Mutagen

While Mark left most of the management in the base to Odelina and Huey, he was still the leader. He had responsibilities that he should, at least, fulfill now and then.

It was definitely, one of the reasons why Mark did not plan to become a leader from the start. However, to survive in this apocalypse and remain self-sufficient, being alone, and even leading a small group, would not suffice. Even if he knew many things that he could use to survive, there was no denying that he lacked the expertise.

And thus, it led to him not only being a leader of a group but a whole settlement.

The good thing was that he was able to choose who could join and who could not. He was not running a charity. And it was not a place for people to cause trouble in. Only those he deemed capable, worthy, and could be of use could live in this place.

And as such, Mark managed to create a thriving community in the apocalypse.

"Boss!"

"Boss, good afternoon."

Greetings came towards Mark from everyone he passed by. Respect, gratefulness, and even fear could be felt from them.

Respect for he had power. Gratefulness for letting them live in this safe place. And fear for Mark since a single word from him could banish them away. There was no need to mention that almost everyone here in the base knew how ruthless Mark could be to his enemies.

Mark entered the warehouse. This time, he was going to check the supplies everyone gathered.

The moment he entered, Mark saw the busy people organizing everything. The one in the lead was Darren Bryce Salvador, the head of the Salvador Family. One of the three leading families in the already destroyed East Port Settlement in Infanta.

Being a businessman back before the apocalypse, organizing the supplies, recording the inventory, and overseeing the process was a responsibility tasked to Darren. His helpers were no other than his two sons. As for his daughter, Annica, she was on another task more suitable for her abilities.

"Mark."

Darren greeted Mark with a smile. His authority here was not as high compared to when he was in East Port Settlement. However, it was far more peaceful here that he seemed to have gained weight, despite eating the same food as everyone.

"How is it?"

Mark asked, looking at the stacks of boxes in this not-so-large warehouse.

Darren looked towards the stacks of boxes of supplies and replied.

"If we continue our current consumption, this amount of food we had in the warehouse will last for another six months. Less if we had water issues, but that\'s not existent in this place so far."

"That\'s only the food and water here, right?"

Mark asked.

"Yes. We still have two of the more batches inside the Spirit Tree. All-in-all, we can last for a year and a half without needing to rely upon outside sources. We would likely have more if we were not forced to leave supplies behind in Pennsylvania."

Darren replied, showing regret for the supplies they all painstakingly collected but had to leave behind.

Mark already heard about it. They gathered supplies in Reading, Pennsylvania, and were in the middle of moving the rest back to base. It was when they saw the UFOs leaving Earth in mass that Odelina made an immediate decision.

It was a good call, actually. Things had already gotten out of hand there, even with just the [Infected] behaving oddly. The supplies left behind might be a pity, but their lives were far more valuable.

Panning his eyes towards the surroundings, Mark noticed date labels on some of the boxes and could not help but ask.

"The supplies don\'t have issues with expiration dates, right?"

"Fortunately, no." Darren shook his head slightly. "We did some initial inventory back in the warehouse in Pennsylvania. We managed to prioritize the items with longer expiry dates over those that will last shorter. That is why there is no point in going back for the supplies we left there. Most of them might have expired before we can retrieve them."

Mark nodded in satisfaction. It was good that Darren and Odelina led the management of supplies while he was gone. Darren was an owner of a Coconut Plantation, while Odelina\'s husband owned a Car Dealership Business. Both of them had experience in the field, making their work more than just being efficient.

While talking with Darren for a few more details, they made their rounds inside the warehouse.

It was when Mark\'s eyes fell on a group of young women who were making glances at him. When they saw that Mark noticed them, they nervously scurried away.

"What is wrong with them? They\'re the new ones, right?"

Mark frowned.

Being called the new ones, those women belonged to the small group of survivors from Pennsylvania. They managed to pass Odelina\'s few trials and were deemed worthy enough to take into the base. Of course, being brought back by Odelina and not Mark, they had a different view of him compared to the others.

At Mark\'s question, Darren made a stifled laugh.

"Don\'t frown about things you started."

Darren replied.

"I started?"

Mark was confused.

"Remember what you said the moment you returned here? The answer you gave the Green-haired girl? Although most people here don\'t know what a harem is, they understand that you will not take any other woman as a mistress even in this lawless world. Moral standards are very low in these times. Many women here won\'t hesitate to answer yes if you want them as a mistress."

"Me? With this looks?" Mark pointed at his face. "You got to be joking. Besides, I already said that I will only have Mei\'er in my entire life."

"That\'s the point." Darren laughed. "Many women, especially the young ones, found your answer too dreamy for the situation the world is in. Even more, since you boldly stated it in front of everyone. Now, you\'re the content of small talks of women in the base. Even my wife is talking about it. Saying that I should follow your steps."

"So, you played with women before even though you already have a wife."

Mark stated with a blank look.

"Ahem..." Darren awkwardly laughed. "That\'s a thing of the past. I just got swayed by someone who wanted to take advantage of my money. Anyway, what about your looks? It\'s not bad at all."

"I know my face." Mark shrugged. "You don\'t have to try hard and compliment me."

At that reply, Darren shook his head.

"Compared to your high confidence in your strength, your self-esteem about your appearance is just as low, huh. Tsk."

Mark did not reply to that and continued going their rounds around the warehouse.

Amidst checking the supplies, Mark turned his head to the door. He was sure that someone came for him.

"Something might have happened."

Mark told Darren and made his way towards the door of the warehouse. The latter also followed in concern.

There, what was waiting for Mark was not a human.

It was a Dryad. One of the slaves that Mark chose in the stone fortress.

"Master," The Dryad greeted. "There\'s a situation in the north side. The Tikbalangs were calling for you."

The arrogant Dryad at the start was now showing Mark respect. The situation now and when they first met was different. She already saw Mark\'s strength, and Spirit Races highly respect the strong.

"I\'ll leave this place to you."

Mark told Darren.

"Don\'t worry. Just go."

Darren nodded with a smile.

"Let\'s go."

Mark told the Dryad, and they made their way towards the north side of the base.

The north side was the area facing towards the peak of Mount Malabito. Thus, it was not unusual that [Evolved Animals] would attack from this direction. However, with the Tikbalangs creating illusions with the help of the Dryad, those attacks were not a huge threat at all.

For the Tikbalangs to call for Mark, something odd might have happened.

"Master."

The Tikbalangs in charge of the [Illusion Magic] on the north side greeted Mark. They were standing at the border of the barrier. The illusion magic of the Tikbalangs needed to be used on forests to take full effect. The forest was outside Mark\'s base, and thus, the illusion was outside the barrier.

However, the actual problem was, now, knocking on the barrier, watching everyone inside in full aggressiveness.

It was a creature with a half-metal, half-organic body.

Yes, it was an actual [Mechid].

It was the first for everyone to see one, especially something that was moving.

Mark was sure that it was a [Mechid], as he already saw a dead one before. However, it had slight differences. This one had a high-tech glass-like sword on its right hand while it had a mantis-like claw on the other. Using both weapons, it was banging on the barrier, staring at the Tikbalangs with its glowing reticle-like eyes.

Of course, it could not enter the barrier. The barrier was made by the Eyes to stop any extraterrestrial danger. The radiation from the space debris and the [Mechids] to be exact.

But then, the issue here was apparent. The [Mechid] in front of them passed through the [Illusion Magic] without any problem. Then, it came knocking on the barrier after seeing everyone inside.

"We should have expected something like this."

Mark rubbed his temple at the new problem.

The [Illusion Magic] of the Tikbalangs work by using the forest as a maze and hindering the victims\' sense of direction, making them feel lost and walk in circles. It was not news that [Illusion Magic] was something that fiddled with the victim\'s minds.

However, the minds of [Mechids], a robotic being, work differently from humans, animals, and even the [Infected].

The minds, the brain of the [Mechids] were programmed Artificial Intelligence, highjacked by the [Mechid Pathogen]. Thus, the [Illusion Magic] that was supposed to affect a person\'s mind had no effect on them.

To think that the first problem that Mark\'s base would have from the [Mechids] was them bypassing the first line of defense without effort at all.

"There\'s only one?"

Mark asked the Tikbalangs.

"Yes." They nodded. "There is only one so far."

Yes, so far. It meant that there might be more in the future.

"What a headache."

Mark sighed.

Luckily, this [Mechid] seemed to be a physical fighter. It would not be strange if some [Mechids] began firing off lasers or flamethrowers, but it was just a sword and a scythe this time.

In any case, this gave Mark the opportunity to actually capture a living [Mechid]. Of course, Mark would make sure that it was not carrying anything radioactive if he was going to bring this in.

How though? Extraterrestrial dangers were not allowed to pass through the barrier.

Well, Mark found a loophole for that. In the first place, he would not be able to bring the [Mechid Latcher] back to the base if he did not find this loophole.

Mark stretched his hand towards the [Mechid]. A surge of [Miasma] shot wards the robotic creature. It made the Tikbalangs and Dryad step back in fear. They were magical creatures and more susceptible to Miasma. It was a natural fear that was hard to overcome.

The [Miasma] covered the [Mechid] without damaging it. Surely, a contact with [Miasma] would cause an organic thing to rot. But of course, that was if Mark did not control it.

This time, Mark was using Miasma to absorb any radiation from the [Mechid]\'s body before bringing it inside. The [Mechid] flailed around, taking the [Miasma] as an unknown danger in its receptors.

However, how could it hit a raw form of energy? It did not take long, and the [Miasma] covered the entirety of the [Mechid].

Of course, even with the [Miasma], it was impossible to just pull it in. Mark\'s [Miasma] was not considered extraterrestrial, and it could pass back and forth the barrier without damaging it. Thus, it could not make a hole in the barrier to pull the [Mechid] inside. In the first place, it was dangerous to make a hole in the barrier. That kind of thing was just asking for death.

And thus, Mark made his move and jumped out of the barrier. The [Mechid] was unable to see him because of the [Miasma] and continued to flail randomly.

Mark, taking the opportunity to sneak behind the [Mechid], Mark touched it.

To be specific, Mark made his [Spatial Ring] touch it.

There, the [Mechid] was sucked into the hole that opened in front of it.

One rule about the [Spatial Ring] was that living creatures with consciousness could not be put inside. While it was impossible for Mark to put the [Infected] inside since even [Eaters] was considered as a "living" being, it was different for [Mechids].

There were just robots hacked by the [Mechid Pathogen] after all.