Mutagen

Day 370 - 7:21 PM - Bogorejo Subdistrict, Blora Regency, Central Java, Indonesia

Under the large awning hung between the branches and trunks of trees, the predominant members of the Indonesian survivors and Evernight gathered. With all of them physically and mentally recovered from the events that unfolded a few days ago, it was time to have a proper talk about things and their goals for the future.

Everyone made sure to eat dinner before starting. It was because some topics of the meeting could make them lose their appetite for various reasons.

For example, the current topic they were discussing.

"So, everyone is dead? It's just us left here in this country?"

Estia, one of the leaders of the 3rd Wave, asked General Wijaya.

Upon their hasty return and the sudden events that followed, General Wijaya and the soldiers failed to share the information they brought back after trying to search for survivors from Mount Muria they separated from.

Furthermore, General Wijaya decided to keep the information hidden until this meeting to convey it properly.

"We can't be sure about the entire country, but here within mainland Java, it might be only us. The [Fog Crawlers] were that vicious. Some people might have survived the [Fog Crawlers], but people likely fell into the hands of the [Infected] since we did encounter familiar mutants who already turned."

General Wijaya shared the news himself. The things they encountered, the scenes they passed by, and the state of the military outpost.

There were no survivors. All they could bring back were a good amount of military supplies and equipment the dead would have no use for.

While General Wijaya recounted the events, Mark said nothing, only nodding in confirmation.

The news was quite a shock. Among tens of thousands of the survivors gathered in Mount Muria, only a few thousand escaped Mount Muria's eruption. And that meager fraction further decreased, only leaving about three hundred people.

"General," Farrel of the Fire Fighters spoke. "It is still not final that we are the only survivors, right?"

And in reply, General Wijaya nodded.

"I can't say that everything we know is definite. Although the other Generals declared before that Mount Muria is the only remaining survivor base in the country, it's not entirely the truth. We hid this fact to dissuade people from venturing out of Mount Muria to find other settlements. In truth, we lost contact with many bases without confirmation whether they were destroyed or still functioning.

But with the existence of the [Fog Crawlers], the chances of the latter being the case was rather slim, to be honest."

"But since the Fog only occurs here in Java," General Wijaya continued. "There is a higher chance of finding survivors in other parts of the country."

"So, there's a chance we can find survivors in Bali, right?"

Nelia voiced out, followed by everyone's agreement.

"Of course, there is still a question of whether they will be friendly or hostile."

Limabela spoke about the possible scenario, which also received everyone's agreement.

There was nothing harmful to being cautious. It would be more dangerous to accept everything as is and fall into a trap or scheme.

As they continued the ongoing discussion, there was no change in the initial plan to travel to Bali. The mainland Java was getting more and more dangerous. Although they finally passed far from the immediate affected areas of Mount Muria's violent eruption, the ashes would still reach the current location if the wind blew in the wrong direction.

Furthermore, the encounter of [Infected] hordes moving towards the direction of Mount Muria increased as time passed. It seemed that the events in the previous days gathered the attention of every [Infected] within the island of Java, causing them to move towards the direction of those specific areas.

The fall of the giant tree in Jakarta was also mentioned. It seemed that the sky-reaching tree was well known to all the Indonesian survivors, and to learn that it fell pretty much surprised them. Unfortunately, there was nothing more to share about the tree's fall since it was a few hundred kilometers from where Mark witnessed it.

Finishing the first part of the discussion, they moved to the events of the battle against the Deities and the Night Goddess.

Mark did not say much about his battle against the Deity of Soul Sacrifice and the Great One. After all, the events of that battle would be difficult to tell with words. Worse, it would sound more like a piece of fiction. Instead, Mark focused on the details everyone witnessed that night, specifically why his appearance during his arrival looked like the Night Goddess.

The surroundings fell silent as they learned who Azra was, how the Night Goddess was created, and the atrocities the Deity of Soul Sacrifice committed.

And since there were a few new faces in the surroundings, Mark and those already privy to the information about the [Mechids], the [Fusion of Dimensions], and Luna being Indonesia's candidate, shared the information they knew.

"Is that thing about the [Fusion of Dimensions] really true? Is that why the world changed too much?"

Dr. Willis Reagan, far from his usual crazy demeanor, asked calmly.

Mark nodded in confirmation and explained its supposed effects and the existence of the Spirit Dimension. He also briefly mentioned the truth about the myths about the Gods and Deities, which also had something to do with the previous events.

Since the mortal realm and the Spirit Dimension fused, they should have encountered other magical creatures before. However, the fact that they never did, resulting in the unexpected lack of awareness towards the [Face Wearers], also confirmed that the Deity of Soul Sacrifice did make all magical creatures in Java extinct long ago.

After Mark's turn, the discussion moved to another.

This time, the attention turned to Luna and Edge, who appeared closer to each other than before, to no surprise.

Mark was also interested in Luna's story. After all, he had some suspicions about the details of the candidates picked by the Eyes. It could be a precise, specific detail that allowed them to be the people chosen.

And as it turned out, Mark might be right.

A part of Luna's soul bore the fragment of Goddess none of the people present knew. It was very likely that the Goddess of Moonlight, Anaelldenalia, was among the earliest Goddesses that appeared during the Lost Era, whose information was buried and forgotten after her defeat.

The powers Luna exhibited during her uncontrolled outburst in the past and during the fight with the Night Goddess were the powers she inherited from the Goddess. When Luna was unconscious, it appeared that her soul briefly traveled to the past to meet the Goddess.

As it turned out, Edge was actually the reincarnation of the Warrior who fought by the Goddess of Moonlight's side and was also her mortal lover. When Luna woke up, she managed to awaken some of the memories of Edge's past life, allowing him to use some of the sealed power he had.

Luna and Edge explained with a slight blush of embarrassment that they desperately tried to hide.

"S-so... That's why..."

The timid Livia, who was listening quietly, spoke ambiguously. But she could not help but flinch when everyone turned to her with confused expressions.

With a bit of a stutter, Livia made her friends recall when Luna and Edge first met at a convention. They all met through a mutual friend at the venue and ate together for lunch at a fast food. But for some reason, Luna and Edge barely ate as the two kept staring at each other without regard to the surroundings. The two ended up getting teased by everyone after that.

Since then, the two spent a lot of time together, which made everyone think it was love at first sight.

It turned out to be more than love at first sight. The two might have felt familiar with each other because of their past lives.

The two blushed even more as they recalled that past. It caused their friends to tease them even more, turning the dark atmosphere a bit livelier.

Mark watched the two with a stern expression. He might really be correct in his assumption.

Soon, the teasing was over. Although everyone still needed time to digest the unbelievable fact that Luna was partly a Goddess, they still had to move to the next topic.

"So, what do you people plan about the agent from CNC?"

Mark asked the Indonesian survivors.

"Plan about Devon?" Dr. Willis asked. "That bastard disappeared right after danger arrived, right? Is he still even alive?"

"That agent is from a mysterious organization," Mark replied. "They had various tricks in their sleeves. Even the agent I'm in contact with could appear in unexpected places. It isn't surprising for them to have such abilities."

"So, Devon is still alive and would appear around us anytime. Is that what you are saying, Sir Mark?"

General Wijaya asked.

"That's right," Mark answered. "In my opinion, you guys should accept the contract."

"Is that really okay to accept that?"

Luna asked.

"It should be fine," Mark nodded. "From what I know, the country contract is already paid by the country every time the leader is changed. However, since the previous leadership ended early, the previous contract should still have leftover funds. It would be a waste not to use that. Furthermore, you people will need enough materials and supplies to establish your future settlement."

Then, Mark turned to Luna.

"But Luna, you might become the highest leader of everyone here as the candidate, but you better leave the [Country Contract] in the hands of other people."

"Why is that?"

Luna voiced out the question in everyone's minds.

"First, while you are a candidate to save humanity in Indonesia, you are not the leader of this country. For now, the only ones legible for that position are either General Wijaya or Limabela's dad. They should be the ones to sign the contract. Another reason is that it's a contract with the country which could possibly bind you in unexpected ways."

"Especially now that you know you are a Goddess' fragment, it's even more unfitting to be bound to a contract with an uncertain organization. They could end up taking advantage of your abilities, you know."

Mark added.

Everyone took Mark's suggestion seriously. There was nothing wrong with being cautious against a mysterious organization, no matter how they introduced themselves.

Besides, while Devon was not directly connected to everyone here, the moment he vanished and left potential business partners in the face of danger, it was already minus points for him.

The meeting continued late in the night before it finished. Since all of them still had to endure the journey early tomorrow, they could not stay too late or past midnight. It was the same for the other survivors.

Fortunately, there was no need for any of the survivors or soldiers to guard all night. It could be left to the golems of Mark's group and their loyal pets to detect danger.

The morning arrived, and the journey resumed after an early breakfast. As the giant turtle stomped its enormous limbs, everything shook, making it hard to rest during the journey.

From time to time, they would stop at nearby ruins to check for things to scavenge. Mark also jumped off Mountain Back from time to time when he spotted remains of [Mechids] littered on the burnt ground. To most people, these remains of alien robots were nothing but useless scrap, especially due to the black goo still stuck within their circuits and parts.

However, for Mark, these were precious materials he could likely use for his future armor and weapons.

***

Three more days passed pretty fast. In another couple more, they would reach the eastmost coastline of East Java.

But today, the expected appearance of Devon arrived.

It seemed that Devon caught up to them from the west. He might have used a method to teleport to a specific place. That was how he suddenly vanished back then.

But when Devon arrived, he was not alone.

Unexpectedly, someone Mark was familiar with was also present.

Wearing casual clothes comfortable enough to travel in and strapped with different weapons, Val'Flora arrived with Devon.