Mutagen

Day 378 - 10:15 AM - Presidential Office, Central Area, Corregidor Refuge City, Island of Corregidor, Province of Cavite

The Corregidor Refuge City, formerly known as the Corregidor Military Settlement. After the change in leadership and improvements made by the new regime, it could no longer be called a temporary settlement and more of a small city.

Improvements to the outer area became the priority of the new regime. While the problems in housing were yet to be solved, they were slowly being improved. The most important thing the military prioritized was building a concrete outer wall, replacing the previous flimsy barricade made of scrap materials, which ensured the safety of the refugees still eligible to live in the inner walls.

Unfortunately, the already established distinction between the residents of inner and outer areas could not be dissolved. Many of the residents of the inner area were either people with status or survivor groups who worked their way inside. Dissolving the distinction between the inner and outer areas would lead to backlash. As such, it was decided to keep this distinction, which would only be rendered invalid during emergencies.

With the ongoing developments of the Corregidor Military Settlement, it was decided to change its name. It was now called the Corregidor Refuge City.

The name was chosen with a goal in mind. "Refuge" came from its original purpose as a refuge for the survivors of the apocalypse. On the other hand, calling it a city might sound odd. It might be sheltering around fifteen thousand people, but it was still far from what one would call a city. However, calling it a city gave the illusion that it was not just a temporary place to settle. It would be everyone's place to call home, and humans were slowly recovering everything they lost to the apocalypse.

Of course, the Corregidor Refuge City was still far from being completely safe. It suffered attacks from various kinds of [Infected] almost daily. There were even attacks of two [Behemoth Class Infected] after the new regime took control, costing the lives of many soldiers and survivors.

But this morning, the commotion was entirely different.

The people saw a dragon-like creature flying in the sky. It prompted caution among the people, and the soldiers were dispatched. But as almost everyone expected an attack, the dragon landed outside the northern entrance of the outer wall. On the dragon's back were three females; an adult woman and two teenage girls.

It was when some of the soldiers recognized the adult woman.

Back in Bay City, there was a nameless survivor group, which the people and the soldiers named Team Fairy. While the leader of the group was a beautiful girl, the person who did the administrative tasks was a different woman named Odelina. As such, soldiers had closer encounters with Odelina than other members of the Team Fairy.

Due to that, many soldiers from Bay City were still familiar with the Team Fairy and its primary members at that time.

Furthermore, some of the soldiers began recognizing the dragon after seeing it up close. It was the dragon they had seen in Bay City under the command of the leader of Team Fairy's husband, Mark, who overturned the entire Corregidor Military Settlement months ago.

Realizing that the ones who arrived were not enemies, the soldiers cautiously approached and asked for their business. After all, Odelina and her group had left Bay City a long time ago. To see them back would likely mean something important.

And the soldiers' intuition was correct.

The first thing that Odelina requested was to meet General Perez, who was now leading the city and acting president of the country.

***

"Is this true?"

Inside the presidential office, Acting President Perez asked after reading the papers he held in his hands.

In front of AP Perez, Odelina stood waiting as he read the documents she handed. Inside the room, the deposed president Deroa was also present, along with a few executives and the CNC Agent, Subsinctus.

"Sir, what did it say?"

One of the executives asked after seeing the unusual reaction of AP Perez.

Without saying anything, AP Perez handed the documents to the executive for him to read and pass around. The documents did not have a long report but were filled with printed pictures instead. The most eye-catching picture was the spatial rifts at the country's borders. It was something that the people of Corregidor had no way of knowing since the entire country was surrounded by oceans and seas. The rifts were not visible even if they went to the coastal areas to take a look, and the waters were more dangerous than land because of the monsters now lurking underneath.

Furthermore, those rifts did not affect the residents of Corregidor. As such, they did not have any way to know what was happening at the borders.

This was the very first time the people here had seen a clear illustration of what was happening at the borders.

The document also had a detailed explanation of the illustrations, like what the rifts were and why they appeared. While some of the details sounded like fantasy, they knew nothing was impossible in the current world anymore.

And now, those rifts would disappear, returning the borders to what they were before, also causing a large disaster.

"Unfortunately, there was no doubt it is true. I believe Master already informed you of our source of information."

Odelina answered AP Perez's question.

AP Perez remembered his conversation with Mark the night before he was appointed as the new leader of the country. It was the conversation about some of the truths of this world. Things about the [Eyes] and the cause of the outbreak, along with the details of why the [Fusion of Dimensions] happened.

If that was the case, there was nothing to suspect.

"Are we really going to believe this?" One of the executives stood up and yelled after reading the documents. "This is just a document from a random someone. We can't even confirm whether it is true or not!"

Odelina glanced at the agitated executive. No ripple can be detected from her demeanor as she spoke.

"I am not here to make anyone believe. I am only here to deliver a report of what we know since my Master sees Mr. Perez as our ally and some of his friends still live here. Whether you believe it or not is your choice."

"That is correct," AP Perez also chimed to defend Mark, who instructed Odelina to share this crucial information. "It is not like they were demanding anything from us or told us to leave this place. Dealing with this information is all up to us."

"Yes," Odelina nodded. "It did not matter to us what choice you all will make. It is also likely that Master will come here when the event happens."

"Huh? Mark will come?"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

AP Perez was surprised, standing from his chair.

"Very likely," Odelina nodded. "He would not care for the rest, but he would make sure his friends living here would be safe. So, if you people choose not to believe and make no countermeasures, then expect only the people with a connection to us to be the ones whose survival is guaranteed."

It was a strong declaration. Odelina basically said that everyone else would die if they did not do anything.

AP Perez slowly returned to his seat. Considering Mark's personality, what Odelina was saying was not farfetched.

At this time, the agitated executive could only sit down. Odelina had no change in demeanor, but the executive had been shaking in cold sweat since Odelina spoke. It seemed that only the people targeted would feel Odelina's killing intent. She might have been staying in the base, but it did not mean her abilities stopped growing.

And the loyal maid would never accept any disparaging remarks towards her Master. Mark was definitely not just a random someone.

"Hmm... So this was the case..."

At this time, the CNC Agent, Subsinctus, voiced out after reading the document handed to him.

"Shifter. Do you know anything about this?"

AP Perez asked. Everyone in the room surely heard his words.

Getting called out, Subsinctus, also known as the Shifter, passed the document to the ex-president and stepped forward.

"Although I cannot say for sure, Agents who still held country contracts had been gathering building materials en mass. They were keeping their mouths shut about the details, but it was very likely they were all buying materials for the same reason. Most of them were from countries with large coastal areas, from what I noticed."

Those words from Subsinctus were the final confirmation they needed.

"So, it's more or less confirmed," AP Perez spoke. "We should also make our preparations. The question is what countermeasures we have to consider."

"That is something you will have to decide by yourselves," Odelina said to the Acting President. "I will need to excuse myself. This place is not the only one we have to visit and warn."

Those words from Odelina sparked another surprise.

"Have you gone to inform the Infanta Settlement?"

AP Perez asked.

"Yes, we informed them first since they were the closest. I believe they decided to abandon their current location and move into the nearby mountains."

Odelina answered.

"Then, are there other places?"

AP Perez asked further.

"Catanduanes still had two large settlements," Odelina did not mind sharing this information. "Master told me to warn one of them."

"Only one?"

AP Perez asked with confusion. It was the same for the executives. Since both settlements were on the same island, why warn only one when both would be facing the same danger.

And without batting an eye, Odelina strongly replied.

"We are only informing our allies who will likely be affected by the incoming disaster. We have no intention of meddling in the business of others who had nothing to do with us. In the first place, if they knew nothing of us, would they believe anything we disclosed in the document?"

The question made everyone silent. If even the executives who knew Mark's group to some extent bore some disbelief, the people who had no idea who they were would definitely not take it seriously.

There was no point in informing those strangers.

"Oh, before I forget," Odelina suddenly spoke as she took out a wooden box about the size of a fist. "Master said that if you decide to purchase materials through CNC, you can use these as funds."

Odelina then opened the box, showing three colored marbles resting on a cloth lining, which prevented them from getting damaged.

Everyone who saw the contents was confused. What value could these toys have?

However, Subsinctus' eyes lit up after seeing the marbles.

To the clueless idiots, these looked like nothing but toys. But to the CNC Agent, these three toys were treasures.

Subsinctus could not help but look at Odelina. She said these items came from her Master, Mark. In his meeting with Mark, he learned that Mark had his own agent. And now, the identity of that agent was clear.

"My business here is done. I will have to excuse myself since I still have other things to do."

Odelina continued.

"Yes. I'm sorry for holding you back for too long," AP Perez nodded. "I won't be able to send you back since we have to discuss things immediately."

"Send Ms. Odelina off."

AP Perez then told the soldier guarding the door.

With that, Odelina finished another task. She left the presidential office guided by the soldier. Her job was only to send a warning and a little bit of aid. Everything else was up to them.

Odelina met up with Annica and Spera, who were waiting with Chaflar in the open training area. From there, the three jumped onto the dragon's back. Chaflar then vanished with his riders as they entered a portal Spera opened.

The next stop of the three was Catanduanes.