Mutagen

<strong>Day 174 - 10:21 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Malabito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>

Another two days passed. It was almost two weeks since the Second Wave of the Apocalypse happened. Another three days, and it would mark the end of the second week.

With the barrier only expected to last for a whole month, it was no surprise that it began to show signs of weakening. After all, it nearly passed half of its lifespan.

Time was running out.

Fortunately, there were no encounters of either [Infected] or [Mechids] around the base. It made everyone able to concentrate on things they were supposed to do.

Mark focused on his research together with Annica and Berrak.

The fighters were receiving combat training.

The farmers were already amidst restoring the farm fields.

And, of course, the workers. They also had things to do. And to say, it was the most important one.

The base was surrounded by black, fortified, sturdy walls made of [Blood Metal]. However, it was literally the only protective wall the Mountain Base had. Although it was extremely sturdy, there was no guarantee that it would not fall in the future.

Thus, the plan to make an outer wall commenced.

The outer wall would surround three-fourths of the cleared area around the base, still inside the barrier.

Building the outer walls around that distance was not that practical in everyone's thought. After all, it would cut a fourth of the farmland and clear areas around the base. It meant that there would be less land for farming.

However, it also allowed expanding the base and building outside the existing wall, which would become the inner wall in the future. In the first place, the farming areas were only located on the northern side. While the west side was a cliff behind Mark's house, the remaining east and south sides almost had nothing on it.

After the outer wall was built, the east and south cleared areas would become secure to build more structures and necessary facilities. Of course, the dwellings and supply warehouses would remain inside the inner walls for safety.

Nonetheless, the new wall was unlike the currently built walls. It was not planned for the new one to be made entirely of [Blood Metal].

In the first place, while [Blood Metal] was an extremely sturdy material, it was not the only reason the wall and structures in the base were built with it. [Blood Metal] was easy to shape as Mark and the [Blood Children] could make it in any shape they could. The source of [Blood Metal], of course, blood, was also renewable.

Furthermore, Mark's group had no way of bringing concrete or heavy types of machinery to build walls up the mountain in the past. Thus, the only materials they could use at that time were either [Blood Metal] or wood. Of course, the choice was clear between the two.

Still, [Blood Metal] was not the easiest thing to work with. Building walls with it would take time and a large amount of blood. Even the current walls took almost a month to build. The area inside the walls was not too large either. The current land area inside the walls of the Mountain Base was not too different from the land area of the Philippine General Hospital. Yes, it was quite large. But not large enough for every facility they needed.

And if they wanted to build a new wall that was much wider than the first one, not only would it take more time and blood, but they might not make it before the barrier went down.

Fortunately, they had more options now.

The lead of the current building project was no other than Louis Morgan. Using his [Geomanipulation], building sturdy walls made of stone would be a piece of cake.

It was impossible to surround the whole base with the wall in one go with Loius' current level and amount of [Psychc Energy]. But in the least, finishing the walls before the barrier vanished was more than plausible.

And using [Blood Metal] as the foundation and supports for the wall, the walls that Louis would build would be far sturdier than just regular stone or concrete walls.

With the new plans for the base in play, the workers were busy preparing the locations where they would build the walls.

***

Everyone was busy with work and preparations. Still, it was not hard to notice how peaceful the past few days were.

It was too peaceful that it was simply unnerving.

It was almost six months since the end of the world began. While not everyone was used to it, they were now familiar with the chaotic life of the apocalypse.

The peace they had now was just too good to be true after all the horrendous things they experienced.

Sometimes, it was good to see that something was happening in their front than getting nervous about things that could possibly happen.

***

But as if trying to prove the uneasiness in their minds, something happened this day.

Everyone paused from their work and gazed at the sky.

Without waiting for anyone to order them, the workers and farmers hurriedly retreated back inside the wall. It was already their protocol to do so in case any of them discovered any possible danger. It was the course of action if the Tikbalangs, the Dryad, or even Huey failed to detect it before them. At the same time, Mark and the others would be informed what was happening while the guards on the lookout would prepare to intercept.

At the time that the workers spotted the potential danger, Mark and Huey were already alerted. Huey could hear the voices of the people retreating while Mark could detect their emotional fluctuations. Furthermore, Chiyo was here to tell Mark that something was going on.

Mark was currently inside his workshop with Annica and Berrak. They were in the middle of recreating some other circuits to try out later.

Then, without any warning, Mark turned into a surge of black mist that soared out of his workshop. Annica and Berrak were surprised and chased after him. There was only one thing that could make Mark behave like this. It meant that there could be a sudden danger that appeared. And Mark rushed out to deal with the situation.

In no time, Mark was already above the highest point of Chiyo's branches and leaves.

For the possible danger to be undetected by the Tikbalangs and the Dryad, it only meant it was in the sky. That was what Chiyo also told him.

And as Mark flapped his wings, Mark saw it.

Flying at the same altitude as a jet fighter, it would be a bit hard to spot. However, with its size, it was no wonder that the workers saw it.

Mark stared at it. It seemed to be a floating, gigantic cube. Seeing something like this that appeared to be out of the extraterrestrial, it was no surprise for everyone to suspect that it had something to do with [Mechids].

WHOOSH!

At this time, a flash of light appeared beside Mark.

"Gege, is it an enemy?"

It was Mei who arrived by Mark's side. She already had the [Shooting Moon Blade] on her hands, ready to fight any threat that came.

Mark could only frown as he stared at the floating cube. After all, it might be a dangerous situation. He already saw a mechanical shark shooting lasers. It would not be surprising if something this big was capable of that or even something stronger.

"Just stay on standby. Don't go out of the barrier." Mark said to Mei. "I'll give you a signal if you need to shoot. Prepare a converter for the first shot."

"Okay."

Mei solemnly nodded.

And there, Mark soared towards the sky. As he exited the barrier, he covered his body with Miasma, protecting him from the radiation in the surroundings.

Mark carefully flew towards the cube. An enemy like this could damage the base. That was why if he wanted to lure it away first.

It did not take Mark too long to notice, but the cube was descending in his direction. It seemed to be also trying to approach him.

This was odd. If it was a [Mechid], it would definitely try to attack Mark from afar. Maybe it had no long-ranged attacks?

Thus, Mark continued to fly upward, tightening his guards up the closer he got.

But then, at some point, Mark paused. The floating cube entered Mark's detection range.

And immediately, Mark's caution dissipated. He could not help but also release a sigh of relief.

While he watched the cube descend, Mark tapped on the ring he received from Bathala. The pair of the ring that was on Mei would receive the message he wanted to tell.

***

Below, Mei received the message through the ring. She lowered her gun and flew down.

On the ground, the fighters were already gathering. Of course, it would be hard for them to deal with a flying opponent. Nonetheless, they still readied for battle.

They were all looking up the sky, watching Mark and the gigantic floating cube.

"Mistress! How is it?"

Odelina immediately inquired as she saw Mei fly down.

And to everyone's surprise, Mei replied.

"It's a false alarm. Everyone can go back to their duties."

"Mei, are you sure?" Alana asked. "That huge cube is still there."

"I'm sure," Mei answered. "Gege said that the guests we were expecting finally arrived."

"Guests, you say..."

Alana was speechless as she turned her eyes back to the floating cube in the sky. It was just in time to see Mark actually enter the strange thing.

***

Mark and the cube were now close to each other. It was truly large, about the size of a bungalow.

As the floating cube stopped in front of Mark, a door actually opened. Mark could tell that the two people inside wanted him to come in.

Mark did what the visitors wanted and entered. The door immediately closed, showing the wariness towards the radiation in the environment. After entering, Mark went through a security hatch and entered the main hallway.

There, a person stood, waiting for him.

"Hey, long time no see!"

It was Illia. The Succubus that Mark and Mei met in New Jersey. She was as seductive looking as ever. Not like Mark would care about her, though.

Before Mark could open his mouth, Illia spoke.

"Master is waiting for you. Sorry, he can't greet you here since he's operating this huge thing."

"Lead the way then."

Mark said, and Illia gestured to follow him.

Following behind the Succubus, Mark took time to scan the surroundings. Unexpectedly, while it looked like nothing but a floating cube inside, it actually appeared to be some sort of flying vessel.

"Curious about this, what do modern people call this again... ah, spaceship, is it right?"

"Can this thing fly into space?"

Mark suddenly asked, making Illia a bit awkward.

"I... I think so?" Illia answered with an uncertain expression. "I mean, it can enter the deep waters of the sea without problems, so I think space would be plausible. Although I don't think we can ride it to space since it doesn't have any function to generate air in space."

"It's technically a spaceship, then."

Mark said with interest.

Although Illia was uncertain because of the function she said that was lacking, a rocketship that humans built did not have such functions either. Generating oxygen in space with the current level of Earth's technology was impossible, after all.

Since the ship was not extremely large in the interior, Mark and Illia reached the room, which appeared to be the deck, in no time.

There, a man stood in front of the control panel. He looked behind as he sensed the arrival of the two.

"We finally found you." The man, Chimetrice said, as he saw Mark. "We had to spend some time searching for you."

Mark stared at Chimetrice for a bit. The [Humanoid Chimera] actually looked like a human at this moment. His monstrous features and body parts were nowhere to be seen. Even his face was different from before. If not for Mark sensing the mental fluctuations from Chimetrice and the presence of Illia, he would think that it was a different person.

And at the words of Chimetrice, Mark was confused.

"Didn't you give me this to locate me?"

Mark took out the golden feather from his [Spatial Ring].

"Now we know the problem."

Illia said with dismay as she looked at Mark.

"What's wrong?"

Mark asked.

"Master can't detect the feather when he tried to. We knew that you won't die easily, so we thought that it was broken or lost. No wonder Master can't find it. It's inside a subspace."

"Ah..." Mark understood what happened and could not help but feel a bit apologetic. However... "You guys never told me that I should keep it outside, either. You two just left immediately back then."

Silence enveloped the deck. Awkwardness then filled it as the floating cube landed outside the Mountain Base.