Day 366 - 6:05 PM - Campsite, Larikrejo, Undaan, Kudus Regency, West Java, Indonesia


    Dr. Willis Reagan. It was the name of a biology genius with aratherquirky personality. Yes, he was the crazy scientist who now caught up to the isted group. Willis'' name sure did not sound like a local''s.It was because, althoughhis mother was a pure Indonesian, his father was not.His father was an American biologist. He came to Indonesia to study its ecosystem.


    And Willis followed the steps of histe father.


    "Why are you here? How did you even get to us?" General Wijaya could not help but ask as he stared at Dr. Willis and hispanion. "There''s only two of you?"


    "Hmm???" Dr. Willis turned his head to hispanion andthen made exaggerated gestures as if he were looking for something. "Me... this guy... Hmmm... I don''t see anyone else.


    How many do you want us to be?"


    General Wijaya''s eyebrows began twitching.


    "Alright... There''s only you two," General Wijaya replied. "Then why and how did you get here?"


    Looking at the situation, it wasquiteodd. Given thattheyhad quite several encounters with the [Infected] just today, there was no way Dr. Willis and hispanionwould be able tofollow them,especiallythis quickly. After all, Dr. Willis and his assistant should be just regr people, scientists cooped up with their research.


    "You''re asking why? Then why would you think I will stay there?" Dr. Willis replied with his ownquestion,once again. "I only research what I want and not what others want me to. Do you think Iwill be able todo that if you leave me there? Why would you even leave without telling me?"


    General Wijaya fell silent. There was a reason Dr. Willis stuck to him. It was because he never forced Dr. Willis to research something he did not want to. It was due to the fact that whatever he was trying to research would benefit the people in many ways.


    However, it was not something others would realize, especially if those two pig Generals werethe onesleft to manage the survivors from Mount Muria.


    "Alright, I get it," General Wijaya raised his hands in surrender. "But you know. Even if I informed you, there''s no way they would let you or any valuable personnel leave to follow me."


    "But there''s no need to inform them???" The professor harrumped. "Look at me! I sneaked out on my own! And now I''m here! The problem is, you''re too upright! You''re so upright that you let snakes coil around you easily!"


    Dr. Willis and General Wijaya continued their banter while being watched by everyone. It did not feel like they werejustin a superior and subordinate rtionship.


    "They''re at it again, huh."


    "It is the usual."


    Captain Timur Guntur, the former in-charge of Kudus Outpost, and Staff Sergeant Welinda Cahya, General Wijaya''s secretary,mented to the side.It seemed that this scene wasnot new to them and the General''s other soldiers.


    "Hah..." General Wijaya sighed as he brought Dr. Willis to Luna and the others. "As you can see, this guy will nowe with us."


    "I don''t think anyone would have issues with it," Lunasaid,as she lookedat everyone around. "A scientist is valuable in these times, no matterwhat their expertise is."


    Everyone agreed with Luna''s words, and some even nodded in agreement.


    "See!" Dr. Willis eximed. "At least these young people understand! Those old farts back there can''t even hold a candle to them!"


    Dr. Willisreallyhad abadview of the people back in the main camp.


    Mark and his group had nothing to say in this situation. They just gathered to the side, minding their own business. Of course, Mark was paying attention to what was happening.


    Well, it mightturn out tobe annoying if Dr. Willis began pestering Mark''s group about things. He had a record of doing so back in Kudus during the sale of the [Fog Crawler''s] remains.


    But, rather than Dr. Willis, Mark''s attention was focused on someone else this time.


    Sensing Mark''s stare, the person looked back, nodding at Mark with a polite business smile.


    The person''s emotions were undisturbed. He was the epitome of a businessman''s ideal personality.


    Yet, that guy was introduced as Dr. Willis'' assistant.


    It was odd. Something was odd.


    Mark could feel it but could not pinpoint what it was.


    But if that person felt like a strange businessman, Mark had an inkling of who he could possibly be.


    ***


    Soon, the camp for this night was established. The next thing to do was prepare dinner, and many people worked together to cook the best they could serve for everyone. Fortunately, they had enough food supplies tost everyonefor at leasta week or two, even if they splurged a bit.


    They could also hunt along the way, and edible animals were plenty even though almost everything near Mount Muria had already been burnt to ash.


    Still, everyone could not help but stare north from time to time. There, the silhouette of Mount Muria could be seen, which was more visible at night due to theva it continued to spew.


    Thick volcanic ash continued to rain. It was good that they had the help of Mark and Amihan to at least lessen the ash during the night.


    As the night deepened, everyonewent to sleepinside their tents, leaving the nighttime guards on their shift.


    Of course, Mark was the guard for his group. Feng Zhiruo and Hannah also volunteered. It was the same for Felicia and Louis. However, Mark told them to rest instead. Since Mark wanted to do some tinkering, he could guardat the same time.


    Well, Mark did not end up alone. As he sat on a clean mat while tinkering with some small metal parts, Mei sat beside him after putting their daughters to sleep. She then rested her head on his shoulder, and Markjustlet her do so with a slight smile.


    Inside one of the tents, Elise and Spera were peeking through the tent''s door, watching Mark and Mei.


    "You''re not going to run there and ask for a hug or something?"


    Spera asked Elise, as it was what thetter was usually doing.


    However, Elise gave Spera a sharp stare.


    "I''m not boorish to steal Elder Sister''s time with Elder Brother," Elise''s stare then turned mncholic. "It hurts when people you love get stolen from you. I don''t want to do the same to Elder Sister."


    "You..."


    Spera was surprised by Elise''s remark, making her turn to Elise. However, Elise already turned her back on Spera, trying to sleep.


    Due to that interaction, Spera now felt doubts about Elise. However, she could only sigh before going to sleep.


    ***


    Day 367 - 9:21 AM -Campsite, Larikrejo, Undaan, Kudus Regency, West Java, Indonesia


    Nighttime came and went quickly. It was not an entirely peaceful night since a few small groups of [Infected] tried attacking the camp. The most dangerous ones were near midnight when a group of seven [Predator Type Infected] tried ambushing the camp with their chameleon-like abilities.


    Unfortunately for this group, they were attracted to the magical energy around acertainpart of the camp and attacked there first.


    That part of the camp was where Mark''s group resided. As such, they were not even able to reach the edge of the camp before their headless corpses fell to the burnt ground.


    Morning came. Most people still felt tired, while some barely rested due to the scary sounds of fighting throughout the night. Nheless, they could not justy down even in their current condition.


    After a quick breakfast with a bowl of porridge, everyone continuedon withtheir arduous journey.


    From the current camp in Undaan to the western edges of the Ind of Java, they still needed to traverse justa little bitunder five hundred kilometers. Even before the apocalypse, such a distance would require several days of walking. But in the current state of the world, it would surely take double, or worse, triple, the time needed.


    Normally, no one would want to go through such a long journey, especially with both the [Infected] and [Mutated Creatures] around. But there was no choice for everyone here. There was no ce safe anymore on the ind of Java.


    And since they now had the option to leave the ind, they would take it, even if it was a huge gamble.


    Between a gamble and certain death, there was no need to ask what most people would choose.


    It made some people wonder. What were the people in themaincamp thinking when they decided to go to Semarang? Sure, there was a military outpost in Semarang. But it never meant that it was a safe ce against one of the greatest threats in Java.


    ***


    After leaving the camp, several hours passed without problems. It was not several peaceful hours because there was already half the number of [Infected] encounterspared to yesterday. Nheless, no one was injured, especially with Luna''s groupin the lead ofthe fight.


    The new weapons of the leaders of the Moon Chaserssurelyproved to be of great use against the [Infected].


    Edge''s shield could stop even attacks froma lot ofgigantic [Infected]. Limab and Nelia''s bullets would switch between fire and electricity,being effective against botharmored and unarmored enemies. Livia''s hammer could smash through thick [Infected] armor, while Bajing and Luna''s attacks could pierce through them.


    Almost all who saw them fight could not help but feel fascinated by those weapons. Some even gathered the courage to ask where theweaponscame from, only to receive no direct answers.


    And those who knew could only give the creator of the weapons a nce. Unfortunately for them,trying to askfor the same kind of weapons would be hard. After all, they were not as close as the leaders of the Moon Chasers to the creator of the weapons.


    The journey continued with the Moon Chasers as the protagonist of most battles. It was not like they were trying to show off. It was just that the encounters with the [Infected] were bing more and more dangerous as timewent on.


    While the time difference between encounters with the [Infected] hordes was pretty random, and the scale of the hordes wasquiteon the smaller side, each horde contained high-level [Mutated Infected].


    On Mark''s self-made scale based on the mutations that urred in Freed''s, Eriellis, the levels of [Infected] they were encountering now were around level three to level four. A lot of them were even [Hybrid Types]. These [Infected] were not easy to fight, even with a group of [Mutators] or armed soldiers, especially while protecting arge group of nonbatants.


    As such, they needed to kill these [Infected] as fast as possible to reduce the possibility of the nonbatants getting involved in the battle.


    Unfortunately, only the leaders of the Moon Chasers equipped with powerful weapons could quickly kill these high-level [Infected]. They could only fight despite the increasing number of battles beginning to tire them.


    "Huh?"


    As the journey continued, some people noticed something odd.


    In the distance,there wasa ratherrge group of trees and bushesgrowingatop arge hill.The strange thing was that therge hill appearedto bein the middle of the already burnt area, turned to ash by the wildfire.


    It wastrulyan odd sight, especially when the group got closer since the hill was onthe path they were taking.


    No. It was not justtheirgroup that was getting closer.


    Therge hill was also getting closer to them.


    THUMP! THUMP!


    It did not take long. Everyone felt the ground shaking, and loud thumps entered their ears.


    And therge hill from the distance was actuallrgerthan they thought. It was more or less a small mountain.


    And the mountain actually had gigantic boulder-like legs to the side.


    Then, the giant boulder in front of the mountainbegan to rise, revealing a gigantic frog-like head and snake-like neck.


    "G-GET READY FOR BATTLE!"


    Luna could not help but stutter as the groundheavilyshookwhen she shouted.


    This was not the first time Luna and the others encountered a gigantic creature. The [Fog Crawler] was enormous itself.


    However, whatever the creature in front of them was, it was fargerthan a [Fog Crawler].