Mutagen

Day 198 - 8:58 PM - Upper District, Bay City Ruins, Pasay City, Metro Manila

Flying over the ruins, Mark and Mei could see a lot further. However, flying had its disadvantages. All they could see from above were exposed locations below, and it would be hard to see things hidden under the rubble. It was disadvantageous for Mark's group to investigate from the sky since they were specifically looking for small clues of where the people of Bay City went.

It was also nighttime, making it harder to see the ground below from the sky due to the darkness.

Mark's group reached Chimetrice's location for more or less a minute. Flying was definitely more convenient in terms of speed. Moving on land would take more time, given how many obstacles were left in the ruins of Bay City.

Led by Illia, Mark and Mei saw Chimetrice standing on the northwest edge of the Upper District of Bay City. Here, the moat was covered, unlike the southern area of the Upper District. The location where Chimetrice stood was clearly the boundary of the barrier. It was distinguishable by the sudden change of terrain that was different from the ruins of Bay City.

From the sky, Mark and Mei could not see anything strange. Chimetrice was just standing at the edge of what seemed to be a forest. Although there was a bit of space between the trees, all they could see under the shade was the overgrown grass.

"Master~ We're here!"

Illia gleefully called out as she began to land. As usual, she had this carefree behavior even in the current situation. This made it questionable if the woman that ruined Felicia's life was really the same person.

"What did you find?"

Mark asked.

"There."

Chimetrice replied, pointing at the very same overgrown grass that Mark and Mei saw from above.

Mark turned his attention to the overgrown grass. To say, it did not look any different from most of the grass and bushes they could see nowadays.

But the point was there. The overgrown grass one could see everywhere did not exist before. Many just appeared during the fusion of dimensions. However, a lot grew recently at a fast pace due to the changes in Earth.

Mark kneeled down and pushed the grass aside. And there, covered by the grass and ruined by the roots of the plants. A footprint under the overgrown grass.

If it was just a single footprint, it would not last long and be covered by erosion and other factors of nature. However, there was not just one. In just the patch of grass that Mark pushed away, there were several footmarks under it. Some of the prints even overlapped each other, having different sizes and depths.

"Step aside for a bit."

Mark said as he brought out a crystal floating around his wrist. Both Chimetrice and Illia were familiar with this crystal, the [Wind Manipulation Mental Crystal]. After all, it came from the guy that Illia sacrificed to create a new body for her Master.

The [Wind Manipulation Mental Crystal] glowed with Mark's command. With a wave of his hand, a blade of wind flew from him, cutting off the overgrown grass in front of them. And lastly, Mark created a small vortex of wind, causing the leaves of the trees to sway. The vortex began to vacuum the cut grass away, revealing the ground underneath.

After Mark pushed the grass away, it was easier to investigate the location. And to say, in just the small area they cleaned, hundreds of different footprints could be seen.

Looking around further, Mark was a bit bewildered. There were also tracks left by the wheels of a vehicle. It was not just one car either but a few different ones.

"Cars?"

Mei voiced out, also surprised. Their surprise was understandable. The earthquake a month ago did not only destroy buildings. Even vehicles were badly damaged for various reasons. Some were buried in the rubble, while others were swallowed by the land. The changes in the topography during the fusion of dimensions caused lots of damages. It was not only to the vehicles but every existing in the mortal plane.

"It must be that guy," Mark said. "Their head mechanic, Reymond."

"I don't know him," Mei replied, making Mark look at her in askance. "I don't really interact with the people that much before. The transactions for the repairs when our car got damaged were always handled by Odel. And I really can't go out that much back then."

​ That was true. Because of Mei's circumstances, her interactions with the people in Bay City were kept minimal. Even if the man called Reymond was an important figure in Bay City, Mei never met him.

"But maybe their cars did not get damaged that much." Mark suddenly said, changing the topic. "They managed to create that [Super Metal] for their vehicles, after all."

Mark remembered the modified Humvee that he saw in the workshop of Bay City before. If they had more vehicles refitted with that metal, they should be able to salvage more vehicles to fix and use.

Mei also heard of that. Unfortunately, that new metal was exclusive for military use and was not given to civilians to modify their vehicles. If it was allowed, Odelina might have requested the MB Sprinter to be refitted like so.

At this time, Illia and Chimetrice joined the conversation.

"If they went this direction, where could they be heading?"

Chimetrice said, looking at the expanse of the forested area before them.

"I have a guess, but let me look for a bit."

Mark said before opening his wings and flying up to the sky.

Above, Mark observed the area where they found the footprints and vehicle tracks before panning his eyes to the locations beyond. Mark also flew down, going a bit north and northwest, investigating the forest thoroughly.

Mark even flew above the new land that now occupied a large area of Manila Bay.

As Mark flew, he noticed something.

There were some differences between the overgrown grass in the area where Chimetrice found the footprints compared to other places. Mainly because the grass there appeared to be shorter than others.

Looking around, Mark found the trail of shorter grass. It made it easier for Mark to determine what direction the people of Bay City went to.

But why was this trail of grass short? It was definitely because it was the place where several hundreds of people and vehicles passed through. The people might have tried to cut off the grass as they passed by. Even if they did not, those hundreds of people were more than enough to trample the grass, half-dead if not entirely dead. It would cause a delay in the growth of the grass, causing this scene that Mark was now following.

In fact, it was also possible to find trails where the [Infected] often passed the same way.

After about five minutes of flying around, Mark returned to the place where Mei, Chimetrice, and Illia waited. Compared to when Mark left, however, the place became bloody. A few dead corpses were lying here and there.

Mark landed and looked around.

"Did the some [Infected] appear?"

Mark asked.

"They likely got attracted here when you used wind magic earlier."

Chimetrice replied.

Mark nodded in understanding. It could not be helped, however.

"Gege, did you find anything?"

Mei approached Mark and asked.

"I did," Mark replied. "Looks like the people moved west."

Mark turned in the direction of the new land over the past Manila Bay as he said that.

"West?" Illia spoke. "Is there something there? Or did they just flee from the city?"

"I don't really know," Mark replied with a shake of his head. "But there's a possibility..."

"Possibility of what?"

Illia asked further.

"Southwest of here, directly on the other side of Manila Bay. There is the Corregidor Island. It's one of the locations of the main military settlements in the country."

Mark answered.

"Southwest, huh... But why did they go northwest?"

Illia could not help but say, considering they were currently on the northwest side of Bay City.

"It might look roundabout, but Corregidor Island is closer going through the Province of Bataan, which is on the north side of the island. Also, half of Manila Bay is now occupied by land. It's easier to travel through here than going south." Mark explained. "The question here is why they decided to go there."

It was the real mystery here. Why would the people of Bay City go there? Bay City was destroyed. It was more likely for the people to think that other places had the same state. Furthermore, Corregidor Island was surrounded by water. An earthquake of high magnitude would have many effects on those kinds of locations.

Yet, it was highly possible that the people of Bay City went there.

Of course, it was also possible that they just fled Bay City due to danger. However, it was better to start with a possible lead than look blindly.

"Looks like we found our lead."

Chimetrice said.

"It's not a concrete lead, but it's better than nothing," Mark replied. "I don't know whether we will leave immediately tomorrow, but we should rest for the night."

That was the end of the investigation. At least, for today.

They already had the lead, but it did not require Mark's group to hurry. At this moment, there was another point of interest here in Bay City for Mark to investigate.

Yes, it was the Lower District of Bay City.

Currently, the place was negative energy was threateningly concentrated there. Sooner or later, it would cause the birth of a [Formless Demon]. A [Formless Demon] might not sound threatening, but it could spell disaster in many ways. Even more, if a [Formless Demon] capable of controlling [Miasma] was the one to appear there.

In any case, that was the work for tomorrow. For now, it was time for the group to rest.

The four returned to the camp. Spera and Feng Zhiro welcomed them back. Mark relayed the findings of the investigation since Spera asked. Feng Zhiruo also listened carefully.

And for Mark's plans for tomorrow, there was no opposition when Mark mentioned dealing with the negative energy in the lower district. In fact, Chimetrice, Illia, Spera, and Feng Zhiruo strongly supported Mark's idea. They all agreed that it would be dangerous to leave it alone now that Mark and Mei found it.

It was as expected for people with mysterious backgrounds. They all knew the intensity of danger of letting the birth of a new [Formless Demon].

***

Day 199 - 7:02 AM - Upper District, Bay City Ruins, Pasay City, Metro Manila

The night passed, well, not peacefully. Past midnight, a few [Evolved Animals] attacked. It was hard to determine what kind of animals the attackers were, although they looked canine, even close to wolves. However, knowing that there were no local species of wolves in the country. It was very likely that they were evolved dogs.

There were ten of the evolved dogs, but they were dealt with without problems. Since these were [Evolved Animals] and not [Infected], Mark just used his [Emotion Induction] on the attackers and froze them with fear.

The corpses of the animals were not thrown away, however. They might be dogs in the past, but now, they were a good source of meat. It became a bit of work in the middle of the night, but Mark drained the blood of the evolved dogs nicely.

After waking up, Mark and Mei stored the blood-drained carcasses inside their rings. They also ate breakfast first.

And then, they rode the floating vessel. It then flew directly above the Lower District.

When they arrived at the location, everyone could feel the swirling negative energy below.

Even the Anti-God Weapon, Chimetrice, could not help but say as he saw and felt the situation below.

"This is bad," Chimetrice warned and turned to Mark. "It's good that you found this. The negative energy is already solidifying. It will only take a few days before a [Formless Demon] is born from this place."

Hearing that, everyone could not help but feel lucky. A [Formless Demon] would definitely cause a disaster, especially now when [Magical Energy] was now abundant everywhere on Earth.