Mutagen

A rural town in the mainland of Bicol Region, about forty-three kilometers southwest of Catanduanes, was Tigbi in Tiwi, Albay. If one wanted to get straight to Catanduanes from here, anyone would need to cross Langonoy Gulf.

Though at this time, no one would attempt that, even by boat. The town had been deserted months ago, leaving nothing but the infected to roam the rural area. There were military activities here until a month ago since the infected from Legaspi City, Albay, one of the ground zeros in the Philippines, reached this place.

The infected here had grown stronger because of a [Leader Type] taking this place as its territory. That was the reason the scavenging group from Catanduanes abandoned any activity in this place.

Without any disturbance or prey aside from lost evolved marine animals at the beach or land animals from the forest, the town became dormant.

It was until today.

An hour after noon, the infected turned their heads to the east. It was not like they decided to look that way on their own. Something attracted them. The urge started to overflow, not only the regular ones but even their leader.

Because of that urge, they all moved.

Some ran, some walked, some stumbled, and some even crawled.

Even the roar from their leader could not stop them as they moved.

With their bloodcurdling gurgles and screeches, whether it be regular or mutated infected, they took their step into the ocean waters.

The [Leader Type] from Legaspi City roared in anger. Not because he was not getting obeyed by his horde. It was because that source of urge they felt should be his.

Thus, it ran. The gigantic bodied leader did not care about the ones in front of him. Some infected were kicked out of the way while some were smashed by it its feet.

The [Leader Type] rushed into the ocean water, submerging itself as it made its way for the source.

Unfortunately, even if some of them managed to live while being submerged in water, the ocean was still not their territory.

Evolved fishes living in the gulf attacked them without too much means to fight back.

Nevertheless, the infected still outnumbered and had higher mutations compared to the fishes.

Because of that, an underwater battle occurred.

Blood started to mix with the saltwater as evolved fishes and infected clashed.

Soon, the tide started to turn in favor of the infected. It was because the infected began to bite the fishes they caught, turning them into their own.

But more importantly, being submerged in the water, the infected started to change.

Changed to become an even greater threat to humanity.

***

That event did not only happen to Tigbi, Albay. A lot of coastal areas surrounding Langonoy Gulf had the same event happening at the same time.

Even the infected in Legaspi, Albay started to move despite the distance.

This all happened while the dragon chased after the fleeing flying serpent.

***

Day 147 - 5:41 PM - North Codon Coast, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes

The warm, dry air from the ocean and the cold, humid air from the mountains blew, making the temperature not too cold or not too hot. It was quite a nice place to camp for the night.

Berrak silently followed behind Mark\'s group to this place. He was observing every member of the group. Of course, not to plan an escape but to avoid offending any of them. In a flick of a finger, he could die. There was no way he would attempt to leave either unless he wanted to end his life prematurely.

Nevertheless, so far, what his observations gave him was nothing but more questions.

One of the things he learned in his travels was to see the auras of people.

The auras of people could show emotions, experiences, and also a bit of fate.

It was how he knew that Mark and Mei were, in fact, supposed to be dead people. And to say, because of Mark and Mei\'s influence, the fate of everyone in the group was obscured. He could not see anything aside from the whole group being together, following Mark\'s words without question.

Nevertheless, he also noticed that there were some odd things in the group. To be specific, it was Pefile and Edzel. The aura of the two was strangely similar as if they were direct relatives. However, he could see that the two did not seem to behave that way. Furthermore, it clear that Pefile was not human while the other was. It was definitely strange.

When they reached the area where Mark chose to camp, Berrak was even more confused. In the first place, it was strange that Mark\'s group decided not to stay inside the settlement. Without a doubt, they were VIPs there and would definitely be given a better dwelling than others. And instead, here they were, in the middle of nowhere, going to camp for the night.

Another thing that made Berrak scratch his head was the meager amount of luggage the group was carrying. All of them, even the girls, had backpacks of their own. Even so, there was no way for any kind of camping equipment to fit inside those almost empty bags.

How were they going to sleep here in the wilderness? Using makeshift tents made of branches and leaves? Although he was also used to that kind of living, there was not enough time to gather materials since the sun was close to setting. It might have been fine if they started preparing several hours ago, but they had just arrived here.

And that was when his eyes turned wide in surprise.

Mark and Mei stretched out their hands in front of them, making two black holes appear. From those holes, the two pulled out several folded camping tents and other things necessary for camping.

"S-Spatial Rings..."

Berrak murmured with a stutter as he noticed the spatial energy coming from the rings of the two. He never expected this. No wonder the backpacks that Mark\'s group had did not seem to be packed with anything important. It appeared that these backpacks were mostly props to make people less suspicious.

The Summoner could not help but focus on the rings that Mark and Mei were wearing. Both the two had two pairs on their hands, but one pair emanated the spatial energy as Mark and Mei took out the camping equipment.

Those reddish-black rings looked simple but with intricate carvings. The ring itself did not seem magical. It was the stones embedded were the fundamental part of the item.

According to Berrak\'s knowledge, depending on the methods and materials, making these kinds of equipment could either be easy or extremely difficult. Some materials required intricate refining, while some only needed to be inlaid and dripped with blood. But what made Spatial Equipment really rare was not the method of manufacturing. It was the scarcity of materials with the Spatial Attribute.

This world was not any kind of fantasy world despite its rare fantasy elements. It was Earth. Magically infused materials were not easy to come by on this planet unless one had access to the other dimensions. Still, it did not ensure that there would be Spatial Attribute materials among the things they could collect from there.

That was why Berrak was too surprised that Mark\'s group actually had Spatial Equipment. And not only one but two. This was way too shocking for him.

"Your jaw is dropping."

Berrak flinched as he heard Pefile\'s voice. Embarrassed, he sighed as he took a seat under a nearby tree. It was not that he chose the tree randomly. It was where Edzel and Pearl were also sitting.

In the whole group, these two seemed to be the most normal.

"Hey, I want to ask." Berrak looked at the two and asked with a low voice. "What kind of person is your leader?"

Berrak wanted to learn what kind of person caught him.

Edzel glanced at Pearl before turning to Berrak.

"Why do you want to know?"

Edzel asked back.

"I\'m already stuck here with you all. I wanted to know what kind of people am I going to follow now."

That was sound reasoning from Berrak. Edzel could only agree with that.

Along the way, the group already learned that Mark forced Berrak to join him. Of course, the method was not disclosed, but it did not matter to them at all. Now, it was more reasonable if Berrak wanted to know more about the group, especially Mark.

"About Boss..." Edzel looked at Mark and Mei, sorting out the things they took out with the little girls. "He\'s not a bad person. But not a good one either."

"What do you mean?"

Berrak asked for an explanation.

"You see, Sir Berrak..."

"Just Berrak is fine. Being called Sir sounds stuffy."

Berrak interjected.

"Okay, then... Berrak." Edzel shrugged. "Boss is not a good one since he won\'t care about what would happen to people unrelated to him. He can watch unrelated people die without batting an eyelid and kill those that stepped over the line he created without hesitation. Like what happened earlier."

Those words made Berrak remember the scuffle this afternoon. Furthermore, Mark killed the soldiers under General Seguerra without remorse.

"In the least, Boss really values the people under him," Edzel added. "Look at us. While everyone is suffering without enough food and clothes, here we are, eating delicious food and wearing new clothing."

Edzel opened his arms, showing the clothes he was wearing.

This made Berrak a bit embarrassed. He did not care much about this stuff before. That was why even if he had the capability to gather new ones, he was wearing ragged clothing that the settlement had. Really, compared to what Mark and the others were wearing, his was severely lacking even just with cleanliness. The only one close to what he had was the green-haired girl.

"How did you join this group?"

Berrak changed the topic out of embarrassment.

"I did not join it on my own." Edzel shook his head. "Boss found me at my lowest times when I\'m feeling helpless. He promised me strength, and here I am now. Although I can\'t say that I\'m strong physically, at least I think, I grew mentally from when I started to follow him."

That was right. It was one of the strengths that a person should have. Even if a person was weak, being mentally and emotionally stronger could still give way to things that one wanted to achieve. It was what Edzel learned while watching Mark.

Berrak then noticed Edzel, holding Pearl\'s hand tightly. The girl with an ugly scar on her face seemed to be feeling down for some reason.

It made Berrak assume things.

\'What if this girl was also forced to follow like him? Maybe, this Edzel was not as good as it seemed.\'

The Summoner thought.

He decided to ask her later when no one was around.

It was when Mark\'s voice was heard by them.

"Edzel, unfold some of the tents and choose where you want to sleep. Pefile, can you get some firewood for the campfire? Also, Pearl, help Mei\'er prepare dinner."

With those words, everyone started to move. Well, one had a complaint, though.

"Hey, didn\'t you have a stove? Why do you need firewood?"

Pefile asked.

"The stove is only for cooking. The campfire is for keeping the place lit up. We can\'t work in the dark, right?"

Mark replied.

"Don\'t you also had those installable lamps?"

Pefile retorted.

"Seriously, just get firewood and stop asking questions."

Mark argued.

With a roll of his eyes, Pefile made his way into the forest. He was a forest person, after all. Getting firewood would be a piece of cake for him.

As the little girls were also helping with things they could, only Berrak was left without anything to do.

"What about me?"

He asked Mark.

"Take one tent and build yours. Then, you can continue asking questions, no one will stop you."

Mark replied, making Berrak frozen.

He had cold sweat now. He did not expect that Mark could actually hear them, despite the low voice.