Mutagen

Day 199 - 7:21 PM - Barangay Cabcaben, Municipality of Mariveles, Province of Bataan

The Corregidor Island. It was an island that was part of the Province of Cavite, located at the entrance of Manila Bay. It was in the northwest of Ternate, Cavite, and directly south of Mariveles, Bataan.

Looking from the sky, the entirety of this small five-square-kilometer island had a similar shape to a tadpole. But as strange as its land formation had been, this island had a great significance to Philippine History, making it a national shrine.

Long since before, the island with its rocky landscape was considered a natural fortress. The Spanish administration fortified this island during the eighteenth century. Afterward, it was used by both U.S. and Philippine Soldiers to fight the overwhelming numbers of Japanese soldiers during World War Two.

All those days were of the past. Corregidor Island had long been a popular destination for tourists, both local and foreign.

Well, of course, it was all before the apocalypse.

When the apocalypse began, the iconic island was chosen as one of the locations of Military Settlements built all over the country. And the settlement planned here was second among the largest. The Bay City Settlement only became the largest due to the place already built with structures and only needing walls for security. The Corregidor Island, on the other hand, needed more things to construct. The already existing buildings made for tourists would not be enough for the expected number of refugees.

Considering that it was an island, the military would need to transport large amounts of resources to build the settlement. This would limit their construction efforts even more. Due to these reasons, even if the Military Settlement planned in Corregidor Island succeeded, it would not be that large of a place.

Furthermore, the fusion of dimensions and the arrival of the second wave caused so much destruction that everything that humanity built collapsed. Even the Military Settlement in Corregidor Island would not withstand such a calamity and should have been destroyed.

...That was what it should have been.

Right now, Mark's group stood at [The Mini Cube's] Flight Deck, staring at the scene in front of them.

The current Corregidor Island did not look like a giant tadpole anymore and was more or less an irregular oval. Now, it was not only that the island doubled in size, but the Caballo Island slightly southeast became connected to it.

But the change in the size of the island was expected. Every piece of land in the entire Earth more or less doubled in size, reducing the area covered by the sea.

What Mark and the others did not expect was the fortress existing on the supposedly ruined island settlement. And it was not just a small and simple fortress. It was an entire fortress city. Although the structures inside the walls were clearly on a small scale, the several meters tall and a few meter wide wall was more than enough to call it a fortress.

Furthermore, the area surrounded by the walls was likely more than a kilometer square. Small size for a city but a city nonetheless.

There were also the slums outside the walls near its gates. The size of the slums would not lose to the fortress city at all. Who knows how many people were gathered just within the slums filled with scrap-made buildings.

Another surprising thing was that the fortress city clearly had working electricity, considering the spotlights atop the walls and the lights in many of the buildings inside.

The scene in front of them was totally absurd, even by their non-human standards.

Although the Mountain Base withstood the calamity during the past month, it took preparations, effort, and luck. Louis Morgan's [Geokinesis] and the existence of the Night Everred Spirit Tree played vital roles in that event.

It meant that the same feat was not possible just by any group of humans.

And yet, there it was. A place that was clearly not something that could be built in just a single month.

There were a lot of questions that popped up into Mark's mind. But, of course, voicing out those questions right now would not yield any answer.

"Hmm?" Mark's attention was suddenly peeled off the fortress city, and he turned to Illia and Chimetrice. "Fly higher. There are people below."

The two were a bit confused as to why Mark suddenly wanted to fly higher. Yes, he said there were people below. But weren't they under [Optical Camouflage]? Nonetheless, the two controlled [The Mini Cube] and flew higher.

[The Mini Cube] flew up high. It reached the point they could see both the entirety of Mariveles and Corregidor. It was when Illia asked Mark.

"Why do we have to fly up? They can't see us, right?"

"Normal people won't see us," Mark replied with his eyes glued to the settlement in Corregidor. "But we can't gamble in front of a group of [Mutators]."

"I see..." Illia nodded, seductively tapping her lips. "Then, what's your plan now?"

That was a good question coming from Illia. If she could only ask a question normally.

"I'll go gather information."

Mark replied.

"Alone?"

Illia asked another, looking at the little girls.

Mark shrugged. It was obvious that they wanted to come with him. Even Iola was not an exception. Mei was not saying anything and would very likely follow Mark's plan. But, of course, she was the one who wanted to go with him the most.

At this time, Feng Zhiruo spoke.

"Can't we all just go together?"

The suggestion took everyone's attention. After all, it came from the person that talked the least in the group.

"A-actually, I'm also curious about the place."

Feng Zhiruo stuttered a bit. After all, the reason why she wanted to go was that she wanted to look around.

Well, who would not be curious?

Mark wanted to say that it would be dangerous. After all, it was an unknown place. However, with how strong this group was, the danger was the least of their concern. Unless some sort of Deity-like being appeared, only then would they be in actual danger. Not to mention the group had all sorts of danger prevention methods. Mark would lose the argument immediately if he was to mention the place being dangerous.

Furthermore...

Mark turned to Illia. It was clear that she wanted to chase Mark and the others out.

"Ah..."

Mark realized. Illia was a succubus. Even though she could supplement her energy with food, she still needed to absorb a man's vitality. And ever since Chimetrice woke up, Illia did not look for other men. Furthermore, Chimetrice's vitality would not run out and even recover, unlike an ordinary human's. Absorbing a man's vitality could be done either by using a dream or doing the deed.

And, of course, if it was Chimetrice, Illia preferred doing the deed.

Since it was already the second day of their travel, Illia must be starting to get hungry. And that was why she was asking for some privacy.

In the least, Illia had the conscience to not do it with children around.

"Alright." Mark shrugged. "Let's all go together. Only Illia and Chimetrice will stay here in [The Mini Cube] since they needed to operate it."

Mark's decision sure made everyone happy. But, of course, they would not leave without any planning.

***

Day 200 - 7:23 AM - Slums Gate, Corregidor Military Settlement, Corregidor Island, Province of Cavite

It was the two-hundredth day since the apocalypse started. Well, to most people still alive, the number of days and dates did not matter anymore. While to some, the number of days indicated how long they survived, it was more about how long they had been suffering.

Early in the morning, the people were already up. Getting more sleep was the least of their concern as they needed to find ways to get food into their stomach.

As such, at this early time, the slums were already as noisy as a wet market.

With a population of a few thousand, it was not surprising that it was packed with people.

The place might be noisy, but there was no doubt that the atmosphere was not as lively as a wet market. Most people had a gloomy look. A whole lot of them looked malnourished. Surely, there was not enough food to enter everyone's stomach.

The worst part of the slums, security was lax.

The military soldiers were watching above the walls of the fortress city. However, they were not inclined to monitor the slums that much. It was not like every soldier did not want to help the people of the slums. However, without orders given to them, they could not move on their own.

As such, because of the lacking security, the slums were managed by several gangs. They divided the slums into different gang territories, enforcing their own rules among the populace.

And the poor refugees could not do anything.

The only thing that kept these people of the slums going was the possibility to enter the gates of the actual settlement.

Not everyone could enter the gates. The only way into the gate was to either become an [Evolver] or [Mutator] or to buy your entrance to the gates. Becoming [Evolvers] or [Mutators] could be a deadly gamble. It was the same for buying their entrance.

Furthermore, the payment through the gates was not food or water. Not supplies either. It was [Mutagen Stones]. The stone that was rarely found in the heads of the [Infected]. Each person needed a thousand of that mysterious stone to gain entry. It was a hard thing for regular people.

But some people were not giving up. Being inside the walls was far safer than the slums.

The slums themselves were also surrounded by their own walls. Unlike the main settlement area, the walls it had were nothing but a bunch of scrap pieces together. These walls were not even provided by the military. It was built by the dwellers of the slums just to give them a bit more sense of safety.

Of course, these walls meant nothing much during attacks. Whether it was the [Infected] or the robots that appeared, they could easily tear down these flimsy walls.

It was one of the reasons the slums were allowed to exist. It was because they could cause delay against the attackers before they could reach the walls of the settlement.

In fact, many people from the slums died because of such attacks.

Even so, the people of the slums were staying. It was not like they had other places to go.

VROOOM! VROOOM!

At this time, the sound of a vehicle could be heard. It was one of the signs of the few times the gate of the settlement would open.

Many people in the slums gathered to watch. These sounds meant that either a squad of soldiers or a group of scavengers would go out.

It was the daily routine of the people to see who would go out of the gates of the settlement. Most of the time, it would be the scavengers. At those times, some of the people would be able to beg for food or anything of value upon their return.

There were also times when the scavengers would hire people from the slums as either baggage carriers or baits during hunting. Sure, it was dangerous. But they had no choice if they wanted to continue living.

As time passed, the number of people in the slums was slowly decreasing. Death was already a regular occurrence to them.

How long had it been since new people arrived here? Probably there were no other people still alive outside.

That was their thoughts until today.

All of a sudden, the rumor spread out fast. Because of the lack of entertainment, most people entertain themselves using hearsays.

It seemed that a group of survivors arrived at this place, managing to traverse the dangerous new Earth. Having new arrivals to this hell hole, of course, the people were interested in the rumors. And more than anything else, the group in question consisted mainly of females.