Mutagen

Day 364 - 7:30 PM - 38th Satellite Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia

The fight against the horde ended. Corpses littered the crop fields as the smell of blood, flesh, and even stomach acid continued to permeate into the surroundings.

Several thousand corpses. With this large number, the Moon Chasers needed to start the cleanup as soon as possible.

Of course, they had to be careful. There might still be a few [Infected] alive within the pile, just incapacitated or waiting for victims to come closer.

Fortunately, the cleanup after the battle would not be solely worked on by the members of the Moon Chasers. The members of the Fire Fighters of the 41st Satellite Settlement, the members of the 3rd Wave of the 40th Satellite Settlement, and the soldiers under General Wijaya would be helping.

And while the members began their work, the leading members of each group now gathered within the meeting room of the Moon Chaser's main base.

"Now that we are all here, what exactly is happening?" Estia, the leader of the 3rd Wave, asked for an explanation. "Why is there a large [Infected] horde inside the walls? Is there a wall breach somewhere?"

"Ironically, it might have been easier to explain if there's an actual breach."

Edge shrugged in dismay.

"What do you mean?"

Farel could not help but ask a follow-up question.

Now that some questions were asked, Luna turned to Mark and General Wijaya.

"Sir Mark, General, can we include them and share the information we had, along with the details of the earlier discussion?"

Luna was not one-sidedly deciding things. She respectfully asked for permission from the people involved.

"I have no issues with it."

General Wijaya nodded.

On the other hand...

"Just the necessary parts."

Mark replied.

General Wijaya, Luna, and the others present before understood what Mark was saying. After all, he did show them some absurd things earlier. Those were things not really necessary to share just with anybody.

With the permission given by the two, the necessary information was relayed to the people who joined the meeting.

And now, the information they received put them in a sense of loss.

"All... All those [Infected] were the victims of the [Face Wearers]?" Kela could not believe what they had just learned. "It sounds unbelievable."

"It would be unbelievable, really..." Farel should have the same opinion. "But... that giant... It's Wahyu."

Unfortunately, there were things that were hard to deny.

"Also, if you look at that horde, all of them had their faces stripped away."

Nelia added, further proving the fact.

"Then, the horde is a planned attack," Estia folded her arms to her chest as she analyzed the situation. "The fact that [Face Wearers] tried to sneak into the settlement while the horde was attacking just proves it."

"But why?" The bubbly Kana suddenly spoke, with her blue hair bobbing as she moved. "They used a horde to distract the Moon Chasers for what reason?"

"Maybe to reduce the number of enemies to encounter? To lessen the security?"

Livia timidly answered.

But at this moment, Mark, the guest, spoke.

"Livia is both right and wrong."

"In what part?"

Nelia asked for further explanation.

"Livia is correct with reducing the security of the settlement," Mark answered while raising his right index finger. "But that's just one reason, and it's not even the main one."

Then, Mark noticeably turned to Luna, who was lulling her sleepy niece back to sleep. It made everyone turn to the two.

"Wh-what?"

Luna was tired from the battle. As everyone's attention suddenly shifted to her, she could not help but feel flustered.

And Mark finally revealed the likely reason.

"The [Face Wearers] could not stand being around Luna and Amisha."

"What?" Luna was even more flustered. "Why? What do you mean?"

"Unfortunately, that's also a question for me," Mark shrugged. "But the evidence is there."

Mark then explained.

Among all the places in Muria Sacred Fortress that Mark had been to, only the 38th Satellite Settlement was devoid of [Face Wearers]. Furthermore, other settlements nearer to the 38th Satellite Settlement had far fewer cases of [Face Wearers] than others.

General Wijaya froze at this fact. He immediately told his secretary to fetch the copy of the records they brought. And the records further proved Mark's words.

It was a surprise for everyone.

Mark then continued his explanation, asking General Wijaya about confirmed cases affiliated with the military hospital where Amisha was previously being treated.

According to the reports, fifteen [Face Wearers] among the staff were caught after the badges and detection equipment were deployed.

But Mark revealed that, aside from Dr. Murni's impostor, there were no other [Face Wearers] within that hospital when they went to visit Amisha.

It meant that the hospital staff only got replaced after Amisha left the hospital after waking up from her coma.

With the evidence gathered, it was not hard to conclude that Luna and Amisha had something that the [Face Wearers] either feared or hated.

But what was it? This was the question.

While everyone mulled over the nonexistent possibilities, Mark had a hunch.

The [Face Wearers] were creatures akin to Demons or even Devils. If there was something these creatures were afraid of, it was the presence of something related to Gods and Divine Energy, if not the Gods themselves.

It would sound like an absurd thing to think of.

However, there was one factor Mark included in his thoughts.

It was the fact that Luna was an [Eye's] candidate. Luna should be like Mark, the candidate of the Philippines, and Ise Hikari, the candidate of Japan.

If one quality a candidate should have could be their ties to a God, then Luna and Amisha should likely have this quality, too, since the two shared nothing but the same bloodline as relatives.

***

Day 364 - 7:30 PM - Northside Peak, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia

At the same time, in a rather uncanny place...

"Silence returned."

A man spoke as he looked at a fake god statue of a non-existent god they worshiped.

"It meant your subordinates are incompetent. They are supposed to be here already. Yet, not even a shadow of your subordinates can be seen."

Another man, sitting on a pew, admonished the man worshipping the fake god statue.

The man in front of the fake god statue calmly turned around. His eyes lay on the surroundings, showing a dark room. The room had gaudy pillars and rows of pews. A large room seemingly used for worship.

In this case, a worship of a fake god.

"Mind your words," The worshipper showed a creepy smile. "Only fools and irresponsible idiots would call their people incompetent, knowing full well of their capabilities. Or are you the type who does not pay attention to your people and admonish them for the things you did not know?"

The man sitting on the pew frowned. Nonetheless, he was a smart person who understood the worshipper's words. Thus, he could not refute it.

As the man was unable to counter his argument, the worshipper shrugged.

"I did not send just anyone," The worshipper continued. "I know my creations. I know what they are capable of. They might not be capable of everything, but they are better than humans with the things they can do."

"If they failed," The worshipper stared at the sitting man. "It meant they encountered something far from human."

"If we were talking about incompetence," The worshiper just continued on talking. "Is it not you and your people? You let Guntur and Hadi take the blame for everything while you did things in the dark. Yet, you had not succeeded at all. The humans you sent there never made it back, and you had to rely on me, yes?"

"You should shut up," The man sternly replied. "I let you run this place and accepted this cooperation because of your offer. Yet, you haven't made any step forward to fulfill your end of the deal."

"I know. I did tell you I can make you the new leader of this country. But you also promised me a fitting place for my experiments. You should know that you're the one who first failed to fulfill your end."

"Luna and her people. Wijaya, even. I told you to keep an eye on them and not let them be a hindrance to our deal. But you failed, am I right? Not only did they manage to know about my creations, but they even acted against them. The foundations that we have yet to finish to establish crumbled in one instance."

"We have to time or chance to start over the same plan. We need to change our approach."

The worshipper added.

"What are you going to do?"

The man asked the worshipper.

"My side will do nothing," The worshipper gave an answer that made the man frown. "I have already recalled my creations. It can still make do with them and use them to create more powerful ones. And as long as the humans could not find a single one of my creations, they would soon forget, especially with the current state of this fake world.

And with a new incoming threat, they would likely forget the things that happened recently."

"On the other hand," The worshipper glared at the man. "You should also fulfill your end of the deal. We can't just watch that woman and that young general any longer. Find a chance to eliminate them."

"As if we haven't been trying," The man complained. "I guess I need to step forward myself."

The man then stood up. Without any farewell or display of respect, he left the place.

Looking at the man who had just left, the worshipper shrugged. He then displayed a menacing, devilish smile.

"Humans are greedy by nature. They might have been given the gift of intellect, but humans could never put away their instincts as an animal species. To be on top. To seek authority. That was how animals that lived in groups always behaved."

"The strong and ambitious on top and the weak ones below. Humans structured their society following the instincts they inherited from their ape ancestors."

"Those humans that inherited a large part of their evolutionary DNA are the easiest to manipulate. Give them a promise to put them on the top, and they would easily trample on everything."

"Unfortunately, not all humans carried such instincts."

The worshipper continued on his audienceless monologue.

"The gods of the lost past. They created their own humans to fulfill their needs. Those humans did not carry the instincts and DNA of the authoritarian apes of the past. They had fewer opinions about leadership. They were the ones always seen in the background."

"As they were made to follow the will of the Gods that created them, they barely had the urge to be the ones demanding instead. Thus, the society built by the apes felt suffocating for these creations of the Gods."

"Most of them became... What do these modern apes call them? Introverts? Social outcasts? Nerds?"

"The modern apes would call them names just to get a single step above anyone, proving they inherited the ape DNA of their ancestors."

"Such a joke, these apes are."

"They never realized the ones they scrutinized are the freest of all humans. They don't feel the need for authority. They don't feel the need for rules. And once the society collapsed, they were the ones who adjusted the fastest."

"In the world filled with destruction. The modern apes are still clinging to the past while the creations of the Gods are already moving onto the future. An absolute flip."

"It also made the apes easier to manipulate. I am grateful for their naivety. They allowed me to create new beings. I am grateful for their sacrifice for my own goals."

"Unfortunately, it is still far from completion."

The worshiper looked at the fake god statue.

It was a statue of a naked woman. She opened her arms for everyone as her eight charcoal-colored wings spread out behind her.

"The Gods of the lost past created humans."

"Why was it wrong to do the opposite?"

"That was my goal. The reason of my existence."

"To create a God with my own hands."

"That was how I, a former human and the Deity of Soul Sacrifice, continued to live on."

"To Create a God, one needed to see through this world and its truth."

"Am I right? Unnamed watchers?"

The worshipper suddenly turned his head, looking at the sky.

Looking at YOU.

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...

The place of worship fell silent.

As if there was no one here in the first place.