Mutagen

<strong>Day 200 - 9:12 PM - Meeting Area, White Snake Gang Base, Northern Slums, Corregidor Military Settlement, Island of Corregidor, Province of Cavite</strong>

"Those drug addicts are getting worse and worse over time." An extremely annoyed voice of a young man echoed inside the room. "Are we really not going to make a move against them?"

"Just calm down, will you?" A woman's voice argued back. "Just going out there and blindly attacking them won't do us any good."

The handing-out of food for the children continued after the situation caused by the members of the Powder Gang led by Drac. However, everyone's mood soured from then on. The moment that the last bowl of soup was handed out, those in position within the White Snake Gang returned to their base to conduct a meeting.

But, of course, no matter what argument they had right now, there was no answer to find.

"As always, it's because of those politicians." Another voice, a man who was cleaning his gun, spoke. "The rule of who attacked first taking the blame was clearly made for their advantage."

It was a rather bothersome fact. This rule had been here ever since the gangs began ruling the slums and existed way before the White Snake Gang was founded. It was because even the gangs before were actually backed by high-standing people of the government. Those people behind the gangs did not want to entangle with one another in a bad way. Thus, they prevented their minions from causing them trouble.

In the first place, none of those politicians knew who backed the other gangs. They were just afraid that they would end up offending someone with a higher position or manpower and end up losing.

The situation with the White Snake Gang was different, however. General Perez did not hide the fact that he was the one backing the newly established gang. It was to ensure that the people from Bay City would know that the White Snake Gang was different from the other existing gangs.

It might be a gang, but it was just in name. It was actually a group of people supporting General Perez's cause. A gathering of people that had yet to succumb to the inhumanity of the current world.

In fact, it was not named White Snake Gang in the first place. The current name was just given as a deterrent for those who would think that they were just a group of pushovers. After all, names did give the first impression.

Unfortunately, that first impression was already beginning to fade. It was because of the other gangs, especially the Powder Gang, trying to push their limits.

The harassment itself was not personal, however. The Powder Gang was being ordered to mess with the White Snake Gang for a specific reason.

It was because they had General Perez behind them. The backers of the other gangs were unknown. It was only a circumstance that the White Snake Gang had. And since their backer was clear, they were being targeted by the General's enemies.

"When will Miguel contact us?"

Husto asked the female boss of the gang.

"Tomorrow, in the least." The woman replied. "General is also busy inside. He and his men are trying to track who is the backer of those drug addicts, after all. It might also be the reason why the harassment is intensifying."

"Just what is Miguel doing..." Husto scratched his head. "He is putting us in a tight spot because he can't find the source of the drugs."

"Those that deal in the illegal drug business as are slippery as eels, after all."

The man cleaning his gun chimed in.

Dealing with the illegal drug business was just as criminal as it was before the apocalypse. Even more so since the politicians, holed up in fortress city, were still trying to implement the kind of government the country had in the past.

But, of course, it was only within those tall walls.

In fact, they did not care much about the things left outside. Even the movements of the military were restricted because of them. They wanted the military to only protect their hides.

"So, we are just going to wait?" The young man asked. "Those guys from the Powder Gang are already getting into everyone's nerves."

"As I said before, there's nothing else we can do."

The woman replied, getting annoyed with the young man.

This time, the young man stepped back and went silent.

But with the silence of the young man, a voice chimed in all of a sudden.

"You guys having a hard time?"

Everyone was surprised by the voice that did not belong to anyone inside the meeting area. Currently, there were only the two bosses of the gang, two younger members, Husto, and a pair of armed guards present. As such, they were sure that none of the members had that voice.

Nonetheless, some of the people inside the room felt the voice rather familiar.

They all turned to the chair that was supposed to be empty. Right now, a person sat there. A man wearing a black hooded jacket with his lower face covered with a face mask.

Husto and the two younger members were surprised. They knew this man. This man was the one they talked to this afternoon. The leader of the group that had just arrived in this place today.

Of course, the sudden appearance of the man incited almost everyone to raise their weapons. Even Husto, while did not unholster his weapon, his hand was already touching the handle of his machete.

However, contrary to the reactions of the rest...

<strong>"DUDE!"</strong>

The female boss of the gang rushed to the man and jumped at him. Not to attack, however.

<strong>BAM!</strong>

The man's chair fell as he stood up immediately. He could not help it. After all, if he did not stand up, he might have fallen on his back as the female boss of the gang hugged him tightly.

That action left everyone but the man cleaning his gun, the second boss of the gang, flabbergasted.

"Carren, there are other people here..."

The male boss sighed.

"Then, everyone but Husto is dismissed!"

The female boss exclaimed as she peeled herself off the man.

With the sudden appearance of an unknown stranger, there was an opposition to leave their bosses alone. But, of course, they could not do anything but leave after they were scolded.

"Seriously..." The man said as he removed his face mask. "How did you two know it's me?"

"Then next time, cover up your eyes too."

The female boss said.

"Don't be absurd." The man sighed. "You are telling me to wear sunglasses in the middle of the night?"

Husto watched at the side, seeing the unexpected situation. The two bosses of the gang knew the leader of the group that arrived this morning. Furthermore, it was clear that their relationships were rather close. In fact, the female boss had some assets that were gathering her some unwanted attention. One reason why the female boss was careful with interactions with males recently. But here, she was the first to jump and put the man in her embrace.

The man was clearly Mark. He was here since the meeting started. He just decided to show himself after hearing the things the members of the gang spoke.

And the two leaders of the gang? They were Mark's close friends and classmates during their four years in college, Carren and Markron. They were among Mark's friends present in Bay City. They were also two of the few that received crystals to become [Mutators] from Mark.

Mark could only sigh with the reason how the two recognized him even when he was wearing a hood and had his face half-covered. It was because Mark had a rather unique pair of eyes, which were clearly opposite in terms of shape. His right eye always looked tired and sleepy, while his left could devour someone with a wide-eyed stare. It might not be apparent for those that only saw Mark a few times. However, for those that accompanied Mark for a long time, and years at that, Carren and Markron would easily identify Mark just by his eyes.

In any case, Mark looked at Carren. This boyish woman was still the same, not minding giving him hugs. Well, it was not like she was doing the same just with anyone. It was just a select few. Unfortunately, Markron, who had a crush on her in the past, was not one of those.

These two were like Mark's older sister and older brother back in their college days. They were several months older than him, after all, with Carren being the eldest, and they were the greatest influence to him in terms of Otaku culture.

"If you are here, then where Mei and the others?" Carren excitedly asked. "Did you come here alone?"

"Wait..." Markron spoke exasperatedly at Carren. "Let's all sit down first. And there is a group that arrived here this morning. It should be Mark's group, right?"

With Markron's urging, the group finally sat down properly.

"You two know him?"

Husto, who finally had the chance to ask.

Unexpectedly...

"Sir Husto, I'm pretty sure you also heard about him," Markron told the bulky man. "From General Perez. You heard his name, right?"

"Mark, right?" Husto looked at, thinking about something. It took only a second, though.

"That Mark that fought [Auraboros] in Bay City?"

"He knew about it, huh?" Mark muttered and turned to Carren and Markron. "He's not just a lackey within the gang, right?"

"Hehe, outside, we are showing that he's under us," Carren replied. "But actually, we are equal here in standing. He's even superior to us in many aspects."

"Well, he's a former soldier, after all." Markron chimed in. "And he's actually at the same batch of graduates with General Perez. He's even higher placed than the General."

"Stop that." Husto could not help but cough in embarrassment with his past being laid in front of a stranger. "It's all in the past. I'm nothing but a retired soldier now."

"By the way, why are you here?" Markron asked Mark. "I'm pretty sure that you went the east coast, to Quezon Province. This is completely the opposite side of the country."

"We just went to check on the situation in Bay City but did not find anyone," Mark replied. "We followed the clues and ended up here."

Husto at the side found the conversation inconceivable. The only military settlement in the Quezon Province was in Real, Quezon from what he knew. From there to Corregidor Island, it was more than a hundred and twenty kilometers if one was to travel straight, which was impossible unless one traveled on a plane. With the current situation of Earth, it was an impossible journey.

Yet, they were saying that this Mark's group came from all the way on the other side of the country? It was really inconceivable. What are they? Ghosts?

"Anyway," Mark spoke. "You guys are having problems with that Powder Gang?"

Mark shifted the topic. A reunion between friends might be a good thing to celebrate, but it was not possible with the current situation.

"Wait, did you see what happened earlier?"

Husto could not help but ask.

"When you guys are handing out food for the children?" Mark replied. "You're the one that told me to go there, right?"

"I'm sure you heard our discussion just now." Markron sighed. "Well, that's the situation. If possible, we wanted to deal with them. But those guys are too slippery to deal with."

"That's right." Carren rubbed her forehead. "Fighting inside the settlement is not possible. The only way to deal with them is by ambushing them outside. But not only do their members go outside rarely, but they are slippery to trap."

Mark looked at the two. It seemed that they were really used to the current world and would not hesitate to kill to deal with the trouble. Well, Otakus were the fastest to adapt to this kind of situation.

"Well, if you two wanted to catch them outside, you should deal with the spies first, you know?"

Mark voiced out, leading to the other three people in the room making serious faces.

"We already considered that possibility, but we haven't found any evidence on who is the spy."

Markron grimly said.

But then, Mark dropped a bomb.

"I know, though?" Mark said. "The guy just contacted who seemed to be a messenger outside just now. The messenger is currently moving away from this place. I'm pretty sure they are sending information about me, who appeared out of nowhere."

The three looked at Mark, who did not seem to be lying at all. If that was the case, they should stop it.

"Which direction did the messenger go to!"

Markron suddenly stood up in a hurry, grabbing his gun, which was his favorite gun in a certain FPS game. Carren seemed to also have a grim expression.

Mark could not understand the grim reaction of the two. In any case, he began to give the right direction to Markron.