Is it Wrong to Copy Abilities in Apocalypse?

11:38, 23 July, 20XY.

Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India.

The second sub-scenario was still going on, and so was the bounty quest. People who had the guardian of their areas still alive were looking for that said guardian, thinking of ways to kill or catch them.

[Ishant: Man... just where are these guardians hiding...?]

[Ritika: Sheesh, are we ever gonna catch them or not?]

[Rakesh: I was saying the rankers in our areas are trying their best to catch them. And I was saying that we should just wait for a while.]

People were frustrated. A single message from Garvit had changed many things.

Turns out, there were really some people with mobile eggs, and they were living freely among the group of people responsible for catching them.

It was hard to catch them, but once a search was conducted, checking the belongings of everyone, the guardians were soon found out.

Among the discovered Guardians, none of them could place the egg in their inventory, so the questions about that even being possible were raised until a certain guardian was caught.

[Tanishq: Like damn, this girl we found could actually hide her egg in inventory.]

[Kalika: @Tanishq, What do you mean? You want to say that hiding the egg in inventory is possible?]

[Tanishq: Yeah. You know, I was like that as well when I heard about it. Like damn, is that even possible? How did they even find out if that were the case, but you know what? It turns out that this girl had just run out of luck, as she was caught when she was examining her egg.]

[Kalika: I see, I see.]

As the guy Tanishq had said, the first one to get killed among the guardians who can store their eggs in their inventory, after her, many followed.

How did one find out though? No one can look into others' inventory, other than Alex, of course.

Well, for that, someone came up with an idea.

[Lukesh: Hm, let's just make everyone empty their inventory; as for verifying whether it's empty or not... hm, let's keep 10 different types of items on us, and let them keep those items in their inventory.]

It was a great strategy, to be honest. One can only have 10 slots for 10 different types of items in their inventory; that means, if someone were to keep 10 different types of items in their inventory, then they wouldn't have space for anything else.

Just like this, more and more guardians started getting caught, and more and more areas completed their sub-scenario.

The area with Muzaffarnagar as their central region, on the other hand, was covered in a depressing and tiered atmosphere.

Everyone in the area knew who the guardian was; they even knew where he was as his location was revealed by himself.

Unlike before, Alex didn't go around asking for coins from every person he met, as he had already asked for money from those who seemed to be moving around freely.

He could just be unreasonable and ask for more coins from the people in the area, but he didn't yet want to do it. He wasn't strong enough to face every human in the area.

Yes, he wasn't weak enough to just get killed, but if one were to push humans too much, they turn into beasts, and Alex wasn't a machine who could just keep killing tirelessly. He might get tired before he could clear the area of any living being.

In that tired state, he could be killed by a child as well.

So, he just kept roaming around the area close to the place where he had kept his egg; it was as if he was waiting for something or someone.

'What was that?'

But he wasn't just waiting; he was also having a doubt-clearing section with the AI.

<You were inside your mind space, slowly getting devoured by the remnant will of the ancient Wyrm in the flesh and bones of your leg.>

They were talking about the comforting black space that Alex had found himself in after he fell unconscious from the pain of having his leg attached. But as Alex heard the AI's response, he couldn't help but frown.

'Remnant will?'

He questioned the AI. What was this remnant will? Was it harmful? If yes, then was it still there in his leg?

<Strong beasts such as the ancient Wyrms, who are strong enough to contend with the gods, have a tremendously strong will to live—so strong that even after their death, their bodies could come alive if proper procedures were done.

That will for survival even after their death remains in their body even if they are cut into millions of pieces, and if given a chance, they will try to do anything to survive because all they are left with is the will to survive.>

As Alex heard the AI's words, his expression turned grim.

'Is that thing still inside my body?'

He questioned, his body tensed, and the black dagger appeared in his hand. If this leg was going to bring him things like this, something that could take over his body, then he would rather not have a leg.

He gripped the dagger, ready to cut his leg off depending on the AI's answer.

<No, it died the moment you broke out of your mind space.>

The AI replied, and although Alex's grip on his dagger loosened, his body still remained tense.

'Was it because of the shock that you gave me?'

Alex inquired, his brows still creased as he stared at his left leg. There was nothing about that leg that stood out, but he, whose body this was, could tell that his left leg was now as strong as the Duskwind spear, if not stronger.

His leg, a body part, was strong enough to have the durability of a weapon with uncommon+ rank, which was equal to a rare-ranked weapon.

<Yes.>

The AI, on the other hand, answered Alex's question, knowing full well what Alex must be thinking.

'Why didn't you do it earlier then?'

Alex's questions didn't end, though; he still had some things left to clear, so he went on, his eyes sharpening with those words.

<Because I didn't want to disturb the perfect fusion.>

'What?'

The AI's reply was instantaneous, but its words puzzled Alex even more.

<The will left inside the flesh and bones of the ancient Wyrm would never have let you have the perfect fusion where even your body and blood were upgraded.

If not for the beast's remnant will thinking that it could survive and take over your body, all you would've had by now would be a strong leg that wouldn't even be balanced with your body.

It was only because I didn't wake you up earlier that the beast's will decided to mend your body into something entirely new, as it was soon going to take over your body.

It was only when the process was done that I interfered.>

The AI explained everything to Alex, not leaving anything out, and Alex, who heard those words, had his frown loosen a bit.

'I see...'

He nodded his head as he knew that although his stats didn't seem to have been upgraded, his power was way higher than before; it was as if his power scaling had been upgraded as well.

It was then that Alex's eyes sharpened, a cold glint passing through them.

He could hear some people closing in.

'It's time.'

He muttered inwardly, climbing up on a tree. Hiding.