Mutagen

The Presidential Mansion. It was the most secure place in the entire settlement. Not only was the mansion the center of the [Safezone], its facilities prioritized safety instead of aesthetics.

All types of security measures were installed around the mansion. From soldier-manned watchtowers to security cameras, it was not hard to think that the people that made this were highly paranoid.

Tonight, even though it was already near midnight, the mansion was bustling with activity. And the tension could be perceived by everyone inside.

Inside the presidential office, the highest authorities of the settlement gathered. Of course, at the center of it all was the current president, Roderick Deroa. Standing in front of the window behind his seat, he was watching the night sky.

"It\'s almost midnight. Miguel Perez should be really anxious by now." President Roderick spoke before turning towards the people behind him. "How are his movements?"

The president\'s eyes fell on a man who had just arrived, wearing some sort of military uniform. It was different from those known for the soldiers of this country to wear. Instead of either greenish or grayish military camouflage, he wore a completely black suit paired with a black mask to cover his face.

"General Perez had yet to make any forceful movements. Although it was suspicious that the soldiers following him were gathering inside their compound."

"It looks like he finally decided." President Roderick nodded before his eyes locked onto one of the people inside the room. "Manuel, is our troops ready to skirmish?"

The Military Chief of Staff, Major General Manuel Bautista, replied to the president\'s question.

"Our soldiers are stationed inside and outside the Presidential Mansion and within the surrounding buildings. We have the geographical advantage once a skirmish happens."

"Good." President Roderick turned towards the window once more. "Everything is all going according to plan. All that is left is for our target to appear."

The Chief of Staff stepped back to his position. His face, however, had a complicated expression.

Three women were kidnapped under the president\'s orders. It was an intolerable act considering they were supposed to be the pillars protecting their citizens. Yet, because some people became an eyesore for those in positions, they resorted to these criminal acts.

Unfortunately, the president is the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces by law. Even the Chief of Staff had to follow the president\'s orders.

Even though the orders went against the way of justice, they wanted to follow.

Many soldiers hated the government and the way it managed the country. Behind every good thing, there were a couple more bad things within the government.

However, not all soldiers had the bravery to go against the government and follow their own sense of justice.

Not everyone was like General Perez and his followers.

General Perez was brave enough to face the people on top and follow his ideals. Thus, he was seen as an eyesore. Unfortunately for those that hated General Perez, taking him out was not an easy thing to do.

The Philippines was a democratic country. The common populace might not have the power alone, but the Filipino people were known to bond together against injustice.

There were already three times where the populace caused the president to step down from their position during the country\'s history of democracy. The power of the masses in this country was not something easy to abolish.

And currently, General Perez was the one who had the support of the masses at this time. If he was suddenly assassinated, it would be easy to pinpoint the perpetrators. It was no secret that the General was clashing with the current government, after all.

Furthermore, as they try to reestablish the government and its laws, it would be harder to start things against the existing rules.

And it was the reason why they had to kidnap the General\'s daughter. A simple kidnapping could be blamed on anyone. Furthermore, there was no concrete evidence on who did it. However, the only goal of this was to rile up the General. To force him to take up arms and go head to head with the government.

If General Perez did that, he would be legally charged with rebellion. Even with the support of the people, a criminal was a criminal. Even if the people still wanted to support General Perez, many of them would hesitate to do so.

And now, it seemed that General Perez began to gather his troops and allies.

A bloody encounter this time would be inevitable.

***

SWOOSH!

Inside the very same mansion, a surge of black mist lurked along the hallways.

The black mist then turned into a corner before turning into a humanoid being.

Of course, that surge of black mist was no one else but Mark.

After giving General Perez the proposal to lead this settlement, Mark began discussing what they could do in the current situation. The discussion and preparation took some time. Some even feared that the lives of the three kidnapped women were getting into more danger as time passed by.

However, Mark thought otherwise. The very likely reason for the three to be kidnapped was to lure him out along with General Perez. But, of course, General Perez must be their primary goal at the moment. Since even though Mark deliberately showed that he and his group were here, their whereabouts were still an unknown variable.

They might be thinking that Mark would be drawn by the battle they were expecting to happen. But by the looks of it, they were not too sure of it to happen.

That lapse, however, made it easier for Mark to infiltrate the place.

It was a good thing Mark never showed his cards to anyone back in Bay City. The people there might know of his existence. However, there was barely anything they knew about his abilities.

None of the current government would expect Mark could move through the smallest gaps by turning into a surge of mist. And now, he infiltrated the supposedly most secure place inside the Safezone without breaking a sweat. It was literally a piece of cake.

Nonetheless, Mark was being careful.

It was unexpected, but Mark could detect some powerful beings around the mansion. Although it would not be surprising if he detected someone who could be a member of CNC. However, it did not seem to be the case here.

Since his primary goal in this infiltration was to save the three kidnapped girls, he wanted not to cause any commotion if possible.

But another unexpected thing...

Mark looked at the floor beneath him. He was standing right above where he was detecting Elsa, Angeling, and Paula. About nine meters or so below him.

It was odd. Who would have a basement that was nine meters deep?

But thinking about it, the mansion might have had some sort of bunker under it. It would not be surprising considering that this was a Presidential Mansion.

This was a rather clever move by the government. No one would find the kidnapped girls if they were put in such a location.

Unfortunately, it was kind of troublesome for Mark too. Now, he had to find where the entrance of that bunker could possibly be.

Scratching his head, Mark turned into a surge of mist once more. There was no time to idle around. General Perez and the others were also waiting.

"Wh-Ugh!!!"

Mark appeared in the most luxurious room inside the mansion. The first thing he did was to knock out the only person inside. It was a woman.

"The first lady, huh..."

Mark said as he put the woman on the bed. He remembered the woman\'s face since he had seen her on the internet. However, he could not recall her name for some reason. He probably did not pay much attention.

In any case, if the first lady was here, it must be the bedroom of the president. It was one of the best locations to put the entrance of a bunker.

And Mark was not mistaken.

It took some time to search the room. But Mark found the electronically locked entrance under the bed. He found it suspicious that the bed seemed to be oddly high. At it appeared, the space under the bed was a crawlspace to the entrance.

And... Mark did not have the passcode.

"Seriously... they planned this cautiously..."

Mark murmured.

The entrance in front of him surely was not the sole entrance to the bunker. After all, there was no way they would bring the three kidnapped women all the way into the presidential suite.

In any case, it was the entrance easiest to find.

Turning into a surge of black mist, Mark pushed himself into the gaps of the keys of the panel into the wiring system of the entrance.

In a second, Mark popped out from the keypad on the other side of the entrance.

Turning back into his original form, Mark carefully traversed the hallway. He even took out the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] and covered himself with [Optical Camouflage].

Although it might alert some of the powerful beings if he was not careful, it was better than getting caught by the numerous cameras all over the hallway.

"This really is unexpected..." Mark murmured while looking around. "It feels like I\'m exploring some sort of properly maintained Vault."

Mark was not wrong with this feeling. Contrary to the apocalyptic atmosphere outside, inside the bunker was the complete opposite.

The walls and floor of the place were clean, lights were installed everywhere, and it was very secure.

As Mark continued along, he noticed facilities necessary for survival underground.

However, it was very empty.

There were very few people inside. Most of them seemed to be scientists conducting research inside this place.

"This place is not something constructed after the world changed..."

Mark said.

It was impossible for this underground facility to be built in a month. It meant that this place managed to survive the over magnitude ten earthquake during the fusion of dimensions.

It was really surprising.

But most of all...

"Did our country have the budget to build something like this?"

The Philippines was a country with a whole lot of debt. Although Mark was unsure, he did not think that this country was capable of building something like this.

With those thoughts, Mark avoided the security roaming the facility, along with the scientists that appeared to lack sleep.

Soon, Mark stopped in front of another electronically locked door. The three women, Elsa, Angeline, and Paula, were inside.

The three of them were still awake. Furthermore, they were not restrained in any way. However, there was no way for them to escape this place. They very likely tried tinkering with the keypad inside. However, it would be hard for them to guess the passcode.

Using the gaps of the keys once more, Mark entered the room.

The three women sure were surprised by the sudden black mist that seeped out of the keypad. Furthermore, the black mist transformed into a masked man in black clothing.

But when the man removed his mask...

"Mark?!"

"Bro!"

The three women exclaimed, seeing the familiar face.

"Shh!" Mark hushed the three. "Not too loud."

The three understood and covered their mouths. They began glancing at the surveillance camera in the ceiling.

Mark looked at it too. Well, Mark was already ahead, though.

He already expected that there would be a camera inside. Thus, aside from the three women, the light in front of the camera was already manipulated by Mark.

Using the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal], he caused some extreme white noise to block the camera from transmitting a clear video. This was way better than destroying the camera since the person managing the camera would only think of this to be some sort of camera malfunction.

It was the first time the three met Mark for a long time. However, the pleasantries would come later. For now, the most important was...

"Mark, are you here to get us out?"

Angeline fearlessly asked Mark in a whisper while looking in the opposite direction.

"Yeah, I am," Mark replied. "The three of you are fine, right?"

"Yeah, we\'re good."

Paula answered.

"Then, let\'s go. We don\'t have much time."

Mark urged the three.

"But Bro..." Elsa looked at Mark. "How are we going out?"

Of course, they saw Mark enter using a strange method. But they could not do the same.

"Just hold unto me tight."

Mark said.

The three girls could not understand what Mark wanted to do. However, there was no choice, really. Not to mention that Paula knew that Mark was not lying. Just holding unto him tightly would let them get out of this room.