Mutagen

Emika enjoyed her delicious food. This taste was not something that she would get even as a VIP of the settlement in Infanta. Even though the military had a lot of food in stock, their priority was not quality but quantity. They did not have seasonings in stored aside from necessary ones like sugar and salt. The amount of those used in food was also limited.

Well, at least, they were not handing goop to their refugees.

Mark\'s group, on the other hand, did not give up on such leisure. They had seasonings in stock, and even the usual food in the base was restaurant quality. The cook, Trisha, was from a hotel, after all.

"Hey, eat slowly."

Pefile could not help but tell Emika, who was eating ravenously.

"Oops. Hehe."

The girl smiled awkwardly.

It was not surprising that she was too hungry. They did not eat a lot this morning since their very first activity was to ride a boat. The waves and instability of travel on water could make a lot of people\'s stomachs feel uncomfortable. It was, even more, when full.

Their lunchtime would have been this good. However, after some time, Mark could not help but sigh.

Some people could not keep trouble to their selves, after all.

"Hoho, what a lavish lunch! Would you people mind sharing?"

A thin guy wearing some military bulletproof vest and armed with an assault rifle and a pistol on his waist appeared. This guy closed in without any hesitation and behind him was his whole group. His voice was a little rough and irritating to the ears, even more, because of the way he spoke.

Emika frowned. This guy ruined her lunch.

No one in the group replied. They all turned to Mark, waiting for his orders. But before Mark could even say anything, another member of the thin man\'s group spotted Mei and approached.

"Look, there\'s even a beauty here!"

That member shouted to his group. He even walked behind Mei before turning to Mark, who sat beside her.

"Scram. Why is someone ugly like you sitting beside this beauty here? That seat is more suited to our leader." The guy said, panning to everyone. "Everyone aside from this woman, leave! Also, leave those food behind!"

This guy was more direct than the thin one.

"Hah..." Mark sighed one more. "Can\'t we have a peaceful lunch here?"

"Peaceful lunch, you say?" The rude guy replied. "You are in Sir Liden\'s territory. You have to pay respects first if you want a peaceful lunch here. Haha!"

The guy was rude and irritating.

But then, Mark replied.

"So, you\'re saying that if this guy called Liden is gone, we can have a peaceful lunch here, right?"

The two rude guys froze. But soon, it turned into a burst of boisterous laughter.

"Hahahahaha! Sir! This guy wanted you gone!"

The thin man laughed out loud and turned to the middle-aged man leading the group behind them.

"You wanted me gone?"

Sir Liden stepped forward, staring at Mark with amusement.

At this time, Mark did not even stand up and just stared at the group like he was looking at insects. The other members of Liden\'s group did not notice it, but the leader did.

"It seems like you are not afraid of us at all."

Liden stared at Mark with his eyes sharp.

"I don\'t think anyone would be afraid when flies appeared while they are eating. They just have to shoo the flies away and if they did not leave, kill them, right?"

Liden frowned. It was a Threat. The guy in front of him was threatening them.

If they did not leave, they would be killed?

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

The loud laughter of several men echoed throughout the beach.

Liden then sinisterly spoke.

"It seems like you all are new here. You don\'t know who you are speaking to. Since that is the case, we will let you know... The hard way."

Liden then waved his hand, ordering his group.

"Capture them. Just don\'t harm the women. We\'ll have a fun time tonight."

And there, the group of ten armed men ganging up on a group composed of only three men, two women, and four children. To the eyes of the gallery, the latter group would not end well.

***

In the woods nearby, the intelligence soldier that was sent by General Padilla was contacting General Padilla already.

"What?! What in the world is Liden\'s group doing there?!"

The General\'s panicked voice could be heard on the radio.

"Sir, I don\'t know. They probably just returned from hunting. But by the looks of it, they were not lucky to find any this time."

"So that is why they are trying to extort other people again?"

The General replied.

"Most likely, Sir." The soldier replied. "Are we going to interfere?"

There were a few seconds of silence on the radio.

"General?"

The soldier asked.

Finally, the General replied.

"No, don\'t make a move until the last minute. We\'ll use this opportunity to test that group and if possible, get rid of that Liden at once."

"Sir, are you sure about this?"

The soldier was rather hesitating about this plan.

***

Inside his office, the General took a deep breath.

"You don\'t have to worry about this." He said on his private radio. "If there might be a good chance to get rid of those pests, it might be now."

The General was quite sinister with his words. It seemed that this Liden\'s group had given him nothing but trouble.

He then turned to his table. It was the letters that had proven Mark\'s identity. Among the contents were other important information about Mark\'s group. If the contents of the letters were true, then Liden\'s group kicked a steel plate this time around.

***

And, of course, the General was right.

Liden ordered his group to move. But unexpectedly, after their first steps, all of them were rooted in place.

"What are you idiot\'s doing?!"

Liden yelled in anger. What were his men up to this time? Although there were a lot of times that they were hard to control, there was no way they would play this time.

"L-Leader... W-we can\'t move! Our legs are shaking too much!"

The closes one to Liden cried out. That was when Liden noticed the legs of his men shaking for unknown reasons.

"RAAAHH!!!"

One of Liden\'s men roared, trying to take another step forward. But then...

BAM!

The uncontrollable shaking of his legs dumped him flat to the sand.

"What in the world is going on with you all?!"

Liden shouted in anger and confusion. That was when he noticed the man that threatened then a few seconds ago, eating another slice of grilled food. It was the same for the other members of the man\'s group. After glancing at the statues that tried to surround them, they started eating once more.

"You bastard! Are you the one who did this?!"

Liden roared at Mark, though he did not have the courage to charge forward.

"I did," Mark replied, chewing on his food. "So, what can you do?"

Liden did not know what to do. The situation was really strange. The only thing he noticed was Mark\'s eyes glowing red and nothing else. And it was obvious that Mark exempted him from the attack as he was the only person in his group that could move right now.

Retreat? That was what he should do. Even if he had to abandon his men, he should make his escape.

However, Liden\'s ego did not allow it. He was confident that his brother\'s standing was more than enough to scare these measly refugees.

"Release my men right now!" Liden roared. "I\'m Major General Seguerra\'s brother! Offending me won\'t do you any good!"

Mark glanced at Liden.

"From the Marines?"

It seemed that Mark recognized the person.

"That\'s right! Release my men right now, and I will give you a way to live!"

Liden boasted.

But then, Mark snickered.

"You think I care?" Mark put a slice of octopus into the grill. "Even if you are the president, don\'t think you will leave this place alive. I just don\'t want to end our lunch here, you see. That\'s why..."

Mark\'s red eyes flashed.

"Stay put."

And there, Liden\'s eyes dilated. His body was shaking from unexplainable fear, and his legs were shaking uncontrollably. He could not move at all.

What was worse was Liden and his men. They were forced to watch Mark\'s group ignore them as they ate lunch.

Everyone watching was appalled by this sight. Liden\'s group were like statues standing in the sand while a group ate lunch in front of them.

However, it did not take long and Liden and his group started roaring and cursing. All the curses were targeted to that group they tried to target.

Finally, Mark could not handle it anymore.

"You all are really idiots aren\'t you?" Mark stood up. "We can play later but for now, shut up."

He said as he grasped the neck of the thin man that came close to them earlier.

"ARRGG!!!"

The thin man roared in pain. His arms and legs were squirming for some reason. And then, to everyone\'s shock, the thin man\'s arms and legs detached from his torso. It was strange that no blood splashed around as the limbs fell to the group. Nevertheless, everyone was already shocked enough to notice that.

All that was left on Mark\'s hand was a limbless unconcious guy.

Without any mercy, Mark threw the thin man away. He crashed to the ground, leaving a long trail mark on the sand.

Liden\'s group could not help but shut up. What happened to their comrade was horrifying.

But did it end there, unfortunately no.

Mark gathered the cut limbs, picking them up from the sand.

"Hey, uncle. What are you going to do with those?"

Emika asked curiously.

Mark only glanced at her and did not reply. With a smile, Mark approached the pointy rock that was just a few meters away from where they were eating. It was a tall four meters pointed boulder that was about three meters wide.

And to everyone\'s confusion, Mark knocked on the rock like someone with a mental illness.

"Hey, have some food."

Mark said as he dropped the limbs in front of the rock and retreated.

And to everyone\'s shock, the earth tremored.

The rock started to shake, and it began to rise from the sand.

"EHHHH!!!!"

Emika screamed in shock. Not only her but the others were also surprised.

Some people started to run away, thinking that the rock was actually a monster that no one knew. The soldiers in the outpost that noticed the commotion also began to move.

It was slow, but it did not take long, and the monster was revealed.

There was a gigantic hermit crab. That rock was its house.

Like an intelligent creature, it glanced at Mark before moving to the limbs that he dropped. And there, the thin man\'s limbs became this creature\'s lunch.

"Please leave the location! It\'s dangerous!"

The soldiers shouted at Mark and Liden\'s groups. Unfortunately, Liden and his men could not move at all. Well, they could do a step, but they would immediately fall to the ground.

Mark, on the other hand, did not mind the soldiers and went back to eat.

"Are you all deaf!" A soldier shouted with a megaphone. "Vacate the area immediately!"

But then, nothing else was heard from that soldier as he also followed the steps of Liden\'s group.

It was confusing for the soldiers that only responded because of that hermit crab.

But then, another surprise came. The hermit crab did not even eat all the limbs and left a leg. It then dragged the leg underneath it and went back into becoming a boulder, digging itself into the sand.

Nevertheless, the commotion did not die down.

Before Mark\'s group could finish eating, two groups of armed soldiers came to respond to the situation.