Chapter 673 - The Journey South, The Start of the Long Walk To Safety (1/2)

Day 148 - 4:59 PM - Catanduanes Circ.u.mferential Road, Barangay Kilikilihan, Municipality of San Miguel, Catanduanes

SPLAT!

Foul-smelling blood and innards splattered as Mark threw a fist-sized rock at his target. The rock left an indent on the trunk of a tree before it fell, revealing the squashed insect that stuck on the tree.

Mark frowned as he glanced at the flattened c.o.c.kroach and the disgusting splatter of white liquid, a mixture of its blood and innards, around it.

”This is the second time.”

Mei murmured beside Mark.

***

Leaving the Rebel Base empty with nothing but bloody corpses, it would not take long for the whole place to crumble.

The animals that went down the mountain were quite smart and aware of dangers. Instead of going towards the group of people leaving the base, they invaded the empty base instead. Compared to moving prey capable of fighting back, these evolved animals preferred the fresh food already served in a platter.

It was like what was happening around Mark's base. Animals that recognized the danger would stay away. Right now, both groups that left the Rebel Base were accompanied by powerful beings. Of course, these intelligent animals would try to avoid them.

While the smaller group went north, Mark led the larger group of people going to the south. Together with him was no other than the Mei, the four girls, Chaflar, and Amihan. The others were all assigned to escort the smaller group. Mark even sent Crimson and Ignis to follow the group in the dark. Of course, not only to guard the group but also to monitor Berrak and the two young soldiers. The three were just new members of the group. Furthermore, Berrak was different from everyone since he did not voluntarily join the group. Mark brought him by force and threats.

Well, it was not like Berrak showed any sign of escaping. By what it looked like, his interest was also piqued by Mark's group. Nonetheless, it was better to be cautious.

The travel was not fast. If Mark was to judge it, it was even slower than normal. It was not surprising since the people they were escorting were either fatigued or undernourished. The only good thing was that they were in higher spirits. After all, they had just been freed from the suffocating grasp of the Rebels.

Their slow journey along the Catanduanes Circ.u.mferential Road was not smooth either, otherwise.

From time to time, they would encounter feral evolved animals or those with inferior intelligence. Without surprise, the feral ones attacked on sight. On the other hand, even with their lacking intelligence, the latter kind of evolved animals were quite tricky to deal with.

After all, animals had their own methods of hunting.

One tricky encounter they had was when they were spotted by a group of evolved dogs after more than two hours of walking. It was clear that these dogs were domesticated ones before the outbreak. Some even had characteristics of expensive breeds of dogs. Unfortunately, the lack of human interaction and hunger pushed them back to being wild. Not to mention the effects of Mutagen on most animals, turning them more aggressive than before.

Being animals with natural hunting instincts, the dogs did not attack openly but tried to surround the group like how wolves behaved. With more than a hundred and fifty dogs, it was quite a large pack that could overwhelm the hundred people on Mark's side. Not to mention that the actual people capable of fighting in the workers' group were less than half even with guns.

Well, it was a mistake for these wild dogs to not put Chaflar and Mark in their sights. They might have thought that they could sneak out one or two humans for a late afternoon lunch.

Unfortunately, the dogs did not even become a challenge as their leader, the Alpha of the pack, was instantly picked by Mark and killed. With their leader gone, the chain of command among the dogs was broken immediately, and it became easier to eliminate them all with the help of the workers.

That, however, brought another threat to the group. After all, the area where the dogs attacked was near an outpost of the Aggressive Rebels.

Furthermore, it seemed that they were restless after losing contact with the main base and immediately went out in groups to check the gunfire.

They were unlucky, however.

Mark could monitor their movements using their mental fluctuations.

At the moment they saw Mark's group, Mei's Sniper Rifle already pierced bullets unto their heads.

The only ones left were those that appeared to be having similar mental fluctuations to some of the workers they managed to rescue. Without a doubt, they were the men that were forced into the ranks of the Rebels.

Mark then shouted at the base during the encounter, telling what happened to the Rebel Base. After those men realized that the people in Mark's group were the very same workers from the Main Base, they began to turn against the Rebels that pushed them into the job they never wanted.

In the end, some of the men were relatives of the workers that Mark's group was escorting, while a few were among the group that went north.

It was a half-hour stop as they eliminated the Rebels in that outpost. They also took everything they could. Food, water, weapons, ammunition, and even some explosives, they took it all.

The explosives would be proven useful along the way since before reaching the Military Base, they would pass by the vicinity of the most populous land area on the island of Catanduanes, the Municipality of Virac.

While gathering the supplies, however, Mark noticed something odd.

Mark noticed something emitting a mental fluctuation not too different from a well-trained military dog but did not feel like one. It was coming from the highest watchtower of the outpost.

Strange enough, Mark did not see any large creature. It became even stranger when Mark saw a fist-sized C.o.c.kroach hanging out on the wall of the watchtower.

When Mark approached it, it tried to flee. The way it fled, however, appeared to be imitating the natural behavior of a regular C.o.c.kroach. It was even if it was not.

Mark could not shake off the odd feeling. Thus, when the C.o.c.kroach flew away towards the forest, he shot with a bolt of black lightning. It instantly turned into a crispy fried insect that fell to the ground.

That was only when the odd feeling vanished.

In the first place, it was clearly an intelligent insect. Yet, instead of fleeing the area as most animals and insects did because of Mark's and Chaflar's presence, it stayed there instead. It was as if it was watching the outpost, and it only tried to escape when it was found out.