Mutagen

Day 184 - 8:21  AM - Mountain Base, Mount Malabito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon

Another ten days passed. It was already the third week since the world changed.

The feeling of urgency was now in the air. Even if no one can see the barrier, the people somehow feel that the peaceful time was already running out.

Fortunately, the renovations of the base were going smoothly. The outer wall already had its foundations built around the entire location, while Louis finished building the northern and northeastern areas of the walls.

The start of the construction of the walls was slower than expected. However, as Louis became familiar with the process, the speed started to accelerate. At the current pace, the construction should finish several days before the barrier vanish.

Both Chimetrice and Illia sure adapted fast to their new surroundings. Their interactions with others were limited, especially Chimetrice. It has not been long since he broke out of his seal. There was a wide cultural gap between humans in the past and now. In the first place, a powerful being did not have that many chances to interact with humans. It was like this even in the past.

On the other hand, Illia had better interactions with the residents. It seemed that disguising as a human and living with them benefited her in this regard.

Illia became another headache to Mark, however. She was a [Succubus] and was bound to get attention from men. Furthermore, the [Succubus] were naturally coquettish in their mannerisms. Thus, she was prone to making misunderstandings.

There was already someone else that caused this problem in the past. It was Kate. She was one of the [Mutators] they brought back only their journey home from Bay City. Now, everyone knew that it was her usual mannerisms and the misunderstandings subsided. She even became one of the crucial people in the base because of her ability to see using temperatures. Her thermal sight was the bane of invisible and camouflaged enemies.

For now, there were two confirmed [Succubus] in the base. The first one was the former Ninth Queen in the Kingdom of Black Duendes, Il'vella. However, as Il'lvella was focused on training Ver inside the laboratory, she never caused such trouble as Kate and Illia.

And there was one unexpected thing that happened when Il'vella met Illia.

Il'vella was utterly shocked. The [Succubus] were also Demons, and they did measure hierarchy depending on the purity of their blood. Il'vella might be someone high-ranking among their race, but she was not a [Pureblood Succubus]. In fact, [Pureblood Succubus] had gone extinct a long time ago.

The [Succubus] and [Incubus] come in pairs, having the very same origin. A child born from a pair would become either a [Succubus] or [Incubus] depending on their gender.

However, because of their nature, it was extremely common for them to choose another race as a partner. Because of that, as time passed, the number of [Pureblood Succubus] and even the [Pureblood Incubus] decreased further and further.

There was also an event that caused the death of the remaining ones, especially the leaders of the race.

And that was the cause of shock that Il'vella had.

Illia was a [Pureblood Succubus].

It was not surprising since Illia was a [Succubus] from way back five thousand years ago. It also explained why Illia had way more beauty and appeal compared to Il'vella.

The problems aside, Mark's golem research gained a large leap because of the arrival of Illia and Chimetrice.

It seemed that the [Creator] did not only dabble in creating [Chimeras] and [Alchemy]. He also had his hands on [Golemancy], which were applied in creating his laboratory and the floating vessel. It seemed that the [Creator] also created [Giant Golems] to guard his laboratory. Unfortunately, those golems had already sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

Fortunately, scientists, even the mad ones, valued their research more than their lives. Thus, the consciousness of the [Creator] kept the research records and put them inside the floating vessel.

Those research documents contained processes of creating [Chimeras], making alchemical concoctions, and many other things. However, Mark only had an interest in one thing.

The research about making [Golems].

Mark had quite a problem reading it since it was written in a lost ancient language, but Illia happily translated the contents of the documents for him.

What made Mark really happy was the detailed explanations of [Magic Circuits] and the correct methods to create them. Furthermore, compared to the research of the [Creator], the documents that Mark's group got from the [Black Duendes] were rubbish and were even outdated. It seemed that the [Creator] made huge modifications on the [Magic Circuits], not only improving the functions but also the efficiency of the circuits.

The past few days of Mark was spent making parts for the [Golems] he intended to make. It was unfortunate that while they now knew how to make the [Magical Energy Conductors] used to make the [Magic Circuits], they still lacked the materials. As such, Mark could only stick to his previous plans.

In another day or two, the first [Golem] crafted by Mark's own hands would see the light of day.

***

Day 174 - 12:21 PM - Bay City Military Settlement, Pasay City, Metro Manila

In the largest military settlement in the Philippines, things were not going well.

Bay City was chosen as an evacuation site because it was a reclaimed area surrounded by water. But that fact itself turned out to be the worst setting during the world's change.

The earthquake caused a moderate-sized water surge, swallowing the western areas of the settlement. If not for the fact that new land appeared out of nowhere and spread out to the sea, that water surge could become a tidal wave that would kill the whole settlement.

However, the earthquake alone already caused a severe catastrophe that swallowed the entire settlement. The tall buildings collapsed, causing deaths in the upper areas of the settlement.

Who would have thought that the upper area where the privileged lived would become the deadliest area, and the tent city became the safest in that catastrophe?

The population of the entire settlement reduced by half all of a sudden. Most of the deaths were caused by the collapsing buildings from the upper areas. Many of the buildings were either office and condominium buildings that were converted to dwellings. The residents were buried under the rubble.

Only the powerful managed to survive the collapse.

But that was not the worst problem they had after the world changed.

As new land appeared out of thin air, the ditches that became the settlement's natural barrier were filled. Now, the entire settlement was connected to the mainland.

In the past two weeks, the remaining forces of Bay City had been continuously fighting hordes upon hordes of [Infected]. The wreckage of the buildings became a hindrance to the infected, but it was not enough to stop them from coming.

As for the original walls that the settlement had, all of those already turned into useless debris.

The military managed to set up a new wall, albeit shorter and not as sturdy as their previous one. It was made with the remaining resources and scraps they gathered from the remains of the settlement. It also only covered a smaller area of the settlement, mainly the remains of Mall of Asia, where their resources were stored before.

Although the mall already collapsed into ruins, there were still salvageable food supplies under its rubble.

Now, the entirety of the Bay City Military Settlement only circulated around the compounds of the destroyed mall.

Swarmed by the [Infected] day and night, the whole settlement was moving slowly to its end.

***

It was not only the Bay City. Almost every single settlement on Earth turned into a pile of ruins.

Settlements built in the middle of the ocean, islands and such, were swallowed by tidal waves. Those that were built in the middle of cities became piles of rubble.

The death toll rose, and the population of the entire Earth drastically reduced even more.

Without any defenses left, the [Mechids] could wipe the remains of these settlements. Fortunately, the barrier protected them from such alien threats.

However, the invisible barrier might have protected them from the radiation and the threat that the [Mechids] brought, but that barrier did not protect the remaining humans against the [Infected].

Without the defenses they built before, the people could only make do with what they had remaining. They tried to fight back, doing the best that they could.

Even so, more settlements fell as time went by.

Some got wiped out. But more decided to abandon the settlements they tried to protect with their lives in line before.

A ruined settlement was no different than living in a decrepit house in the middle of the apocalypse. Those that were capable took up the decision and chose to gamble.

Leaving the settlements was not an easy decision. In the past few months since the apocalypse started, these places served as the new home for everyone.

Abandoning their homes, even if it was already destroyed, was still a hard decision. Besides, leaving the settlements did not also guarantee any safety to anyone.

It was all up to chance, and it was a gamble that only the capable could take.

As for the weak people, their survival was the hardest to foresee. Whether it be staying or abandoning the settlement, their chances of survival were very low.

Unfortunately, those that decided to leave could only hold out inside their ruined settlements for now.

The environment outside was still filled with radiation. The survivors learned it the hard way. They did not know when the radiation would dissipate, but they could only wait.

All because staying in their settlements for the rest of their lives was not plausible anymore.

Still, day by day, the remaining population of humans on Earth was decreasing.

***

It was not only the humans that were struggling now, however.

With the [Spirit Dimension] now merged with the [Mortal Dimension], the remaining [Magical Races] were facing a much worse situation.

Their tribes, families, and friends all appeared in the new world without warning. They had no barrier to protect them or even a wall that they could rely on.

The [MagicalRaces] were just thrown into the new world without any protection.

Although the radiation would not affect them as much as humans, they were vulnerable to many other threats that infested the new Earth.

That was why some desperate tribes decided to do something that they never thought that they would do.

It was to cooperate with humans for survival.

That was a gamble that the [Magical Races] decided to take. There was no guarantee that humans would accept them or their cooperation. It would not be surprising if they were seen as a threat and could be killed on the spot.

But they had no choice. Same as the humans.

***

Day 184 - ▋▋:▋▋ ▋▋ - ▋▋▋▋▋▋▋▋▋▋▋▋▋

In the dimension that oversaw the entire Earth, the cloaked figure could only sigh as she watched the planet's current situation.

However, she, herself, was helpless in this situation. Bound by the rules of Earth and the God Creator, what she could do was limited.

Now, her only hope that humanity would be preserved was the very same people that they decided to restrict in the past.

The people who were beyond humanity.

In fact, despite the disaster and the majority of the world suffering, there were some places that were doing well.

And it was the places where the chosen people by the Eyes controlled.

It might have been better if the remaining humans just go under the command of these people.

However, humans were born arrogant, not wanting to succumb to anyone's rule. It would not be easy to unite them under someone's wing, not to mention that the chosen people also had their own quirks and personalities.

The Observer made another sigh.

"I do not want this planet to end under my jurisdiction."

She said under her distressed breath.