Mutagen

Nonetheless, staying here was their decision. It was to help Karlene\'s father and the people they had spent time with since this worldwide chaos started. And it was already proven to be a good decision since, during their stay, the Infanta Settlement faced many situations where many lives were at stake. More soldiers and volunteers could have died if not for the two being present. While they could not prevent all deaths, it was clearly lessened considerably.

Of course, it was at the cost of their growth in combat becoming slower.

Since the fighting here in Infanta was mostly defensive, they could only exercise their strengths during those times. And after the [Fusion of Dimensions], hunting became less viable as a stable food source, and the settlement turned to fish instead. Traditional fishing was still dangerous, but using traps made it viable. Thus, combat opportunities became even lesser.

Thus, seeing Mark, who was already strong, grow even stronger gave those two such emotions.

Of course, Mark noticed those lingering emotions behind the bitter smile of the two women. Nonetheless, since it was not filled with ill will, he had no reason to address it.

Jealousy was not necessarily a harmfully negative emotion. It could become a driving force to raise a person\'s motivation to achieve something. A force to keep them moving forward. The only time jealousy would become harmful was when it became unhinged, uncontrolled, and filled with ill will.

But in the end, it would still depend on the person\'s mentality and morality if such emotion would turn harmful. After all, a jealous good-hearted person would be less likely to do something that would harm others than evil-hearted ones.

As for Alana and Karlene, they were a tad bit jealous of Mark\'s growth, fueling their desire to become stronger in their own ways. It was not bad in any way, aside from their desire to return to the Mountain Base growing stronger.

That desire to go back to Mountain Base was not unwarranted. After all, although their sense of responsibility managed to keep them here, comparing the living conditions in Infanta Settlement and the Mountain Base was akin to the difference between heaven and earth. It might sound exaggerated, but in the current state of the Infanta Settlement, its people would definitely think the same.

Content with his finds, Mark left the dump hole of destroyed [Mechids]. There, Alana posed a question.

"You don\'t need those, right? I\'ll tell uncle to retrieve some for research."

Alana said, looking at the hole from her location. Although Mark took a number of parts and stuff, there was still a number of [Mechids] left inside.

Even if the current Infanta Settlement was ill-equipped and severely lacking after the destruction they faced, there was still a notion for study and research of things. They still had some specialists alive who wanted to study the new threat, the [Mechids]. Unfortunately, the black goo was harmful, radiative, and basically impossible to manually remove from the bodies of the destroyed [Mechids]. And without the necessary equipment and a secure laboratory, which they now heavily lacked, research was impossible.

But now, Mark removed the black goo. Not only from the dump site but also the bodies of the [Mechids]. It meant that those destroyed [Mechids] Mark left behind were now suitable for mechanical research.

"Well, it\'s not my trash. You can do what you want with those."

Mark replied.

"You really have to call it trash, huh?"

Karlene interjected grumpily. After all, the cleaned destroyed [Mechids] were now valuable specimens for research.

"Where are we right now?"

Mark jokingly replied.

They were in a dump site. A place to throw waste and trash.

Karlene had no retort to Mark\'s words.

At this time, someone else spoke to Mark in a reprimanding tone.

"No bully."

Karla said to Mark while pulling the hem of his jacket.

Mark looked away. It would be his loss if he argued with a child.

To the side, Arternaris was silent, watching the show in amusement. It was clearly not an attitude that a [Diwata] would have, showing something she inherited as a Half-Demon.

The eyes of Artenaris never left Mark.

Mark might have used his [Empath] abilities to reduce and restrict her romantic interest in him. She also realized that fact. However, most Demon races were attracted to the strong. Not to mention that many of such Demon races were also beings with strong desires.

It would not be easy to just erase the desires of Arternaris since she was a Half-Demon. Nonetheless, it was a good thing that she was also a Half-[Diwata]. It allowed her to be rational with her desires and control them.

However, if Mark showed any sign of romantic interest in her, she would not hesitate to jump into his bed. Unfortunately, this was unlikely to happen.

Mark might be emotionless, but he was extremely loyal to his current partner. Artenaris knew that if she pushed things further, she could gain his ire instead. Worst, he might not hesitate to kill her, especially if she caused some undesirable things.

Thus, Artenaris just decided to maintain the status quo. Hold back her desires and let them stay that way. It was not like she was not enjoying the things she was currently experiencing.

In fact, Arternaris never thought that humans could be this welcoming to those who were not humans. Maybe it was because of Earth\'s current situation? Before the apocalypse, trying to appear before humans sure was a suicidal thought. Or maybe, it was because Alana and Karlene were just special.

"The sun is getting high up," Mark\'s voice entered everyone\'s ears. "Let\'s go back."

None of them have objections. Alana was also eager to return to bring the news about the destroyed [Mechids]. Besides, lunchtime would come soon. Food in the settlement might not be the best. At the least, it could still afford to give at least two meals per day to each person living there.

Mark\'s group made their way back in a leisurely manner.

Oddly enough, they encountered no danger on the way. It was odd because when the soldiers were transporting things they had to bring to the dump site, they could encounter dangerous animals every now and then. But during their walk, it was eerily peaceful.

Without a shred of doubt, Alana, Karlene, and Artenaris knew that it was due to Mark, who was currently walking while humoring Karla\'s childish antics.

The three women were not wrong, though.

Mark\'s presence was largely lessened after he got the [Blessing of Death\'s Aura]. Even Artenaris felt that change and went to confirm it immediately when she felt the slight presence of Mark when he arrived because she was unsure. While to those with intelligence, his presence was lessened, to the weaker creatures that solely relied on instinct, he felt dangerous.

Why? Only the predators in nature could never be felt by the prey before they strike.

As such, the animals that saw them passing by ran away at the sight of Mark.

Well, feral animals might still attack despite his presence. However, none of such were present today.

The group returned to the settlement just in time for the rations.

Mark\'s group immediately went back to the military encampment. At the center of it, the portal was still open, securely guarded by soldiers as per Mark\'s request.

There was really no need to leave the portal open. However, Mark did not know how much time he would spend here today. Thus, it was more efficient to maintain the portal and close it later after he left.

To experience life here in Infanta Settlement for a bit, Mark decided to accept the invitation to eat lunch together.

Unlike the refugees who had to line up to get their food, Mark and the rest only had to wait. It was the privilege of the military and the volunteers to have their share delivered.

Mark sat down at the dining table with the group. A cup of rice with fish soup as a side dish. It was not bad since having either rice porridge or a bowl of bland soup would not be surprising in these scenarios.

Or maybe, it was also a part of the privilege, and the common folk might be getting less. There was also the possibility that the Generals were just treating Mark with better food than usual since he was an important guest.

However, before they could eat, everyone\'s attention was on someone.

"I don\'t think you eat here, right?"

Mark asked Arternaris, who was sitting on the chair to his left.

Like Mark asked, Arternaris had her own tribe to eat with. As such, she was not supposed to be here. She might be an important collaborator for the settlement. Even so, eating at another\'s home without getting invited was just shameless.

"It is fine," General Faustino chimed in. "It isn\'t bad to have a meal together from time to time."

With the words from the old General, everyone accepted Artenaris joining the lunch.

It was not just some simple lunch, however. Mark and the two Generals discussed things about the settlement, what happened to Bay City, the Corregidor settlement, and what the Generals had planned for the future.

And to say... the two Generals were stumped about the last topic.

They had some plans, like establishing a proper workshop to equip the soldiers in case they finally ran out of bullets. However, it would be hard to establish shorty, and their weapon supplies would run out if not used sparingly.

This shortage of ammunition was the main reason why hunting became less of a viable option to feed the settlement, and they resorted to fishing at the river since they were close to it. Fishing in the river was also dangerous on its own. In a previous case, a refugee died after trying to fish using a handmade fishing rod. The fishing method was not the issue. The issue was what he managed to catch.

The fish suddenly ballooned and shot spikes that pierced through the refugee\'s body. He died on the stop because of a spike that shot through his eyes and to his brain.

Now, even fishing had to be done with protective gear even if they were using dug dams as traps to catch fish.

The Infanta Settlement was facing quite a lot of problems. Although they already managed to maintain several fields of crops, it would still be months before the first harvest. That was if the field was not destroyed by an attack or other things.

Still, food and water, Infanta Settlement was still managing.

Their urgent issue was weapons, equipment, and ammunition, if possible.

That was why General Bautista had a question for Mark.

"Can we use the portal to meet General Perez?"

Direct communication with Corregidor was impossible. The two settlements were literally on opposite sides of the country. However, with Mark\'s help, such a feat was not impossible.

And if that was the case, Mark...

"Yeah, you can. Actually, if you want everyone to migrate there, I\'ll lend Spera."

He had no problems with it.

But then, Mark added.

"I won\'t recommend it, though."

"Why?"

General Faustino asked.

"Since you guys wanted to meet General Perez, you can see the reason, yourself."

Mark replied.

The two Generals were perturbed by Mark\'s words. Nonetheless, they decided to go with what Mark had said. Besides, he clearly agreed to help connect the settlements.

"Oh, by the way."

Mark voiced out, remembering something.

And in front of everyone, Mark began taking a few things out of his ring, putting a few plastic containers on the table. Two were large, but there were a few smaller containers that were put in front of everyone.

"Time for dessert, I guess?"

Mark said as he opened the large containers. One large container contained an assortment of unfamiliar snacks. The other contained actually contained spaghetti.

And then, everyone opened the smaller containers in front of them, with their eyes gleaming.

"Wha..."

Alana and Karlene were both surprised and excited.

"Wh-why do you have cake?!"

Karlene exclaimed in childish excitement.

"It\'s Gale\'s birthday yesterday, so we cooked a bit of food?"

Mark replied with a tilt of his head.

"Wha... Y-you guys had a birthday party and didn\'t invite us?!!"

Karlene\'s shocked voice echoed across the tent and outside.

Well... For a child, missing a birthday party was such a big thing.