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Day 368 2:49 PM - Balong, Pucakwangi, Pati Regency, Central Java, Indonesia

"The total destruction of all other survivor settlements in Java, Indonesia, had been confirmed. The succession of this country's contract now lay on the hands of you all standing before me."

Devon's words made quite a stir in the hearts of the Indonesian survivors. But as the meaning of those words slowly sunk into their understanding, Mark spoke first.

"So, that's what it is, huh," Mark stared at Devon. "All that snooping around you did is because of that contract. I didn't expect CNC's agent would be posing as a research assistant."

These past couple of days, Mark had been feeling those stares. It was not only aimed at him but also at everyone present listening to Devon. And it was Devon who was the source of it. Since the stares bore no hostile intent, Mark did not bother much. However, if it did not stop after a while, Mark would confront Devon for snooping around. Unfortunately, Devon had beaten Mark to it.

"Indeed," Devon replied with a business smile he never showed while acting as Dr. Willis' assistant. "My apologies for the uncomfortable circumstances. However, I needed to confirm some things. It is because I do not want to anger Miss Val'Flora for accidentally offending her precious client."

"So, you know about me and my group," Mark frowned. "Does information about the clients circulate that fast inside your organization? I believe this kind of thing is bad for your business."

"Oh, no. It does not," Devon shook his head. "Miss Val'Flora is highly protective about her precious client. However, no matter how protective she is, there is no way for her to keep it hidden after you made contact with your country's [Contract Agent]."

Mark's frown became even deeper after hearing Devon's words. It looked like Val'Flora was quite a trustworthy agent. However, there was no reason for other agents to do the same. And considering the circumstances and changes he brought to Corregidor, it became easier for the agents to single him out as Val'Flora's client.

"It won't cause agents from CNC to bother me, would it?"

Mark asked.

"Uh..." Devon could not help but show a short silence. "I can't guarantee that. Each agent moves by themselves, and your "merchandise" is too good to pass off."

"Can I kill them?"

Mark asked in a tone colder than the Eastern Antarctic Plateau. He already had a lot of things to do. There was no way he would welcome annoying merchants. Killing intent began to leak from Mark, causing everyone to feel uncomfortable.

"That is..." Even Devon's calmness and confident look almost gave way after sensing Mark's displeasure. "Ahem... Even I would prefer not to, but there is no telling what could happen."

Devon's answer was neither yes nor no. But it seemed acceptable to deal with annoying ones if they crossed the line too much.

"W-wait a minute!"

General Wijaya spoke out.

Finally, after getting woken up by Mark's killing intent, the others stepped forward to confirm the more important issue for them.

"What do you mean by total destruction of all other settlements?"

However, instead of Devon, Mark glanced at General Wijaya over his shoulder and answered instead.

"It literally meant what he said. You saw the scene below, right? How many [Fog Crawlers] do you think there are? Without the protection of Mount Muria, the outcome isn't surprising. Just because Mount Muria erupted, almost everyone forgot about the fog. Those stupid people.

Just what are they thinking. Chasing away the only people who brought back the corpse of a [Fog Crawler]. They are just asking to die."

Mark then faced them.

"That's..."

General Wijaya stared at Mark, unable to reply.

"So, you took all of these into consideration when you suggested going to Bali?"

Estia asked Mark.

"Yep."

Mark answered with a shrug.

"Are there any survivors? If you know that all settlements were destroyed, then you should be able to tell, right?"

Farel stepped forward and asked Devon.

"Unfortunately, that is outside my capabilities," Devon answered with a helpless expression. "And even if I could, that is outside my jurisdiction. I am only here for the details of the contract."

"Contract? What are you talking about?"

Nelia asked.

"[Country Contract]," Devon replied. "This country's contract to our organization, the Crystallus Notitia Coetus. With the other settlements with eligible contractors gone, I have come to pass the contract to the group with the remaining legible contractors."

"A contract to your organization? What are you saying?"

Limabela could not help but ask.

"Right... I have to start from there, huh," Devon sighed while pressing on his temples. "Those greedy ones sure tried to keep the information to themselves. Not that it gave them any advantage."

"In any case, it will be quite a long explanation," Devon straightened his posture and faced everyone. "For now, let me ask you all survivors of this country. Where did you think the materials used in Muria Fortress' walls and facilities came from?"

The Indonesian survivors opened their mouths. However, no one was able to answer the question. Not even General Wijaya.

"No one could answer," Devon smiled. "It was as if the materials suddenly appeared and were used in building the walls around the entire mountain. Is there any place you will be able to find such an amount of building materials in the state of the world we are currently in? And if you would, how about the transport? Is there such movement of personnel and transport in the past?"

Everyone fell silent.

"The Crystallus Notitia Coetus... We are merchants who could provide any available product to any place. Of course, at a proper price."

Devon bowed.

Everyone was bewildered by such an introduction. There were a whole lot of questions, and if they could materialize, everyone would have large question marks popping out over their heads.

"I'm sorry, but I have no interest in any of your words," General Wijaya suddenly spoke as he turned away from Devon and faced Mark. "Sir Mark, Miss Spera. Can you open a portal to Semarang? I beg you two."

Everyone turned to General Wijaya. It was obvious what he had in mind with that request.

However, Mark did not reply immediately.

"This..."

Mark had a near-silent murmur as he stared at General Wijaya. As he stared at the serious-looking General, Mark could not help but rub his eyes. However, he could only frown even more as his eyes showed the colors on General Wijaya's body turned gray.

"You..."

Magwayen's faint, surprised voice snapped Mark back as he answered the General.

"Spera can only send you back to where she had been before, so she can only send you to the northern part of Semarang where we passed before. Where exactly is the Military outpost there?"

"Is that so? That's enough." General Wijaya nodded. "The outpost is in the southernmost of Semarang. Getting there on foot from the northern area should be fine."

"Haaah..." Devon's audible sigh entered everyone's ears. "It looks like we have to delay our business for later. We can't continue if everyone's focus is that lost cause of a place."

"You..."

General Wijaya glared at Devon.

"Don't give me that glare," Devon shrugged. "I am a merchant from a shady organization. If there is no value for me, I will not put importance on it."

For a merchant to admit that he was shady. Devon was quite a blunt merchant.

And with a snap of Devon's fingers, the barrier isolating everyone vanished.

"General! Are you okay?"

The soldiers who came with General Wijaya, armed with their guns, immediately ran between the group and Devon. It seemed that they deemed the merchant from CNC as an enemy after what had happened.

"I'm okay. Put your weapons down."

General Wijaya spoke to the soldiers.

"But General."

The soldiers were hesitating. After all, Devon did something strange that suddenly separated the leaders from the rest of the survivors.

"He's not an enemy. He just talked to us. I'm sure you all saw it."

General Wijaya explained.

The barrier might have separated them from everyone and stopped sounds from leaking, but it was pretty much transparent. While the leaders were talking to Devon, the confused and scared survivors were outside, watching.

"We have a more important thing to do," General Wijaya told his soldiers. "Five minutes. Prepare for a search and rescue."

The soldiers were confused by the sudden order. However, as they saw their General's serious expression, they could only salute.

"Yes, Sir!"

As the soldiers saluted, Mark stared at them with the very same frown he had while he stared at General Wijaya. He kept staring like that even when they left to prepare.

"Gege, is something wrong?"

Of course, Mei noticed Mark's unusual behavior and asked.

"I'll go with them," Mark suddenly said as he turned to Mei. "Can I leave this place to you?"

Mei was a little confused. However, knowing Mark would not do confusing things without a reason, she nodded.

"Alright," Mark patted Mei's head and turned to Spera. "Get ready. We will go with General Wijaya."

"I can't say no, can't I?"

Spera shrugged.

"Elder Brother, can I come too?"

Elise asked.

"Me too."

Farel chimed in.

And as Farel voiced his willingness to join General Wijaya, the leaders of the 3rd Wave also said the same.

However, Mark turned to them. His eyes were flickered with various emotions.

"No," Mark bluntly replied. "Elise. We need to be quick this time, so just stay. As for you people, you have other people to protect here. Worry about them before worrying about others who basically turned their backs on you."

"Okay..."

Elise was a little disappointed. However, she was not pushing her desire.

As for the others, they could only nod. And looking at Mark, it seemed he would not accept any debate at the moment.

"I'm staying too?"

Amihan flew towards Mark and asked.

"Yeah," Mark nodded. "Without me here, you're the strongest. So I need you to protect everyone while I'm gone."

"Okay~"

Amihan nodded and sat on Mei's shoulder.

"Aephelia," Mark called the Royal Maid. "Let Mountain Back stay here for now. It will make it easier for Spera to open a portal when returning."

"As you wish."

Aephelia accepted the order without question.

"How about us?"

Limabela suddenly asked Mark. It seemed that the leaders of Moonchasers were all waiting for his orders.

"Why are you people waiting for me?" Mark sighed. "I'm not your leader, remember?"

They could not help but show troubled expressions. While all of them were leaders of their group, Luna made most of the decisions. With Luna in a coma, they just went to follow Mark by instinct because of how he behaved.

Mark then turned to Edge, who appeared to be a bit more tired than usual. While Mark did not say anything, he showed a smile before turning away.

"I'll be preparing too."

Mark said as he and his members left the scene.

Now, all that was left were the confused survivors and Devon, who showed an interested expression.

***

Five minutes flat, the soldiers were ready for departure. It seemed that General Wijaya also briefed them on the situation as they lost their confusion and showed resolution.

Mark and Spera were a minute late, but it did not matter. General Wijaya did not consult them when he decided on that preparation time.

At the same time, the other survivors were also informed of the situation by their respective leaders. As such, they all gathered when the search and rescue team was about to depart.

"Oh, General. Before we depart..."

Mark suddenly spoke to General Wijaya as Spera opened the portal. He then threw a pair of gauntlets to the General.

Seeing the gauntlets, the leaders of the Moonchasers, the 3rd Wave, and Firefighters were surprised. They were all familiar with the design of the gauntlets.

Of course, General Wijaya was the most surprised of them all.

"Just in case," Mark spoke. "It's still unfinished since it was made with scraps, but it's functional enough."

"This..."

General Wijaya wanted to say something to Mark, but he had already begun walking into the portal.

Sighing, General Wijaya turned to his soldiers.

"Depart!"

General Wijaya ordered as he led the soldiers into the portal.

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