Mutagen

<strong>Day 57 – 4:43 PM - J.W. Diokno Blvd., North District, Bay City Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Manila</strong>

The [Exceed Convertible Transport Type-1: Disintegrator Fortress] was one of the few designs he thought up last night together with the [Exceed: Personnel Transport] that he had just finished making.

Unlike the [Exceed: Personnel Transport] which did more of just reshaping and equipping the MB Sprinter, the design he chose for the Lorry needed more of building things from scratch with the truck as the foundation and core. It was unlike the MB Sprinter that was fully designed. The Lorry only had its tractor unit shaped and the semi-trailer was nothing but a cage made of metal.

That was why with that cage as the support, he could shape the Lorry in any way he wanted as long as the changes did not affect the capacity and speed of the vehicle.

The primary goal for the use of this large vehicle was to transport the large-bodied Aimee and the body of the flame demon. However, it did not mean that they were just cargo, especially Aimee. The design of the Lorry he had right now would utilize her unique and strongest attacking trait.

It was called the [Disintegrator Fortress] because it would make use of her tentacles and light beams.

In the design in the paper he had, there was a sketch that made the Lorry look like a combination of Sci-fi and Cthulhu. It was a sci-fi looking fortress carrier that had tentacles extending out of it ready to disintegrate any foe and obstacle that it would meet.

Aside from utilizing Aimee's abilities, the horsepower of the Lorry was higher enabling it to carry heavier loads than smaller vehicles. That was why the design Mark made not only made the Lorry capable of removing obstacles such as abandoned cars with its ram but was packed with both cold and hot weapons. The design had a large variety of weapons from saw blades, swords, poison needle launchers, gun mounts with different guns and even rocket launcher mounting slots.

Furthermore, each of the weapons did not require electronics to control but only had levers and springs as mechanisms. It even included reloading mechanisms for the rocket launchers without needing anyone to come out of the vehicle.

It was a design that would need Mark to work for quite an amount of time longer than he worked on the MB Sprinter.

However, he would need to stall the creation of it for now.

Mark looked at the Freezer Vans containing the blood bags the military gave him. One was already empty while the other already had less than half of its previous contents. His current resources were not enough as he thought from the start.

Unfortunately, he doubted that the military could give him more of their current supplies. As he knew, they already gave him all they could give. They still needed the still usable blood for medical and scientific purposes after all. That was why for sure, he needed to visit a place that had these things tomorrow or just raid a horde and take their blood.

Still, it was quite peaceful in the settlement lately. There were a few small attacks but there was no danger that needed to utilize the whole military forces.

Mark actually expected that there would be more attacks as the infected would surely get attracted to the commotion that happened the other day. Not only that the event caused a lot of noise with the explosions and thunder, but, the use of psychic and paranormal energies at that time would surely attract the infected. Yet, nothing of sorts happened.

It made Mark feel a bit strange as to why it would happen.

"Gege, are we done for today?"

Mei asked as he stood thinking while blankly staring at the half-empty Freezer Van.

"Yeah, we still need more resources so we can stop for now."

Mark sighed. He was in the mood for building things but there were still the constraints to stop him. Also it was getting quite late in the afternoon.

"Alright, let's tidy up the place. I'll also make something to prevent annoying things from happening."

With Mark's lead, they started to place the parts he removed from the MB-Sprinter into the empty Freezer Van. After that, Mark conjured his [Blood Whips] and started to make something else.

***

The fifth hour of the clock was finally struck when the idlers outside the wall of miasma noticed that it was vanishing. Those that were around to spy on the situation started to contact their superiors and see if they would have the opportunity to contact the alleged person in the rumors.

When the wall vanished, however, they saw no one in the parking area. The only strange thing they saw was a large reddish-black rectangular metal box that was placed in a parking slot between a Lorry and two Freezer Vans. There was no one in sight and no one saw anyone exiting the ominous-looking wall. The box seemed to be a large container as there was a double door on one end facing the exit and was locked with an ominous designed padlock.

Not only the idlers but Keene and his men were surprised. They knew that Mark was in the parking surrounded by that wall and Mei also did not leave the premises after she went in. And yet, no one was there. It was as if they were spirited away leaving a strange container behind.

As Keene was about to contact his father about this, he noticed a small box that mysteriously appeared by his feet which almost tripped him. However, just seeing the box, he knew who it came from. It was because the box by his feet and the large box in the parking area both had the same color and material.

Opening the box, he saw a letter addressing him. It said that their duty for today was done and they could go. There were also things said that he needed to tell the general.

What took most of his attention were the exquisite looking combat knives inside the box. There were ten pieces that were equal to the number of soldiers that diligently guarded the area. According to the letter, the knives were souvenirs for doing good work which made him feel proud. The letter also mentioned about leaving the metal box on the parking alone.

With their work done, the soldiers pulled out leaving the confused people what was going on. It was especially devastating to those who had other motives while waiting since the orders they were given were failed without even being able to start it.

As the soldiers guarding the wall that vanished pulled out, the curiosity of the people went to the large metal container in the parking area. However, no one tried to tamper with it as it was within a military facility and they could be caught even just for trespassing if they entered it without permission.

***

Everyone returned to the military residence without anyone noticing. It was because Mark hid everyone with [Optical Camouflage] and flew off to avoid nuisance. They did not even enter the building through the main door but used the rooftop instead. It was very convenient since they did not need to use the several dozens of sets of stairs due to the elevator being activated and available to use only during emergencies to conserve power as much as possible.

Going home, they were welcomed by Odelina who was doing the chores and Spera who was helping her. It seemed that Spera was enjoying herself even just doing house chores.

As their entered, Abbygale and Iola scurried away to get their phones what were left of the solar chargers at the balcony. They soon were seen playing with Miracle and the [Blood Children] watching. It seemed that Mark's habits already influenced the little girls. During the time that Mark was not doing anything, he was playing the games he downloaded before and the little girls picked it up.

Phones now were cheap as no one could use them without communication signals. It was easy to get the girls their own phones just by Mark's request which they used to play. At times, Mark would also join them and things would become a bit chaotic.

Mark sat on the sofa to rest with Mei while watching the children. Building the vehicle was quite fun but also tiring.

While they were resting, Odelina entered the bedroom and came out carrying something.

"Ah, Master. We are already preparing our things for the time we leave when I came across this again. I think it is better for you to keep it."

Odelina handed a folded handkerchief to Mark who looked confused.

"Gege, that's the seen you received from Mikio that time."

Hearing that, Mark realized and unfolded the handkerchief revealing the red colored seed that had the shape of a watermelon and was about the size of his thumb.

It was then that…

"AAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

Everyone became deaf.

They all could not help but look at Amihan who had a small body and tiny voice but was able to release a deafening shout like that. She looked shocked and shaken. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was agape. It seemed that she had just witnessed the greatest shock of her life. However, all that they could see was her staring at the seed on Mark's hand.

"Hey, what are you shouting like that for?"

"Ouch!"

The naggy royal maid could not help pinch and pull Amihan's cheeks.

"Why are you pinching my face? It hurts!"

It seemed that she snapped back to reality.

"Wait, it's not the time for this!" Amihan rubbed her pinched cheeks as she turned to Mark. "MASTER! Why do you have a seed like that?!"

Everyone was confused as to why she was behaving like that. She approached the seed in Mark's hand and tried to touch it with her shaking hands.

"It's true! I'm not dreaming!"

It was then that she was grabbed and pulled away.

"Just what is going on with you?"

Mark asked the question in everyone's minds right now due to her strange behavior.

"Master, that seed… Why do you have a seed of the Pure Spirit Tree?!"

That question made everyone even more confused. Even Mark was not an exception. He even racked his brains including the memories of the formless demon but could not find any clue.

"What are you talking about? Explain what a Pure Spirit Tree is. Is that the same as the Spirit Tree that could house spiritual races like your house and the tree near the sealing altar of the formless demon? Also, take a deep breath first and calm down."

Mark spoke seriously.

Taking a deep breath, Amihan calmed down a bit. While looking at the seed though, she was still shaking.

"Master, what you are talking about is just a normal Spirit Tree. It is kind of rare for trees to become one but they were just old trees that accumulated magical energy over the years enabling them to house spirits like me. Pure Spirit Trees are different. Since the start that they grew, they could open a dimension to house not only one or a family of spirits but a whole kingdom. Furthermore, a Pure Spirit Tree is something that royals of spirit races could possess. In human terms, you can say that it's a castle made for spirits. Seeds of Pure Spirit Trees can only be found in the dimensions of Spirits and there are only one every thousand years. That is why I'm asking how a seed of a Pure Spirit Tree is here in the mortal world!"

Now, it was everyone's turn to be shocked. Even Spera who came from the organization filled with uncanny races was agape. She did not know what exactly a Spirit Tree was but she heard about the term long ago.

Who would ever think that the seed given to Mark by just empathizing with a strange tree at that time would turn out to be such a good thing?