Mutagen

Mark appeared at the roof of the office building, looking over the surroundings. He could only sigh as he now knew how the reported information vastly differed from the actual situation.

Shaking his head at how humans behave even in this situation, Mark decided to return to their dwelling.

The moment that Mark entered the door, he saw Mei waiting for him.

"Still awake?"

Mark could not help but ask.

"It\'s hard to sleep."

She replied with a deep sigh.

Mark shrugged. He could tell that she was feeling insecure sleeping in an unfamiliar place. It was even more because it was a place where it seemed that not a single female soldier was in sight.

Looking around, Pefile was still awake while the others were already asleep.

"You should rest too."

Mark told the Tamawo as he made his way towards Mei.

"Don\'t worry about me. Unlike humans, we Spirit Races don\'t need that much sleep."

"You sure?"

Mark asked as he turned to Amihan that was already drooling on a makeshift bed made of folded fur placed on Mark\'s backpack.

"That little girl is different, alright? Even among eccentrics, she\'s a strange one."

Mark could not agree more. Among the Spirit Races that he saw before, all of them appeared to be detached from others. Family members were even included. That was why Amihan, Teremillio, and his harem, appeared to be strange with their odd behaviors and bonds with people around them.

"Alright, then."

Mark said as he took a seat beside Mei and pulled her close.

"I\'m back, so sleep already."

"Un."

With that, Mei laid down on the bed.

The bed was small. Two or three children might be able to share, but two adults would not fit at all. Well, Mark did not plan on sleeping at all, so it was no problem. They were currently in an unfamiliar and pretty hostile environment. Resting without care might result in bad situations.

Thus, for the remainder of the night, Mark would sit down beside Mei. He would watch over her and the little girls.

With Mark\'s warm right hand caressing her hair, Mei fell asleep while holding onto his left.

It was when Pefile suddenly asked a question.

"You look bad. Did you learn something?"

Mark could not help but look at Pefile. He was wearing his usual poker face. Just how did this guy notice?

"Your expression might be empty, but your eyes looked deep."

Pefile said, understanding Mark\'s stare.

"A lot is going on in Catanduanes right now. But the military stationed there did not report most of it."

"And the reason?"

Pefile asked.

"Who knows?" Mark shrugged. "Though, one reason is most likely because of pride."

"Pride?"

Pefile asked.

"Despite the setbacks, Bay City and the New Infanta Settlement is doing well. Tell me. Tamawos are prideful races, so you might be able to answer it. If you are a leader of one of the Military Settlements and the situation is bad, compared to the others will you tell them?"

"Probably no, unless there\'s no way of controlling the situation anymore."

Pefile replied.

"Bingo." Mark nodded. "Though for now, it\'s just our speculations."

"Is the situation really bad?"

Pefile asked another question.

"More than half of the island is already under the control of the rebels. Tell me if that\'s bad or not."

"No matter how you look at it, that\'s pretty bad already."

Pefile was right in his answer. The situation was already bad.

The island province of Catanduanes had an area of more than five-hundred-seventy square miles. As the twelfth largest island in the Philippines, half of it falling to the control of the rebels was already a big deal. And yet, the Military branch stationed on the island chose to hide this fact.

The latest data in the papers Mark received was more than a week ago. However, it was already more than a month when the rebels gained control of half the island.

They deliberately hid the information to keep face, even though they were already endangering the people they should be protecting.

And that was not the worst part. As Mark had thought, the Military in Catanduanes was also broken into different factions. Three factions, to be exact. It was still unknown whether it had something to do with the NPA also having three. Nevertheless, it was what Mark noticed earlier. The soldiers here in this encampment were also divided into three.

"The world is already ending, but humans still chose to divide themselves despite being the most affected ones," Pefile said, scratching his head. "Well, it\'s not like the Spirit Races were any different."

That was right. With the case of the Black Duendes, the Spirit Races were not that different from humans in this regard.

Pefile then looked at Mark directly.

"Are you going to meddle in the situation here?"

"Depends on the situation," Mark replied with a shrug. "If things overlapped with my business here, then I will not have any other choice but to join in."

Mark then took a deep breath as silence enveloped the barracks.

His reason for coming here was to check how his family was doing. He was not sure whether he would take them with him. After all, his relationship with them was rather on the bad side.

Furthermore, he was now doing well without them. Taking them away might become against Mark\'s favor.

In the least, if Mark chose not to bring them away, he might still be able to make things better in this place for them.

However, before everything else, there was another problem with them.

It was because none of his family members were registered in the list of refugees given to him.

***

With those thoughts, the night passed rather quickly.

At nine in the morning, the soldiers in the port became busy. It was because the boat from the Catanduanes Settlement finally arrived.

The soldiers were busy running around, loading and unloading supplies and equipment into the boat.

At the same time, Mark\'s group was also called to the dock, with Captain Zacharia introducing them to the person-in-charge of the boat.

However, it seemed that the identity of Mark\'s group was already reported to the higher-ups as the soldiers on the boat were not surprised that there were people that arrived last night to enter the island. Still, they were surprised to see children, and, of course, Mei\'s appearance.

"First Lieutenant Hernan Ignacio."

The person introduced himself, stretching his hand towards Mark who was introduced as the group\'s leader.

"Mark."

Mark returned the gesture.

"Your group came from Infanta, yes?" First Lieutenant Ignacio said. "You must be strong to lead them to this place."

The Lieutenant smiled, complimenting Mark. However, it seemed that while he complimented Mark and looked favorably at Pefile and Edzel, it seemed that he viewed the children and women as nothing but baggage to be protected.

Mark did not mind it, though. It would be better if this person thought that way.

Then, Lieutenant Ignacio continued.

"Please wait first until we finish loading the cargo. Then, well set off."

At this time, a few soldiers came. They were bringing not only the cargo to be loaded on the boat but also a muscular man carried on a stretcher. There were also the two young soldiers, Geronimo and Padua, being escorted with their hands cuffed.

When Captain Zacharia saw Padua, however, he was shocked.

"YOU! How did you?!"

The fat captain could not voice out his question properly. After all, last night, he made sure that Padua was not even in a condition capable of moving. Yet, not only Padua could move properly, all his wounds were gone.

"Thanks to you, I became an Evolver. Happy now?"

Padua taunted. There was no need for him to hold back anymore as he was going to get transported by boat back to Catanduanes.

But becoming an Evolver? That was nothing but a ruse. After all, there was no way that they would tell what healed Padua. Well, that suggestion itself came from Mark before they parted. Saying that Padua became an Evolver would be more plausible.

Well, there was another reason why Padua taunted the fat guy. Mutators and Evolvers were highly valued in Catanduanes Settlement due to the threat that the rebels brought. Even the rebels had such people in their ranks, both Mutators, and Evolvers. That was why the settlement needed more to balance things out.

And if Padua became an Evolver, what happened last night would be dismissed, and the schemes of Captain Zacharia against the two would be in vain.

Although it was not true, it was enough to turn Captain Zacharia\'s face blue. That was what Padua wanted to see as he laughed, infuriating the fat guy even more.

The cargo loading took about a half-hour before it finished. Now, Mark\'s group, together with the two young soldiers, and the injured muscular man boarded the boat.

Mark looked at the boat. It was not too big but enough to carry supplies around. From what he remembered, it was a coast guard patrol vessel, a Parola-Class one.

Soldiers guarding the boat also boarded as Mark\'s group took a seat inside. And there, without making too much noise, they set off to Catanduanes.

Leaving the port, the boat moved, following a route near the coastline. Since the waters near the coast were shallower, it would be easier to spot dangers coming from below.

The soldiers were being extra careful in monitoring the surroundings. In fact, this schedule that the boat was taking was the safest so far as they knew.

Most of the evolved animals in these parts would hunt food at night and would be asleep during the day. Traveling in the morning was more ideal as it was the time where the most dangerous creatures go deeper below the ocean to rest.

And to say, the journey along the coast was strangely uneventful. Even at the safest hours, there would be one or two evolved fishes trying to gnaw on the boat. Now, however, none appeared.

It was strange.

Soon, they reached the tip of the mainland, closest to Catanduanes. From here, the mountainous island grew bigger and bigger, in everyone\'s eyes. The lush green mountains were refreshing to see together with the salty breeze of the morning sea.

From the tip of the mainland, they traversed the northern part of Langonoy Gulf, going straight to the dock in the small village in Codon, Catanduanes.

Well, it was not just a small village anymore.

With the military making it as the headquarters on this island, along with the influx of refugees that entered this place, it had grown bigger, and well, less secure. With too many people in this place now, it would be hard to maintain everything in balance.

The soldiers were starting to feel at ease with no danger in sight as they entered the gulf. They could even see the port from the distance.

Unfortunately, it would not be easy.

"Enemies!"

One of the soldiers shouted.

From the north, a group of motorboats came rushing towards the patrol vessel. It seemed that they had been waiting, laying an ambush while hiding behind an island nearby.

"One, two... Hmmm, seven boats, huh."

Mark murmured, counting the number of enemy boats approaching.

At this moment, First Lieutenant Ignacio spoke to Mark\'s group.

"Please sit and wait. The boats are not shooting at us yet, We would try to negotiate."

Lieutenant Ignacio then grabbed the mouthpiece of the open-channel communication radio, trying to contact the enemies.

However, no answer came to his calls and the enemy boats were still rushing. With the Lieutenant\'s instructions, they tried to delay the enemies. However, there were just no escaping the motorboats with the huge patrol boat they were riding on. It did not take long and their boat was surrounded by the enemies.