Mutagen

"Mmmm... Hm?"

Inside one of the rooms, Emellynn, the leader of the Anti-Government Faction of the Rebels, opened her eyes for the first time since they escaped from their base.

Of course, the moment she opened her eyes, confusion overwhelmed her because of the unfamiliar surroundings.

Furthermore, the surroundings were quite dark. Emellynn could tell that she was inside a room, but there was barely any light coming in for her to see clearly.

CLICK!

Emellynn heard a clicking sound, making her turn her head. That was when she saw the door open. With the light coming from the door, the only thing she could see was a dark figure of a person. Nonetheless, it was a familiar silhouette.

"As I felt, you\'re already awake."

The usual happy-go-lucky voice of Felix entered Emellynn\'s ears.

After hearing his voice, Emellynn tried to sit on the bed. But then...

"Ugh!"

Emellynn let out a painful voice.

"Don\'t get up yet," Felix spoke, stopping Emellynn from getting up. "You might seem fine outside, but your insides are pretty messed up."

While saying those words, Felix approached the bedside table and started lighting up a match. That was when Emellynn noticed the oil lamp beside the bed that Felix was now lighting up.

That made Emellynn look at the window. From the lights seeping in from the tiny gaps, it was very likely that it was midday outside. Yet, here Felix was, lighting up an oil lamp instead of opening the windows.

Emellynn watched Felix. She wanted to talk, but she was unable to do so because the pain from trying to get up had yet to subside.

"Don\'t push yourself." Felix flicked Emellynn\'s forehead. "Even if you can withstand all those rockets, who the hell told you to take on them head-on."

Emellynn winced at that flick. It was uncalled for. The muscles all over her body were aching. Like Felix said when he entered, her insides were messed up.

Although Emellynn\'s ice armor managed to protect her from the rockets that the traitors fired. However, it did not mean that she was able to go unscathed. Her armor took the brunt of the impact, along with the shrapnel from explosions. Still, the impact and shockwaves rattled her muscles and organs.

At that time, she was too angry, and her adrenaline was on high levels to notice it all.

It was good that Emellynn was a Mutator with an enhanced body. Any regular person that would have suffered the same circumstances would have died soon.

Finally, the pain subsided for the most part. Being careful of her movements, Emellynn finally managed to open her mouth.

"...Where are... we?"

"Don\'t be surprised, alright?" Felix replied. "We\'re currently inside the Military Settlement."

"Wha-ugh!"

Of course, Emellynn would be surprised even if Felix warned her. She\'s literally inside the enemy base.

"I told you not to get surprised. Seriously, you\'re always agitated." Felix complained. "We already observed that Mutators had some odd changes in their personalities after they became one, but why did you have to become like this. You\'re better the way you are before."

Emellynn looked at Felix, who was scratching his head in frustration. She could not understand what this guy was talking about.

"In any case, don\'t worry. We\'re not captured or something." Felix continued. "This the hideout of our organization here. We\'ll be safe here as long as no one recognized us. That\'s why the windows are closed."

"Organization?"

Emellynn managed to squeeze out a question.

"Oh right, this is the first time I\'ve told you this, didn\'t I?" Felix smiled playfully. "Well, it\'s some sort of worldwide organization. I\'ll tell you more about it later after you recover. Just rest for now, alright? Ah, you must be hungry. I\'ll get you some easy-to-eat food."

With those words, Felix playfully stormed out of the room and closed the door.

Emellynn stared at the door filled with questions. She had long been with Felix since she lost her family. Although he had been too mysterious, she did not bother asking since he was the only one that supported him when she lost it all.

Now that Felix himself brought it up, Emellynn could not help but raise the questions she had all this time in her mind. Unfortunately, she was not in the best condition to ask questions and listen to the answers.

In any case, Emellynn was still agitated. Since she was here, it meant that her faction was already done for. More than that, at the hands of a single person.

The worst of it all, Emellynn was currently recuperating inside the enemy territory.

"Tsk! I\'ll kill you soon you f*cking General."

Emellynn murmured in an almost inaudible voice.

***

"She already woke up?"

As Felix reached the living room, a woman\'s voice asked him.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn\'t you be working beside that General?"

Felix asked back. He did not expect to see Vanessa at this point. It seemed that she returned while he was checking on Emellynn.

"General Padilla cleared his afternoon schedule, so I also managed to get a break until tomorrow. These past days had been too busy."

Vanessa said, stretching her back.

"Where is Roach?"

Felix asked while instructing their maid to prepare some soup for Emellynn.

"I sent him out," Vanessa replied. "I told him to contact the others and warn them."

"Warn them for what?" Felix frowned. "Are you hiding something?"

"I\'m not really hiding it." Vanessa shrugged. "It\'s just that Sir Mark had other plans on this island. It\'s likely that we\'ll end up failing our deal with the Political Group. In that case, I want the others to know not to do anything to obstruct him or put themselves in danger."

"What are you talking about?" Felix was confused. "I know we are no match for that guy, but shouldn\'t we at least try to stop him? If we fail, not only we will have to return the payment, but we will have to pay a penalty, you know that."

"No worries," Venessa replied in a relaxed manner. "I got a good commission. The penalty was also reimbursed with far more than the supposed value."

"Huh?" Felix was even more confused. "You got a commission? From who? Wait, why are you addressing that courier with \'Sir\'?"

"Sir Mark is my client, so why not?" Vanessa explained. "Besides, he gave me a big commission and gave compensation for our mission that is going to fail."

"Are you serious?" Felix was frozen. "I won\'t ask for the specifics of the commission since it\'s not allowed, but how much?"

"The commission had a downpayment of two-hundred-fifty thousand. The compensation he gave is a hundred thousand points."

Vanessa replied.

Then, there was silence. Vanessa turned to Felix only to see him looking at her incredulously.

"What\'s wrong? Did your screws finally fell out?"

"You\'re not joking, right?"

Felix asked.

"Do you think I\'m joking?"

Vanessa asked back.

"I think you\'re not..." Felix sat down on the sofa. "You\'re not the type to joke around. If you did, it means you\'re in a good mood."

Scratching his head, Felix stared at Vanessa with a frown.

"Sh*t... I\'m the one that introduced us to him! Why didn\'t he gave me that commission instead! Damn! Two hundred fifty? Just what the hell did you pay you?"

"Don\'t ask, you idiot. You know that unless it\'s a group commission, most of the details are confidential." Vanessa warned. "Besides, with what happened before, I doubt he would be hiring you at all."

Felix fell silent. It was true that his meeting with Mark was an unpleasant occasion. It was already good that Mark was not completely hostile.

"Still, a hundred thousand points as compensation, huh? We only had to return the forty-thousand points that Ms. Marcos paid us and another twenty-thousand as a penalty. There\'s still an extra forty for all of us to share, huh. Not bad at all, considering we only accepted it as an extra job."

It seemed that Felix was also fine with Mark\'s compensation, albeit regretful that he was not the one that got that huge transaction.

"All that aside, what are you planning with that woman?"

Leaving the topic, Vanessa asked Felix about Emellynn.

"After we get to kill her main target, I plan on making her join us." Felix declared. "Though by her current temperament, she can only go as a mercenary."

"I guess that\'s good." Vanessa agreed. "After most people succeded in their revenge, they become nothing as empty shells and their lives lose direction. It would be a pity for someone you raised to end up like that."

"That\'s right." Felix nodded. "In any case, it won\'t happen soon. She needed to recover first and I still need to make the best stage for her."

"Seriously, why didn\'t you adopt her as your daughter since you\'re acting like her father?" Vanessa complained. "Well, it will be odd since she looks older than you."

"You talk like you\'re young, yourself."

Felix said, only to receive a fierce glare from Vanessa.

With that, Felix shut his mouth and ran away after he received the soup for Emellynn.

"Seriously, that guy." Vanessa sighed at Felix. "He had no delicacy towards women at all."

It was not like Felix was lying, however.

Vanessa, also known as Val Flora, had an appearance of a beautiful woman in her early thirties. However, her actual age was far older than that. It was not like she belonged to any long-lived race. It was her unique physique that stopped her body from aging.

In fact, in their group that was currently in Catanduanes, it was neither Felix nor Val Flora that was the youngest. It was actually Roach, who was the youngest even though he looks like the oldest because of his face and muscular body.

***

Day 150 - 2:11 PM - Bagong Bayan, Municpality of Panganiban, Catanduanes

"We\'re finally here!"

Emika shouted, seeing the town that was supposed to be the meeting place of the group.

The Municipality of Panganiban was the next municipality north of Viga where the main base of the Anti-Government faction of the rebels was located.

That was why their designated meeting place was literally further north of the rebel base.

Why was this place chosen? It was because, in this area, almost all the longest roads that travel across Catanduanes intersected. It was a good place to set up an outpost if one wanted to monitor the roads for people passing by.

Well, it was not like anything other than evolved animals would pass through.

Soon, Mark\'s group saw the others inside the school north of the town. They were not hard to spot considering they had a huge bird with them, the Thunder Bird Trua.

"You guys took your time."

Pefile complained immediately after Mark\'s group landed. He seemed to be in a foul mood.

"What\'s wrong?" Mark asked. "We just got delayed for a whole night."

"Boss," Edzel interjected. "We\'ve been waiting here for a whole day and a half already."

"Hmm? That\'s odd." Mark was confused. "How come?"

If they went for the estimated time, Pefile\'s group would need a day at least to escort the refugees in their group to the base of the Neutral Faction of the rebels.

It was odd since if they had been waiting here for a day and a half already, it meant that they returned the very same night of the day they took down the Anti-Government Faction.

Soon, Mark learned the reason. He could not help but scratch his head.

Apparently, Pefile\'s group had an unexpected encounter two hours after leaving the Rebel Base. They crossed with a convoy of armed people along the road.

Unexpectedly, it was actually a convoy from the Neutral Faction that was there to pick up the refugees and invite their saviors to their base as guests.

The saviors were no other than Pefile\'s group, of course.

Without hesitation, Pefile turned down the invitation. They had no reason to accept it at all. Instead, it was good that they finished their task early.

Sighing, Mark asked.

"It\'s my mother, isn\'t it?"

"Should be," Pefile replied. "There was a woman with the armed men, who was called mom by the girl you told me to protect at all cost."

Sure enough, Mark did not put this into account. It looked like that their mother managed to foresee the situation about his sister and set out in advance.

In any case, it was good.

"Boss, what are we going to do next?"

Berrak asked. It looked like he already embraced his role as a member of Mark\'s group.

"Nothing today and tomorrow." Mark shrugged. "You guys managed to rest but we haven\'t yet. We are going to take a break before setting off to eliminate the Demons in Bato."

With that, Mark was looking forward to a good rest. Well, he was still fine for the most part. However, it did not mean that the girls were too. They should at least need a break.