Mutagen

Day 36 – 8:02 PM – Unused Warehouse, Port of Real Settlement, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon

The red snake necked lizard about the size of an adult crocodile had totally submitted to Mark which caused quite a stir in the hearts of the people watching, well, except for Alana. It was out of the norm but not totally unexplainable by science, that is, if they knew the whole method Mark used. To them, the only visible thing was that Mark pummeled the lizard into obedience while Mark had his eyes glowing.

The glowing eyes of Mark were not new to the scientists since there were also other Mutators that exhibit such characteristics when using their abilities. A great example was Karlene in her berserk state. Due to that, they seemed to have thought that Mark's glowed to enhance his strength since the lizard should not be hurt with normal attacks due to its strong body and hard scales.

It would be unknown to them for quite an amount of time that they were totally mistaken. They were right that even Mark would have a hard time damaging the lizard if he attacked it normally but Mark did not. He aimed at the roots of the scales where the defense was weakest. That were why he was able to hurt the lizard as much as possible.

As for the obedience of the Lizard, it was all thanks to the combination of pummeling the lizard and his [Emotion Induction]. Simple creatures, animals were like that. Animals even if they were smart relied on their instincts in most situations and most of their instinctual reactions came from their experiences. This time, Mark filled the subconscious of the Lizard to obey while ingraining an unforgettable experience that it would remember for a very, very long time.

After the lizard submitted, Mark asked the scientists to release the shackles on the lizard but of course, no one would try to. In the end, Mark took the key and personally let the lizard go. Since it was time to go out, Mark made the lizard follow behind which it obediently did. It looked at the people around since it usually attacked humans and infected before but with a single glance from Mark, it behaved.

Since the lizard was his already, it should not stay inside the laboratory and thus, he asked his current escort if there was somewhere he could make the lizard stay. After communicating with the higher-ups, he was directed at the current place, an unused warehouse that was planned to be renovated in the near future.

Before leaving the laboratory, he took back his things and Amihan who was waiting in another room with the [BloodChildren]. He made them stay here since the time he left for the meeting since things could go awry with the activities he did previously. Now that he was done with almost everything, he only needed a secluded place to stay with the lizard and he planned to leave for tomorrow.

The only thing left was the problem about Karla but that was for Karlene to decide.

When Mark left he laboratory with Sergeant Delina who guided him towards the warehouse and the crocodile sized lizard following behind them, they became the center of attention. Although all of the soldiers and personnel in the military section tried to stay away due to the fear of the huge lizard, it did not stop them from looking. If the sergeant did not chase some of them away, quite an amount of people would have followed.

Reaching the warehouse which was actually at the easternmost of the military section, Mark was satisfied and told his escort that she was free to go. She was reluctant to leave Mark in such a place since it was dusty and untidy. It would be a failure for her as his escort if she left him in a place like this but Mark told her to not bother. Finally, she left after Mark told Amihan to blow away all the dust into one corner.

Karlene and Alana also wanted to follow him but he insisted to be alone. Besides, the two still needed to undergo a medical checkup according to Professor Suzuki.

Inside the warehouse, Mark was finally alone with his entourage. Mark securely closed the doors and checked if there were other places that could expose what was going to happen but it was a needless action. The place seemed to be a small warehouse for frozen goods and as such, it only had two entrances and no windows.

​ "Amihan, stay at here for a bit."

"Okay."

Mark place his backpack at a table near the entrance and released the [BloodChildren] and made the six behave and watch with Amihan. This time, they were to witness history. Well, sort of. It was because not because a dragon would finally exist in flesh but because it was actually the first time Mark was going to do this.

It was to turn something into a Mutator using a [Physical Crystal] housing someone's Mutator ability.

With a flick of his hand, a pale purple crystal floated in front of Mark. There was a glowing orb inside the crystal that had a fiery red color. After grabbing the crystal, he approached the lizard that was at the center of the room watching Mark's every movement. It was obvious that it was afraid that Mark would beat it once more.

Mark extended his right hand making the lizard flinch but it opened its eyes when it felt that his master was only tapping its head like he was petting a pet. Although being treated as a pet should have infuriated it, it was more afraid of not being treated as one by Mark.

"I said that I will make you stronger if you submit to me right?"

The lizard was confused. Although it understood the words since most of them had been used by the scientists a lot of times when studying it, it could not fathom how his master was going to do it.

"Open your mouth."

Confused, the lizard absentmindedly followed Mark's instruction. It was already late when it noticed that Mark threw something into its throat.

Hot, painful, weak, these were what the lizard felt after it swallowed the crystal Mark put into its mouth. It stared at its master with askance. It already submitted to him but what did it do to undergo this kind of torment.

Unexpectedly, it felt a little lighter. When it looked at Mark once more, it saw his eyes and hands was glowing white and he was pressing his hands on its head.

'Master's hands felt comfortable.'

The lizard thought as his askance vanished. It thought that its master was torturing him but when he tried to make it feel better, the misunderstanding was cleared. Finally, unable to bear the feeling in its body, the lizard fainted.

Even after the lizard fainted, Mark continued to channel the white energy into the mind and consciousness of the lizard.

He already expected this outcome. Even with just the empty crystals, the process of turning a person into an Evolver was already painful. For sure, turning one into a Mutator was way more severe than that. After all, becoming an Evolver was just getting their current body enhanced while turning into a Mutator was changing one's body from its roots and genes.

It took more than an hour before the condition of the lizard became stable. However, Mark was drained of his mental energy since he continuously aided the lizard all since the start. Since the lizard was finally stable, Mark could finally stop the aid and returned to the side.

"My Lord, are you okay."

Amihan immediately flew towards Mark when he returned. Although Mark looked fine physically, his countenance looked pale.

"I'm fine, don't worry. I just need to rest a little since I used too much mental energy."

Mark replied and caressed the head of the worried sylph gently.

He then looked at the unconscious lizard curled in the middle of the warehouse. It seemed that it would take a while. In the worst case, he would spend another day here. Since turning a person into an evolver took several hours, it would not be surprising if turning a huge animal into a Mutator would take longer.

In that case, he decided to rest since he had free time to spare now. He found an empty cardboard and folded it inside out to serve as his bedding. Fixing the cardboard next to the table, he removed the [Darkness Shade] set from his back and lied down using his bag as a pillow.

Unexpectedly, not only Amihan flew to join him rest but the [BloodChildren] left the table and fell off one by one next to him with noisy splats. It did not seem to be painful for them but it was still kind of worrying. Knowing the intention of the six, Mark took all of them to his side while Amihan landed on the unoccupied part of his bag and lay down to sleep. Soon, no noises could be heard from inside the warehouse with everyone resting.

Of course, it was not a total deep sleep for Mark anymore. When he recovered more of his ability today, he knew that he had to say good bye to his refreshing sleep once more. After all, even if the range was small his Empathic ability was still absorbing emotional energies nearby especially since people working at the military section and the soldiers pass by outside the warehouse from time to time.

However, it was to his advantage right now since he was in a place that only very few people he could trust existed. Since that was the case, he needed to be alert at all times. Not to mention that even if he had beaten the lizard into obedience, there was still the miniscule chance of it retaliating. He could never let his guard down.

***

Day 37 – 6:15 AM – Unused Warehouse, Port of Real Settlement, Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon

Fortunately, the night passed peacefully. It seemed that also the officers took Mark's rest time into consideration and no one came to knock on the warehouse during the night.

Early in the morning however, there was a pair that stealthily broke into the warehouse.

"He's really sleeping."

One of the two whispered.

"Uuuu… I'm kind of envious in this scene."

The other had a strange thing in mind making the other look with a bitter expression.

"It's early in the morning, just what are you two doing?"

Mark suddenly spoke which made the two people jump back in surprise. They almost screamed but they were forced to hold their screams back when Mark put his index finger in front of his mouth with a shush.

These two were really a troublesome pair. Who would think that these two girls would sneak in here this early?

"So, Mizuki, Karlene, just what are you two doing here and how did you two come in?"

Mark asked with a stern expression after he stood up.

To his question, Alana took out and dangled a key in front of Mark.

"I used the master key of this warehouse. We came here since Karlene have something to talk to you"

Karlene seriously nodded hearing what Alana said. Her eyes now were clearer compared to her expression last night at the laboratory. It seemed that she finally decided.

However, before Karlene's business was concluded, Mark posed a question to Alana. It had been bothering him since yesterday.

"Wait Mizuki. Just how did you get hold of that key anyway? Also, Karlene might be an exception but just why are you able to wonder around a military facility on your own?"

"Ah, no one told you?"

Alana seemed surprised.

"Told me what?"

"Professor Suzuki, the head scientist in the laboratory. He's my uncle on my mother's side."

"Huh?"

That was a surprising fact. It cleared a lot of questions in Mark's mind about Alana, her passion for Otaku Culture, her passion for Cosplaying and her freedom here in the military section. To think that she was actually the niece of one of the most important people here in this settlement.

It was also no wonder Professor Suzuki had been lenient about Mark's requests even if it included his precious specimens. After all, he saved his precious niece from the hands of the outlaws.