The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 622: Think Further

“How did it go?” A red dot sparked in the shadowed corner on the left of the hibernation chamber. It was War Tiger’s cigarette.

“Done,” White Rabbit said stiffly. “Adept Horse was wavering, but he’ll settle down.”

“Haha, you’re good, Rabbit. You have him eating from your palm with your feminine wiles so easily.” War Tiger flattered her.

White Rabbit scowled and didn’t answer.

“What, still angry?” asked War Tiger.

“Oh, how dare I be?” White Rabbit scoffed.

“You’re with friends, Rabbit, and no sound can leave the room. Speak your mind.”

“Then I will.”

War Tiger grinned. “Go ahead.”

White Rabbit took a deep breath.

“War Tiger you ****! **** you even lied to me! **** even Heavenly Dog **** knows, yet I was the only one **** in the dark. War Tiger, you ***** go ****...”

War Tiger had covered his ears in preparation for the verbal barrage that was to come, and he smiled as White Rabbit cursed up a storm.

Face flushed and chest heaving, White Rabbit closed her eyes and exhaled a long breath. “Alright. I’m good.”

War Tiger snickered. “Cursing right in front of Dragon, Rabbit? Don’t you have your image of a proper lady to maintain?”

“But I’m pissed!” White Rabbit snapped, glancing at the hibernation chamber. “Captain! Why did you keep Gao Yang’s undercover mission in the Qilin Guild from me?! I feel like the biggest idiot! I took every chance to insult Gao Yang whenever I met him. He must hate me so much...”

“That’s the idea.” War Tiger grinned. “You acting like that prevented the Qilin Guild from suspecting him. Besides, Little Yang Yang isn’t that petty.”

“Still, I don’t understand,” White Rabbit said. “Why must Gao Yang go independent rather than return to us? We share the same goal, don’t we?”

She was a little worried. “He’s on his own now. How can he possibly be Qilin’s match?”

“Ha, why?” War Tiger walked out of the shadow and shook his head in resignation. “What do you think?”

White Rabbit paused and thought about it. “Could it be...that Gao Yang was worried about dragging us down?”

“That must be one of the reasons, but not the whole picture.” War Tiger narrowed his eyes and took a drag of his cigarette. “While Gao Yang’s eighteen, Rabbit, he’s been through a lot and has been dancing between the three major organizations and the Spectres. The way he thinks is like threading a needle. Don’t be limited to your own perspective and position. Put yourself in his shoes and look at the big picture.”

War Tiger tapped on his temple with a forefinger. “Think further, Rabbit.”

White Rabbit focused on her thoughts. After half a minute, she came up with some possibilities, but she still couldn’t figure the whole thing out.

“Alright.” War Tiger was impatient. “I’ll talk you through it.”

He turned to the hibernation chamber, addressing Dragon at the same time. “That night, Gao Yang went into the abyss and came back empty-handed, without the Guard Rune Circuit. Then he asked Qilin for a private conversation, yet they turned against each other immediately after. Qilin put out a wanted notice against Seven Shadow, branding him a traitor.”

“It’s ridiculous,” White Rabbit said.

“Yeah, and two hours ago, Qilin made a serious announcement to all, stating that Gao Yang had hidden the Guard Rune Circuit, kept his Talent, Lucky, a secret, and was actually the true leader of the Tails, a high-ranking member of the Godbearer Cult, and the public enemy of humanity. The crimes listed are numerous.”

White Rabbit said, “Outside of hiding the Guard Rune Circuit, I don’t buy any of it.”

“Yeah, now it seems that Gao Yang had the Guard Rune Circuit from the beginning. After fighting the Malediction, the Rune Circuit had been picked up by Gao Yang—no, by Qing Ling. Being loyal to Gao Yang, Qing Ling secretly handed the Rune Circuit to him, but Gao Yang didn’t give it to Qilin or us. He told no one about it and continued to act, buying himself time for his plan to go independent.”

“Makes sense.” White Rabbit agreed with the speculation.

War Tiger smiled shrewdly. “And the claim that Little Yang Yang has Lucky is very likely true.”

“Really?” White Rabbit was surprised.

“First, don’t you think Gao Yang has been too lucky?”

White Rabbit came to a quick realization. “Do you mean that Lucky is a passive ability?”

“Yeah, Dragon once told me that Gao Yang’s luck was part of his strength, too. I only realized now that he didn’t mean luck in the general sense, but Talent: Lucky!”

White Rabbit’s eyes glinted. “Captain’s Talent is Overlord, the top Miracle-type Talent. He would be able to sense it if Gao Yang had Lucky. Captain must have reached level 4 with Overlord given he had killed a life monster on his own, yet he’s never touched the Miracle Rune Circuit at all. Could it be that Gao Yang had helped him get the energy seed...”

White Rabbit trailed off, covering her mouth reflexively. Holy, Captain’s playing 4D chess here!

“Haha.” War Tiger had reached the same conclusion too. He glanced at the hibernation chamber. “Now it seems that Qilin has figured that out, too, which is why he included Talent: Lucky as part of the accusations, making Gao Yang out into the leader of Tails and a high-ranking member of the Cult, even painting him as the enemy of all humans.”

In the hibernation chamber, Dragon could hear them but not answer them.

War Tiger turned to White Rabbit. “Let’s get back to the topic. What did Gao Yang talk to Qilin about that led to the complete one-eighty of their relationship?”

“First possibility, Seven Shadow wanted to quit, and Qilin considered him a threat that must be eliminated, so he attacked him.”

“That’s too far.” White Rabbit shook her head. “I don’t think Qilin is mad enough to do that.”

“Yes, then there’s the second possibility.” War Tiger took out another cigarette and put it in his mouth. “Qilin found that Gao Yang had hidden the Guard Rune Circuit, and in a moment of rage, he flipped out.”

White Rabbit shook her head again. “That would be a serious matter, but Qilin has no reason to go this far for that.”

“Why?” War Tiger asked on purpose.

“Because we all want to open the Gates of Closure. Once we have all the Rune Circuits, we can just open the Gates together. Why does it matter that Qilin doesn’t have all the Rune Circuits? The other organizations each have a few Rune Circuits, right? And Qilin’s fine with that.”

“That’s right. Therefore, the conflict between Gao Yang and Qilin must be anything but simple. Unless...” War Tiger smiled.

“Unless Gao Yang discovered Qilin’s bottom line and ultimate goal, and he was vehemently against that. Qilin was forced to make a move—a deadly move. Because it’s too risky to have the Divine Scion be determined to foil his plan.”

Worried that he hadn’t made himself clear, War Tiger made a comparison. “We all have our bottom line. Take Dragon for an example. He’s willing to back away on everything else, but if anyone dares to stop Dragon from having the Gates of Closure opened, he’ll go so far as to dig up their ancestors’ graves and turn them into pit latrines.”

White Rabbit shot back, “Captain’s not gonna stoop that low.”

“I don’t mean it literally.”

White Rabbit nodded. “I understand what you’re getting at.”