Mutagen

There was nothing but destruction within the eye view of the surroundings. Within a whole week of tours all over the place, while quite fun, it was also tiring. Yet, Mark seemed to have no decisions as of yet.

It was until yesterday...

Mark started behaving weirdly.

Contrary to the usual routine where they roam the place and fight the [Infected], Mark told everyone to avoid fighting as much as possible. Furthermore, Mark told them to not use their abilities when fighting. They moved around stealthily, and for some reason, Mark targeted convenience stores and restaurants to loot.

And if Mark found something from the store, they would carry it with their bags instead of storing the items in their [Spatial Rings].

As for Amihan, Mark told her to only use weak magical attacks.

The only one that did not receive any restriction was Emika, for some reason, which made everyone even more confused. That was why in yesterday\'s excursion, Emika did most of the fighting.

It was weird. Nonetheless, the rest of the group followed Mark\'s instructions. They just took it as some form of training, not relying on their abilities as [Evolvers], [Psycasts], and [Mutators].

Another strange thing was that Mark would walk off on his own from time to time. It was not like he was leaving for too long. It was only around a minute to five minutes at most.

Even so, it was strange and a little bit waste of time.

And knowing Mark, he would not do these kinds of stupid and inconvenient actions without a strong reason. They only hoped that Mark would share his plans with them.

***

Day 217 - 3:21 PM - Northwest Security Administration, Kachidoki, Chuo City, Tokyo

The Reclaimed City. Also dubbed Japan\'s Last Line of Defense. It was a Settlement City reclaimed as a refuge for the remaining population of Japan, or at least, the people living in the eastern urban areas of the country.

Japan\'s urban population before the outbreak was around 116,179,166, with a large percentage of it being in Tokyo and its surrounding areas.

But the current population in the Reclaimed City?

It was more or less a hundred thousand people. That was more than a hundred million estimated casualties due to the apocalypse coming at an inopportune time.

That number of casualties was only estimated to be higher, considering that the apocalypse came during the holiday season when tourists were also in massive numbers around Japan\'s popular tourist destinations.

Still, it was amazing how this reclaimed land could manage to house the population it currently had. Well, it did sound amazing if one was far from knowing the exact situation.

Aside from population, security was the biggest problem in a settlement as large as the Reclaimed City. That was why several groups were tasked with security within different areas of the Reclaimed City.

Among the tasks these Security Groups were given, one was to keep an eye on the ruins of Tokyo. It was to ensure that no unexpected factors would threaten the safety of the Reclaimed City.

The armed group called Black Lotus was in charge of the security of the northwest areas, specifically the Kachidoki Area. With the main base of the Black Lotus being situated near the Kachidoki Bridge Gate, they could respond to threats both in and out of the Reclaimed City.

And within the office of their leader...

"There\'s a group of survivors camping in Meiji Seimei Kan, you say?"

A young-looking woman with a fierce aura asked the man kneeling in front of her.

This woman was the leader of the Black Lotus, Kuroi Ren. Hearing her name and her group\'s would make everyone who understood Japanese feel weird. After all, the group\'s name, Black Lotus, was written in English. It was the direct translation of the leader\'s name.

Due to such an odd naming and the fact that the Black Lotus\' leader was a female, as opposed to most other armed groups, this particular group stood out a bit.

But one thing that Black Lotus was known for was being stuck up. Stuck up in a way that they do their duties way too seriously.

"Yes, Miss." The man kneeling in front of Ren replied. "They were located by one of our subordinates yesterday while patrolling near the border of Chiyoda City."

The man replied in an extremely formal way. This man\'s attitude clearly indicated a hierarchy between the two. Ren was the boss, and this man was nothing but a subordinate. In fact, the man\'s odd-looking clothing was more than enough to say it all.

A dark-colored clothing that covered almost the entirety of the man\'s body, definitely a Ninja costume.

Was this group role-playing or something?

"What actions did the scouts take?"

Ren asked.

"They followed as per protocol," The Ninja replied. "Upon discovery, backup was called, and the group of survivors was subjected to observation."

"Since you reported to me directly, there\'s something odd, isn\'t it?"

Ren\'s question was on point. Usually, survivors spotted within rescuable distance would be subjected to observation and protection before getting rescued. There was no need to report most cases as the survivors would only get examined before they were let to the lower sectors of the Reclaimed City.

If the subordinates under Ren reported directly to her, there was a possibility of something unique or odd.

"The group seemed to be a family of seven... or eight... perchance."

The man had an odd pause and hesitation as he changed the numbers reported.

"What\'s wrong?"

Ren, of course, noticed the pause.

"Seven were confirmed, human. Four children ranging from four to thirteen years old, two women estimated to be between last teens to early twenties, and a man possibly in his late twenties or early thirties. And lastly... a fairy-like creature."

Then, a strange silence ensued.

"Can you repeat the last one?"

Ren asked, thinking that she had misheard her subordinate.

"Miss... A fairy-like creature. It is estimated to be around six inches in height and has a pair of clear-colored wings. It was seen using wind-element magic and is assumed to be a [Sylph], although further investigation is required."

"An [Elemental]?" Ren was visibly surprised after the confirmation that she was not hearing her subordinate wrong. "Are you saying someone in that group managed to contract an [Elemental]?"

"It is yet to be confirmed. But from the report, the creature was obeying the man, who was presumed to be the leader of the group."

The ninja replied after taking out a piece of paper and reading a few pieces of information written within.

At this point, Ren stretched out her hand, which the ninja stared at in surprise.

"Give me that paper. I\'ll read it myself."

Ren demanded.

Strangely, though, the ninja hesitated.

"What are you spacing out for? Give it to me."

Ren commanded.

"But miss... I\'ll just read it for you."

The ninja behaved suspiciously.

Getting impatient, Ren vanished from her initial position. By the time the ninja noticed, the paper he was holding was now in his boss\' hand.

Ren began to read the paper. And as further she read, her frown deepened.

"What the hell is this convoluted mess?"

Ren asked as she laid open the paper that was written without proper format. There were even notes along with unnecessary descriptions dotted all over the paper.

"And what is this?" Ren said, pointing at the area where the members of the group of survivors were supposed to be described. "What does this celestial beauty mean? And why is the man just described as an ugly bastard? Why does it feel like this is written out of spite?"

"Miss... this is why I did not want to hand you the paper," The ninja sighed. "The report in the miss\' hand is written by the youngest. Miss knew how the youngest get too overzealous about beautiful women. Apparently, the older of the two women seemed to be an unparalleled beauty. But she seemed to be in a relationship with the man... and the man did not seem to be that good-looking."

Not that good-looking was clearly just a polite description. After all, the polite ninja would not just go insulting someone for no reason due to their appearance. Definitely not in front of their miss.

"So, that bastard is just jealous?" Ren said with a frown. "Triple that idiot\'s training."

"Yes, miss."

The ninja could only agree.

"One of the children is an ability holder?"

Ren said as she continued to read the messy report.

"Apparently so." The ninja nodded. "She was seen fighting the [Infected] they encountered with her hair growing into green vines."

Mitsui Ren diligently read the report despite how messy it was.

And the more she read the report, the more she understood what was going on.

"These survivors wanted to reach this place?"

Ren asked, reading the assumed and estimated information.

"It seems to be the goal of the group. The man was seen trying to scout a way through the city several times. However, there are too many [Infected] along the way. The man returned to their camp without doing anything else after seeing that it was impossible to go through the city. Although since their group still camped in the same place, they must be waiting for a good opportunity to cross the city if the number of [Infected] thinned somehow."

"Hmmm..." Ren tapped her chin as she put the paper on the table after reading everything written. "And the chance of them being spies sent by enemies?"

"Not zero, but extremely low," The ninja replied with a stern expression in his eyes. "I do not think the enemies would send children as spies, even more children that did not seem to know how to speak our language."

"True, although it is also possible that the children were just a guise."

Ren said, to which the ninja also agreed.

At this time, Ren shrugged.

"No matter... Let\'s fetch them up. We can just put guards on them, just in case. We don\'t want to let people die just because we suspect them. Especially if we ended up being wrong."

Ren then turned to the ninja.

"Prepare a group for rescue. I\'m going with them personally."

The ninja stared at their leader for a second or two, wondering why she would go personally. However, the curiosity and interest were clear on their leader\'s face, making the ninja shrug in silence.

"Affirmative."

The ninja confirmed receiving the order. And then...

SWISH!

The ninja vanished from the room with just a swish.

If people were to see this, they would be surprised. After all, that ninja and a few select subordinates were real ninjas in the modern world.

And the Black Lotus was not just some regular group either. After all, Mitsui Ren was a descendant of a powerful clan that began to rebuild after the apocalypse destroyed the modern government regime.

Since the rules and laws of the world created by the government were now skewed, there was no need for these hidden clans and entities to remain hidden.

And as someone loyally followed by a family of ninjas, Mitsui Ren was a sought-after individual in the Reclaimed City. Unfortunately, she was not interested in politics, and the last person who tried aggressively court her was turned into an Okama after a single kick.

Now... Unbeknownst to the fiery young lady of the Black Lotus Group, she hit the jackpot as the encounter she was about to face would very much change her fate along with those closely tied to her.

***

Of course, the story about that change in Mitsui Ren\'s fate was for another time. For now, they had clearly fallen into someone\'s tricks, and none of them realized it.