Mutagen

And those five men that suddenly spat out blood and fell unconscious were not seen ever again after they were taken away.

The survivors of Reading City started to question whether it was the right decision for them to go to this place to seek shelter.

Before the incident last night happened, they thought that this place was run by kind and tolerant people. These people were also powerful that each one of them could decimate groups of infected on their own. Even the three girls that were always present were the same. These survivors had witnessed the three fighting the infected under Odelina\'s supervision one time.

That group also had some supernatural creatures at their disposal. It was scary at first. But after the survivors began to get used to seeing those creatures, they were not something to be feared as long as one did not offend them. Of course, talking with these creatures was another thing. In the first place, the survivors could not understand the words they were using to communicate.

Although it was sort of strange that a group of foreigners were here and captured the place on their own. Still, this group was easy to communicate with and was kind to them.

Not only shelter but food, water, and clothing, the survivors of Reading City received that group\'s kindness.

They even let those five troublesome men stay here despite their obscene glances towards their female members. Of course, those five held themselves back well as they did not want to be thrown out.

But last night was the mark where their views of this place began to move out of their delusions.

Huey interacted with them amicably, until now. He, however, displayed an unmoved expression as he led people to bring the unconcious men out for execution. In fact, his eyes looked quite scary as he explained what was happening.

And there, of course, there was no question that some of the survivors would follow. They wanted to see what would happen to the five men who were brought out of The Pagoda. And at the backside of the pagoda, unconcious and unable to resist, the five were brutally beheaded by the same man that arrived earlier.

It was the real leader of Huey\'s group who killed the five men without batting an eyelid.

These survivors had killed infected before in more gruesome ways due to the lack of proper weapons. However, seeing a living human beheaded like an infected made their stomachs churn. If not for the fact that they were trying to hide, they might have vomited out their dinner in that very place.

And then, something unexpected happened. As if it was magic, five crystals appeared on the leader\'s hand, and those crystals flew towards the dead bodies, shining like a small sun in the darkness of the night.

This made the survivors that followed sneakily think that they witnessed something that they should not have. They all retreated immediately, afraid, and unable to sleep for the night.

None of them knew that the leader knew that they were watching. It was all part of the plan all along.

***

Mark stood on the highest floor of The Pagoda with Mei and the three little girls. They were preparing to go back to the Mountain Base and see the situation for themselves. Of course, it was not that they were going to abandon this place. Since getting food on the other side was hard at this point in time, they needed to gather supplies from Reading City and transport it to the base with Spera\'s help.

It was something that only their group could pull off now. If it was other survivors, they might have to abandon their base in the mountain in this state and seek shelter near the city. Luckily, it was the right decision for Mark to win over Spera\'s trust, and she really helped a lot in many things. Furthermore, she was enjoying her new life as is, without worrying about being treated as nothing but a tool for convenience.

As Mark, Mei, and the three girls came down, Roan and the others were also getting ready. They were informed last night that they would be brought to the base in the morning.

Of course, Roan and the others were all confused. Although Mark had shown everyone some strange abilities, there was no way for them to know how they would go from this place to another country. Well, they were also excited for the same reason. They were very curious about how the Philippines that they had never been to would look like.

"Boss, are you sure it\'s the best time to go?" Roan asked as Mark and his family arrived. "Won\'t it be nighttime in your country right now?"

That was a good question. It was morning here in Pennsylvania, but because of the twelve hours time zone difference, it would be eight in the evening in the Philippines.

"You know, that\'s the reason I picked this time. My base looks better in the night."

Mark replied, obscuring other details. He then turned to Huey, not waiting for another word from Roan.

"You manage this place. We won\'t take too long."

"How about the people below?"

Huey asked. He was indicating to the survivors that they let watch the execution last night.

There, Mark smiled.

"Let them know that I\'m not around. Do it indirectly. Then, let those that want to leave, go. I\'ll screen the remaining ones when we get back."

"Okay Boss."

Huey nodded.

It was impossible for Mark to not know that people were sneakily watching how he killed those five men. In fact, he made it as brutal as possible by beheading those five when he could just stab a knife on their heads to end things instantly. The beheading did not even go smoothly, and blood splattered around since he purposely used a slightly dull blade to cut off their heads.

All of it was to make those survivors leave the place in fear. If they knew that Mark was not around, it would fuel their desire to leave.

And now, as the business here was concluded, for the most part, it was time to return to the base.

While Roan and the others were still confused, Mark nodded at Spera.

Spera then stepped forward and stretched her hands in front of her.

And there, Roan and the others that witnessed it for the first time could not help but step back from both amazement and fear.

In front of Spera, it started as a small flash and spark of electricity in an empty space. But suddenly, it turned into a rip in space that expanded fast. It became a hole as large as a double door.

And inside the hole, everyone could see an entirely different scene from what they were supposed to see.

"Follow behind us."

Mark said to Roan and the others as he led the whole group to enter the portal.

They all hesitated a bit, though they still followed.

And they were amazed as the whole scene in front of them changed.

It was a place with structures and walls made entirely of black material. It looked quite eerie on its own. However, the large tree with red leaves glowing in the dark fascinated everyone. Even the particles that fell from the tree like snow gave the whole place a fantasy-like atmosphere.

Since it was nighttime, they expected it to be dark. Furthermore, with no electricity, even if there were torches and oil lamps, the light would not be enough. There was the possible use of generators. However, no one would be dumb enough to use something like that to illuminate everything aside from necessary places.

But they were wrong with that assumption. With some strange metal grid installations that were installed along the path, everything was brightly lit. They could not help but touch the installations and felt that it was metal. Nevertheless, it was exuding light, which was amazing on its own.

Ernst that was a scientist could not fathom the things that he had seen so far. Black metal-like structures, the metal that was glowing brightly as fluorescent lamps, and that towering huge tree with red glowing leaves. It was all new to him and these things started to throw what he knew in the past upside down.

However, the things that would turn their knowledge upside down and fascinate them had just started.

The portal they entered brought them to the entrance of the base. It was a place where they designated that Spera would open her portals in the base. For emergency times, she could open a portal at other places, but for normal occasions, she would need to open there. Why? It was because it would be dangerous if she opened a portal, and someone was actually standing on the place she connected to.

Being in the way as the portal was constructed was quite dangerous. In the mildest cases, the static electricity generated at the initial phase could electrocute anyone. In the worse scenario, the person would be torn along with the space that was ripped open to create the portal.

Being brought at the entrance of the base, they needed to walk further inside. Several people saw Mark, and the word of his return spread out quickly. Another warm welcome happened as they all greeted Mark. Of course, they did not stop Mark, and it turned into a miniparade as they walked around.

And when they reached the base of the tree at the center of the base, they saw a surprising creature. Peeking out of the waters of the pond with strange-looking water plants, there was a beautiful woman.

"M-Master, M-Mishtress, welcome back."

Timidly and with a stutter, Milliel greeted Mark and Mei. She even bit her tongue in nervousness. She was not nervous because of Mark and Mei. Rather, it was because of the unfamiliar people with them. It also seemed that while they were gone, Milliel had learned more words.

Seeing a beautiful woman with a cure gesture of biting her tongue as she greeted, Arnold and the others wanted to say hello.

However, as they stepped forward, it scared Milliel, and she immediately dived deeper into the pond.

That was when Arnold and the others saw something that made them speechless.

When Milliel dived deeper, her lower body was exposed because of her maneuver.

It was the tail of a fish.

"E-Elder Brother, I-is she?!!"

Elise ran towards Mark, tugging the sleeve of his jacket as she exclaimed excitedly.

Mark smiled.

"Yep, that\'s a mermaid."

Everyone was speechless at this point.

Milliel then appeared once more on the further side of the pond, right beside the tree\'s roots. Only her eyes and head was over the water, while she cautiously watched the group.

And there, the group was surprised by a sudden scream.

"MMMMAAAASSSSTTTEEEEERRRR!!!"

The scream came from above, in the direction where Mark\'s cliff house was built.

And they immediately saw a small girl, small in a literal sense, plunge towards Mark.

"MASTER!!! *Sniff"

Amihan cried out as she rubbed her face on Mark\'s chest.

"Seriously, you\'re too dramatic as ever."

Mark said with a troubled smile as he put Amihan on his hands.

Amihan was not together with everyone in The Pagoda as she had to help in blowing away the black ash and dust in the area. And since she was alone in the house right now, she was quite lonely until the others come back to check on her.

But now, Mark had returned. The very first human she was in contact with and the person she trusted the most. Of course, she would act like this.

And then, Amihan heard voices overlap each other.

"Uwah! Fairy!"

One of the children\'s voices was heard in excitement.

That was when Amihan turned her head like a broken machine that needed oil. She saw...

"HUMANS!"

Amihan exclaimed as she hid behind Mark.

"Well, this is quite nostalgic."

Mark laughed a bit. It had been a long time since he heard that shout of hers, after all.