Chapter 1160: Visitors on the Mountain, A Dilemma of a Creator and the Return of the Cowardly Agent

Day 373 - 3:21 PM - Lemahkembar Village Ruins, Sumberasih District, Probolinggo Regency, East Java, Indonesia

Near the northern coast of East Java, an unfamiliar mountain stood in a place where it was not supposed to be. Of course, it was Mountain Back, the mountain-sized [Mutated Infected Turtle], which carried the remaining survivors of the Muria Sacred Fortress.

It was still early to prepare for the night. There was a reason Mountain Back and its passengers stopped here outside the outskirts of Probolinggo City of East Java.

"Be careful of the vines!"

General Wijaya's shout loudly echoed outside the sizable cluster of ruined houses broken down by trees and plants.

At this moment, the soldiers were slowly clearing out the ruins. It might look like a waste of bullets since the group had [Mutators] on which they could rely. However, the soldiers could not just rely on them every single time. They also should not let their skills get rusty.

While the soldiers could not be of any help during the fight against the Night Goddess, they could at least be of use whenever they could.

Fortunately, circumstances similar to those of the Night Goddess should be rare, if not nearly impossible. Of course, if they exclude the fog and the gigantic centipede-like creatures lurking within.

"[Predator Type] incoming at 3:00!"

A soldier, who also served as the scout, stood at the highest point of a ruined building. As he saw an incoming [Mutated Infected], he immediately informed the General and the other soldiers through their hand-held radios.

One noticeable thing was the term the scout used to describe the incoming [Mutated Infected]. [Predator Type]. It was one of the "typings" Mark assigned to the [Infected], specifically to some [Mutated Infected] with specific traits.

Like the soldiers back in the Philippines, the Indonesian soldiers also began to adapt Mark's methods of identifying the [Infected], allowing the soldiers to recognize the possible enemy traits and respond faster to the threat.

The soldiers in the Philippines accepted it because Mark's methods made it easier even for the least knowledgeable to understand. After all, not everyone was a zombie media enthusiast like Mark. It was akin to then taking on an expert stance on the matter.

Besides, Mark also handed his documentation of the [Infected] they encountered and ways to fight them to General Perez, allowing Mark's methods to flow freely among the soldiers.

On the other hand, the Indonesian soldiers should have had a similar approach. However, the method did not sink in properly among the soldiers and the survivors of the Muria Sacred Fortress due to the factional and political disputes among the higher-ups, causing each faction to use their own developed methods instead of a universal one.

But now that such unnecessary things were out of the way, General Wijaya and his soldiers decided to adapt Mark's method after accidentally seeing him writing his documentation using his laptop.

And since Mark's methods were easy to understand, it was not just the Indonesian soldiers but also the survivors that adapted to it quickly.

"Edge, don't transform, alright? Just stay with your sword and shield."

While the soldiers dealt with the [Infected] on one side of the ruins, Luna and her friends fought on the other.

Since they were trying to enter the ruins of a rather sizable city, it was not surprising to find a large number of [Infected] lurking nearby.

The distance they traveled up to this point was quite slow-paced. It was not because Mountain Back was slow. Although the giant turtle could not run due to its weight and the passengers on its back, its walking speed was still way faster than humans on foot.

Even so, they had already reached a distance far enough to be left unaffected by the events that happened in the past few days. As they moved further away from Mount Muria, they encountered more and more ruins pretty much untouched by people.

And, of course, untouched ruins meant more [Infected] lurking within.

Unfortunately, there was no other choice but to stop by the ruins. It was the reason why the pace of their travel became slow. Still, they had to scour the ruins for supplies, materials, and, if possible, weapons.

Many large cities had military encampments established during the initial wave of the outbreak. Not all the encampments managed to reunite with the main force and establish the Muria Sacred Fortress. Among the unfortunate places, the military encampment in Probolinggo City was one of the most prominent ones they had lost contact with.

If they were lucky, they might find military caches in the ruins of the encampment. After all, military-grade containers would not be easy to damage.

Of course, they still had to go through the influx of incoming [Infected] first.

"Luna, Bajing. Wait a bit."

Amidst the fight, Nelia stopped Bajing and Luna from charging further. She then aimed her enchanted sniper rifle and fired.

The magically created bullet whizzed through the horde before an explosion of acidic substance occurred behind the horde.

Originally, Mark thought of using the same technology as his [Abyss-Tech] equipment in the new designs while adding the knowledge of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice into the mix.

However, the [Abyss-Tech] equipment mainly used materials from the [Mechids], which he now suspected to be incompatible with the technology the Deity of Soul Sacrifice had in his memories. If he had to try and make the two compatible, he needed materials to experiment on. However, where would he get the materials he needed? Should he back down instead?

It was at this time that the door to the tent swung open.

"Gege?"

It was Mei, who looked beautiful as always.

"Is something wrong?"

Mark asked Mei as he put down his pen and turned to her.

"It seems like you're too focused on that," Mei smiled. "We have visitors."

Mark's eyes opened a bit wider. He was genuinely surprised. It seemed that his mind was entirely engrossed with his work to the point that he failed to notice the visitors with his [Empath Detection].

"Huh?"

But as he finally noticed the mental fluctuations of the visitors, Mark was a bit more surprised.

"What is she doing here?"

Mark voiced out.

"It might be the work you gave her?"

Mei asked.

"But there's no reason to follow us here, right?"

Mark said as he began tidying up the designs on the table.

Mei did not reply as she had no idea either.

Soon, Mark and Mei went to the central living area of the mountain. It was where the largest cluster of makeshift tents and structures were located on the back of Mountain Back's shell.

And there, General Wijaya, Dr. Willis, Luna, Limabela, and Limabela's father could be seen in a heated discussion with Devon.

It seemed that the others returned from the ruins when they heard Devon's arrival.

Devon, the agent of the CNC, had finally returned after he vanished during the fight with the Night Goddess. It was no surprise that he was being grilled by General Wijaya and Dr. Willis, though. Devon might have a large organization behind him, but he pretty much lost most of the ground he could step on when he suddenly bailed out of a very important situation.

Not far behind Devon, a woman patiently waited. Just like the previous times, the woman had a different appearance. She sure was an expert with disguises. No one could relate her to her past personas. This time, instead of a serious military secretary and a crazy beggar, she looked like an apocalypse survivor in her mid-twenties that one could see everywhere.

When she saw Mark and Mei arrive, she immediately left Devon to his devices and approached the two. With her presence so thin, Devon and the others failed to realize she left them.

With a slight bow, the woman greeted Mark.

"It's been a while."

Val'Flora smiled. Even the way she spoke was different from before.

"You look really different every time we meet you, huh?"

Mark remarked on her disguise. If Mark could not detect her mental fluctuations, he might have mistaken her for another person.

"It is my specialty," Val'Flora smiled brighter. "Going straight to the point, I have more information about the incident six, no, seven years ago that you asked me to investigate."

Without hesitation, Val'Flora went straight to the point.