Mutagen

A subtle yawn came out of Mark\'s mouth as he flew over the Agos River south of Mount Malabito. He looked pretty tired, probably more than usual. Although it was no news that Mark would barely sleep most of the time, he still spent most of the night lying on the bed and resting. By the looks of it, Mark did not spend most of the previous night resting.

While looking sleepy, Mark looked at the river below. It had been a while since he had seen this place. The first time he came here was before he encountered Huey and his group and a bit before Mark decided to establish the Mountain Base. And the last time? It was when Mark left with his group to deal with the problem in the Visayas a few weeks ago.

The Agos sure looked different from how it appeared before the [Fusion of Dimensions]. The almost dried-up river from that time was now overflowing. Its calm water in the past was now forming raging rapids.

It was unsafe to cross using any possible way aside from flying over it.

As for the reason why Mark was here... While it was mainly Edzel\'s report yesterday, he had another goal.

From Edzel\'s report, the hunting group spotted a giant creature past the river around this area. Before that thing became a threat, it was better to deal with it. That was why Mark went here this morning.

Mark landed at the south riverbank. While it was better to search from the sky, it was already mentioned that he had another reason to be here.

"Hmm..." Mark hummed while pondering as he stared at the raging river. "Is there even any fish in these parts now?"

What was Mark searching for? Was it fish? Food?

They had an occasion today. That was why Mark wanted to catch some extra food before noon to be processed and cooked for tonight\'s dinner. Fish was a good thing for the menu since it was pretty rare to have one these days. If there was no fish, fruits would also do. Meat would be his last resort if he did not find anything better.

Before the apocalypse, meat dishes were always present on special occasions. Although one could eat meat dishes at any time, it was pretty expensive. Now, most meals contain meat. While it did not taste bad or anything, it had already lost its special status as an expensive food.

One of the rare food in these mountains was fish. Even Mark\'s group did not manage to eat fish while traveling. That was why fish would be nice for today.

Mark closed his eyes. Not only humans but also animals and insects had mental and emotional fluctuations. The fluctuations that animals had might be weaker, but Mark should be able to detect them if he focused enough.

Focusing on the deep water, Mark was actually able to detect life underneath the raging river.

Now knowing that there was something under the water, Mark pondered how to fish them out.

Electrocuting the water might be plausible, but Mark was against using his [Miasmic Lightning] for fishing. As the name suggested, his lightning contained bits of properties that his [Miasma] had. He was pretty sure that anything killed by his black lightning or flames was far from suitable for consumption.

While Mark was thinking...

RUMBLE!

The ground shook, alerting Mark to turn around.

It was not like the shaking came from the immediate vicinity. However, Mark was certain that it came from far to the south of where he was.

To be able to shake the ground like that, the cause should be quite big.

"That should be the giant Edzel\'s group saw."

Mark murmured, deciding to put the fishing for later.

Extending his wings out, Mark flew to the sky once more. As he flew further away from the river, he noticed some things.

The area was supposedly forested after the [Fusion of Dimensions]. However, there were clearly unnatural clearings in the middle of the sea of trees. Mark suspected it was unnatural because the ground looked dug up, looking as if something was pulled from the ground with brute force.

It was as if there were supposedly trees in those clearings but were uprooted by something. Furthermore, all clearings were connected with one another through what seemed a path left by something passing through. Mark could even see the snapped and crushed trees lying around those paths.

RUMBLE!

Another shake of the ground. It was even audible.

Mark finally saw what was causing the rumbling and was quite surprised.

It sure was a giant. No, a humanoid [Behemoth Class Infected]. It was likely around ten to fifteen meters in height from where Mark hovered. If it was before the [Fusion of Dimensions], Mark could have seen it without needing to get closer. However, many ancient trees from the [Spirit Dimension] that appeared on Earth dwarfed the giant [Infected]. The current forests were actually good places for the [Behemoth Class Infected] to hide in.

The [Behemoth Class Infected] was rampaging for some reason.

Mark observed it from the sky. While it had that height, it looked shorter because of its body posture. It walked on fours, seemingly like a gorilla, while using its knees as hindlegs. However, it did not look animal-like or anything. Though it actually had quite a chubby-shaped body. However, it had growths covering its skin.

"Metal?"

Mark murmured as he saw the metallic sheen it had on its body.

Then, an idea struck Mark.

The [Infected], especially mutated ones, were known to regrow their mutated traits. For example, a [Stone Armored Tank Type] could have its armor destroyed during its hunt. However, that destroyed armor could regrow over time. The regrowth could even be faster if it managed to hunt prey.

This trait of the [Mutated Infected] was one of the things that made them frightening creatures to leave alive.

But still...

Mark stared at the supposed enemy before him. In his eyes, it was not an enemy. It was a mine. A giant infinite metal mine.

While looking at it, Mark could not determine what kind of metal covered its body. He was not a member of a precious metal club or anything of the sort. But if it could be used, why not? It would not be the first time Mark thought of utilizing the [Infected] and their traits.

Still... the residents of the base would definitely feel intimidated facing a more than ten-meter-tall [Infected]. Even the only five meters tall they had at the base to eat trash and waste looked scary.

"Hmmm..."

Mark pondered. In any case, it was not really an immediate threat or anything. This [Infected] should not be able to cross the current Agos River either. He better discuss it with his people before bringing it back home.

For now...

Mark swooped down from the sky towards the rampaging giant.

It was not rampaging for no reason.

Around the giant [Infected], dozens of [Evolved Felines] attacking it in unison.

"Evolved Cats?"

Mark suspected. After all, there were no endemic species of lions or tigers in the Philippines. The only ones present were those that escaped from zoos or their illegal owners. Those would not be able to make groups this large.

And most importantly, these felines were not feral. They were not attacking the giant blindly and were moved as an intelligent group.

The other report from Edzel yesterday came into Mark\'s mind. Animals began making territories outside the mountain. The [Behemoth Class Infected] probably wandered into the territory of these cats and was now receiving retaliation.

Still... A few dozen cats the size of a lion and as ferocious as a polar bear... If this feline group attacked a settlement, that unlucky settlement was surely doomed.

"Let\'s chase them away for now."

Mark decided. Although hunting these cats for meat seems plausible, there were too many of them. If he provoked them, it would become a messy fight. Not like Mark would be in danger, but there would be too many cats to put inside his ring. In the end, it would be more work for him. He would rather not provoke a fight.

Landing in an area nearby, Mark hid atop a tree. His eyes then glowed bright red as his intent suddenly covered the surroundings.

The [Evolved Cats] suddenly jumped in fright. As they lost concentration toward the fight, some of them got hit by the [Behemoth Infected\'s] arm sweep and were flung away along with the trees surrounding them. But the cats did not care about the casualties. Their fur and tail stood on end as they felt an extreme danger to their lives.

ROAR!

A roar was heard from a white-maned cat as it led its clowder running away in fear.

They surely were cats. In a few seconds, they swiftly vacated the place, leaving an extremely confused [Behemoth Class Infected] behind.

The [Behemoth Class Infected]... No, the [Metal Clad Giant] tried to chase after the enemies that attacked it first. However, its gigantic heavy body did not allow it to chase far before it lost track of the fleeing felines in the middle of the gigantic forest.

Back to where the battle between the clowder and the giant happened, Mark got out of hiding. Around were bits and pieces of metal that came from the giant\'s body. There was quite a lot. It seemed that in the short time the battle occurred, the felines did a number on the giant despite the smaller size of their group.

Mark found a few corpses of the cats hit by the giant\'s arm sweep among the rubble of destroyed trees. He took a few while leaving some for the [Metal Clad Giant]. People would definitely tell Mark that he was crazy for leaving food for the [Infected]. But would he care? Definitely not. If anything else, Mark liked the [Infected] more than humans.

The battle ended, and the giant lost its fleeing enemies. It might be instinct or probably showing some intelligence, but the giant actually went back to where it fought the felines... Only to find several bodies of cats piled up as if waiting for it to eat.

Dumb and unsuspecting, the [Metal Clad Giant] picked the carcasses one after another and stuffed them into its mouth without even chewing. Only when its mouth was full that it started to swallow everything whole. It then stuffed the remaining carcasses in its mouth, repeating the process.

Mark watched the giant while hiding. Unexpectedly, after eating its meal, the giant sat down before uprooting a nearby tree and seemingly playing with it.

That scene confused Mark. So, the reason there were clearings in the forest with uprooted trees was that this giant [Infected] was playing with the trees?

Mark was not new to the [Infected] exhibiting weird behaviors, but this was the first time he saw one playing with things around them. But then... as it sat down like that, it dawned on Mark.

This [Behemoth Class Infected] looked like a giant baby. Its chubby-looking body and crawling on fours...

It was a baby turned into a metallic giant due to its mutation.

"Now I\'m feeling bad about thinking of exploiting this one..."

Mark said those words, although he did not really look like the part as he looked at the playing giant with a blank face. At these times, his traits as a [Mutator] really made him look like an apathetic serial killer.

With a shrug, Mark left the area. A giant like this would be easy to find again later as it hung around this place.

While talking about this giant to his people was what Mark had in mind, he went back to the river first.

Finally deciding to use the [Wind Manipulation Crystal] to create a barrier of wind around him, Mark dove under the water.

It was quite an endeavor traveling under the crazy strong water, but Mark actually found a couple of familiar-looking fish to catch. Well, rather than finding, it was more like they attacked him instead. Still, Mark fulfilled his goal for tonight\'s party.