Mutagen

Day 58 - 7:32 PM - University of Perpetual Help System DALTA - Las Piñas Campus, Alabang-Zapote Road, Barangay Pamplona Tres, Las Piñas, Metro Manila

The engagement ended as quickly as it started. It did not end well for the assailants, of course. These maniacs came merrily following the orders of the leaders they idolized. Led by their powerful rulers, they never did anticipate this outcome. They never thought that they would lose this miserably.

Most of them that came here died while those that survived were either heavily wounded or incapacitated. There was no way for them to escape.

Their leaders were also not in a good situation like them.

Gifre was the one in the best condition. He was still conscious and was able to maintain his transformation. However, metal restraints bound his body tightly. The metal restraints disabled him of any actions. All he could do right now was to wiggle his fingers and turn his head.

Their queen, Vem, was already restrained despite being unconscious. After not being handled well, bruises covered her supple and lovely skin.

There was nothing much to say about Royce. With how dislocated his head was from his body, anyone that would think that he was still alive should have their head checked up.

As for the last one, the stout and tall bodied Logan. He was nothing but a mutated infected now.

***

Mark started to retrieve everything that could still be of use from the enemies. It did not only include their vehicles and things. They even included the lifeless bodies that littered the area. No one else would do such action aside from his group.

The method of collecting the bodies, however, shocked those that saw it.

Anyone would surely feel the same after seeing the few mutated infected in the parking area diligently placing the dead bodies in one area. Although they were stumbling and even fell to the ground as they walked, it did not stop them from moving. These infected never looked at the restrained prisoners and continuously focused on their work.

Nevertheless, such sight made the prisoners shiver. Sure enough, what they targetted this time was not prey but a bunch of predatorial monsters. They did not only have monstrous abilities and skills but could also command the infected.

Unfortunately, no matter how they regret it, they could not go back to the past few hours. The time they still could choose to stop.

Then, the survivors saw the girls that they heard about from the report Royce made earlier. Despite the darkness of the night, they could tell that Royce did not exaggerate his description of them. The report was lacking instead.

"It a f*cking pity."

Gifre cursed under his breath as he gazed at the women in front of him lustfully. Especially the one who was holding a sniper rifle, she looked like a goddess. Vem was nothing compared to her. If they succeeded in this, they could play with these women until they died. That would only happen in their dreams, however.

As he thought that, he felt a chill on his back. He turned his head and saw Mark. The man was staring at him with killing intent with eyes glowing red that made it more unnerving.

However, there was nothing for him to fear anymore. There was no way for him to be left alive after being captured. As such, he continued to stare like that at the women without reserve. In the least, he could do something satisfying in the last moments of his life.

"Bad move."

He suddenly heard a chilling voice beside him.

Gifre tried to look, but before he was able to, his sight turned red. His eyes were still intact, but blood filled his tear ducts. The trail of red blood poured out of his eyes. At the same time, his nose and ears were bleeding. Excruciating pain in his head followed after making him unable to do anything but scream. What made it worse was that his restraints disabled him from pressing his hands on his head.

"Can't we just kill this guy?"

Karlene spoke. His obscene stares also infuriated her despite how careless she was in terms of these things.

"I'll leave him for last. Let's see if he can still behave the same way after watching how his men will die before him."

Mark replied with a sinister look in his eyes.

At the side, Analynn watched the scene before her with different emotions. Shock, fear, amazement, and anticipation. Those different kinds of emotions circulated in her heart and mind, spinning like a washing machine cleaning a mix of different clothes.

Still, she could not fathom how the infected they feared too much was moving like laborers for this group. Another thing she was amazed about was the appearance of the vehicle in front of them. But those were not the only surprises that were in store for her.

As everything was ready, the harvesting ensued.

The infected segregated a few of the dead bodies for some reason. The doors of the [Exceed: Personnel Carrier] opened. However, not just Odelina, Spera, and Edzel got out of the vehicle. Together with the three were two sylphs and several slime-looking creatures of different colors bouncing out of the door.

As if they already knew what to do, the [Blood Children] moved towards the pile of corpses designated to them. Each of them let our tentacles which they pierced unto the dead bodies. The bodies then started to dry up as the bodies of the [Blood Children] inflated.

It did not take too long. The piles of dead bodies in front of them became nothing but dried up corpses. And what happened were all witnessed by the squealing captured enemies. Of course, it was the right reaction. They just saw what they would end up later, after all.

As the [Blood Children] finished, Odelina opened the compartment behind the vehicle. There, the production happened. One by one, the [Blood Children] shaped metal ingots from their bodies piled up neatly inside the compartment.

On the other hand, Mark went to another pile of dead bodies together with Mei and the little girls. They placed this pile in a different area far from the eyes of the others, especially the people in the building on the other side of the school field and also away from Karlene's guest. In this pile of bodies included Royce that Abbygale killed with a bit of assistance from her Papa.

There were only eight bodies here in this pile. With Royce, however, the other dead bodies only had minor mutations as Mutators. There was also Vem, Gifre, and the already infected Logan, which were all not here.

Mark had different plans for them.

Gifre was to die last witnessing the death of his men, brought by his greed.

On the other hand, it would be easier to get information from Vem. Although Mark did not want to storm the base of these guys, he would not hesitate to do so if they had valuable things there.

As for Logan.

Mark turned his head towards the guy.

"Aephelia, keep that guy on a leash, alright?"

Mark yelled out before proceeding to take away the abilities from the dead bodies of the Mutators in front of him.

Logan's ability was not that useful in Mark's view. The adaptability of that Mutator Ability was great, especially toward emergencies. To use the ability, however, it required catalysts to carry everywhere, and for the most part, it required a broken mental state like Logan's to be able to eat anything and just anything.

The ability had gone well with Logan's mental trait as a Mutator, but after someone inherited the ability, the trait would be different. There were similar traits on mutators but what trait would pop out was still unpredictable.

That was why Logan's ability was better if the infected man kept it.

They already lost the alpha, this guy could just become the replacement.

With Aephelia's control, they could turn this guy into a moving shield after feeding it metal. It could also have other things it could be useful for after feeding it something.

The most important thing, however, Mark finally found a way to secure garbage disposal. Like Bay City, his base would surely face the same problem. While there were no infected around his base to suddenly mutate, improper disposal of garbage might lure mutated insects near.

Why not feed the garbage to this guy?

Mark felt funny with the thought of that.

Still, the way Logan turned into a mutated infected felt comedic. Anyone could say that after witnessing what happened. Mark also felt the same.

Well, if he did not include what he felt at that time.

In terms of strength and ability, Logan was confident that he could contend with the vehicle. However, the sudden disadvantage and the possible death, along with the pain the poison brought, pushed his unstable mentality into collapse.

His trait as a mutator, Glutonny, kicked in uncontrollably. Before Logan turned into a mutator, he was surely in pain, however, there was nothing Mark could feel from the guy but absolute hunger.

When Logan turned into a mutator, Aephelia immediately put him into control like the other infected in the parking area. If not and he continued eating, who knows what Logan would mutate into.

There were already signs of further mutations on Logan's body and it happened immediately after he turned. That mutation, however, not only came from his eating but after his trait lost control.

His condition made Mark think. What would happen to Mutators when their traits took over and went out of control like Logan? Since the Military had no idea of such traits on Mutators, they had not ongoing research about it. There was also no mentions of such things in the research papers given to him.

Nevertheless, he heard of a Mutator suddenly going out of control from Mei. The military concluded that the Mutator was turning into an infected but witnessing what happened right now, it might not be the actual case.

Mark wanted to know and he might be able to induce such event using his abilities.

As such, that was the way Gifre and Vem would die.

In other people's reasoning, it was for the sake of science. Such sacrifices could not be helped.

***

Day 58 - 7:56 PM - Faculty Building, University of Perpetual Help System DALTA - Las Piñas Campus, Alabang-Zapote Road, Barangay Almanza Uno, Las Piñas, Metro Manila

Bright light ensured behind the building as Mark took the abilities of the Mutators at the same time. Due to the darkness of the night, it looked more like a beacon to draw people to the hope they wished for.

Edward looked at the light with such a mentality as he saw that the enemies were dealt with easily. He remembered the invitation Mark told him. An invitation that held no ill will and did not force them to agree. Yet, the event that had just ended would make them think nothing but to agree.

He felt quite complicated. However, it was for the sake of his group, especially Emi.

She did not deserve what happened to her. She did not deserve staying in this forsaken place.

"Have you decided Edward?"

Phillip who stood beside him asked.

"Yes, Phillip." Edward nodded. "I want to see a better future. Not only for me but Emi, for everyone. We'll take this one last gamble."

"Then, I'll tell everyone." Phillip laughed. "Everyone here is ready for your decision. You just have to say it."

With those words, the old instructor went out of the room leaving Edward to stare at that light with anticipation.

***

In the room where Edward stayed in, Emi opened her eyes. Her eyes were blank and her face had no emotion.

Leaving the comfort of the bed, she walked towards the window and stared at the light.

On that blank expression on her face, a smile was formed.