413 The Morning In New Infanta Settlement, The Story of Pearls Ruin (1/2)

Day 71 - 7:01 AM - New Infanta Settlement, Barangay Banugao, Infanta, Quezon

Since they reached the settlement, everyone felt more relaxed to rest for the night. Added that they arrived late, most of them ended up waking later than usual. It was even though the beds they could use here was way worse than those back at the mansion. What mattered the most was security for everyone to be able to relax enough.

Mark, of course, was different. He was used to not sleeping too long, and his Emphatic Abilities would not allow him to sleep any longer. It was better during the night when most people were asleep. Once they woke up, however, the time that they all woke up was the time for Mark's sleep to get disturbed.

Unfortunately, he could not leave the bed yet. It was because Mei clung to him firmly while she slept deeply. He did not want to disturb her sleep. As for the little girls, they were in the next room sleeping. Since these temporary dwellings were small, everyone would not fit inside one place.

It became an opportunity for Mark and Mei to sleep together.

Since he could not leave yet, he just decided to ponder about things.

Before returning last night, he looked for the narcissist to see his current state.

Then, he was surprised. Unexpectedly, Prince was isolated from the rest of their group. Since his face and manhood were ruined, his mind started to deteriorate. From being unable to satisfy the needs of his reigning trait, he was going crazy. It also caused him to faint every time he woke up. His mind could not keep up with his current state.

Unlike others like Dominador, who longed for domination, and Harold, who wanted a higher position than everyone in his group, Prince's trait was more of a material one. None material traits like domination, loyalty, leadership, or being a socialite, they only needed to slowly fulfill these traits. Even if they failed once or twice, as long as they were alive, no restrictions were stopping them from achieving the goals of these traits.

For Prince, however, no one would be able to fix his face. Prince, himself, knew that subconsciously. Because of that, his mind was like a computer program that was missing a crucial code to run correctly and ended up facing an error.

When he checked on Prince, he was placed in a secure place in the laboratory. He heard from the workers there that Prince ran amock after waking up. It was different from before since he did not end up fainting, but had to be tranquilized. The soldiers had no choice to do so because Prince already showed signs of transforming into his mutator form to attack everyone around.

As for being placed at the new laboratory, it seemed that the scientists wanted to know about something. One was the reason for the deterioration of Prince's mind. The other was the reason for his face to fester.

For something, most likely wounds, to fester, there should be bacterial colonization on the infected area. That triggers the immune system to react causing inflammation and tissue damage. It also causes Serosanguineous Drainage in the wound in most cases.

What the scientists were baffled about was that... Most of the common harmful bacterias had gone extinct after Mutagen invaded earth. A lot of microorganisms were not able to contain Mutagen and ended up being eradicated. If there were no bacteria to trigger the reaction Prince was having, what was happening?

Mark could only shrug his shoulders learning about that. After all, it was all his fault. It was not like he was going to tell them what was happening. As such, he left. He already knew that it was the end for Prince. Even without him doing anything, he would end up dying by himself.

Well, once that happened, Mark would be sure to be there. Prince was still a Mutator. His personality might suck but his Mutator ability was still a high-level one.

Mark would not let that one go to waste.

\”Uhn...\”

While Mark was thinking, he heard the soft voice of someone waking up. He looked beside him and saw Mei who was rubbing her left eye.

\”Good morning.\”

Mark said which made Mei's sleepy eyes look at him.

Then... Mei closed her eyes and went back to sleep. She did not forget to snuggle closer to Mark as she did so.

Mark smirked as she pinched Mei's nose making her open her eyes abruptly.

\”Stop playing around. We still have to prepare things before we leave tomorrow.\”

They already finished the mission given by General Perez. Furthermore, they finished it with an SS rating. IT should be SSS but they had a few delays during the journey. Of course, all this nonsense was Mark's view of the mission.

Mark's group could go to his base at any time they wanted. Immediately this day if possible. However, Mark had some business to finish before going back.

First, he needed to attend a meeting with the officials of this settlement. There, he could gather some information about the surrounding areas of New Infanta Settlement. He would also hand over the things that he was asked to deliver to the General. It was the research papers and the seeds of [Energy Rice] developed by Chervil.

Second, he needed to meet the Salvador Family. He would not let go of the opportunity to bring them to his base. Annica's powers were too useful to pass by. They already told Mark their plans before so he just needed to inform them to prepare.

Next, it was about Kate's request to join. He would try to see the situation first before talking to her. Even though her trait might be a bit troublesome, she did not seem to be a bad person.

Furthermore, Mark could tell that their group was already on the verge of disbanding. Harold was not satisfied with his group anymore. Especially because of how he saw Mark's group. Mark's group was filled with usable and talented people while they only had imbeciles. Harold would surely abandon the people he made to rely on him. How savage.

Lastly and the most important thing, to meet Edzel and Pearl. It was bound to happen and probably, the first thing this morning. He already knew what it would be about, but there were some things he wanted to as Pearl before accepting her.

After Mark pinched her nose, Mei snuggled on his body, even more, making him sigh.

\”Don't go all Dandere on me just because we are alone.\”

Mark revealed a troubled look.

\”Dandere?\”

Mei asked as she was not familiar with the term.

\”You're mostly silent and keep things to yourself. But you become like this when we are alone. That's what a Dandere is.\”

Hearing that, Mei blushed. She could not deny that all. However, she really liked snuggling beside Mark like this, especially when they were alone.

Mark could sense what was going on in her mind. He could only sigh.

\”Alright, I'll spend more time with you when we get to the base. Just bear with it a bit more.\”

\”Promise?\”

Mei looked at Mark with puppy eyes.

\”I promise. So, off the bed now.\”