Chapter 38
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'3rd timer.' My face fell as I looked at the title.
All the theories I had thought about fell apart.
'If there is a 3rd timer, then does that mean there are fourth and fifth timer as well.' I thought 'What purpose do they serve. Why have they come back to life. Who did this to them?'
I knew who did this, who sent their souls back to the time when the apocalypse about to start.
It must have been the people who created the apocalypse in the first place. Who else could do such a thing.
But if so, then what do they want.
'Do they want us to survive?' No, they've already wiped out almost all of humanity. How can I even think that they want us to survive.
But if they don't want us to survive, then why send these 2nd and 3rd timers back and back again to fight in this apocalypse.
What is their goal?
A silent breeze passed by as I felt a faint chill on by body.
I had no answer to that question. I will probably never get the answer either.
'I guess there's no point in thinking about things that I understand.' I thought and closed Chen Li's profile.
After that, I used 50 1st tier crystals to buy 5 2nd tier ones.
The price was unfair. So was life. But who gives a fuck.
I ate 4 of the 5 crystals and kept 1 for later on.
After that, I sold all of the remaining crystals and got 688 white coins in return.
Upgrading my Basic Defensive Suit took 665 white coins. So in the end, I was only left with 13 white coins.
I opened the hologram and looked at the interface.
User name:- Ashok Singh Rana (Enhanced Human I )
Stats:-
Strength - 4.4
Agility - 2.3 (4.6) - Skill Recuperation penalty
Endurance - 4.4
Perception - 4.4
Mana - 0.7 (4.6) - Skill being used.
Skills:-
Agility Booster (2nd tier)- Skill recuperation time left= 9 hours 17 minutes 34 seconds, Advanced Vision (2nd tier), None
Equipments:-
Basic Sword (2nd tier), Clipping Glove (1st tier), Basic Defensive Suit (3rd tier), Basic Helmet (2nd tier), Spatial ring (1st tier)
Wealth:-
13 white coins, 1 crystal (2nd tier)
I looked at the Heavy Machine gun once again. No one has bought it so far. Well… I guess I have to be patient with such a thing.
I gave one last look to the horde and ran back to the town.
I wanted more crystals, so that I could upgrade my equipments and buy a skill book.
I also wanted to buy a new skill book for myself.
But I was too tired. Both mentally and physically.
I wanted more of everything, but not today. Not right now. And thus, I planned to go back and sleep.
It was still 3:00 am so the night was still dark, but I had Night Vision so such a thing would not stop me.
The return journey was uneventful. No stray abnormals. No mutant dogs. Nothing.
I landed on the rooftops and started my jumping routine.
I sneaked in a look at Big Bro and realized that he was still sleeping soundly.
As for the two bodyguards, they were talking about something. But from their expression, I could tell that they wanted to sleep as well.
'Well, I guess this is what ordinary men must do to earn more crystals.' I thought and broke into one of the empty house across the streets.
Those who cannot fight on their own must rely on the strong ones to live and become strong themselves.
At this point, almost all of the houses in the town were empty so I faced no problem in finding myself a good bed.
I laid on top of it and fall asleep before long.
—————
'Ashok. Wake up. Wake up Ashok.' I heard a sound in my dreams. But after the sound persisted for a long time, I felt that something was wrong. When I realized such a thing, my dreamworld broke in an instant and I opened my eyes to meet a pair of large eyes with brown pupil.
"Sera?" I asked in puzzlement as I rubbed my eyes and hoped that I was not drooling in my sleep. That would be embarrassing. "What are you doing here?"
"Rahul is calling for you." She said.
"Rahul… umm… what time is it?"
"It's around 10:00 am in the morning." She replied. "He asked you to meet him as soon as possible."
"Is that so…" I looked around an asked "How did you know I was here?"
"The windows of this house were broken. Just like the past few houses. I got lucky that I found you sleeping here." She said.
So that's how it is. Well, it's not important.
"Let's go meet Rahul…" I said and was about to jump out of the window but realized that she was not following me. I looked at her in puzzlement and she replied.
"I cannot jump out of the window. I'll break my legs if I fall from such a height." She said "You go first. I'll walk out from the door."
Only then did I realize that she had not eaten any crystals, unlike me who had already eaten hundreds of them.
'Well, I guess I'll do something about that later on.'
"Climb on my back. We'll get there fast this way." I said and bent down on a knee as I motioned her to climb up.
"Huh!" she was a bit surprised by after considering it for a while, she climbed up on my back and I jumped out from the window to the roofs of the buildings.
Soon enough, I was standing before Rahul's room.
When I reached there, I found three guys sitting outside the room and having a conversation about crystals and abnormals.
I realized that all three of them were rather young and were holding some kind of weapon.
One was holding an axe, the other was holding a hammer and the last one was simply holding on to an iron rod.
I was sure that they would not able to kill any abnormal with a weapon like this.
But they were Rahul's new subordinates so I knew that they would become strong enough to face an abnormal pretty soon. If they don't die before that.
When I arrived in front of them, they all stopped talking and stood on the side with a fearful look in their eyes.
'What the hell are they so afraid of?' I thought but soon realized the reason.
I had not cleaned the Defensive suit when I came back so it was stained with blood and bit and pieces of organs.
There was a heavy stench of blood and death permeating around me.
The fact that they three were not running away in fear already showed that they were much braver than I had previously anticipated.
Or maybe they were just too scared to move.
I walked inside the room, followed by Sera who was standing behind me now.
I entered the room and found that Rahul on a chair was sitting behind a large desk.
He was currently talking with a survivor whom I've never met before.
It was a middle aged guy who was wearing some old and torn clothes.
Seemed like he didn't get a good treatment in the survivor camp.
They were talking about something like electrical generator which was out of my area of expertise so I decided to not meddle in their affairs and stood beside the door for a while until Rahul asked the person to leave.
Rahul then stood up and looked at me with a gentle smile.
"You're hard to find little brother." He said.
"You slept on my bed, so I had to find some other place to sleep."
"Yeah… I guess it's my fault this time." Rahul said with an amused expression which then turned a bit serious.
"Come. I was waiting for you. We need to talk about something." Rahul said and rolled out a map on the table.
"Yesterday, I sent a person to keep an eye on the army base." Rahul said as he circled the area where the army camp was situated.
"Today, he told me that they had started to pack their supplies and were getting ready to move." He said "My guess is that they want to make this town as their permanent base and are getting ready to move."
"So, are we going to leave this place?" I asked in a calm manner. But even though I showed a calm facade, I felt a bit sad and powerless over the fact that we were being chased out of our own town.
This was my hometown after all.
"Yes. But don't think too much about it." Rahul said "I never intended to stay for too in this town in this town anyway."
"Then… what was your plan?" I asked.
Rahul took out another large map and spread it on top of the previous map and pointed at a dot in the map.
"Kolkata?" I asked in bewilderment "Why would we go there?"
It was about 1500 kilometers to the south-east from here. Even if that area is some kind of safe zone, it's still not worth it to travel so far in this apocalyptic time.
If we wanted to go there then we would have to literally cross half of the country before we reach there. That's a suicidal thing to do.
Rahul hesitated for a bit before saying "Your sister-in-law is there."
"So that's the reason. Wait! WHAT???" as soon as I registered the meaning of his words, I felt an explosion in my mind.
'Sister-in-law? What do you mean by that? Since when did I have a sister in law. Why didn't you tell me about it? And why are not already going there.' My mind was bombarded with questions that I wanted to ask him. But I held those questions in my heart as I remembered his (2nd timer) title.
'Is she someone he met in his previous life?' I thought.
'If that was the case, then that would make sense, because Rahul never had any girlfriend as far as I knew.'
'That's right. Rahul never had any girlfriend.' I thought and looked at the Rahul in front of me and wondered if this person was really my big bro or not.
My mood dampened down a bit as I thought about it.
If the soul of this Rahul came from some other dimension, or some other time line, then doesn't that mean that my big bro's soul is already dead?
I didn't wanted to think about it anymore.
"Why are we still here?" I asked.
"Huh?" he looked at me in puzzlement.
"If my sister-in-law is in Kolkata, then why are we still here?" I asked. "Shouldn't we go there as fast as possible. Aren't you worried about her safety?"
His expression grew puzzled as he asked "Aren't you going to ask about your sister-in-law. When I met her? Or anything like that?"
I took a deep breath and smiled "The fact that you've not told me about her must mean that you must have planned to give us a surprise. Right?"
Rahul's expression faltered for a moment when he heard my words but he soon took control of it and shook his head with a smile "I guess you saw through my ruse then."
"Yes." I smiled "But you still haven't answered my question. Why are we still here?"
He looked at me for a long moment before he sighed and said "I've two reasons for why I'm still here."
"What are they?" I asked.
"First, is the promise I made to Gaurav." Rahul replied "I told him that I would wait for him for a week, so I cannot leave this place before the week is over."
"Second, your sister-in-law is not someone who need my protection."
'So that's how it is.' I thought 'Well, that makes sense, if sister-in-law was weak, then she would not have survived long enough to meet him in the past life.'
'But that still doesn't mean that we should leave her like that.'
"Why do you value Gaurav so much?" I suddenly asked as I thought of it.
"You know why. He may be old but he is far more capable than anyone else in here. He will be very valuable to the group." He replied "But his value has nothing to do with why I'm still here."
"…" I stared at him, waiting for his answer
"It had do with the promise I made him." Rahul said with a sigh "I do not break my promises. And you know it better than anyone else."
His words struck a chord in my heart.
'That's right. Now that I think about it, Big bro usually refrained from making promises, but when he did made a promise, he always did his best to fulfill it.'
I sighed as I thought about this thing.
I did not knew if this person was really my brother or not. And I felt torn about it. But I hid all those thoughts back in my heart.
"Does that mean that we'll stay here for four more days, until the week if over?" I asked "What about the army? If they moved in, they you're not planning to fight them are you?"
Rahul smiled and shook his head "No. And that's why I called you here."
"What does this has to do with me?" I asked in puzzlement. "Do you want me to sabotage their vehicles and lead the horde to them?"
Because that was something that I could totally capable of doing.
I had already defeated 50 of their members this way.
Dealing with the rest won't be all that different.
"No." Rahul shook his head and said "We have nothing to gain by fighting against them."
Rahul then pointed at a small dot in the map and said "This is Karnera. 80 kilometers to the north-east from here. This is where…"
"I remember it. It's Gaurav's son lived." I said "But what's the point of telling me about it."
"I want you to go there and bring him back." Rahul said "The faster you do this, the earlier we'll be able to leave from this town."
'I knew it.' I thought.
The moment he had taken out the map and started pointed at Karnera, I had already guessed that I would have to do something like this.
"Although I didn't like that old coot, I'll do it. I'll do it for sister-in-law." I said.
"Also, by the time you return, if we're not in the town, then go to Indari town. I'll hang a red flag at the top of the tallest building there, and you'll know where to go from there."
"Hmm… Indari town." I looked in the map and saw that the town was aligned with the highway and was about 35 kilometers to the south of our town. "I got it."
"Okay. When are you going to leave." Rahul asked.
I thought for a while before saying "I'll leave right after meeting with little Neha. But one thing before I leave."
"What is it?"
I hesitated a bit before saying "There's this girl named Sera in the survivor group. You know… the one…"
"The one whole told me about your condition yesterday. Right." Rahul smirked "I understand what you mean. Don't worry. I'll take care of her while you're gone."
I didn't like the expression he was making and felt that he'd definitely misunderstood something. But I didn't bother to correct him. "Very well then. I'll take my leave now." I said and took a map from the table and turned to leave.
"Ashok…"
"Hmm…" I turned to look at him with questioning gaze.
"If you didn't find him in 3 days. Or… if he's dead, then come back." Rahul said.
"I'll do that." I said and turned to leave before he stopped me once again.
"And one more thing."
"What is it?" I asked.
"Try to collect as many white coins in your journey as possible. After you get a total of 10,000 white coins, I'll help you buy something that will increase your fighting skills exponentially."
"10,000 white coins." I stumbled a bit when I heard that. "Oi Rahul. How the hell am I supposed to collect so many white coins."
Rahul shook his head with a smile and said "I'm not asking you to collect all of them as fast as possible. Take your time and collect the coins at your own pace. Of course, the faster you're able to collect them, the faster your improvement will be."
"I understand. Anything else?" I asked.
"Yes." Rahul came from behind the table and hugged me tightly for a few seconds before he let go of me "Take care of yourself."
"I'm not a kid you know." I said in annoyance and went out of the room.
After getting out of the room, I met with Sera, who was standing right outside and explained everything to her.
She wanted to join me in the mission but I told her that it's going to be dangerous and she'll just be a burden.
Although she was feeling a bit down because of my harsh words, she understood the situation as well and said that she'll wait for my safe return.
After that, I went and met with Neha who was talking with some guy who was getting a bit too close to her.
I frowned when I looked at the boy He was about my age and had a handsome face.
And for some reason, I really wanted to punch him in the face.
"Neha. I'll be leaving town for a while." I said as I pulled her to the side.
"Why are you leaving?" She asked as she suddenly grew worried "Isn't it dangerous outside the town. And where are you going?"
"Calm down." I said and patted her head lovingly "I'm going to find an old man that your big bro wants in the team."
"Old man. Who?" Neha asked with confused look in her face.
"You won't know him." I said and shook my head "But he's a very capable guy. So he might be of use to the group."
"Is that so." Neha said in an attempt to show that she understood. But one look at her expression and you'll realize that she was even more confused now.
"Well… You don't need to worry about that." I said and hugged her gently for a few seconds before letting go of her. "I'll be back in a few days alright."
"Alright." She said and her eyes turned a bit red as she sniffed to stop her tears.
"I'll leave now." I said and patted her head one last time before I turned to look at the guy and gave him a 'very' hostile glare before turning around to leave.
'If he had any indecent plans for my little sister, then I will have to create a few accidents after I come back.' I thought 'There are so many dangers in this world. Wouldn't be very surprising if one or two people died and became some Abnormal's food.'
But, I don't think I need to worry about little Neha with Rahul around.
After I packed a few more water and food, I turned to North-east direction and started my journey.
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'3rd timer.' My face fell as I looked at the title.
All the theories I had thought about fell apart.
'If there is a 3rd timer, then does that mean there are fourth and fifth timer as well.' I thought 'What purpose do they serve. Why have they come back to life. Who did this to them?'
I knew who did this, who sent their souls back to the time when the apocalypse about to start.
It must have been the people who created the apocalypse in the first place. Who else could do such a thing.
But if so, then what do they want.
'Do they want us to survive?' No, they've already wiped out almost all of humanity. How can I even think that they want us to survive.
But if they don't want us to survive, then why send these 2nd and 3rd timers back and back again to fight in this apocalypse.
What is their goal?
A silent breeze passed by as I felt a faint chill on by body.
I had no answer to that question. I will probably never get the answer either.
'I guess there's no point in thinking about things that I understand.' I thought and closed Chen Li's profile.
After that, I used 50 1st tier crystals to buy 5 2nd tier ones.
The price was unfair. So was life. But who gives a fuck.
I ate 4 of the 5 crystals and kept 1 for later on.
After that, I sold all of the remaining crystals and got 688 white coins in return.
Upgrading my Basic Defensive Suit took 665 white coins. So in the end, I was only left with 13 white coins.
I opened the hologram and looked at the interface.
User name:- Ashok Singh Rana (Enhanced Human I )
Stats:-
Strength - 4.4
Agility - 2.3 (4.6) - Skill Recuperation penalty
Endurance - 4.4
Perception - 4.4
Mana - 0.7 (4.6) - Skill being used.
Skills:-
Agility Booster (2nd tier)- Skill recuperation time left= 9 hours 17 minutes 34 seconds, Advanced Vision (2nd tier), None
Equipments:-
Basic Sword (2nd tier), Clipping Glove (1st tier), Basic Defensive Suit (3rd tier), Basic Helmet (2nd tier), Spatial ring (1st tier)
Wealth:-
13 white coins, 1 crystal (2nd tier)
I looked at the Heavy Machine gun once again. No one has bought it so far. Well… I guess I have to be patient with such a thing.
I gave one last look to the horde and ran back to the town.
I wanted more crystals, so that I could upgrade my equipments and buy a skill book.
I also wanted to buy a new skill book for myself.
But I was too tired. Both mentally and physically.
I wanted more of everything, but not today. Not right now. And thus, I planned to go back and sleep.
It was still 3:00 am so the night was still dark, but I had Night Vision so such a thing would not stop me.
The return journey was uneventful. No stray abnormals. No mutant dogs. Nothing.
I landed on the rooftops and started my jumping routine.
I sneaked in a look at Big Bro and realized that he was still sleeping soundly.
As for the two bodyguards, they were talking about something. But from their expression, I could tell that they wanted to sleep as well.
'Well, I guess this is what ordinary men must do to earn more crystals.' I thought and broke into one of the empty house across the streets.
Those who cannot fight on their own must rely on the strong ones to live and become strong themselves.
At this point, almost all of the houses in the town were empty so I faced no problem in finding myself a good bed.
I laid on top of it and fall asleep before long.
—————
'Ashok. Wake up. Wake up Ashok.' I heard a sound in my dreams. But after the sound persisted for a long time, I felt that something was wrong. When I realized such a thing, my dreamworld broke in an instant and I opened my eyes to meet a pair of large eyes with brown pupil.
"Sera?" I asked in puzzlement as I rubbed my eyes and hoped that I was not drooling in my sleep. That would be embarrassing. "What are you doing here?"
"Rahul is calling for you." She said.
"Rahul… umm… what time is it?"
"It's around 10:00 am in the morning." She replied. "He asked you to meet him as soon as possible."
"Is that so…" I looked around an asked "How did you know I was here?"
"The windows of this house were broken. Just like the past few houses. I got lucky that I found you sleeping here." She said.
So that's how it is. Well, it's not important.
"Let's go meet Rahul…" I said and was about to jump out of the window but realized that she was not following me. I looked at her in puzzlement and she replied.
"I cannot jump out of the window. I'll break my legs if I fall from such a height." She said "You go first. I'll walk out from the door."
Only then did I realize that she had not eaten any crystals, unlike me who had already eaten hundreds of them.
'Well, I guess I'll do something about that later on.'
"Climb on my back. We'll get there fast this way." I said and bent down on a knee as I motioned her to climb up.
"Huh!" she was a bit surprised by after considering it for a while, she climbed up on my back and I jumped out from the window to the roofs of the buildings.
Soon enough, I was standing before Rahul's room.
When I reached there, I found three guys sitting outside the room and having a conversation about crystals and abnormals.
I realized that all three of them were rather young and were holding some kind of weapon.
One was holding an axe, the other was holding a hammer and the last one was simply holding on to an iron rod.
I was sure that they would not able to kill any abnormal with a weapon like this.
But they were Rahul's new subordinates so I knew that they would become strong enough to face an abnormal pretty soon. If they don't die before that.
When I arrived in front of them, they all stopped talking and stood on the side with a fearful look in their eyes.
'What the hell are they so afraid of?' I thought but soon realized the reason.
I had not cleaned the Defensive suit when I came back so it was stained with blood and bit and pieces of organs.
There was a heavy stench of blood and death permeating around me.
The fact that they three were not running away in fear already showed that they were much braver than I had previously anticipated.
Or maybe they were just too scared to move.
I walked inside the room, followed by Sera who was standing behind me now.
I entered the room and found that Rahul on a chair was sitting behind a large desk.
He was currently talking with a survivor whom I've never met before.
It was a middle aged guy who was wearing some old and torn clothes.
Seemed like he didn't get a good treatment in the survivor camp.
They were talking about something like electrical generator which was out of my area of expertise so I decided to not meddle in their affairs and stood beside the door for a while until Rahul asked the person to leave.
Rahul then stood up and looked at me with a gentle smile.
"You're hard to find little brother." He said.
"You slept on my bed, so I had to find some other place to sleep."
"Yeah… I guess it's my fault this time." Rahul said with an amused expression which then turned a bit serious.
"Come. I was waiting for you. We need to talk about something." Rahul said and rolled out a map on the table.
"Yesterday, I sent a person to keep an eye on the army base." Rahul said as he circled the area where the army camp was situated.
"Today, he told me that they had started to pack their supplies and were getting ready to move." He said "My guess is that they want to make this town as their permanent base and are getting ready to move."
"So, are we going to leave this place?" I asked in a calm manner. But even though I showed a calm facade, I felt a bit sad and powerless over the fact that we were being chased out of our own town.
This was my hometown after all.
"Yes. But don't think too much about it." Rahul said "I never intended to stay for too in this town in this town anyway."
"Then… what was your plan?" I asked.
Rahul took out another large map and spread it on top of the previous map and pointed at a dot in the map.
"Kolkata?" I asked in bewilderment "Why would we go there?"
It was about 1500 kilometers to the south-east from here. Even if that area is some kind of safe zone, it's still not worth it to travel so far in this apocalyptic time.
If we wanted to go there then we would have to literally cross half of the country before we reach there. That's a suicidal thing to do.
Rahul hesitated for a bit before saying "Your sister-in-law is there."
"So that's the reason. Wait! WHAT???" as soon as I registered the meaning of his words, I felt an explosion in my mind.
'Sister-in-law? What do you mean by that? Since when did I have a sister in law. Why didn't you tell me about it? And why are not already going there.' My mind was bombarded with questions that I wanted to ask him. But I held those questions in my heart as I remembered his (2nd timer) title.
'Is she someone he met in his previous life?' I thought.
'If that was the case, then that would make sense, because Rahul never had any girlfriend as far as I knew.'
'That's right. Rahul never had any girlfriend.' I thought and looked at the Rahul in front of me and wondered if this person was really my big bro or not.
My mood dampened down a bit as I thought about it.
If the soul of this Rahul came from some other dimension, or some other time line, then doesn't that mean that my big bro's soul is already dead?
I didn't wanted to think about it anymore.
"Why are we still here?" I asked.
"Huh?" he looked at me in puzzlement.
"If my sister-in-law is in Kolkata, then why are we still here?" I asked. "Shouldn't we go there as fast as possible. Aren't you worried about her safety?"
His expression grew puzzled as he asked "Aren't you going to ask about your sister-in-law. When I met her? Or anything like that?"
I took a deep breath and smiled "The fact that you've not told me about her must mean that you must have planned to give us a surprise. Right?"
Rahul's expression faltered for a moment when he heard my words but he soon took control of it and shook his head with a smile "I guess you saw through my ruse then."
"Yes." I smiled "But you still haven't answered my question. Why are we still here?"
He looked at me for a long moment before he sighed and said "I've two reasons for why I'm still here."
"What are they?" I asked.
"First, is the promise I made to Gaurav." Rahul replied "I told him that I would wait for him for a week, so I cannot leave this place before the week is over."
"Second, your sister-in-law is not someone who need my protection."
'So that's how it is.' I thought 'Well, that makes sense, if sister-in-law was weak, then she would not have survived long enough to meet him in the past life.'
'But that still doesn't mean that we should leave her like that.'
"Why do you value Gaurav so much?" I suddenly asked as I thought of it.
"You know why. He may be old but he is far more capable than anyone else in here. He will be very valuable to the group." He replied "But his value has nothing to do with why I'm still here."
"…" I stared at him, waiting for his answer
"It had do with the promise I made him." Rahul said with a sigh "I do not break my promises. And you know it better than anyone else."
His words struck a chord in my heart.
'That's right. Now that I think about it, Big bro usually refrained from making promises, but when he did made a promise, he always did his best to fulfill it.'
I sighed as I thought about this thing.
I did not knew if this person was really my brother or not. And I felt torn about it. But I hid all those thoughts back in my heart.
"Does that mean that we'll stay here for four more days, until the week if over?" I asked "What about the army? If they moved in, they you're not planning to fight them are you?"
Rahul smiled and shook his head "No. And that's why I called you here."
"What does this has to do with me?" I asked in puzzlement. "Do you want me to sabotage their vehicles and lead the horde to them?"
Because that was something that I could totally capable of doing.
I had already defeated 50 of their members this way.
Dealing with the rest won't be all that different.
"No." Rahul shook his head and said "We have nothing to gain by fighting against them."
Rahul then pointed at a small dot in the map and said "This is Karnera. 80 kilometers to the north-east from here. This is where…"
"I remember it. It's Gaurav's son lived." I said "But what's the point of telling me about it."
"I want you to go there and bring him back." Rahul said "The faster you do this, the earlier we'll be able to leave from this town."
'I knew it.' I thought.
The moment he had taken out the map and started pointed at Karnera, I had already guessed that I would have to do something like this.
"Although I didn't like that old coot, I'll do it. I'll do it for sister-in-law." I said.
"Also, by the time you return, if we're not in the town, then go to Indari town. I'll hang a red flag at the top of the tallest building there, and you'll know where to go from there."
"Hmm… Indari town." I looked in the map and saw that the town was aligned with the highway and was about 35 kilometers to the south of our town. "I got it."
"Okay. When are you going to leave." Rahul asked.
I thought for a while before saying "I'll leave right after meeting with little Neha. But one thing before I leave."
"What is it?"
I hesitated a bit before saying "There's this girl named Sera in the survivor group. You know… the one…"
"The one whole told me about your condition yesterday. Right." Rahul smirked "I understand what you mean. Don't worry. I'll take care of her while you're gone."
I didn't like the expression he was making and felt that he'd definitely misunderstood something. But I didn't bother to correct him. "Very well then. I'll take my leave now." I said and took a map from the table and turned to leave.
"Ashok…"
"Hmm…" I turned to look at him with questioning gaze.
"If you didn't find him in 3 days. Or… if he's dead, then come back." Rahul said.
"I'll do that." I said and turned to leave before he stopped me once again.
"And one more thing."
"What is it?" I asked.
"Try to collect as many white coins in your journey as possible. After you get a total of 10,000 white coins, I'll help you buy something that will increase your fighting skills exponentially."
"10,000 white coins." I stumbled a bit when I heard that. "Oi Rahul. How the hell am I supposed to collect so many white coins."
Rahul shook his head with a smile and said "I'm not asking you to collect all of them as fast as possible. Take your time and collect the coins at your own pace. Of course, the faster you're able to collect them, the faster your improvement will be."
"I understand. Anything else?" I asked.
"Yes." Rahul came from behind the table and hugged me tightly for a few seconds before he let go of me "Take care of yourself."
"I'm not a kid you know." I said in annoyance and went out of the room.
After getting out of the room, I met with Sera, who was standing right outside and explained everything to her.
She wanted to join me in the mission but I told her that it's going to be dangerous and she'll just be a burden.
Although she was feeling a bit down because of my harsh words, she understood the situation as well and said that she'll wait for my safe return.
After that, I went and met with Neha who was talking with some guy who was getting a bit too close to her.
I frowned when I looked at the boy He was about my age and had a handsome face.
And for some reason, I really wanted to punch him in the face.
"Neha. I'll be leaving town for a while." I said as I pulled her to the side.
"Why are you leaving?" She asked as she suddenly grew worried "Isn't it dangerous outside the town. And where are you going?"
"Calm down." I said and patted her head lovingly "I'm going to find an old man that your big bro wants in the team."
"Old man. Who?" Neha asked with confused look in her face.
"You won't know him." I said and shook my head "But he's a very capable guy. So he might be of use to the group."
"Is that so." Neha said in an attempt to show that she understood. But one look at her expression and you'll realize that she was even more confused now.
"Well… You don't need to worry about that." I said and hugged her gently for a few seconds before letting go of her. "I'll be back in a few days alright."
"Alright." She said and her eyes turned a bit red as she sniffed to stop her tears.
"I'll leave now." I said and patted her head one last time before I turned to look at the guy and gave him a 'very' hostile glare before turning around to leave.
'If he had any indecent plans for my little sister, then I will have to create a few accidents after I come back.' I thought 'There are so many dangers in this world. Wouldn't be very surprising if one or two people died and became some Abnormal's food.'
But, I don't think I need to worry about little Neha with Rahul around.
After I packed a few more water and food, I turned to North-east direction and started my journey.
'3rd timer.' My face fell as I looked at the title.All the theories I had thought about fell apart.'If there is a 3rd timer, then does that mean there are fourth and fifth timer as well.' I thought 'What purpose do they serve. Why have they come back to life. Who did this to them?'I knew who did this, who sent their souls back to the time when the apocalypse about to start.It must have been the people who created the apocalypse in the first place. Who else could do such a thing.But if so, then what do they want.'Do they want us to survive?' No, they've already wiped out almost all of humanity. How can I even think that they want us to survive.But if they don't want us to survive, then why send these 2nd and 3rd timers back and back again to fight in this apocalypse.What is their goal?A silent breeze passed by as I felt a faint chill on by body.I had no answer to that question. I will probably never get the answer either.'I guess there's no point in thinking about things that I understand.' I thought and closed Chen Li's profile.After that, I used 50 1st tier crystals to buy 5 2nd tier ones.The price was unfair. So was life. But who gives a fuck.I ate 4 of the 5 crystals and kept 1 for later on.After that, I sold all of the remaining crystals and got 688 white coins in return.Upgrading my Basic Defensive Suit took 665 white coins. So in the end, I was only left with 13 white coins.I opened the hologram and looked at the interface.User name:- Ashok Singh Rana Enhanced Human I Stats:-Strength - 4.4Agility - 2.3 4.6 - Skill Recuperation penaltyEndurance - 4.4Perception - 4.4Mana - 0.7 4.6 - Skill being used.Skills:-Agility Booster 2nd tier- Skill recuperation time left= 9 hours 17 minutes 34 seconds, Advanced Vision 2nd tier, NoneEquipments:-Basic Sword 2nd tier, Clipping Glove 1st tier, Basic Defensive Suit 3rd tier, Basic Helmet 2nd tier, Spatial ring 1st tierWealth:-13 white coins, 1 crystal 2nd tierI looked at the Heavy Machine gun once again. No one has bought it so far. Well I guess I have to be patient with such a thing.I gave one last look to the horde and ran back to the town.I wanted more crystals, so that I could upgrade my equipments and buy a skill book.I also wanted to buy a new skill book for myself.But I was too tired. Both mentally and physically.I wanted more of everything, but not today. Not right now. And thus, I planned to go back and sleep.It was still 3:00 am so the night was still dark, but I had Night Vision so such a thing would not stop me.The return journey was uneventful. No stray abnormals. No mutant dogs. Nothing.I landed on the rooftops and started my jumping routine.I sneaked in a look at Big Bro and realized that he was still sleeping soundly.As for the two bodyguards, they were talking about something. But from their expression, I could tell that they wanted to sleep as well.'Well, I guess this is what ordinary men must do to earn more crystals.' I thought and broke into one of the empty house across the streets.Those who cannot fight on their own must rely on the strong ones to live and become strong themselves.At this point, almost all of the houses in the town were empty so I faced no problem in finding myself a good bed.I laid on top of it and fall asleep before long.'Ashok. Wake up. Wake up Ashok.' I heard a sound in my dreams. But after the sound persisted for a long time, I felt that something was wrong. When I realized such a thing, my dreamworld broke in an instant and I opened my eyes to meet a pair of large eyes with brown pupil."Sera?" I asked in puzzlement as I rubbed my eyes and hoped that I was not drooling in my sleep. That would be embarrassing. "What are you doing here?""Rahul is calling for you." She said."Rahul umm what time is it?""It's around 10:00 am in the morning." She replied. "He asked you to meet him as soon as possible.""Is that so" I looked around an asked "How did you know I was here?""The windows of this house were broken. Just like the past few houses. I got lucky that I found you sleeping here." She said.So that's how it is. Well, it's not important."Let's go meet Rahul" I said and was about to jump out of the window but realized that she was not following me. I looked at her in puzzlement and she replied."I cannot jump out of the window. I'll break my legs if I fall from such a height." She said "You go first. I'll walk out from the door."Only then did I realize that she had not eaten any crystals, unlike me who had already eaten hundreds of them.'Well, I guess I'll do something about that later on.'"Climb on my back. We'll get there fast this way." I said and bent down on a knee as I motioned her to climb up."Huh!" she was a bit surprised by after considering it for a while, she climbed up on my back and I jumped out from the window to the roofs of the buildings.Soon enough, I was standing before Rahul's room.When I reached there, I found three guys sitting outside the room and having a conversation about crystals and abnormals.I realized that all three of them were rather young and were holding some kind of weapon.One was holding an axe, the other was holding a hammer and the last one was simply holding on to an iron rod.I was sure that they would not able to kill any abnormal with a weapon like this.But they were Rahul's new subordinates so I knew that they would become strong enough to face an abnormal pretty soon. If they don't die before that.When I arrived in front of them, they all stopped talking and stood on the side with a fearful look in their eyes.'What the hell are they so afraid of?' I thought but soon realized the reason.I had not cleaned the Defensive suit when I came back so it was stained with blood and bit and pieces of organs.There was a heavy stench of blood and death permeating around me.The fact that they three were not running away in fear already showed that they were much braver than I had previously anticipated.Or maybe they were just too scared to move.I walked inside the room, followed by Sera who was standing behind me now.I entered the room and found that Rahul on a chair was sitting behind a large desk.He was currently talking with a survivor whom I've never met before.It was a middle aged guy who was wearing some old and torn clothes.Seemed like he didn't get a good treatment in the survivor camp.They were talking about something like electrical generator which was out of my area of expertise so I decided to not meddle in their affairs and stood beside the door for a while until Rahul asked the person to leave.Rahul then stood up and looked at me with a gentle smile."You're hard to find little brother." He said."You slept on my bed, so I had to find some other place to sleep.""Yeah I guess it's my fault this time." Rahul said with an amused expression which then turned a bit serious."Come. I was waiting for you. We need to talk about something." Rahul said and rolled out a map on the table."Yesterday, I sent a person to keep an eye on the army base." Rahul said as he circled the area where the army camp was situated."Today, he told me that they had started to pack their supplies and were getting ready to move." He said "My guess is that they want to make this town as their permanent base and are getting ready to move.""So, are we going to leave this place?" I asked in a calm manner. But even though I showed a calm facade, I felt a bit sad and powerless over the fact that we were being chased out of our own town.This was my hometown after all."Yes. But don't think too much about it." Rahul said "I never intended to stay for too in this town in this town anyway.""Then what was your plan?" I asked.Rahul took out another large map and spread it on top of the previous map and pointed at a dot in the map."Kolkata?" I asked in bewilderment "Why would we go there?"It was about 1500 kilometers to the south-east from here. Even if that area is some kind of safe zone, it's still not worth it to travel so far in this apocalyptic time.If we wanted to go there then we would have to literally cross half of the country before we reach there. That's a suicidal thing to do.Rahul hesitated for a bit before saying "Your sister-in-law is there.""So that's the reason. Wait! WHAT???" as soon as I registered the meaning of his words, I felt an explosion in my mind.'Sister-in-law? What do you mean by that? Since when did I have a sister in law. Why didn't you tell me about it? And why are not already going there.' My mind was bombarded with questions that I wanted to ask him. But I held those questions in my heart as I remembered his 2nd timer title.'Is she someone he met in his previous life?' I thought.'If that was the case, then that would make sense, because Rahul never had any girlfriend as far as I knew.''That's right. Rahul never had any girlfriend.' I thought and looked at the Rahul in front of me and wondered if this person was really my big bro or not.My mood dampened down a bit as I thought about it.If the soul of this Rahul came from some other dimension, or some other time line, then doesn't that mean that my big bro's soul is already dead?I didn't wanted to think about it anymore."Why are we still here?" I asked."Huh?" he looked at me in puzzlement."If my sister-in-law is in Kolkata, then why are we still here?" I asked. "Shouldn't we go there as fast as possible. Aren't you worried about her safety?"His expression grew puzzled as he asked "Aren't you going to ask about your sister-in-law. When I met her? Or anything like that?"I took a deep breath and smiled "The fact that you've not told me about her must mean that you must have planned to give us a surprise. Right?"Rahul's expression faltered for a moment when he heard my words but he soon took control of it and shook his head with a smile "I guess you saw through my ruse then.""Yes." I smiled "But you still haven't answered my question. Why are we still here?"He looked at me for a long moment before he sighed and said "I've two reasons for why I'm still here.""What are they?" I asked."First, is the promise I made to Gaurav." Rahul replied "I told him that I would wait for him for a week, so I cannot leave this place before the week is over.""Second, your sister-in-law is not someone who need my protection."'So that's how it is.' I thought 'Well, that makes sense, if sister-in-law was weak, then she would not have survived long enough to meet him in the past life.''But that still doesn't mean that we should leave her like that.'"Why do you value Gaurav so much?" I suddenly asked as I thought of it."You know why. He may be old but he is far more capable than anyone else in here. He will be very valuable to the group." He replied "But his value has nothing to do with why I'm still here.""" I stared at him, waiting for his answer"It had do with the promise I made him." Rahul said with a sigh "I do not break my promises. And you know it better than anyone else."His words struck a chord in my heart.'That's right. Now that I think about it, Big bro usually refrained from making promises, but when he did made a promise, he always did his best to fulfill it.'I sighed as I thought about this thing.I did not knew if this person was really my brother or not. And I felt torn about it. But I hid all those thoughts back in my heart."Does that mean that we'll stay here for four more days, until the week if over?" I asked "What about the army? If they moved in, they you're not planning to fight them are you?"Rahul smiled and shook his head "No. And that's why I called you here.""What does this has to do with me?" I asked in puzzlement. "Do you want me to sabotage their vehicles and lead the horde to them?"Because that was something that I could totally capable of doing.I had already defeated 50 of their members this way.Dealing with the rest won't be all that different."No." Rahul shook his head and said "We have nothing to gain by fighting against them."Rahul then pointed at a small dot in the map and said "This is Karnera. 80 kilometers to the north-east from here. This is where""I remember it. It's Gaurav's son lived." I said "But what's the point of telling me about it.""I want you to go there and bring him back." Rahul said "The faster you do this, the earlier we'll be able to leave from this town."'I knew it.' I thought.The moment he had taken out the map and started pointed at Karnera, I had already guessed that I would have to do something like this."Although I didn't like that old coot, I'll do it. I'll do it for sister-in-law." I said."Also, by the time you return, if we're not in the town, then go to Indari town. I'll hang a red flag at the top of the tallest building there, and you'll know where to go from there.""Hmm Indari town." I looked in the map and saw that the town was aligned with the highway and was about 35 kilometers to the south of our town. "I got it.""Okay. When are you going to leave." Rahul asked.I thought for a while before saying "I'll leave right after meeting with little Neha. But one thing before I leave.""What is it?"I hesitated a bit before saying "There's this girl named Sera in the survivor group. You know the one""The one whole told me about your condition yesterday. Right." Rahul smirked "I understand what you mean. Don't worry. I'll take care of her while you're gone."I didn't like the expression he was making and felt that he'd definitely misunderstood something. But I didn't bother to correct him. "Very well then. I'll take my leave now." I said and took a map from the table and turned to leave."Ashok""Hmm" I turned to look at him with questioning gaze."If you didn't find him in 3 days. Or if he's dead, then come back." Rahul said."I'll do that." I said and turned to leave before he stopped me once again."And one more thing.""What is it?" I asked."Try to collect as many white coins in your journey as possible. After you get a total of 10,000 white coins, I'll help you buy something that will increase your fighting skills exponentially.""10,000 white coins." I stumbled a bit when I heard that. "Oi Rahul. How the hell am I supposed to collect so many white coins."Rahul shook his head with a smile and said "I'm not asking you to collect all of them as fast as possible. Take your time and collect the coins at your own pace. Of course, the faster you're able to collect them, the faster your improvement will be.""I understand. Anything else?" I asked."Yes." Rahul came from behind the table and hugged me tightly for a few seconds before he let go of me "Take care of yourself.""I'm not a kid you know." I said in annoyance and went out of the room.After getting out of the room, I met with Sera, who was standing right outside and explained everything to her.She wanted to join me in the mission but I told her that it's going to be dangerous and she'll just be a burden.Although she was feeling a bit down because of my harsh words, she understood the situation as well and said that she'll wait for my safe return.After that, I went and met with Neha who was talking with some guy who was getting a bit too close to her.I frowned when I looked at the boy He was about my age and had a handsome face.And for some reason, I really wanted to punch him in the face."Neha. I'll be leaving town for a while." I said as I pulled her to the side."Why are you leaving?" She asked as she suddenly grew worried "Isn't it dangerous outside the town. And where are you going?""Calm down." I said and patted her head lovingly "I'm going to find an old man that your big bro wants in the team.""Old man. Who?" Neha asked with confused look in her face."You won't know him." I said and shook my head "But he's a very capable guy. So he might be of use to the group.""Is that so." Neha said in an attempt to show that she understood. But one look at her expression and you'll realize that she was even more confused now."Well You don't need to worry about that." I said and hugged her gently for a few seconds before letting go of her. "I'll be back in a few days alright.""Alright." She said and her eyes turned a bit red as she sniffed to stop her tears."I'll leave now." I said and patted her head one last time before I turned to look at the guy and gave him a 'very' hostile glare before turning around to leave.'If he had any indecent plans for my little sister, then I will have to create a few accidents after I come back.' I thought 'There are so many dangers in this world. Wouldn't be very surprising if one or two people died and became some Abnormal's food.'But, I don't think I need to worry about little Neha with Rahul around.After I packed a few more water and food, I turned to North-east direction and started my journey.
