Mutagen

A man with ragged clothes said, leading a group of survivors in front of a dilapidated structure.

The man leading the group opened the door only made of torn tarpaulin and peeked inside.

That peek was more than enough to assess the place. The place was not big at all, and it only had one room. It was only enough for the whole group to sleep side by side on the floor. Yes, only sleep. Saying that it was not big was wrong. The place was freaking small.

Moreover, the entire structure was made of scrap metal sheets and moldy plywood. The walls and roofs were haphazardly built that there were holes here and there. Not to mention the materials were scrap, obviously having holes and broken parts here and there.

The worst of all. A part of the back was destroyed, from the wall to the roof. That broken hole made everything exposed outside.

But it was not like there was any other choice. All the structures in the slums were literally built the same. Many people did not even have a place to live and were clearly camping outside, sleeping on cardboard and scrap wood as bedding.

"Alright. This will do." The leader said to their guide. "By the way, I have a question."

"Just ask."

The guide in ragged clothes eagerly replied.

"There are many people who live outside." The leader said, looking at the sleeping spots not far away. "Why didn\'t anyone move in here?"

It was a reasonable question. Why was this empty when there were a lot of homeless people in the slums?

"That\'s..." The guide bitterly smiled, closing into the leader\'s ear, and whispered. "It\'s because of the gang running this area. They collect protection fees once a week, and they ask more from those living in shelters. Many people can\'t afford the protection fee, and they decided that it\'s better to live homeless instead."

"A gang, huh."

The leader murmured.

"Yes. It\'s called White Snake Gang. They run the northern areas of the slums near the gate." The guide continued. "Actually, the rules here are better than the other three sides. That is why there were more homeless people here than in the territories run by other gangs. Here was more dangerous, though."

"I see. Alright, here."

The leader sneakily handed the guide a single can of sardines for his work.

As he saw the payment, the guide immediately grabbed it and hid it inside his ragged clothes. It was just a single can, not even a big one. That single can, however, was more than enough for the guide\'s eyes to twinkle and his mouth to salivate.

"Thank you, Boss! If you need anything else, just call me. I live by the gates, and the guards know me."

And with his work done, the guide cautiously looked around and scurried off. It was as if he was afraid that the can of sardines would be stolen from him.

"What a strange person."

The petite woman in the group murmured as she watched their guide run away.

"Strange? I guess not." The leader said. "Just desperate."

"Gege, let\'s enter already." The woman in the group wearing a hooded jacket and facemask urged their leader. "It feels like we are an attraction in a zoo."

That was the right feeling as they stood outside the house. Although they were not doing it blatantly, the attention of the people in the surroundings was on them. They were curious and cautious about the unfamiliar people that moved into their place.

"Alright, let\'s head inside."

The leader said, letting everyone else in their group enter first. After everyone was already inside, the leader looked around first. It caused the onlookers to look away. Then the leader followed the others into the structure.

The place was empty. There sure was nothing inside, not even a single chair. All it had was dust and the debris from the broken wall and roof.

The leader secured the torn tarpaulin door. He then began removing his hood and mask.

Of course, it was no other than Mark.

Everyone else followed suit, removing the jackets and masks they were wearing. Everyone was wearing different clothes compared to their usual clothing. There was no armor at this moment. Only thick jacket and facemasks to cover their mouths. They even deliberately wore dirty and torn clothes outside.

To most people, they looked like regular survivors that worked hard to get here.

"This is uncomfortable..."

Spera complained as she lessened her clothes. She was not a fighter type and preferred light clothing. It was not like she hated wearing layers of clothes, but her petite body could not handle it.

"Won\'t anyone see us removing these?"

Feng Zhiruo said while removing her one outer layer of clothes. She was cautiously looking around, specifically, the gaps on the walls.

"It\'s fine," Mark said as he helped Abbygale remove her jacket. "The people outside might be curious, but they are warier of strangers. Besides, we only wore disguises to make sure no one would bother us."

"They would be more cautious of people whose faces are hidden, after all."

Mark added.

"Sounds like you speak from experience."

Spera remarked, but Mark ignored the arrow hitting his back.

"Anyway, I\'m surprised we managed to get in without problems." Spera continued and stared at Mark. "How did you know that you can bribe the soldiers at the gates to avoid more questions? They even called that guy to guide us somewhere we could stay."

Mark shrugged and remembered their entry to this place moments ago.

The main gates of the slums were guarded. There was a small military encampment right beside it. However, only two soldiers were posted at that time.

They were definitely surprised to see new people still alive. Without a doubt, Mark\'s group would be bombarded with questions.

However, Mark sneakily put a packet of cigarettes on the hand of the soldier that was asking him questions, telling him that they were already tired from their journey. The soldier understood that Mark did not want to be questioned any longer and stopped the other soldier from asking more questions.

Afterward, Mark exchanged a few sentences with the bribed soldier, and it led to the current situation.

"Sometimes, you should observe the faces of the people in front of you," Mark replied to Spera. "Those guys were clearly not that happy with their current work. Who would want to guard the gates of the slums, after all? They were also the closest to danger. If they could lighten their work and receive a small benefit, they would gladly do so."

"Really?"

Spera asked.

"Yep, really," Mark replied. "But well, I also made sure that I\'m right and read their emotions."

"In the end, it\'s because you\'re an [Empath] that you succeded."

Spera yapped.

"I can\'t deny that." Mark shrugged. "I\'m not an expert in reading faces either."

"MMM! MMM!"

A small noise could be heard.

"A..."

Mark bitterly voiced out as he let out Amihan from the bag he was carrying.

"Master!"

Amihan shouted in a complaining tone. She clearly heard Mark and the other talking since they already arrived at their destination, but she was still stuck inside the bag.

"Sorry," Mark said, patting Amihan\'s head with his finger. "Spera had a lot of questions I forgot to let you out."

"Why did the blame fall unto me!"

Spera blurted out, pouting.

While continuing their banter, they cleaned and prepared their current dwelling. No one had problems sharing the whole place. Women usually would not want to share a room with men. When they spent the night in the ruins of Bay City, Spera and Feng Zhiruo stayed together in a separate tent. It was the same when they camped last night. Unfortunately, there was no choice this time.

It was not like there was really an issue. The two girls knew that Mark was not interested in them at all and would not do something unethical in their sleep. Even if he was a perverted monster and forced himself unto them, they would not be able to protect themselves because of the disparity in strength. It was all just for the sake of comfort and the fact that they did not want to bother Mark\'s family during the night.

"Gege, what are we going to do with this?"

Mei asked Mark, pointing at the broken wall and roof.

As said before, even if they were inside, Mark and the others were still exposed from outside because of the broken wall.

Fortunately, that wall was actually right beside the wall of the slums. The distance between the walls was also tight. Thus, no one could pass by that direction unless they forced themselves through the small gap of the walls.

"Hmmm."

Mark tapped his chin. It was not only the destroyed wall and roof, but he was also observing the small gaps on the walls here and there.

"Maybe we can use the tarpaulin from the tents we had," Mark suggested. "Wait, why not just build the tent inside? With the size of this place, we can fix two tents, tightly side by side. We just need to fix it a bit."

Although it would be a bit of work, everyone agreed with Mark\'s suggestion. Aside from Mark, everyone here was girls. None of them would want people peeking into the house through the gaps on the walls.

It took them until almost noon to fix up the place. It was small, but the work that needed to be done was a lot.

In any case, they managed to set up their base of operations in this place.

Why base of operations? It was because they would probably need a few days to achieve their goals here.

As they ate their lunch of canned food, Mark was closing his eyes from time to time.

"How is it?"

Mei asked Mark after he opened his eyes.

Mark shook his head as his initial reply.

"I found some familiar fluctuations. I\'m pretty sure they are people from Bay City. But I didn\'t find any of the people we are close with yet."

"They might be inside the walls," Mark added. "I can\'t reach them, though, since we are still pretty far from the walls."

What Mark said was true. The fortress city was pretty large for a settlement, but the slums surrounding it were far larger. And since the house they were brought to was right next to the wall, they were literally just a step from outside. They were on the edge of the slums and the furthest place from the fortress city.

"What are your plans now?"

​ Spera asked.

"Well, for now, you all stay here and rest," Mark replied as he ate a spoonful of canned tuna. "I\'m going to spend the rest of the day gathering information. It will be good if I can find people we are familiar with."

Not everyone was happy with Mark\'s plan. After all, they would be staying put while Mark did all the work. However, they understood that they had no choice, at least for now. They were women, after all, and would be subjected to some unpleasant things in this place with poor security.

But then, Mark added.

"But well, I might go out later and stay for a bit, though."

"Hmm? Why?"

Spera asked.

"The guide earlier said that the slums are run by gangs asking for protection fees and stuff. I\'m sure that our arrival reached them already, and they will pay us a visit immediately."

Then Mark glanced at his right hand. He was currently holding a large feather with a mark of a weighing scale, a balance.

"There is also another person, unexpectedly."

Mark added as he stared at the feather.

Those words made the rest confused. What did Mark mean? There was another person who would come to visit them?

Unexpectedly, their questions were answered not long after.

Just while they were cleaning the things they used to eat, Mark suddenly spoke loudly.

"Don\'t just stand outside and come in already."

And surely, someone entered.

"As expected, you knew that I\'m going to arrive."

A voice of a mature woman was heard as the tarpaulin door opened.