Chapter 1201: Discovery, An Odd [Physical Crystal]

Day 381 - 8:42 PM - Yeongdo Walled City, Yeongdo District, Busan, South Korea

After a whole lot of trouble, the Korean Survivors and the Evernight Group finally reached the northwest area of the Yeongdo Walled City.

As the name suggested, it was the island of Yeongdo District turned into a walled city surrounded by water.

That said, the distance between the island coast and the mainland had grown shorter after the expansion of landmass during the [Fusion of Dimensions]. Now, the large strait between the island and the mainland in the past had become nothing more than just a wide river.

Even so, this river was still wide and deep enough to hinder land invaders. At the same time, it could also hide dangers within.

Fortunately, the owners of Yeongdo Walled City did not skimp on necessary things. Aside from the sturdy concrete walls, they built not just one or two but several bridges connecting the island to the mainland.

At first look, having too many bridges posed both pros and cons. While it increased the likelihood of dangers entering the island, it also allowed people on the island to have more exits if some of them were compromised.

But that was unnecessary worry. Before each gate, the bridges were disconnected by a rising platform. It meant that entry and exit through the bridges could only happen with adequate permission from the group managing the bridges.

The group took the westernmost bridge in the Northern area. It was the bridge that connected to the territory Kang Ye-Jun’s group was managing.

"They’re back! Lower the bridge!"

A commotion broke out around the gates after the guards spotted the return of their leader and his group.

The joy from seeing them return was apparent from the atmosphere alone. Whether Kang Ye-Jun and the others succeeded or failed did not matter. What mattered the most was their safe return.

Still, the fact that they succeeded in bringing back food, and quite a large amount of it, warranted loud cheers from the crowd.

On the other hand, seeing some unfamiliar faces arrive with Kang Ye-Jun’s group caused some surprise. Nonetheless, while maintaining a cautious attitude, the new faces were still welcomed warmly.

"Call the others to help us move the meat to storage. Also start prepping to preserve most of it immediately. The meat won’t last too long."

Kang Ye-Jun ordered.

"And also get the cooks," Choi Seo-Yeon chimed in. "We should at least have a feast today."

"Yes, Sir, Ma’am!"

The people replied and hurriedly complied with their leaders’ orders. The news of the feast made everyone move faster.

"Your people are quite lively."

Mark approached Kang Ye-Jun and commented.

"It’s because of the food," Kang Ye-Jun shrugged. "It just shows how little we had to feed ourselves."

The rest who heard their leader could only agree with his statement with heavy hearts.

"That aside," Kang Ye-Jun changed the topic. "Your group must have gone through a long journey. I’ll have my people prepare a place to stay."

"Just a vacant flat area should be enough," Mark replied. "We can camp."

"We can’t have that," Kang Ye-Jun shook his head. "It won’t feel good for us if we can’t at least afford to show our saviours some hospitality. Besides, we have quite a number of vacant houses. We just have to clean them a bit."

Hearing those words, Mark had no reason to decline. However, he could not help but notice the bitterness that was hidden in Kang Ye-Jun’s last two sentences.

Kang Ye-Jun just asked his people to clean a few houses near the plaza. It seemed to be the central area of the territory Kang Ye-Jun’s group governed. While letting their guests stay in that area showed a good amount of hospitality due to it being an easy place to access, it also showed caution on Kang Ye-Jun’s side. After all, such a central area allowed them to carefully observe their guests and hiding schemes would be harder.

Mark noticed the intention. However, he did not question it. In fact, it elevated his opinion of Kang Ye-Jun. Just because his group saved them once or twice did not mean they should let their guards down. Only naive idiots would do that kind of careless act. Kang Ye-Jun being careful for his people was a good sign of an excellent leader.

"By the way, how many people do you have here?"

Mark asked, looking around.

At that question, Kang Ye-Jun called someone to ask. It was quite odd. Did he not know how many people were under him?

The person answered with a heavy tone.

It seems there were 519 people under Kang Ye-Jun’s management. And from the additional statement, two families left while Kang Ye-Jun’s group were outside.

Hearing those words, Mark managed to pick up on what was happening.

Because Kang Ye-Jun’s group was experiencing food shortages, people started leaving. After all, Kang Ye-Jun’s group was not the only territorial group here. If things went south, they could just leave to join a different territory.

The only ones who would stay in these situations were the ones who were loyal and those who had nowhere to go.

It should also be the reason why they have vacant houses even in the central areas.

"I see..." Mark nodded while doing calculations in his head. "This should be enough."

Mark then waved his hand forward and a hole in space opened to the surprise of everyone around. While it was not the first time they had seen this, Kang Ye-Jun and his members who went outside were still surprised. The shock was even stronger for those who had seen it the first time.

Ignoring the reactions from the surroundings, Mark reached into the hole and pulled two 5-kilo sacks.

"Take these and make them into porridge," Mark said, handing the sacks. "Don’t mind the color, though."

Kang Ye-Jun’s members immediately checked the contents of the sacks and were surprised it was actually rice. However, the concern about the color became apparent. The rice was black, after all.

"We won’t get cursed eating this, right? I don’t think this will be enough, either."

The younger twin, Kim Yong-Gyu, frankly asked, immediately earning an elbow to his side courtesy of his sister.

Mark did not mind the frankness and explained.

"Don’t worry, it’s not magical rice or something of that sort. It’s genetically modified mutant rice. As for the amount, I actually have more, but this should be more than enough for everyone. You can’t compare these to ordinary rice. Even when cooked into watered-down porridge, a fourth of a bowl should be enough to fill a child’s stomach. Half a bowl for adults. Mutants should be able to eat more depending on the energy usage of their abilities."

Those words could not help but amaze the listeners.

"That said," Mark shrugged. "Since you can only eat a little at a time, it’s not really a satisfying meal to eat. It doesn’t help that it tastes pretty good too. You guys should lessen the amount I said per serving and add more meat to the side."

While Mark was explaining, Choi Seo-Yeon inspected the black rice. She then turned to Kang Ye-Jun and nodded with a smile, indicating that she found no problems with it.

"I see," Kang Ye-Jun said. "Thank you for sharing some food with us, and sorry if we’re being cautious."

"I don’t mind," Mark shrugged. "I might actually question your sanity if you just accepted such suspicious-looking food carelessly. Even if you’re hungry, you can’t just shove everything edible in your mouth without thinking."

"Hahaha," Kang Ye-Jun could not help but laugh. "Right, that’s true. Still, really, thank you very much."

That hearty laugh from Kang Ye-Jun sure lightened the atmosphere even more.

The next few hours moved as planned.

While the people in charge of the meal prepared the late dinner, the rest arranged the place for the occasion. It seemed the central area would be lively tonight.

Mark’s group were brought to the houses where they would stay. Still, calling it houses would be quite an overstatement. Although made as sturdy and secure as possible, these were mere large-sized shacks made of old wood and metal sheets. All the dwellings in the area looked pretty much the same

Even Luna’s group in Indonesia had better dwellings than this place.

Mark’s group occupied two dwellings built side by side. In terms of security, it would have been better if they shared a single place. However, the sizes of the dwellings were too small for their entire group, and they had to compromise.

Now that they had their place to sleep, they still had to set up their beds. It was not a problem, though. They had clean portable mattresses and blankets for everyone inside their [Spatial Rings], along with some extra.

That aside, Mark also had to do something.

While the girls were given wooden long chairs outside the dwellings so they could watch the dinner preparations, Mark entered theirs.

"Let’s take the mutation out, so I can get rid of the head as soon as possible. I don’t really like random heads lying inside my ring."

Mark took out the fatty - Wang Tae-Hoon’s - head and pressed an empty [Physical Crystal] on his forehead.

Light bloomed inside the shack. Mark immediately waved his hand, letting the [Photokinesis Crystal] out and stopping the light from leaking out.

Mark and his members were already used to this sight, but the light would be too conspicuous to others.

The light dimmed after about three minutes. It was a little longer than normal.

"Huh?"

A confused voice escaped Mark’s mouth as he picked up the new crystal.

Empty crystals were clear despite having different hues. [Physical Crystals] were like glass while [Mental Crystals] were purplish. When filled with an ability, both crystals would look like they grew cores at their centers. However, [Mental Crystals] had glowing, non-solid-looking cores, while [Physical Crystals] would have solid-looking cores. Still, those cores would only have one color, representing the corresponding ability stored within.

But what was with the crystal Mark was now holding?

The core was solid. An indication of a mutation ability. However, two-thirds of the core had a metallic hue, while the remaining part looked murky, like the thick, smelly mud from an abandoned sewer.

Mark decided to store the new crystal inside the [PsyCrystal] embedded on his arm. This should allow him to analyze what ability was stored and what was going on with it.

CLACK!

A dull sound of crystals hitting each other entered Mark’s ears. The new crystal could enter the [PsyCrystal].

It was the first time this kind of thing happened.

Mark then took out the crystals stored inside the [PsyCrystal] and returned them afterward. There were no issues with the process.

"Then what’s the problem with this one?"

Mark asked himself, holding the new crystal between his right thumb and index finger, peering at it closely.

The murky part did not look natural at all.

"Wait... Natural?"

Mark murmured.

[Psychic Abilities] are natural things. Humans might think otherwise, but these were innate to those who had them.

[Psycast Abilities] and [Mutator Abilities] might have been the result of an infection, but the abilities themselves were innate to those who developed them.

"Then, this crystal..."

The metallic part looked no different from the previous [Mutator Abilities], but the murky part was not.

Not natural could also mean artificial.

"An artificially induced mutation? Or maybe, the mutation was transferred through a different medium."

"Interesting..."

Mark murmured, only to suddenly shake his head violently. It seemed that seeing something interesting like this was enough to trigger the sentiments left by the [Deity of Soul Sacrifice] in his system.

Still, Mark could not deny it, either. It did look interesting.

Maybe there was something more to this place than what Kang Ye-Jun’s group knew.

Was it one of the incentives that the Chaebol families offer to the group?

It might be worth investigating.