensible outpost. Thus, Mark decided to keep it this way for a while. He already had some plans about the preparation they needed to do, and this place in its current state was just convenient.

Of course, he would deal with the annoying organization later if they pushed over with their actions and went across the line. Right now, there were more important things to do than deal with pesky flies.

The next thing that Mark asked about was not exactly urgent but asked about it anyways. It was about the people that were currently staying on the first floor of The Pagoda.

He could not help but ask about it. It was because it was uncomfortable for him to feel unfamiliar people inside his turf. It would be more acceptable if they were like the ones before that only camped outside his base.

However, after hearing the reason for this, Mark decided to persevere. These people evacuated here and actually came from that very same building that the Auraboros was currently using as an outpost. They tried to seek help after they detected some human activities here at The Pagoda.

Of course, that was not the actual reason they were allowed inside. It was because Huey and the others needed more hands in developing this place as an Outpost. Though there were some people that were proven to be troublesome among them, the others still helped diligently in building things that were needed to be made.

And now that Mark, their leader, came back, he would be the one to decide the fates of these people. Of course, if Mark did not want them, they would be compensated for their work before they were driven away.

It was really not an urgent thing. But still, it was better to decide earlier so that Mark could let the useless people go.

The next thing for Mark to hear was the current state of food supply for the base.

First and foremost, the fields that were destroyed because of The Great One\'s puppet was still unrecoverable for the most part. Apparently, the dust that covered the land rendered the soil infertile. Even removing the layer of dust above the ground would not work. It seemed that the properties of the dust and ashes seemed to have seeped deeper into the ground.

Fortunately, the soil in the immediate vicinity of the base was recovering, albeit slowly. It seemed that the red particles that Chiyo, The Night Everred Spirit Tree, was releasing at night were the cause of the recovery.

All the contents of this report were analyzed by the Dryad. She could check the soil when growing her vines and other plants. It was pretty fortunate that she was around, or else, they would not know that planting on the contaminated soil was futile.

Aside from the soil, the battle at that time seemed to have caused evolved animals and insects to flee Mount Malabito. They were having a hard time procuring more food by hunting. In fact, they had to utilize Chaflar to move around towards other mountains to capture evolved animals.

Right now, the main source of food of the base came from the supplies they gathered here in Reading and transported back with Spera\'s help.

After hearing up to this point, Mark\'s blood was already boiling.

Auraboros had caused him and his base nothing but trouble.

Back then, this organization lured Mei and the others into a death trap in Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Then, The Great One tried to abduct Mei on that same occasion. Next was when they caused trouble when they revived Gar\'Vlam, and that encounter became the cause of the first [King Type] that they encountered to be born.

The next thing was that organization encasing his base in inescapable fog and trying to kill Emika and other people. That was also when The Great One appeared and destroyed everything around his base.

Trouble, trouble, and nothing but trouble.

The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to destroy it.

This was where he decided. Once those people at the condominium building below the mountain made a troublesome move while he was here, he would eliminate them immediately.

The next report was about Edzel and the group that was left in the Spirit Dimension. It seemed that Odelina asked Spera to check on them while he was gone.

Apparently, the Stone Fortress of Duendes was still holding one, although it seemed that the attacks of the infected spirit races were getting more and more frequent.

About the Black Duende, Teremillio, and his harem, they were fine, though the man himself was getting a bit restless. After all, there was still no news about his mother and their Kingdom. In fact, they already wanted to set out on their own. However, with the infected attacks getting more frequent and stronger, it would be questionable if they would make it to their destination without dying. That was why the only reason they were still staying put at the Stone Fortress.

It was the same for Edzel and his father. They still needed to go to the Tamawo\'s Kingdom, but there was no way that they would be able to without Mark\'s help.

Those two groups only had Mark as their hope, and could only rely on him at this moment.

Aside from those goals, Spera noticed something strange in the Spirit Dimension as she checked on the others. No one but her, who could travel through her portals would notice this.

The flow of time in the Spirit Dimension was speeding up.

Before, when they were inside the Spirit Dimension for three days, they were missing for about three weeks on Earth. It meant that an hour in the Spirit Dimension was about seven hours here. However, it seemed that the time difference was getting smaller and smaller.

It seemed that yesterday, Spera went to check again and was in the Spirit Dimension for an hour. When she came back, however, only three hours and several minutes passed by.

This report made Mark realize something.

When Ninth delivered the news about the Second Wave, he said that the Spirit Dimension, the Higher Dimension, and the Lower Dimension would fuse.

In this case, was the shortening time difference between dimensions pose as some sort of countdown mechanic?

Mark could not be sure, but it was very likely.

And the moment that the time flow on Earth and the other Dimensions reached the same wavelength, it was the time for the dimensions to converge.

In this case, they did not have too much time.

"Tch."

Mark clicked his tongue while in deep thought. This made the others fall silent in that duration.

They knew that Mark knew something that was happening since he reacted the strange way after hearing that report from Spera.

Noticing the silence, Mark raised his head and faced Spera and the others.

"Anything else?"

Mark asked.

"Nothing too important now, I think," Huey replied. "There\'s also the issue with the infected, though. More and more of them were climbing the mountain to the base. It started after that battle last time."

This one was not surprising. The infected were attracted to Supernatural Energies. Because of the battle between him and The Great One at that time, the infected might have gotten attracted to the area around their base.

"There\'s no problem with the infected?"

Mark asked.

"There isn\'t for now." Huey nodded. "Our defenses can handle them, though it\'s quite troublesome if [Armor Types] came. The needle launchers and our wall defenses have a hard time penetrating their armor. Also it would have been easier if we could use the Illusion of the Tikbalangs around the base, again."

It was a bit of a complaint. The wall defenses could be improved. However, the issue of the Illusion could not be helped. The Tikbalangs could only use their Illusion Magic inside forests. But because everything around the base turned to dust, there was no way for them to use it.

It also seemed that the Dryad could not force plants to grow in the contaminated areas either.

And thus, they could only slowly address that issue.

At this point, the most important things had been reported to Mark. The punishment had also passed, and the four troublesome women were allowed to stand. That was when the unnecessary remark from Jaeya came out from her mouth, making those in the know look at her with pity.

Now, they finally entered The Pagoda after the vehicle was properly parked. Odelina also arranged some people to transport the still unconscious Morgan into a stretcher.

At their entry, the attention of all the people staying on the first floor was on Mark and their group. Well, most of it was on Mei, though, standing out too much from the crowd.

And there, some idiots seemed to be seeking death, after all.