Chapter 259: Zenith
What if Xithali had actually been performing for these Monarchs?
The thought was sickening, but strangely, Alex didn’t feel his emotions spiraling out of control. He couldn’t tell whether that was because of the news about his mother or because of the Advanced Battle Instinct Spell, but right now, he didn’t have the mind to figure it out.
Regardless of the reason, Alex disliked the possibility. He didn’t know whether the Monarchs could observe them right now, or whether they would only be able to see everything they had done after the so-called doors opened, almost like they were watching a recording of their lives.
He didn’t want either possibility.
How could he stop these Monarchs from peeking into his life as if he were some kind of zoo animal? The answer was simple.
Strength.
If these Monarchs were powerful enough to observe them, then he simply needed to become stronger than them. Alex didn’t know what level they had reached, nor did he know how many of them existed, but he had already made his decision.
’I’ll become stronger than them.’
Alex had an SSS-rank Talent and an SSS-rank Physique. He couldn’t guarantee that his Physique would remain as impressive when he ranked up, but his Talent was likely a true SSS-rank Talent, meaning it would remain SSS-rank as he ranked up repeatedly.
With something so powerful, he needed a goal that matched his potential. He wasn’t going to be satisfied with simply surviving and staying safe anymore.
Until now, Alex had focused almost entirely on surviving and becoming stronger because there had been no other choice. Every encounter had presented another threat, another monster, or another problem that needed to be solved, but now he finally had something beyond survival to pursue.
He would surpass the Monarchs.
Alex clenched his fist and made sure that decision was firmly planted in his mind. A small part of him wondered whether he was simply creating this goal because he wanted something else to focus on instead of thinking about his mother, but Alex immediately rejected the thought. Even if his mother were safe, he still would have made this goal. Even if he didn’t feel suffocated by everything happening around him, he would still have decided to surpass the Monarchs because Alex didn’t like the idea of being watched by powerful beings who could potentially interfere with his life whenever they wanted.
More importantly, he didn’t want to waste this opportunity. Alex had always regretted not taking his studies seriously when he was younger, and later, when he entered college, he had worked much harder because he wanted to make up for the mistakes he had made during his childhood.
For someone without connections or a powerful family, studying had been one of the few ways to climb the social hierarchy. It had been the path available to him, so he had taken it seriously once he understood its importance.
Now the world had changed, and strength clearly mattered more than anything else. Alex wasn’t going to waste this opportunity the same way he had wasted his opportunities when he was younger.
If this new world allowed people to reach heights that had been impossible before, then he would climb as high as possible. He would reach the highest peak, and become the strongest.
Alex closed the Dwitter app and opened the text chat application instead. Robert and the principal had created several different groups for rescuers, Ascendants, and other people depending on the tasks they were handling inside the base.
Alex opened the main group, which only included Ascendants above Level 10. He quickly typed a message explaining the possibility that Pioneers possessed two lives, then asked Robert to have someone gather the names of every Pioneer in the base who claimed to have died on the Land of Origin, along with the names of Pioneers who had died on Earth.
They needed to compare the names and, if possible, begin searching for those people in the Land of Origin. While writing the message, Alex couldn’t help hoping that his mother had been summoned to Easy Difficulty, or at worst, Normal Difficulty.
A reply from Robert appeared only a few seconds after Alex sent the message.
[Robert: Got it. I’ll start the work.]
Alex was about to close the application when another message appeared.
[Travis: @Alex I’ve linked a message above. Please check it.]
Alex opened the linked message and immediately understood why the principal had contacted him. The monster that had destroyed Washington was moving, and according to the reports, it had been traveling across the country while destroying most of the cities and towns along its path.
It wasn’t destroying every place it encountered, almost as if it were in a hurry to reach somewhere, but whenever it encountered a highly populated region, it would attack. Alex’s expression became serious when he saw the current route.
San Francisco was directly in its path.
The monster still hadn’t been clearly seen because the clouds in the sky obscured its body, but that didn’t make the situation any less dangerous. Everyone already knew that whatever had destroyed Washington was far beyond the monsters they normally encountered.
Alex stared at the message for several seconds before understanding what the principal was asking.
’He’s asking whether we should begin preparing an evacuation or whether we can deal with it here.’
That was the real problem.
They didn’t know where the monster was heading, but San Francisco happened to be directly along its current path. Considering the number of people living in the city, there was little reason to believe that the monster would simply pass through without attacking.
Alex’s mind quickly began considering their options. Evacuation seemed almost impossible because there were far too many people in the city, and moving everyone would take an enormous amount of time even under normal circumstances.
The roads were already damaged, buildings had collapsed across various areas, and countless monsters were still wandering around the region. Even if they somehow managed to organize the evacuation, they would have to protect the civilians while they moved.
That created another serious problem.
They didn’t have enough powerful Ascendants to protect such a large group. If monsters attacked the evacuees along the way, the strongest Ascendants would have to spread themselves across a massive area to defend everyone, making it difficult for them to respond effectively if something truly powerful appeared.
Alex understood why the principal had told him to look at the message, because Travis was effectively asking whether Alex could deal with the flying monster.
’A monster that almost blew up Washington. That has to be above a Street Level Boss Monster,’ Alex thought.
Honestly, considering how quickly he had been growing, Alex was confident that he could eventually become strong enough to deal with something like that if he had enough time. The problem was that he didn’t know whether he had enough time before the monster reached San Francisco.
What if he said he could handle it and failed in the end? Could he really take responsibility for thousands of lives if his confidence turned out to be misplaced?
Alex took a deep breath as he considered the situation. Someone had to take responsibility, and the principal was asking him because he was currently the strongest person in the base.
Alex could either cower, avoid making the decision, and tell them to figure it out themselves, or he could step forward and accept the responsibility.
If he wanted to build a powerful faction and eventually become strong enough to stand above everyone else, then there was only one choice.
He typed a message into the group.
[You: I will handle the monster. As soon as it comes within a day’s distance of our location, I’ll go deal with it.]
..
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