Mutagen

Mornings were the busiest time of the day, not only before but also during the apocalypse.

In other places, their mornings were spent worrying about how they could feed their family for the rest of the day. Some were preparing to go on a dangerous hunt, while others worked for the meager amount of food they could be rationed with.

The mornings in the Mountain Base were not that different. However, the level of safety and comfort was vastly different. They only had to wonder what would be on the menu as hunting was done by a designated group. Rationed food was also plenty for their stomachs to fill. Work that needed to be done was mostly farming and carpentry. The fruits of the farming labor would go into their meals in the future, and the carpentry work currently was for everyone\'s individual residences. There was no reason to be unmotivated with such tasks that would promise stability in their lives in the upcoming days.

Mark observed the residential area. Although there were already many structures here, filled with housing, for the most part, the area was far from finished.

Most of the houses were still more or less the base structure. A small box with a basic door, windows, and a roof. It allowed people to sleep inside with a bed. However, it was more of a sturdy kind of hut than an actual house. This was not the end of what Mark had planned when he decided to build this place.

Mark wanted a place where people living in it were loyal and unified. That was why the people allowed to live here were strictly chosen by Mark or strict observations like those from Philadelphia. It was to prevent pathologically ill-willed people.

There were various reasons why Mark wanted such a place to live. There were already lots of problems to deal with outside. The [Infected] initially and the [Mechids] now, not to mention other dangers such as [Evolved Animals]. Mark did not want to deal with problems inside the base, especially political ones.

Look at the other places Mark had been to, for example. The military settlements were plagued by political disputes. The rebels in Catanduanes split into two groups and built their own bases, wherein one faction had unstable leadership and structure.

And when sh*t hit the fan, none of their political problems mattered. They all fell. No unity, no stability, only chaos, and suffering. In the end, it was not those who fought for their positions that suffered. It was those that had nothing to do with those political contests.

Of course, people could still change over time. However, Mark wanted to be sure that if such a thing happened, the impact on the home he created would be minimal.

Looking at the people below the walls, Mark thought of many things.

For example, why Mark was limiting the use of the crystals.

Turning everyone in the base into [Evolvers] and [Mutators] was not a surprising thought. If everyone here was strong, the less likely it would fall against attacks from the enemies.

In the first place, while the filled [Physical Crystals] in Mark\'s possession were not that many, he was not lacking in the empty ones. He could turn all people living in his base into [Evolvers]. But Mark held on to the crystals instead of doing it.

It was for one reason. Something that was given freely and in large quantities felt less valuable. It would stem into more unnecessary and uncontrollable outbursts and thoughts. This could lead the people to demand more of what they did not deserve to have.

Since Mark was limiting the number of people he turned into [Evolvers] and [Mutators], the status became much more important to the eyes of those that did not. Thus, they would do their best for the base and make themselves acknowledged. And this was what Mark wanted. He wanted the people to prove that they deserved to become more powerful while making sure their ties to the base became stronger.

In the first place, while it was known that Mark could turn people into [Evolvers] and [Mutators], the actual specifics of the process were only known to those that went through it. It kept everyone guessing while preventing them from getting too greedy.

But looking at the current state of the base, especially the people, Mark could now safely say that the people had already grown their roots in this place.

Mark continued on his walk.

Although Mark would not do it on a large scale, it was time to let those that deserved it get an upgrade.

***

Soon, Mark reached the end of the outer wall. Yes, the end. The shape of the base, if one looked from the sky, was not really circular but more of an inversed letter C. There was no west outer area or anything like that, and the outer wall would join the edge of the inner wall once reaching the western side of the base.

It was because of the natural wall on the western side of the base. There was a steep rock formation dozens of meters thick from east to west while encompassing three-quarters of the base\'s width from north to south.

It was the rocky cliff where Mark dug what they now call the Cliff House.

There was no need to build a wall around it. Or rather, there was no way to do without the help of heavy machinery. It was because the western side of the rock formation was a steep cliff straight down half the mountain\'s height. It was a natural defensive wall on its own and now doubled as Mark\'s home, built by his own hands.

Mark took a peek down the outer wall where the cliff to the west could be seen. Yes, it was a long way down, and below was a thick forest that definitely would not cushion anyone\'s fall. Even just the fall would surely kill since there were bits and pieces of pointy and edgy rocks poking out of the cliff face.

Even so, it was not like it was left defenseless. While building a wall or a rampart over the cliff was impossible, the vines made by the [Dryad] could properly hold on to the face of the cliff. That barricade made of vines would definitely block anyone or anything that would try to climb up the cliff. Even if the vines did not manage to block whoever it was, the [Dryad] would immediately know if something passed through it.

***

As Mark looked at the sky, it was almost noon already. It seemed that time passed fast without him realizing it while he was observing the residential area.

Mark walked down the wall with Laelaps and Fein. They took the route on the west side of the residential area. It was more or less the back side of the area where not many people were passing by. Even so, people spotted Mark and greeted him respectfully.

Like usual, Mark responded with a silent nod to the greeting.

It was at this time that a voice echoed inside Mark\'s head.

"Bro, where are you now?"

The familiar mental voice of Jaeya. Within the settlement, those that were mentally connected with Jaeya could be contacted by her through [Telepathy]. It was such a convenient skill. Unfortunately, it could not be used to contact other people without going through Jaeya.

"I\'m on the way back."

Mark replied.

"Okay," Jaeya replied. "Lunch is almost ready. Odel told me to call you and Sis. Alright, I\'m cutting off."

Mark tilted his head upon hearing Jaeya\'s reply.

There was actually no need for Jaeya to call him if Mei was around. Just a few taps on her ring and Mark would receive the message. If Jaeya had to contact him, it meant that Mei was somewhere doing something and also forgot about the time.

Mark scanned the surroundings using his [Empath] abilities, encompassing the entire Mountain Base. He then detected Mei together with Feng Zhiruo at the training area.

"Training again, huh."

Mark sighed. They now had two training maniacs within the base.

Feng Zhiruo had her reasons for wanting to get stronger, bolstered by her failure during the [Trial of Regrets]. Mei, on the other hand, was finding her strength lacking to follow Mark in every fight he needed to face.

Mark appreciated Mei\'s sentiment, but it looked like she was overdoing it. They were supposed to rest today, but there she was with Feng Zhiruo at the training area.

It was not like Mark could stop her from doing what she wanted. Besides, it was he who told her to be a bit more greedy, and this was her form of greediness.

With a lot of things in mind, Mark made his way back to the inner area and to his home. Mei and Feng Zhiruo were already back when he arrived since the training area was much closer to home than he was.

Mark looked at Mei and Feng Zhiruo in a bit of relief. It looked like they did not do some extensive training.

"You two did some training?"

Mark asked the two.

"We\'re just exchanging ideas," Mei replied with a nice smile. "Zhiruo is trying to imitate a technique from memory, but she can\'t do it properly. She wanted me to watch if her posture looked odd."

Mark looked at Feng Zhiruo, who nodded at Mei\'s answer. She could have just asked him. She did not know that Mark had the memories of the elder she was with in the past. Even so, he had already taught her a lot of things to the point of being suspicious.

With a shrug, Mark said.

"It\'s fine to try things out, but just hold back on hard training for the next few days."

The two girls agreed without question. It was the plan, after all.

***

Lunch came soon. A happy lunch that most of the world right now could not even imagine.

Today\'s lunch was bird soup. The meat came from wild quails caught during yesterday\'s morning hunt. Quails about the size of a chicken. It was big, considering the biggest kinds of adult quail before the apocalypse was just a little bigger than an adult human\'s fist. There was actually a flock of these quails, which could have been good animals as livestock. Unfortunately, the flock was feral, and [Feral Evolved Animals] were something that could not be tamed safely.

It was a nice lunch since Odelina cooked it. Her cooking somehow gave a homey feel which everyone liked.

***

Outside, the people of the Mountain Base were having their own mealtime. Unlike the food on Mark\'s table, the meal was rationed. Nonetheless, the rationed food\'s taste was no less than one\'s favorite street food stall. It was due to the fact that the person leading the cooks, Trisha, was a former hotel chef.

People from other settlements might probably sell their important belongings for a bowl of this rationed food.

Well, it was no news how bland the distributed food within the military settlements right now.

***

The happy lunch passed quickly, along with playful chatting. The table might be noisy, but it was a good kind of noise.

But after lunchtime, back to work time.

Although Mark said that today would be a day for rest, there were still things that could not be postponed.

For example, receiving reports of the important things that happened while Mark\'s group was gone, especially the state of things outside that the people of the base observed.

That was why an hour after lunch, a short meeting was scheduled. All the people leading the [Mountain Base] would gather within the living room of the Cliff House to give their report.