Mutagen

Day 366 - 7:57 AM - Demak Ruins, Demak Regency, Central Java, Indonesia

"Wijaya, what is the meaning of this?"

General Hadi angrily asked General Wijaya in a voice as big as his beer belly.

Since the people following Luna and her allies were moving on foot, it was not hard for the soldiers of the main camp to catch up. In the end, General Wijaya and the leaders of the allied survivor groups faced the angry pair of stout-bodied Generals, General Hadi and General Guntur. The two were accompanied by a few of their soldiers.

Standing not too far from the ongoing confrontation, Mark and his group silently watched the situation. Mark and those who accompanied them to the hospital to wake up Amisha were slightly familiar with General Hadi. He was the General who appeared after the battle at the market ended.

As for General Guntur, he seemed to be one of General Piliang's close allies. Specifically, one of the people who hated General Wijaya to the core. Though it seemed he had no idea that General Piliang had something to do with the [Face Wearers].

Facing the aggressive questioning of General Guntur, General Wijaya stood without fear.

"It is as you can see. We decided to go on our own," General Wijaya answered. "There is no need for all of us to force ourselves somewhere we are not wanted."

"So, you finally decided to abandon your duties as a soldier. A fitting decision, should I say."

General Guntur chimed in, not hiding his disdain for the young General, not even in the slightest.

"You are mistaken, Sir Guntur," General Wijaya snorted. "I can't leave these people alone. As soldiers, we have our duty to protect them, too. Or are they not citizens to be protected in your eyes?"

"It sounds like someone else is abandoning their duties."

At this time, someone spoke behind General Wijaya. With the right timing, the person walked out of the crowd. It was Baskoro Astria, the owner of Astria Enterprises and one of the VIPs of the Northside Peak.

"Sir Astria... What are you doing here?"

General Hadi asked with a frown. With all the other VIPs, along with government officials living in the Northside Peak, missing after the eruption, it was not wrong to say Baskoro Astria would be the most important person still alive in this place.

"You seemed to have forgotten. My daughter is a member of the group facing baseless accusations and slander from your camp. There would be no reason for me to stay in such a place with such people."

Baskoro answered with a solid tone.

Oddly enough, there was a slight sense of panic on the faces of General Hadi and General Guntur after seeing Baskoro Astria. In fact, there was seemingly no reason for them to show respect to a businessman in this situation. Yet, they seemed to not want to offend Baskoro directly.

It was really odd.

Mark monitored the emotional fluctuations of the two Generals. There seemed to be something they were hiding. It was clear that they wanted Baskoro Astria to be dead. Yet, they did not want it to be their doing.

"If that is your decision, we won't stop you all."

General Hadi spoke with a sudden change of tone.

"Let's go."

General Guntur did not speak anymore and just ordered their soldiers to withdraw.

The sudden change in the situation made everyone confused. General Wijaya and the others were ready for a more aggressive or even violent clash against the corrupt Generals and their soldiers.

But what happened? Why did those two suddenly retreat?

Everyone could not help but look at Baskoro.

"Dad?"

Limabela could not help but call out to her father. However, the latter also seemed to not have any inkling of what was going on.

In any case, this situation made it easier for their departure.

The people of the main camp watched as the people of the isolated camp vanished from their sight. Some of them wondered if those people were crazy, trying to go back towards the direction of Mount Muria while it was still in the middle of spewing lava.

On the other hand, the people of the isolated camp did not care about the main camp anymore. They left without even turning their heads to look back.

***

"Sir Mark."

While walking, Limabela suddenly approached Mark's group and called him.

"What's the matter?"

Mark asked.

Luna and the members of the allied survivor groups were the vanguard of the entire group. They surrounded the non-combatants while traversing the cleared road to protect them. Although the members decided to guard in shifts, those who were not on guard duty should be positioned where they could respond to threats if needed.

As for Mark's group, they were in the center read of the formation because their pets were pulling the carts containing their supplies and equipment.

In this regard, Limabela was clearly not in her position when she approached Mark's group.

"Do you have an idea why those corrupt pigs just left?"

Limabela asked Mark without beating around the bush.

"Why would you ask me that? I'm not them."

Mark stared at Limabela with a confused tilt of his head.

"Well, it felt like you would know. You're an [Empath], too."

Limabela answered.

"[Empaths] can only read emotions, not their exact thoughts," Mark shrugged. "Though I did sense something odd."

"What is it?"

Limabela asked.

"They want your father dead."

Mark bluntly answered.

"That's..." Limabela frowned. "They want to kill Dad?"

"No," Mark shook his head. "That's actually one of the odd things. They want your father dead. Not that they want to kill him."

"That sounds contradicting in a confusing way, isn't it?"

Limabela's frown vanished as it was rather hard to fathom what Mark meant.

"That's why it's odd," Mark shrugged. "There must be a deeper reason for that. But, yep, I have absolutely no idea."

Wanting someone dead without wanting to get involved. It sure was an odd thought to have, especially for two Military Generals.

"Then, the reason they suddenly changed their tone..."

Limabela realized something.

"I'm thinking the same," Mark nodded. "They are thinking that it would be easier for your father to die if he left with us."

"So, basically... They think we are stupid to leave their protection, huh?" Limabela sighed as she glanced at Mark. "Well, that's an unsurprising thought if you knew nothing."

Mark and Luna were chosen candidates as humanity's saviors. With the two around, this group would be much safer than the other camp despite the supposed difference in population and firepower.

Not to mention that each of Mark's members was extraordinary. Each one of them could probably compare to an entire squad of soldiers against the dangers of the apocalypse.

If there was anyone closer to death, it would not be this group but the other.

"Hmm?"

Mark looked in front. Everyone stopped on their steps.

Managing this large number of people on a long journey would be hard. As such, a few rules were established so the survivor groups could protect the noncombatants more easily. They had to establish rules so it would be possible to protect around three hundred, mostly noncombatant, refugees.

This sudden stop should be ordered by the members on guard duty. It also meant that they detected some form of danger somewhere.

Limebela bid goodbye to Mark and the rest as she returned to her position. The sounds of battle could be heard from the front.

After a few minutes, the group resumed the journey. As they walked, Mark noticed the corpses of [Infected] moved to the side of the path.

"[Biters], huh," Mark said as he observed the corpses in passing. "Well, these ones should be the first to arrive in this commotion."

And as Mark turned to the silhouette of the ash-covered Mount Muria, he murmured.

"It's just the start."

It happened before in the Philippines. It would happen again here in Indonesia.

The awakening of the Night Goddess caused a massive ripple of magical energy. There was also the battle between the berserk Night Goddess and her creator, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice. It released a massive amount of magical energy.

That amount of magical energy should be felt all over Indonesia. It would rile not only the [Infected] in Java but also the [Infected] in other islands. This was the primary reason Mark suggested leaving Java and moving to Bali.

And now, the encounters with the [Infected] began.

It was not the end. It would just get worse in the next few days.

***

"Everything's burnt."

Elise commented as she looked at the surroundings. The forest fire sure left the lush mutated forests of Indonesia devastated, turning everything into charcoal and ash. As such, all they could see in the surroundings were black and gray.

"I told you, there's nothing much to see here anymore."

Mark patted Elise's head.

"Hmm, hmm, it's fine."

Elise smiled. While one reason she insisted on coming was to sightsee, the main reason was to spend time with Mark.

To the side, Felicia could only sigh as she watched her younger sister smile. It was unfortunate that that smile would never be facing her real family. Worse, none of them could complain about it.

Felicia felt a consoling hand over her shoulder. It seemed that Louis noticed her emotions.

***

"You guys good?"

After a while, the guards changed shifts. Luna and Edge went to Mark's group to check on them.

"We are fine."

Mei replied to Luna's question while pointing at Mark, who was playing with the little girls while gathering unwanted attention from the rest of the people surrounding them.

Why?

Apparently, they were playing with smartphones. It was something very odd to see in the apocalypse.

Not only that each of them have a phone in their hands, but it seemed that they were playing the same game on the same server.

"This..."

Even Luna and Edge were at a loss for words as they saw that scene.

A group of girls riding a giant tortoise while playing on their phones. Mark was also playing with them, but he was walking beside the tortoise and not riding it. It seemed that there was no space left for Mark to sit with them.

"I wonder if this would be a good influence on Amisha..."

Luna said as she looked at her niece who was in the middle of the group of girls playing with phones.

The good thing was that Amisha was laughing happily.

***

The first day of the journey soon came to a stop as the day was getting late and night would soon come.

There were more than a dozen encounters with the [Infected], which was rather rare before because of the forest filled with mutated beasts. Oddly enough, there were fewer encounters with said beasts instead. Some combatants incurred injuries during battle. Fortunately, no casualties happened so far.

Although it was not easy, the group covered a good distance. After leaving the cleared railroad, they all headed east, traversing the burnt forest.

Everyone had to be careful not to step on still-burning charcoal and other remnants of burnt plants and trees. They even encountered areas where the fire was still going strong due to trees with odd traits and properties. Fortunately, there were Kana and Amihan.

Kana would conjure water from her palms and extinguish flames blocking the way, while Amihan would blow most debris away from the path, making the road even safer for everyone to traverse.

Even the current campsite was cleared with the help of Kana and Amihan. The existence of the two sure made it easier for everyone despite the harsh environment.

The camp was being established with tents and cooking areas being prioritized.

But while establishing the camp, a rather unexpected event occurred.

"GENERAL! WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE ME BEHIND? HOW HEARTLESS!"

A loud and familiar voice echoed as two people seemed to have followed the group.

"Professor... What are you doing here?"

General Wijaya was bewildered by the arrival of the unexpected guest.

Mark's and Luna's groups, even Farel's group, were also familiar with the guy.

It was the crazy scientist with General Wijaya back in Kudus Outpost. And it seemed that he and his companion sneaked away from the main camp to follow this group instead.