Mutagen

Day 36 – 5:13 PM – Ungos National High School, Port of Real Settlement, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon

A Humvee stopped in front of the school. Mark and Jones stepped out of the Humvee and the soldier driving the Humvee drove the vehicle towards the parking area. Even though outside, Mark could already hear the loud noises coming from the people inside the school.

"The meeting started already. Let's go."

Jones urged Mark to enter the school.

Mark on the other hand shrugged his shoulders and followed Jones' lead.

"And that's it for our planned countermeasures about the parasites. Please be careful when exploring outside since we don't know if there are still parasites hiding anywhere waiting for a suitable host to control."

The moment Mark entered the backstage of the multi-purpose hall Mark heard the closing remark for the previous topic that was discussed. It seemed that the captain on the stage wanted to move to a new topic since he called for another soldier to exchange the folder on the stand. However, a voice lacking in respect and manners interrupted the flow of the meeting.

"Hey! We didn't come here to listen to military blabbers and bullsh*t nonsense! We wanted an explanation about that beam of light! We never saw anything like that before! If the military have something like that, use it in the first place! If that was used at the start, we might have not lost our friends and families in that horde! More people could have survived!"

A man with a fit looking body and beard shaved with style shouted from the crowd which immediately led to a chorus of complains especially from those whose comrades died in the previous battle with the horde.

Mark was already near the stage with Jones and the man that shouted was not far from him. When the man spoke, Mark suddenly turned at him while tiling his head to the side.

"I'm called here for this kind of crap?"

Mark muttered under his breath.

"Did you say something?"

Jones heard his mutter but was not able to understand his muffled voice.

To Jones' question, Mark shrugged his shoulders.

"Nothing."

On the stage, Captain Garcia turned his head at General Faustino waiting for the next action. The general turned to the back entrance and saw that Jones had already arrived with Mark. Seeing that, he nodded to the captain indicating that the question from the crowd could be addressed already.

Getting the approval from the general, Captain Garcia faced the crowd and started his rehearsed lines to speak.

"We have already heard of your concerns. That is why this meeting is held here in the first place." Captain Garcia cleared his throat with a cough. "First and foremost, I am sure that many of you had seen that beam of light and even the bolts of electricity that was fired in the middle of the horde, those phenomenon were created by one man. Unfortunately he did not belong to us or any forces here. Since the circumstances with the horde turned out to be severe, we were forced to hire that person to help for a great price…"

The captain narrated the circumstances at that time while of course, not disclosing the private matters.

While listening to the narration, Mark could only shake his head. Although all of the things said were true, he would end up being the target of these people.

"General, don't forget about the deal, that lizard and the vials of [Regeneration Medicine] in exchange for being your scapegoat this time."

Mark said as he sat at the chair that was reserved for him. Unexpectedly, his seat was just next to the general. Jones on the other hand just stood behind the general like a bodyguard.

"I know. You should understand our circumstances here and that is why we needed you this time to vouch the credibility of our statements. However, we can only give you ten vials at most. We used the majority of our produced [Regeneration Medicine] on the people that were severely wounded earlier. That medicine is not that easy to make."

General Faustino replied. Jones had already informed the general about Mark's demands through the radio while on the way. It was unfortunate that the stock of the new medicine was very low at this moment due to the attack of the horde.

Mark could only accept the deal. That amount should be enough for what he was planning to do next. The most important thing was that he was able to get his hands on the lizard he wanted. He also knew one thing, the amount of [Regeneration Medicine] produced was little not because it was very hard to make but because of the materials needed to make the medicine.

[Regeneration Medicine], it was a medicine that could be used to activate and enhance the emergency and healing ability of the one that was going to drink it. If the wounds were shallow, although the medicine could not heal the wound instantly, at least, the bleeding would be stopped and it would heal in no time. In case of emergency, it could save lives like how Karlene did when Alana was in danger due to her injuries. Unfortunately, the amount of the medicine that could be consumed in every twenty-four hours should be a vial at most. Consuming more than that could cause side effects which the mildest was body pains while the worst was loss of consciousness that could last up to several days. After all, the medicine was too potent to be consumed in large amounts.

Although the components of the medicine were a secret to others aside from the military officers and the laboratory scientists, Mark knew the two most important ingredients of the medicine. The first ingredient was the blood of an evolver or Mutator with regeneration as main ability. As for the second, it was the [Mutagen Stone]. Mark knew this because his main ability as a Mutator was his blood and he could detect the energy of the [Mutagen Stone] in the medicine.

Due to the rarity of [Mutagen Stone] the production of the [Regeneration Medicine] was very low.

Mark turned his sight towards the crowd. It seemed that they were starting to get more and more unruly.

"Excuses! I'm sure that all of the bullsh*t you said are excuses."

The same man from before shouted causing the chorus of curses and complains from the crowd once more.

Captain Garcia did his best to talk against the accusations but it was not working. Rather, it was gathering the ire of the crowd even more.

"Time for me to stand up right?"

Mark asked the general.

"Please."

Shrugging his shoulders, Mark stood up and walked beside the captain. He really hated to stand in front of crowds but he needed to end this farce. Luckily, he was not even feeling nervous right now. His trait as a Mutator came in handy at times like this.

"Thanks for the hard work. Leave this to me."

Mark said to the Captain which struck the latter speechless. Still, he stepped back letting Mark take the spotlight. The people were too noisy however which made it hard for Mark to speak clearly. In that case...

"Hey you imbeciles. Did all of you come here just to make noises?"

Mark spoke in a high and mighty tone that was surely looking down on all these people here. Of course, many of the people were infuriated and started cursing.

"Just who the f*ck are you?!"

A man shouted.

"All of you are here to complain about me but you're actually going to ask who am I?"

Mark replied and to stop the doubts of the people and avoid further questioning, he fired a small laser beam on the floor. He had already hid the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] on his palm before he stood up and made it look like that he fired the beam from his right index finger.

Seeing what he did, the crowd finally fell silent.

"Good."

Mark said with arrogance.

"I'm here to say that what this guy…" He pointed at the captain behind him with his thumb over his shoulder. "…said are all true."

A woman then stepped out from the crowd.

"If you have that power, why didn't you help out fighting the horde from the start to finish? Did you know what many died? If you helped, then there are many people who should be alive if you did!"

"Why should I?"

Mark replied which caused surprise within the crowd. He then continued.

"Let me ask a few questions. Do all of you live here? Do all of you have family or friends here?"

Those questions caused quite a plethora of emotions from the crowd which did not escape Mark's perception.

"In that case, guarding this place even to your death is the duty of all you people since you live in this place. When this place is gone, what will happen? The deaths of your friends and comrades are justified and it is to protect the place you needed to protect. Don't tell me that their deaths are in vain."

"That didn't answer her question at all!"

The man from earlier stood beside the woman and shouted.

"What? I don't even live in this place. I don't have a family here or even friends. If there's nothing in for me, why should I help? I'll tell but the price to hire me is steep."

Hearing the last sentence, the officers behind that knew the circumstances bitterly smiled.

Mark's words struck quite an amount of people. It was the place they were living and they needed to protect it for various reasons. Mark who had nothing to do with this place have no reason to help at all unless he wanted to be viewed as a hero but with what Mark was acting right now, that was very unlikely.

Murmurs from the crowd could be heard and the determination of these people was wavering. Unknown to them, there was a faint red light on Mark's eyes that was being hidden by the bright light in the hall.

[Emotion Induction], Mark was not holding back at all. While he was speaking, he was already concentrating on expanding the range of his empathic ability and was influencing the emotions of the people around.

At this moment, Mark was satisfied as he was getting the result he wanted. It was then that he turned towards the two people that were most active in this farce. Those two were also having complicated expressions right now due to the unexpected wavering of the crowd.

"Hey, you two." Mark spoke in quite a louder volume which took the attention of everyone as he called the woman and the man. "You two had been active since earlier."

"What of it?"

The man spoke bravely.

"No, it's just strange." Mark scratched his head. "If the reason for this farce is because many died, the people who had their teammates, family or even friends that died should be the ones leading this mess. Why are the two of you who had nothing to do with those dead people leading this and instigating everyone?"

BOOM!

A plethora of reactions appeared on everyone's faces including the officers.

The two people in question wanted to retort but Mark cut them to the chase.

"Spies from Death Valley sure are courageous to stand out in front of the crowd aren't they?"

The expression of the two changed.

With tacit understanding, the man transformed into a werepanther while bat wings sprouted behind the woman, the two then rushed out of the hall trying to escape.

"Catch them! Don't let them escape!"

The General bellowed and moved the soldiers. However, they were already a step late.

Mark had already vanished from his spot and appeared in front of the flying woman. The woman was shocked to see Mark appear and did not able to react. She was struck unconscious by Mark and fell to the floor. Mark then turned towards the escaping man and pointed his finger.

A laser beam about the size of a pencil fired and struck the man on his right thigh. With a hole on his thigh, the man still did not give up and used his arms to run with three limbs. However, in the middle of his run, his body was struck by a high voltage of electricity and his body was paralyzed. He fell unconscious soon after.

With Mark's help, the farce was ended peacefully and the instigators that were spies from Death Valley were caught alive.