Chapter 283: Get Along, Please

I stepped up to the threshold of the camp where it looked like they had even set up their own guards to watch the entrance.

They seemed to recognise me, probably being amongst the group that had been at the wall of the mall since I don’t think they belong to the smaller group of survivors we found at the estate.

While they don’t seem outright hostile to me, they don’t really look welcoming either.

"Where’s your leader?" I asked.

The guards looked at each other, looking like neither of them wanted me to meet with their leader and I thought they might even turn me away when someone came out of the tents to walk in my direction.

"You are looking for me?"

I looked in their direction to see it was the same woman as I met at the mall. I guess the people from the estate had ceded to them in terms of leadership since they clearly had more people.

She walked over to me, ignoring the guards posted there as they remained where they were, their hands holding onto their improvised weapons as they watched me with narrowed eyes.

The older woman seemed relaxed as she gave me a curt nod, "I believe I never had the chance to give you my name. You can call me Hravc’losh’ta, or just Hrav."

Holy crap, can’t you guys have a simpler name like Jenny or Amy or something? Even our other worlders have normal names...

I nodded at her, "Good to meet you Hrav."

She nodded before raising an eyebrow, clearly waiting for me to offer my name in return.

The only problem was that I obviously couldn’t give her my real name but I didn’t know what name I could give her to refer to me as.

Dan came to my rescue of course, "You can call him Mortal God. That is his title here."

The guards and the woman Hrav turned to look at Dan, clearly wondering if he was serious.

To his credit, Dan did not even flinch under their gaze and just stared back at them, as though daring them to question it.

Hrav eventually turned back to me and raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

I didn’t really feel like giving the full explanation so I just gave her a more brief one.

"In our World, we have people that awaken really strong powers. We get the title of Mortal God because of it. I can’t give you my name because my identity is secret so you can just refer to me using that title."

One of the guards leaned over to his comrade, "Typical of mutants... Actually thinking they are gods..."

I ignored the guard’s comment and Hrav maintained her gaze on me, acting like she did not just hear that.

"I see... I don’t suppose you have any other names I can call you by?"

I was going to just decide to make up a fake name for her to call me when Dan stepped in front to stare at her.

"Why? Is it because you find it beneath you to address him by his title? Is that too much for you?"

Dan? What are you doing?

Hrav gave him a curious look while the guards glared at Dan, their hands resting on their weapons meaningfully.

Despite that, he did not look the slightest bit intimidated and held the woman’s gaze with an unflinching stare.

She lowered her head slightly, "Please understant... We are just not used to such customs... Ahem... Let me start again, Mortal God..."

The way she said it felt like the words were being pulled out of her mouth.

Still, she continued despite that, "You were looking for me?"

I straightened myself, "Yes. I heard from the others in the base that there were some... Disagreements between the two groups."

She doesn’t even try to deny it as she nodded her head, "It is unfortunate but yes. Ach told us that you had a camp here as well and we were expecting this place to be filled with mutants but to know that all of you came from another world was... Quite an eyeopener for us. Unfortunately, there are some of us who see you all as a more mutated form of mutants."

I’m assuming she’s referring to the other worlders who do not look human. To them, they are no different from the Anomalies that have turned into monsters.

One question though...

"Are you aware that the Anomalies... The monsters in your world... That your dead mutates into them?"

She paused for a moment, "Ach has... Told us about it... But we find it hard to believe... But seeing that he has told us the truth about your origins and the fact that we have also witnessed the piles of monster corpses that litter the streets which were no doubt your handiwork, I suppose you have no reason to lie to us about this either."

Even though she said that, her guards seemed to look at me with suspicion, which told me that they probably think I was full of shit.

She then nodded in the direction of the command centre, "I am curious however... Why is it that your world have such different forms of... Mutants?"

I frowned at her description for the other worlders but thankfully that was hidden behind my mask.

I shook my head lightly, "I see that Ach has not told you about this... But those people you are referring to come from other Worlds like yours who have also found their way to our World to seek refuge. They have integrated themselves into our society and they help us with dealing with portals that might open up in our World, making sure that these Anomalies... These monsters do not invade their new home."

She looked over my shoulder to peek at the other worlders behind me.

I was hoping that telling her about their circumstances where they were also in the same position as them might at least make them feel sympathetic to their situation but... Seeing how the guards just narrowed their eyes in response made me believe that they had no such sympathy for them.

Hrav shifted her gaze back to me, "I see... I suppose part of the reason why you came here was also to tell us to get along with them?"

"You are correct. After all, they are the ones protecting you within these walls right now."

My words seemed to have ticked off one of the guards as he scoffed at me, "We don’t need these mutants to protect us. We can protect ourselves just fine."

I turned to the guard, "Seeing that you needed our help to clear out your town and wipe it clean of those monsters... I doubt you can."

The guard gritted his teeth but did not say anything else as he averted his gaze from me.

Hrav let out a sigh, "You will have to understand our position... People like you... The mutants in our world... They are driven by their own selfish desires and only care about themselves. We have been hunted by these mutants before and lost many of our loved ones in order to deal with them. We are not used to the idea that a mutant is able to show us such mercy."

I nodded at her, "I hope you can let everyone else know that we are only here to help. We do not mean you any harm."

Of course, I was going to leave out the caveat that we would only mean them no harm as long as they did not raise any weapons at us again.

If they did... Well... I wouldn’t even be able to hold back the wrath of everyone here even if I wanted it... And I most likely wouldn’t want to hold them back either, especially since one of your people already tried to kill me once...

She nodded, "I will let them know. As long as your people do not harass or insult us, we will keep our distance from them."

I raised an eyebrow, "Keep your distance? Not get along with them?"

One of the guards spat, "Get along with those monstrous creatures?! No way ever!!"

"Those things will stab you in the back and then eat your corpse if you give them a chance!" Another guard cried out.

That seemed to set them off as the guards all started complaining and claiming that the other worlders would definitely kill and bully them, completely ignoring the fact that they have not done so even before we came here.

Hrav shouted at them, "Enough! You’re embarrassing yourselves!"

That shut all of them up almost immediately, though they looked disappointed instead of embarrassed.

She turned back to sigh at me, "I will do my best to convince everyone to at least not be hostile... But you have to understand that years of pain and distrust can’t be solved overnight..."

"Don’t worry, I understand. Just... Don’t be hostile," I warned her.

She only gave me a nod before she turned to the guards, leaving me free to head towards the others.

Hopefully nothing happens between the two groups.