The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 478: Second Time

When Gao Yang and Qing Ling chased Xing Kong to the top of the mountain, he had guessed that a difficult fight was inevitable. Thus, he crushed the button on his collar immediately, but to his surprise, the one who showed up first wasn’t a member of Team Heavenbreaker, but War Tiger.

He immediately reminded War Tiger, “Kill Astronaut first! She can release poison!”

War Tiger, with his wealth of experience, looked at the figure in a spacesuit not far away and immediately put two and two together.

He smirked derisively. Although he was an assassin looked down on by fighters, it didn’t stop him from looking down on the even more insidious poisoner.

In two seconds, he rushed to Blood Amber.

She didn’t move at all. The moment War Tiger’s eyes locked on her, she knew she would die.

There was no running away.

She might as well embrace death openly, and things would end more quickly. She could even picture the devices sustaining her life getting cut along with her head, which smelled of decay and medicine.

But when War Tiger’s blade actually swung toward her, it ended up going through her without inflicting damage, like he had cut through an illusion.

At some point, an elegantly-dressed older gentleman had shown up behind Blood Amber, his left hand resting on Blood Amber’s shoulder.

Both of them had turned into translucent spirits without physical form.

“They’re invincible in that state, but they can’t attack us either.” Gao Yang recognized Edmond and warned War Tiger.

“Seriously? That’s a foul move!” War Tiger had been around for quite a long time, yet he was stunned by the strange Talent.

Then Madam Wu quietly lifted Xing Kong, who was dying with his left arm lost, and ran toward Edmond, reaching out quickly.

Edmond took her hand with his other hand.

Instantly, Madam Wu and the man she was carrying on her shoulder both became unreachable as well.

“Hey!” War Tiger widened his mouth with childish ire. “That’s cheating!”

“Die!” War Tiger swung his blade at the four “spirits” carelessly. “Die, die, die...”

The four unreachable Tails members had an awkward look on their faces, watching the powerful man jumping up and down while flailing around like a monkey on speed.

Gao Yang facepalmed, feeling regret. I shouldn’t have called you teacher. You’re being embarrassing.

After his absurd way of testing the ability, War Tiger finally confirmed and accepted that the four of them were now beyond his reach.

He put away his blade and crossed his arms, staring at Edmond. “It pisses me off to just let you go!”

Edmond chuckled and smiled politely. “I apologize to you for my teammates’ reckless behavior.”

“Apologize? What’s that gonna do?” War Tiger raged and pointed at Gao Yang and the unconscious Qing Ling. “Look what you’ve done to my precious disciples!”

“My teammates haven’t fared much better,” Edmond said resignedly.

War Tiger looked at the mess Madam Wu and Xing Kong were, feeling somewhat appeased. Xing Kong had lost an arm and blacked out from the injury, and Madam Wu had gotten disfigured and suffered from a concussion.

“You’re Tails?” War Tiger asked. He had been looking into Tails lately and caught traces of them, which was why he had been nearby.

He was surprised when he learned from White Rabbit that Gao Yang had sent an SOS signal, and he ended up being the first to come to their rescue.

“Yes.” Edmond nodded.

“And you work for the Godbearer Cult?”

“We do,” Edmond said honestly.

“What are you up to in Li City?”

“It’s a mission I cannot tell you about, I’m sorry.” Edmond gave him a friendly smile. “But I can promise you that we don’t intend to declare war against the three organizations. This is merely a misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding?” War Tiger’s brows furrowed dramatically. “I’d be collecting their bodies if I had arrived even a little later. You call that a misunderstanding?”

Edmond chuckled, his smile as gentle as ever, but self-mockery colored his voice as he said, “We’re mice living in the sewer, and we long to be like awakeners with high-ranking Talents. We longed so strongly and bottled the feeling up for so long that it turned into fierce jealousy. We’re pathetic ones consumed by that jealousy, which leads to extreme behavior. I hope you understand.”

War Tiger smacked his lips. Edmond had even compared themselves to mice residing in the sewer. It would be unbecoming to insult them further.

“Still, I am sorry for what happened today.” Edmond bowed deeply. “I failed to keep my teammates in line. I apologize again.”

“Yeah yeah yeah.” War Tiger picked at his ear with his pinky. He knew he wouldn’t get more answers out of the man. “Whatever you say. I can’t kill you anyway.”

“Then we’ll take our leave.”

“Piss off.”

Edmond held onto Madam Wu’s and Blood Amber’s hands. They turned around in a cautious, awkward way before walking away in unison. Soon, their translucent figure moved through the dense forest until they disappeared entirely.

War Tiger sheathed his blade and turned to look at Gao Yang, his father, and Qing Ling.

“Little Yang Yang, this is...”

“My dad,” Gao Yang said weakly. “He just awakened with Absolute Defense.”

“Haha!” War Tiger was happy. “Like son, like father!”

Gao Shou was confused. There were so many questions in his head, but he didn’t want the answers now; all he cared about was the safety of his son and his daughter-in-law.

“You alright, Son? I think you got poisoned...”

“Don’t worry.” War Tiger smiled. “The clerics will be here soon.”

“Clerics?” Gao Shou was befuddled.

“The medics,” Gao Yang explained in a way his father would understand.

“Oh, right.” His father had played Red Alert before, so he got what that meant.

“Aghhhh—”

A familiar scream resounded from the forest. They looked up to see White Rabbit jumping amid the trees while grabbing onto Fat Jun’s hand. Soon, they were right before them. Level 6 Jump granted formidable speed.

As soon as White Rabbit let go of Fat Jun, he collapsed to his knees and threw up. It felt like he had gotten on a rollercoaster ride ten times in a row; all his internal organs were a mess.

Ignoring Fat Jun, White Rabbit strode up to them quickly and spotted Gao Yang at first glance.

She paused before breaking into a sweet smile brimming with schadenfreude. “Oh, isn’t it Elder Seven Shadow? It’s only been a few days. How did you become such a loser already?”