Chapter 1203: Explanations, The Reasons for the Supposed Coincidental Meeting

Day 381 - 9:28 PM - Northwest Section, Yeongdo Walled City, Yeongdo District, Busan

It seemed that Kang Ye-Jun was familiar with the radios, and it only took a few seconds to check. And the result was positive. The radio carried by the guy named Mun-Yeong was set to the same frequency as the three other radios used by the snipers in Fatty Tae-Hoon’s group.

Placing down the last radio, Kang Ye-Jun asked.

"Mun-Yeong, why did you do it?"

"Tch."

However, a single click of his tongue was Mun-Yeong’s only answer before staying silent and resigning himself to his fate.

"What do you plan to do with this thing?"

Mark suddenly asked, with a tone and words signifying that Mun-Yeong had lost his humanity in his eyes.

"What do you mean, Sir Mark?"

Kang Ye-Jun asked in turn.

"This thing only has two things going for him. Confinement or death." Mark stated in fact, causing the culprit to stare at him wide-eyed. "And from what I’ve seen, your place has neither the facilities to confine criminals nor the manpower to do so. Even if you guys made one now, this thing might just end up escaping later."

"How did you guys even handle criminals before, anyway?"

Mark suddenly added a question.

"We expelled them," Choi Seo-Yeon answered. "But that can’t be done this time, can it?"

"It can’t," Kang Ye-Jun shook his head. "The past ones only committed petty thievery and disorderly conduct. But Mun-Yeong betrayed us, and put everyone in danger. Banishing him will just end up with him reporting back to the ones he’s in cahoots with. We can’t have that happening."

Kang Ye-Jun looked at Mark and saw the latter nodding in agreement.

"Sung-Min," Kang Ye-Jun turned to the handyman of the group. "Drag this traitor into the unused storage. At least there, he won’t be able to escape. I’ll personally deal with him later."

Park Sung-Min immediately moved and dragged Mun-Yeong out. Of course, the culprit tried to resist one last time, only to fall unconscious after Mark hit the back of his head.

"Good judgement. Even if you guys went for the lenient punishment, that guy will still die anyway," Mark suddenly said after the culprit was dragged out. "It won’t matter much to me if he will only endanger you guys, but he’ll definitely end up reporting our group to whoever is backing him."

There, everyone here understood. The traitor’s fate had long been sealed. Mark dragged Mun-Yeong here not to let them decide his fate, but to see if they would impose proper punishment.

"It looks like our third agenda got solved before we even started. Though I wish no other traitors were lurking around," Choi Seo-Yeon sighed before turning to Mark. "Then, Sir Mark. About what you said when you arrived."

"About us being [Demons]?" Mark answered. "Yeah, that’s true, though not all of us in our group."

Hearing Mark admit it nonchalantly, the rest could not help but feel confused. But before anyone could ask, Mark spoke.

"We’re not really keen on hiding it. It’s just that it will become troublesome if we come declaring what we are in every place we go."

"You’re not the type of [Demon] who eats humans, are you?"

Choi Seo-Yeon asked with all seriousness.

"Definitely not," Mark immediately denied the accusation. "Although I’m a [Demon] now, I was a human before, okay? It’s just that some things happened and as it turned out, I have a [Demon] among my ancestors and his blood flowing in me just got awakened or something like that."

"What’s with the vague way of explaining?"

Choi Seo-Yeon asked, almost laughing at the way Mark explained his side.

"Well, the specific details can only be shared with close allies and such. I believe we’re not there yet."

Mark shrugged.

Unfortunately, the group before Mark could only agree with his reasoning.

"So, you’re not some manslaughtering [Demon], am I correct?"

Kim Yong-Gyu asked.

"Oh, I can’t completely deny that one," Mark replied with an answer that surprised the group. "You guys see, one of the things I like to do the best is making minced meat out of my enemies and other evil bastards. I don’t really leave them with bodies intact, so I can’t deny that question at all."

"Minced... meat?" Choi Seo-Yeon faltered at Mark’s confession. "T-then, you don’t attack innocent people?"

"Hmmm? Why would I?" Mark tilted his head. "Do I have a reason?"

Mark then continued.

"If you think that because I’m a [Demon] meant I go on random killing sprees... Wait... Maybe I do. But no, I don’t harm innocent people, alright? Thinking that all [Demons] do is pretty much the same as saying all humans are good. And that’s in no way on earth that’s true. Although I can’t testify for all [Demon] races since there are ones who are born just for the sake of harming others, I had met some who aren’t like that."

"I-I see..."

Choi Seo-Yeon could only reply in a strained voice.

Mark’s statements pretty much gave Kang Ye-Jun and his companions a deeper understanding of his personality. He seemed to be a good person, although he was prone to go to extremes with his enemies.

"Wait, wait, wait," As if reading their minds, Mark stopped their thoughts. "Don’t suddenly go labeling me as a good person. There’s no way any good and moral people would go vandalize corpses of their enemies. Think of me as... more like lawful. I’m not good, but I’m not evil either. Just lawful."

The others could only stare at Mark, not knowing what to say. But if he wanted to be called that, then it should be fine. Though it was still weird that he seemed to be reading their minds.

"Anyway, as I said before, not all of us are [Demons]," Mark said, so the group would not get the wrong idea. "Melfiss, Azra, and the [Sylph], Amihan, are [Spirits]. You all probably know their kind if you read fantasy novels or webtoons. The kind who goes into contracts with people and gives powers."

"Are you sure you should be sharing that information with us?"

Kim Yong-Hwa chimed in.

"It’s fine," Mark smiled. "If not, I would have said anything at all. And they are all contracted, so there’s nothing you guys can do anyway."

"I... I have a question."

Amaya Ran raised her hand, making everyone turn to her.

Of course, the rest of her group were afraid she would go ask some nonsense like wanting to be his mistress or something along those lines.

"Sir Mark said that your [Demon] bloodline awakened and that’s why you became a one. Is it the same for the others?"

Unexpectedly, it was a sane question, and something they missed.

"I turned them into my kin. It’s one of the abilities I got when I became a [Demon]. Something like what [Vampires] do," Mark straight up answered without pretense. "And to be clear, I didn’t force or manipulate them. I don’t have the ability of [Vampires] to charm or manipulate minds. We’re already together before I became a [Demon]. And they’re the ones who requested to be my kin, not the other way around, okay?"

"Okay, yes."

Amaya Ran nodded in understanding. Only to lead to an absurd idea.

"Can you turn me into one of your kin?"

Of course, everyone froze.

"R-Ran!" Kim Yong-Hwa grabbed her friend and covered her mouth. "Sir Mark, just don’t mind her. Her screws had been loose from the time we met her."

"Wh-whose screws are loose?!"

Amaya Ran struggled and managed to ask that question.

"The girl who left her country and got stranded here because she wanted to see the disbandment concert of her favourite boy group! That girl had a loose screw!"

Kim Yong-Hwa exclaimed as she tried to keep Amaya Ran’s mouth shut.

Hearing her friend’s retort, Amaya Ran stopped struggling, blushing in embarrassment from her stupid past being laid bare in front of Mark.

"Oh, don’t worry," Mark shrugged. "I know about that, Miss Ran."

"Huh?"

That strange sound escaped Amaya Ran’s lips as she was filled with confusion. It was the same for the rest of the group.

"Might as well let it out of the bag."

Mark took out one of the profiles Val’Flora gave him and put it on the table.

Sure enough, everyone was surprised to see that it was Amaya Ran’s information.

Mark then explained the true reason he and his group came here and that their meeting was no coincidence. It was a coincidence to see them in danger, however.

Then, Mark shared a summary about Eriellis, its possible connection to [Mutagen], and the origin of Amaya Ran’s power. He even added some details about [Mechids] as a bonus since these [Infected Alien Machines] were in no way unrelated.

The story was unbelievable, but considering Amaya Ran’s power, they could not refute it at all. And to think that those hostile robots were a result of the infection spreading on alien robots, they were both fascinated and shocked to learn things that the government might not even know.

"Everything you said... Is it really all true?" Kang Ye-Jun asked after Mark finished explaining. "Not just Earth. Even other planets are being affected by what caused this apocalypse?"

"Yeah," Mark nodded in all seriousness. "I have no reason to make this up. As for some of these details, I actually got it from an important person in a lab in America. He’s known a whole lot about space since he’s not human."

"First, [Demons], then [Spirits], and now, [Aliens]," Choi Seo-Yeon sighed. "Our reality is getting further and further from what we knew about our world, huh?"

"Well, there’s nothing we can do about that," Mark shrugged. "Even I might just be another piece moving about on someone else’s chessboard."

"So, you’re here to check on Ran," Kim Yong-Hwa, who was the closest to Amaya Ran, spoke. "Are you going to take her power away?"

"No? Why would I?" Mark frowned. "I believe I already explained that part. "I’ll only take it away if she was using it for evil. If that was the case, you won’t even hear this explanation from me, and I would have taken it away as soon as I met her."

Mark turned to Amaya Ran.

"You’re doing well, so keep that up. Use that ability to protect people important to you."

It was pretty much a compliment. However, Amaya Ran became a little upset instead, to the confusion of everyone.

"Everyone! The food is ready!" Park Sung-Min returned with a loud interruption. "Wait, what’s happening?"

Park Sung-Min noticed the odd atmosphere inside.

"Well then, I should be going."

Mark bid farewell and left, this time using the door properly.

"What’s wrong?" Kim Yong-Hwa asked Amaya Ran. "He complimented you. You should be happy."

"He doesn’t want me to follow him," Amaya Ran grumbled. "That’s all I heard."

"Ah..."

Everyone now understood why Amaya Ran looked disappointed.

Mark told her to use her power to protect her important people. And since her friends were important, she should stay here and protect them.

But all of a sudden...

"No, that’s not all..." Amaya Ran suddenly stopped while murmuring nonsense. "The meaning can be twisted. Don’t underestimate the power of misunderstandings of a K-pop stan."

Everyone could see the fire in Amaya Ran’s eyes, making them all sigh in exasperation.

As for Park Sung-Min, he stood by the door, not understanding what was going on. Just what happened while he was out? He would probably know later.

That said, the food was ready. As the group left the shack, the cooked food was already being distributed.

Of course, there was some commotion about the black rice. However, it was not because of the color. It was because the portions being distributed were small.

Nonetheless, they soon found out why.

The black rice porridge tasted good, especially with the large slices of meat in it. Most of them ate quickly, only to find themselves full without finishing the already small portions given to them.

"So this is why the portions needed to be small..."

One survivor grumbled at his half-finished bowl of porridge, unable to eat one more bite.

Everyone soon came to the same realization.

The survivors were full, but it did not feel satisfying at all.