Day 370 - 7:21 PM - Bogorejo Subdistrict, Blora Regency, Central Java, Indonesia
Under the large awning hung between the branches and trunks of trees, the predominant members of the Indonesian survivors and Evernight gathered. With all of them physically and mentally recovered from the events that unfolded a few days ago, it was time to have a proper talk about things and their goals for the future.
Everyone made sure to eat dinner before starting. It was because some topics of the meeting could make them lose their appetite for various reasons.
For example, the current topic they were discussing.
"So, everyone is dead? It's just us left here in this country?"
Estia, one of the leaders of the 3rd Wave, asked General Wijaya.
Upon their hasty return and the sudden events that followed, General Wijaya and the soldiers failed to share the information they brought back after trying to search for survivors from Mount Muria they separated from.
Furthermore, General Wijaya decided to keep the information hidden until this meeting to convey it properly.
"We can't be sure about the entire country, but here within mainland Java, it might be only us. The [Fog Crawlers] were that vicious. Some people might have survived the [Fog Crawlers], but people likely fell into the hands of the [Infected] since we did encounter familiar mutants who already turned."
General Wijaya shared the news himself. The things they encountered, the scenes they passed by, and the state of the military outpost.
There were no survivors. All they could bring back were a good amount of military supplies and equipment the dead would have no use for.
While General Wijaya recounted the events, Mark said nothing, only nodding in confirmation.
The news was quite a shock. Among tens of thousands of the survivors gathered in Mount Muria, only a few thousand escaped Mount Muria's eruption. And that meager fraction further decreased, only leaving about three hundred people.
"General," Farrel of the Fire Fighters spoke. "It is still not final that we are the only survivors, right?"
And in reply, General Wijaya nodded.
"I can't say that everything we know is definite. Although the other Generals declared before that Mount Muria is the only remaining survivor base in the country, it's not entirely the truth. We hid this fact to dissuade people from venturing out of Mount Muria to find other settlements. In truth, we lost contact with many bases without confirmation whether they were destroyed or still functioning.
But with the existence of the [Fog Crawlers], the chances of the latter being the case was rather slim, to be honest."
"But since the Fog only occurs here in Java," General Wijaya continued. "There is a higher chance of finding survivors in other parts of the country."
"So, there's a chance we can find survivors in Bali, right?"
Nelia voiced out, followed by everyone's agreement.
"Of course, there is still a question of whether they will be friendly or hostile."
Limabela spoke about the possible scenario, which also received everyone's agreement.
There was nothing harmful to being cautious. It would be more dangerous to accept everything as is and fall into a trap or scheme.
As they continued the ongoing discussion, there was no change in the initial plan to travel to Bali. The mainland Java was getting more and more dangerous. Although they finally passed far from the immediate affected areas of Mount Muria's violent eruption, the ashes would still reach the current location if the wind blew in the wrong direction.
Furthermore, the encounter of [Infected] hordes moving towards the direction of Mount Muria increased as time passed. It seemed that the events in the previous days gathered the attention of every [Infected] within the island of Java, causing them to move towards the direction of those specific areas.
The fall of the giant tree in Jakarta was also mentioned. It seemed that the sky-reaching tree was well known to all the Indonesian survivors, and to learn that it fell pretty much surprised them. Unfortunately, there was nothing more to share about the tree's fall since it was a few hundred kilometers from where Mark witnessed it.
Finishing the first part of the discussion, they moved to the events of the battle against the Deities and the Night Goddess.
"So, Devon is still alive and would appear around us anytime. Is that what you are saying, Sir Mark?"
General Wijaya asked.
"That's right," Mark answered. "In my opinion, you guys should accept the contract."
"Is that really okay to accept that?"
Luna asked.
"It should be fine," Mark nodded. "From what I know, the country contract is already paid by the country every time the leader is changed. However, since the previous leadership ended early, the previous contract should still have leftover funds. It would be a waste not to use that. Furthermore, you people will need enough materials and supplies to establish your future settlement."
Then, Mark turned to Luna.
"But Luna, you might become the highest leader of everyone here as the candidate, but you better leave the [Country Contract] in the hands of other people."
"Why is that?"
Luna voiced out the question in everyone's minds.
"First, while you are a candidate to save humanity in Indonesia, you are not the leader of this country. For now, the only ones legible for that position are either General Wijaya or Limabela's dad. They should be the ones to sign the contract. Another reason is that it's a contract with the country which could possibly bind you in unexpected ways."
"Especially now that you know you are a Goddess' fragment, it's even more unfitting to be bound to a contract with an uncertain organization. They could end up taking advantage of your abilities, you know."
Mark added.
Everyone took Mark's suggestion seriously. There was nothing wrong with being cautious against a mysterious organization, no matter how they introduced themselves.
Besides, while Devon was not directly connected to everyone here, the moment he vanished and left potential business partners in the face of danger, it was already minus points for him.
The meeting continued late in the night before it finished. Since all of them still had to endure the journey early tomorrow, they could not stay too late or past midnight. It was the same for the other survivors.
Fortunately, there was no need for any of the survivors or soldiers to guard all night. It could be left to the golems of Mark's group and their loyal pets to detect danger.
The morning arrived, and the journey resumed after an early breakfast. As the giant turtle stomped its enormous limbs, everything shook, making it hard to rest during the journey.
From time to time, they would stop at nearby ruins to check for things to scavenge. Mark also jumped off Mountain Back from time to time when he spotted remains of [Mechids] littered on the burnt ground. To most people, these remains of alien robots were nothing but useless scrap, especially due to the black goo still stuck within their circuits and parts.
However, for Mark, these were precious materials he could likely use for his future armor and weapons.
***
Three more days passed pretty fast. In another couple more, they would reach the eastmost coastline of East Java.
But today, the expected appearance of Devon arrived.
It seemed that Devon caught up to them from the west. He might have used a method to teleport to a specific place. That was how he suddenly vanished back then.
But when Devon arrived, he was not alone.
Unexpectedly, someone Mark was familiar with was also present.
Wearing casual clothes comfortable enough to travel in and strapped with different weapons, Val'Flora arrived with Devon.