266 Idling, A Lonely Wait at the Port Under the Siege of the Storm (1/2)

Day 41 – 11:32 AM – Free Port District, East Port Settlement, Barangay Dinahican, Infanta, Quezon

After disappearing from the port, Mark waved through the running animals to get to the part that close to the edge of the shore near where the waves could barely reach. The target Mark found did not swim ashore but was swept by the waves due to it being too small compared to the other animals fleeing.

The animals running on the shore were surprised seeing a line of black mist waving across their path but they could not stop running after being pushed by the ones behind them. Those who were unlucky ended up being killed in different ways after they forcefully stopped.

As Mark saw the poor animal, it was about to be kicked away by a dog sized Clown Frogfish with golden metallic spiky scales. Mark appeared at the last moment and lashed the [Slicer] on the fish. The clash rang a metallic sound. Unexpectedly, Mark was not able to cut the armored fish but only forced it to stumble and roll towards the other animals.

The Frogfish having scales that were too sturdy and dangerous ended up causing injuries on the animals that it hit and stepped on it. However, after being stepped on too many times, the metallic body of the fish did not manage to hold out long and its body was smashed like scrap metal splattering its flesh and organs out of every hole in its body.

Mark picked up the little creature that was lying on its back and unable to stand right back and returned to the port.

”Hey, you returned empty handed?”

Annica trotted like a child towards Mark expecting him to return with something interesting. The others behind her were still surprised seeing Mark vanishing and appearing with their eyes and lagged behind. On the other hand, Annica had already seen it before and even though she was still not used to it, she was not surprised anymore.

Mark shrugged his shoulders at the brat in front of him that did not notice that he was holding something in his hands.

Opening his hand, the little critter was exposed at Annica's eyes. Seeing the animal, both Mark and Annica had complicated expressions on their faces.

Atop Mark's hands, a palm sized Sea Turtle was present. Obviously, it was something that hatched from its egg not too long before this event. It terms of shape and size, it was normal. However, its appearance said otherwise.

”A toy?”

Annica asked and Mark could not say any word to retort that.

The baby Sea Turtle on his hand really looked like it was made of plastic. Its brown and green body along its red colored shell with a yellow rim looked like it was painted with artificial coloring. If not for the fact that it was moving, anyone would think that it was a toy.

Mark knocked his nail on the shell and the sound it made was similar to a plastic gallon being knocked with the same manner.

He remembered that Mutagen reacts to any catalyst and environment specially the unstable strain. The evolution of animals was also similar. Unfortunately for this little guy, it seemed that it was a victim of water pollution and the change of its body and genes might had been affected by the garbage and plastic around its habitat or the place where its egg was laid.

Now that he thought of it, he remembered that some of the animals that fled from the ocean looked hideous and some had garbage sticking on their bodies. Although it those did not evolve in the similar way like this turtle, there was no doubt that the changes in their bodies were affected by the pollution at the ocean.

Mark wanted to find something interesting like a sea salamander but since there was no known endemic species of salamanders around the Philippines, it was very less likely that one would end up here.

He wanted to catch more but it the ones he detected so far was not up to his standard aside from this Toy Sea Turtle. Considering the circumstances, this small creature was smart enough to survive till now following the large animals fleeing to the shore.

”Here, keep this for me.”

”Okay!”

Mark handed the turtle that hid inside its shell to Annica. It could bite her but since it chose to hide itself on initiative, it would not bite. However…

Annica poked the hidden head of the baby turtle in a playful manner. Rather than biting her, the turtle stuck out its head in a curious manner. The brat patted its tiny head and the baby turtle seemed to be pleased with it.

Mark shrugged his shoulders. The brat really had a knack when it came to animals. She looked like a good child and pleasing to look at if not for her strange enthusiasm towards Mark. Still, even though Mark found it annoying, he could understand why. It was the trait she acquired after becoming a Mutator, the fascination and enthusiasm for strange things. Unfortunately, Mark was among those strange things she was showing fascination towards. After all, Mark was really a strange being and he would not be able to come up with any retort regarding that.

Mark returned to guiding Chaflar on which animals to grab and bring back to the port. To say, he had quite a haul already.

”Hey, can you send people to transport these? Keep a third of it for me including the large crab. As for the others, you guys can do whatever you want with them.”

Mark turned to the group of Annica and Raybert along with their guards. These people had been here for some reason, probably because of Annica. Their father and his associates should already been preparing for the evacuation but these people here were just idling and watching him.

”Are you sure?”

Raybert was surprised at Mark's statement.

”You guys think that I can eat all those?”

Scratching his head, Raybert let out a wry smile. He then sent one of the guards they had to inform his father about the matter. They had just been worrying about the supply for the evacuation and here, Mark addressed a large part of it. Allying their family with Mark was sure a smart move their father thought of.

As Mark continued to catch those fishes that was familiar with him despite having web feet or fins that could traverse land, a rather large freezer van came to store the ones he had already caught and loaded the sea food in Raybert's instructions. Mark was monitoring the shore for more taming candidates but he was crestfallen for a bit. The sea creatures started to disperse but he did not detect any other than the baby sea turtle that he had already caught.

How long had Mark been waiting? It was probably more than an hour already. In the least he was not bored as he could observe the evolution line that the sea creatures took due the influence of the Mutagen while he caught more of them to turn into food.

As time passed, the storm started to affect the surroundings of the settlement even more. The wind was already blowing harder and the clouds at the sky were moving fast. At the sea, the waves became more ferocious.

Finally, the evacuation started. Aside from Mark and the group from the Salvador Family, the Free Port District had already been vacated.

”Sir Mark!” Riley finally came back to the port. ”The evacuation already started and the people started to leave the settlement using the North Gate.”