Mutagen

Day 132 - 12:14 AM - Rooftop, Abandoned Factory Office, Bridgeport Borough. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States of America

"You're crying, huh." Mark pointed out the tears on Christia's eyes. "Strange, though. You don't seem to be sad about it."

Of course, Mark would find it strange. Christia already declared that she was not the same person that was in her memories. Furthermore, Mark could tell that she had no such emotion that could cause her to cry. Yet, tears formed in the corner of her eyes.

Being pointed out, Christia had an annoyed expression as she wiped off the tears on her eyes.

"Tch. This again." She clicked her tongue. "It happens every time I try to recall those memories."

"So, the real Christia's sentiments are still clear in that body, isn't it?"

Mark voiced out his assumption. It was not the first time, after all. Back then, when he absorbed the nurse that mutated into a blob of blood, the sentiments she had were also left within her body, and Mark also fused with it along with her memories.

"Now that you said it, that might be true." Christia agreed with what Mark said. "So, other questions?"

To that question, Mark knocked his head a bit. He had a lot of questions. However, he was sure that even Christia, who was an Infected Queen, would not be able to answer it.

And thus, Mark shook his head.

"That's the last one."

"You seemed to have more questions, though."

Christia seemed to have understood the expression that Mark was showing.

"I do have a lot of questions." Mark nodded. "But unless you're someone with deep scientific knowledge, you won't be able to answer it. Let me give you an example. How did you awaken, to become a Queen, to be exact."

Hearing that question, Christia understood. What Mark wanted to know was not something she could answer.

In the first place, she did not know how she became one. For her, it just happened.

It was not within her urges to try and know why she became one. And to her, it also did not matter.

It was like the saying...

The past did not matter. What only mattered was the present.

"See?" Mark shrugged. "You won't be able to answer that."

Mark smiled. He then moved towards the edge of the rooftop.

"I'm leaving. I want to rest already."

"Wait!"

Christia suddenly called out.

"What now?"

Mark was quite irritated.

"I want to ask something." Christia steeled herself to ask something personal. "It's been strange, but you don't seem to have any hate towards us infected. Our existence pretty much destroyed this world. Most humans we encountered before were filled with fear and anger. I want to know why you seem to be different."

That question made Mark scratch his head. He knew that he was quite fond of the infected, but was never really asked by anyone about it specifically.

"Let's see..." Mark pondered. "Well, I'm quite disappointed that I won't be able to watch new Anime, read new Manga and s, or play new Video Games."

Hearing that, Christia was confused. She could not understand what he was talking about.

"In any case, a world like this is not bad, for me at least." Mark then looked at Christia with a smile. "I don't care if the one standing in front of me is a human, an infected, or other races. As long as they don't bother me or put things I care about in danger, I won't treat them badly, either. Of course, if its the opposite, I won't entertain any nonsense. If I can't make use of it, I'll kill it. That other King this afternoon, he's just lucky. I want to try and catch him alive. That is why he's still living. If not, I might have already killed him."

"Well, leaving him alive brought you here for me to gain valuable information. He sure have some other purposes."

Mark smiled. This time it was quite sinister.

And there, Mark opened his wings and flew away under the darkness of the night.

BAM!

The moment that Mark left, Heron returned, shaking the building as he landed violently.

"He's gone?"

Heron asked.

"He already left." Christia took a deep breath. "That is nerve-racking. It looks like he did not take our threats before seriously, or things might have ended up roughly. But he's still cautious, bringing us away from where his group is."

"Is it really fine to let him go?" Heron voiced out. "For some reason, I feel hungry while looking at him."

"My King... You think you are the only one? That's why I found it strange that three Queens were lurking around him. If I stayed around him long enough, I might end up not being able to handle this hunger. I really wonder how those Queens are able to handle it or even stay together."

"And my King." Christia stared at Heron. "Don't try to challenge that man in the future. It might end up in a Death Match, and it will be very hard to say who will be the winner."

"If you say so."

Heron nodded.

And there, Heron lifted his Queen and flew away. They were returning to their territory after satisfying their curiosity.

***

Mark flew, returning back to the service compound of the Golf Club. He was tapping on his ring, replying to Mei, who asked what happened.

Apparently, the group also had their own battle with the infected, and it was still ongoing.

Then, Mark proposed something.

"Tell them to prepare to leave. Let's just spend the night on the road."

That was what he told Mei.

Actually, it was better to do so. Even though he had a peaceful chat with Christia, she and Heron were still Infected Monarchs. Who knows if they would decide to do something.

More importantly, even though Mark moved to the quarry to lure Heron and Christia out, the battle still affected a wide area. More and more infected would come from farther places, making it more dangerous the more time they spent here.

With Mark's decision, the others prepared to leave. It was agreed that they would just meet along the way, and thus, Mark flew towards the east, where the Schuylkill Expressway continued.

Actually, it would not take long for Mark to return before Mei and the others prepare to leave, but he could not just return with his clothes tattered and his pants looking like rags.

Finding a good place to land, he stopped there to change clothes. He also cut off his hair that grew waist-long again. It was quite annoying since his hair would grow every time he unleashed that form, but would never shorten when he reverted back to normal. Of course, the way he cut it was quite unsightly. He was not a barber, and he only cut it off with a blade. It would make one wonder why scenes in Anime and Movies where the protagonist cut off their hair with a sword still looked awesome and cool.

"Whatever. I'll just ask Mei'er to fix it later. She really likes it when she fixes my hair for some reason."

Mark murmured with a smile. Actually, he also enjoyed it when someone played with his hair. He was like a cat who liked his fur being combed.

After changing his clothes, Mark flew and managed to reunite with the others at an intersection near the Commerce Center of King of Prussia. And to say, the place was now pretty much free of the infected. The effect of the battle was clearly present in this area.

Roan was driving the vehicle in a hurry when they saw someone waiting by the road. When Mei told them to stop, they knew that it was Mark.

Mark was welcomed back with an embrace from Mei, who looked sullen.

"Gege left again without saying anything."

She grumbled.

Mark caressed her head. It was not like Mei was telling him to say where he was going. At least, she wanted to know if he was going to leave for a bit and not just vanish just like that.

He then looked at the others.

"Is everyone okay?" Mark asked before taking if back. "Of course not."

Mark could only shrug. Everyone was woken up in the middle of the night and had to deal with the infected. Then, because of the danger, they had to leave. Of course, no one would feel okay in this situation. Even Elise had gone back to sleep the moment they rode the vehicle.

Inside the vehicle, the others started to ask Mark questions.

"Boss. Is it another of those you call [King Types] again?"

Roan was the first to ask.

"How did you know?"

Of course, Mark would reply with that. He never mentioned that it was, after all.

"Felicia said that Snow is scared again. It's like this afternoon."

What Roan said made Mark look at Snow. She was currently sitting beside him, asleep. It was as if she had finally felt safe could finally rest after an ordeal.

Still, Mark could not understand. From what Christia said, once a King and a Queen had a partner, the urge of them looking for a partner would vanish. If that was the case, then Heron did not connect to Snow, like what the other King did. Nevertheless, she seemed to be afraid.

"Ah..."

Mark realized. It was probably because of Christia. Queens were prone to killing each other from what he learned from Christia.

From there, Mark answered a few questions from the others before stopping them. He also wanted to rest and requested everyone to be quiet.

Fortunately, because of his battle with Heron, the way was almost devoid of the infected. With this small number, the others could deal with them as Mark rested. Of course, the abandoned vehicles on the road still posed a problem. But other than the abandoned cars, the travel was smooth.

Still, it did not take long before they came to a stop.

It was not because there were infected or the road was blocked. In fact, the area they stopped was the road being in the middle of a vacant area with a bit of small forested areas. It was after they crossed over Schuykill River once more.

Furthermore, it was Mark, who was supposed to be resting, that opened his eyes and told Roan to stop the vehicle.

"Stop around there where the trees can cover the car."

Mark pointed at the area where there were thick trees growing just beside the road.

"Everyone stay here and don't turn on the lights on the car."

That was what Mark told everyone as he went out.

Everyone was quite confused but they could only follow his instructions. Besides, there seemed to be no danger in this area at all. It was an opportunity for them to close their eyes for a bit.

Leaving the vehicle, Mark stealthily made his way through the small forest in front of him.

Paving through the bushes, the other side of the forest was seen by Mark. In front of him, about two hundred and sixty meters away, it was a huge red building, five stories high, and was shaped like a cathedral in front.

Mark then browsed the map on his phone, covering around with Miasma so that the light from the screen would not accidentally be seen by others.

And there, he saw the name of the place. It was called St. Gabriel's Hall.

"Was it a church? It doesn't look like it."

Mark said, reading the short description on the map he had. He could only shake his head. There was no description at all.

But why did Mark make the vehicle stop and why was he moving stealthily like this?

It was because he detected humans.

The road they were traveling on would curve around this place. Thus, it would be impossible that the people here would not notice their vehicle.

Because of that, Mark decided to check first. If these people were not hostile, they would just pass by without problems. If they were, Mark would not hesitate to use his crystals to cover their tracks.

It was just that Mark wanted to save the Crystal's energy if using it was not really necessary.