Is it Wrong to Copy Abilities in Apocalypse?

3:03, 25 July, 20XY.

Jamargadi Talli, Uttrakhand, India.

It had been around two hours since the chat about Alex's intentions with what he was doing was discussed. Everyone was eager to know why Alex would go forward, wanting to fight the hoard of beasts that were pushed out of the zone.

[Livesh: Is he really helping us, though?]

A question like this, however, always stays in people's minds.

What if they were misunderstanding things and Alex was doing this all for himself? Wouldn't their being happy be a waste then? Wouldn't they be thanking Alex—the guy responsible for this situation of theirs—without any reason?

But...

[Karina: Does it really matter? Even if he has some other motives and his wish was never to protect us all from the beasts, weren't we still shielded by him? Didn't the last three death batches have lower deaths than the ones before?]

[Ragha: "Hah?! Lower? They got wiped out before, and now they're back flappin' their mouths like they run somethin'."]

Soon, those questions were shot down as the bigwigs spoke. The strong had a voice in everything—this was a rule in this apocalyptic world. So, the moment both Karina and Ragha's messages popped up, the others went quiet.

[Saurav: I get what you guys are trying to say, and I totally agree with the fact that Alex Matthew, the first ranker, is capable of doing things that even all of us together can't do, but we have seen him fight before. He never cared about human lives, so why does it feel like he cares about the humans now?]

Saurav, however, had a different catch on all of this. He got that Karina knew about Alex more than any of them knew, and Ragha, who after his last meeting with Alex had a change in his perspective about Alex, did not mean any harm, but what if, just what if, this is exactly what Alex wanted?

Saurav was not a saint, nor was he someone who would sacrifice his life for the greater good. He just wanted to live up to the final wish Pooja had left for him, and it was to never lose again.

He didn't want to fall for Alex's trap again and lose a situation of advantage like last time.

Last time, they all fell for Alex's schemes, believing whatever he made them see, only to realize that those things were never true. But by the time they realized it, Alex had already achieved his goal.

Saurav just didn't want to see something like that happening again.

[Mira: I agree with Saurav. The way those two men described the corpse to have been put on display for them, it's clear that Alex knew that they were coming, and even after that, instead of clarifying his intentions, whether he was helping the humans or not, he just proved that he was killing the beasts.]

It was then that Mira spoke up, presenting her point, which made people fall into deep contemplation. Was it another scheme of Alex?

Even Karina and Ragha were frowning.

Their reasons for frowning, however, were quite different. Karina knew pretty well that it was not some kind of righteous act done by Alex. He was probably hunting the beasts because he wanted to and looking at the ongoing chats, he thought of making use of it, but even so, she didn't want to seem like she was going against him.

From what she knew, Alex always read the chat whenever he was mentioned.

So, if, by any chance, he was in a bad mood and decided to kill all those who spoke against him, then she at least wanted to be out of that list.

That was basically why she, even after knowing the truth, didn't say so. She never wanted to do something that would turn her into Alex's enemy.

Ragha, however, was really confused. Since Alex had last seen him, many things had changed, among which, first came his mindset. Now, like a real villain, he didn't care about the lives of those below him; he only saw them as tools for him to use. He ruled over them with power.

The only ones he cared about were himself and someone whom he thought to be a person who could bring him profit.

Alex fit right into that image, and so did the other leaders.

But what if that person were to scheme against him? Would he still take it lying with a smile? Of course not. That was why he was frowning. He was seriously suspicious now.

But just then, a new message popped up. It was not one of the leaders, nor was it someone people knew about; it was just some random guy, or so it seemed.

[Karan: Why are all of you guys making it so big of an issue? If he's using us or planning on using us, why can't we do the same?]

It was a simple question, but that was enough to make the eyes of the people who understood the meaning behind those words go wide in realization.

[Kavita: This guy has lost it... Use Alex? That monster? You gotta be kidding me. @Karan, Be ready, blud; he might already be coming for you after reading your message.]

Soon, after a bout of silence, the chat flooded with messages with people berating Karan and making fun of him, but those who knew perfectly what Karan meant didn't participate in the chats.

Those people, with a thoughtful look, started messaging the people they wanted to discuss things with. Things were soon going to get hectic, and for the first time, people were going to use Alex. But how would they do it?

Well...

Alex, who was running through the forest of Jamargadi Talli, was soon going to find that out. He had been reading his chats as well, so he knew that people were planning something, but what plot they had in their minds would come to light sooner or later. Continue your journey on m|v-l'e m,p| y- r

'Using me, huh?'

Alex couldn't help but wonder when was the last time someone tried to use him. He couldn't remember a single instance. Of course, being used by the one he worked under wasn't included in this category.

'Karan.'

He repeated the name of the guy who proposed the idea. For some reason, he felt something off about this guy. He wasn't sure why, but he gave him the feeling that those manipulative people who don't have the power to back it up have.

He had just read a single message from that guy, but that guy's face and expression in the world profile were enough to give him all of these ideas about the guy.

The trees in the surroundings blurred as Alex zoomed through the forest. This was the third zone after the one where he fought with all those beasts, and finally, he was able to match the timing since it had only been around 4 to 5 minutes since the safe zone appeared.

The ones before this one were all about 20 to 30 minutes ahead, but just as he thought that he was nearing the zone, he frowned. He could hear some muffled creams, but soon...

"Ragha! Kill it!"

"On your 12! It's a high-level beast!!"

"Distance dealers!! FIRE!!!"

He paused in his tracks the moment those voices grew clear, and in an instant, the Tidebreaker shirt sword—the only weapon he doesn't use too often as it takes too much mana—appeared in his hands.