The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 149: Teamwork

Ronnie and Xiran were quick to react. A glance at the battlefield told them what they were going to face.

From the two sides, they rushed to hold onto Can with such ferocity that they squashed Can’s face between their chests like a patty between hamburger buns, her mouth pushed into an open O.

“In...visibility...”

Can activated her Talent.

In an instant, the trio disappeared.

So that’s how it works, Gao Yang thought with pleasant surprise.

He had been curious about how Invisibility worked. If it only turned the body invisible, what about the clothes she wore? Or the weapons in her hands? With those announcing where she was, the Talent would be essentially useless.

But it turned out Invisibility allowed her to turn herself as well as those within a certain range invisible.

Considering how tightly Ronnie and Xiran were holding onto her, the effective range was probably about half a meter.

Losing the target, Officer Liu turned to aim the cannon at Gao Yang.

Swoosh!

A throwing knife buried into Officer Liu’s shoulder.

His attention shifted again, and he raised his cannon arm to aim at the metal hood, where Lithe Snake was.

“Grrrrr—”

The deadly green ray shot at Lithe Snake with precision.

Lithe Snake kicked against the hood with both feet, dodging the shot narrowly. Holding the ceiling fan, he swung toward the counter for chopping pork.

With a roll along the counter, he grabbed a cleaver and jumped to the side as quickly as he could. Half a second after, the following lesser deadly ray sliced open the entire counter.

Lithe Snake ran at full speed, throwing his last two knives to cover himself.

Officer Liu stopped to recharge his right arm.

Swoosh, swoosh!

Two fireballs flew toward Officer Liu from the sides. Gao Yang had been waiting. Unable to get away in time, Officer Liu blocked them with his right hand.

The fireballs were so unstable that they burst into flames at once and scattered all over his skin.

“Ahhhh...”

Although the fire lasted only a few seconds, it was enough to hurt Officer Liu and slow him down, buying more time for Gao Yang’s team.

Officer Liu’s throat gurgled again, about to shoot out another deadly ray.

At some point, Lithe Snake had crawled to the hood right above his head.

Lithe Snake dropped down without making a sound with both his hands gripping the cleaver, thrusting toward Officer Liu’s head with the added momentum from gravity.

With his instinctual sense for danger, Officer Liu whirled around at the last moment, and the sharp cleaver ended up stabbing into his back.

Stepping on Officer Liu’s shoulders with both feet, Lithe Snake yanked out the cleaver and attempted another stab.

Officer Liu threw him into the air with a swing of his right arm.

“Grrrrraaaah...”

Pain overwhelmed Officer Liu and compelled him to turn around in place, its arm cannon shooting another deadly ray. This time, it was thin, dense, and nonstop like a laser machine gun, threatening to indiscriminately destroy the entire market with tremendous firepower.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.

For a moment, the market was pelted with green rays.

Gao Yang, while taking cover by a cement platform, was reminded of a laser light show at nightclubs.

Under such relentless firepower, anyone would be asking for death to get close to the monstrous man.

Gao Yang felt a headache brewing.

Lithe Snake was bad at following orders. He had told him to attract the ranged attacks, not duel Officer Liu.

While lying on the ground, Gao Yang made a gesture at Gray Bear, who wasn’t far from him. I’ll attract the fire. Get close when you spot a chance.

He then activated the replicated Gecko.

Leaping up from the platform for vegetables, he threw two carrots at Officer Liu. They weren’t going to do much compared to throwing knives, of course, but Officer Liu didn’t have the sound mind to discern between different projectiles.

As expected, Officer Liu shifted its target to Gao Yang and stopped its random shooting spree.

Gao Yang had charged at Officer Liu for exactly the purpose of attracting its attention. Sensing the incoming threat, Officer Liu gathered green energy in both his right arm and his mouth.

Gao Yang’s heart sank. Shit. Why is it attacking both ways when it comes to me?!

“Grrrr—”

The two rays of light shot out at the same time, one thicker than the other.

Propelling himself up with all the power he could muster, Gao Yang made a flip in the air with difficulty and barely dodged the converging deadly rays.

Without Gecko, he wouldn’t have been able to make it with his Agility alone.

Two seconds later, Gao Yang landed, and he jumped toward Officer Liu without pause.

Officer Liu was going to launch another attack, but Gray Bear knocked into him from the side out of nowhere like a fearless metal-plated tank, shouting as he put his back into the impact. Officer Liu raised his right arm to block reflexively, but still got knocked off its feet with a thud.

Clang!

Officer Liu slammed into the rolling door of a storefront, making a loud bang. The sheer impact knocked the metal door off the bearings and left a dent in the middle.

“Trap it with the door!” Gao Yang shouted.

Without missing a beat, Gray Bear rushed over and grabbed the top and bottom of the rolling door. With a yank and a push, he wrapped Officer Liu tightly between the door like a sushi roll. However, the door was far from sturdy enough. Under the corrosive rays, it was as easily breakable as a sheet of paper.

Pew!

Indeed, a thin ray of light put a hole in the rolling door.

Gray Bear hurriedly retreated, almost hit by the attack.

Gao Yang had already rushed toward Officer Liu, but he wasn’t certain his attack would be effective. His Fire couldn’t reach its full damage output if he failed to keep the target still for more than five seconds.

However, there was no better way.

He concentrated his energy in his hands, about to activate Fire.

“Out of the way!”

Then a yell came from his left.

He turned to see a thick metal beam floating in the air, stabbing at Officer Liu.

Crack, thud!

It pierced through the folded door before penetrating Officer Liu’s body, pinning him to the wall at an upward angle.

It was then Can’s Invisibility lost effect.

The trio were revealed to be holding the metal beam with all six hands, pinning Officer Liu firmly to the wall with their teamwork.

Three pairs of hands were certainly better than one pair, Gao Yang thought, surprised in a good way.

Unfortunately, their moment of glory lasted no more than three seconds.

“Oww, my foot.”

Can fell on her bottom. She seemed to have twisted her ankle while charging.

Xiran rushed to Gao Yang and covered his ears with both hands.

Surprised, Gao Yang didn’t realize what was happening before Ronnie burst into a strange scream, his throat bobbing.

“Kyaaaa, kyaaaaaa, ahhhh—”

Gao Yang was hit with a wave of irritation as if a hundred people were fighting in his head, the chaos preventing him from focusing on anything. The effect, fortunately, was diminished with his ears covered, and he came to his senses slowly.

It was Ronnie’s Disorientation, Gao Yang realized.

It worked on Officer Liu as well, and instead of making an attack, the monster wrapped in metal and pinned to the wall struggled senselessly while crying out.

The rolling door sandwiching Officer Liu loosened and slowly opened by a crack.

Gao Yang raised his hands at the metal plates opening like a blooming flower, pushing all his fiery energy into the attack.

“Fire!”