The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 726: Period

The building was the tallest one in the Feiyang District, overlooking the entire Li City. The only architecture that could rival and exceed it by a small margin was the Millennium Tower in Daxu District.

The two buildings were ten and some kilometers apart. Looking from above, they looked like two antennas protruding from the city.

On top of the building stood members of the Qilin Guild who had received an emergency summon. They each wore dark-colored clothes that blended in the night.

There were the Elders: Yan Liang and Azure Dragon.

The Protectors: Six Rimes and Zero Hatred.

The Elites: Flower Turtle, Black Fish, Forest Crane, Old Lion, Correcting Sickle, Chaos Reflection, Succubus, and Nagging Mister.

And finally the Members: Veggie, Core East, Xiao Xin, and Small Luo.

Tonight, these people would launch an all-in large-scale ambush and assault at whatever cost necessary, and the goal was to wipe out the Nine Scions.

It all started six days ago.

Six days ago, Chen Ying shot Surnamed Li and stole the Rune Circuits from the Hundred Rivers Union, defecting to the Nine Scions with her trusted companions.

Put into a coma from the critical injury, Surnamed Li didn’t wake up until three days later, and she had a conversation with Yan Liang.

Surnamed Li brought to the meeting the three Black Gold bullets extracted from her body and a bald man, Miss, who had resisted Chen Ying’s persuasion.

Surnamed Li got right to the point: she could help the Qilin Guild find the Nine Scions’ hideout. In exchange, the Qilin Guild must kill the leader of the Nine Scions, Gao Yang.

Yan Liang would want nothing more, but he was surprised.

He had thought that Surnamed Li wanted to stay a neutral party for survival amid the conflict, and she even leaned toward working with the Nine Scions secretly to root out Dust.

It had only been a few days, yet the old woman had suddenly turned into a radical advocate for erasing the Nine Scions.

Yan Liang wasn’t convinced. He suspected that it was another scheme, like what had happened with Ke Yo.

The two talked in depth.

“I understand your anger because Chen Ying betrayed you, but according to what I know about you, you’re not someone capable of this.” Yan Liang smiled. “You’re phoning it in. I can’t not suspect you.”

Surnamed Li took off her glasses. Her usual gentle look was replaced by absolute calmness. “To tell you the truth, Elder Yan Liang, I don’t like the Qilin Guild, and I don’t like you or Qilin. If I had a choice, I wouldn’t leave the future of humanity to you.”

“But I don’t have a choice.”

Yan Liang stayed silent, his eyes dark and deep under the mask.

“I only have one demand. Gao Yang must die,” said Surnamed Li. “Everything I did was for the future of humanity. For that, I’m selling out the person who trusts me the most and my soul.”

Yan Liang still didn’t say anything.

“Chen Ying carries her gun every day, but she almost never makes any shots. These three bullets have been with her for at least half a year, thus containing some of her energy. Although it’s been more than three days, Miss can still track her to a certain range with level 4 Tracking. Past a week, though, there’s nothing he can do.”

“Moreover, my level 7 Prophet grants me a new skill. As long as it’s someone who’s been deeply intertwined with my life, I’ll be able to glimpse into snippets of what she sees through the dream within a week.”

“Those are the clues I can provide you. Find the Nine Scions and kill Gao Yang.” Surnamed Li stared at Yan Liang. “That’s my plan. If you don’t believe me, you’re free to turn away.”

Yan Liang thought for half a minute. He believed that the Qilin Guild didn’t stand to lose anything in this.

“Alright.” Yan Liang agreed. “Afterward, we’re taking the three Rune Circuits until the Gates are opened.”

“Be my guest,” Surnamed Li said carelessly.

“What do you want after that?”

“If possible, lend me the Knowledge Rune Circuit and allow me to reach level 8 by merging with it. I’d like to see further into humanity’s future if possible.”

Yan Liang nodded. “I’ll consider it.”

“When do we get started?” Surnamed Li asked. “Miss and I can only track them for another two days.”

“We start right now.”

Then Yan Liang started his plan.

Miss tracked the three Black Gold bullets to a particular area in the Feiyang District. He drew a circle on the map, which would be ten kilometers in diameter in real life.

Yan Liang actually suspected that Miss was playing a trick on them when he got the result. The Nine Scions were hiding right in Qilin Guild’s turf?

Still, since the Guild wouldn’t lose anything, Yan Liang continued to investigate.

A ten-kilometer circle was too large for a comprehensive search, and they would risk alerting their targets. The Nine Scions were shrewd and had many burrows, quick to disappear for a different hiding spot. If they sent people to look for the Nine Scions at such a scale, the Nine Scions would immediately move away.

Surnamed Li had caught glimpses of Chen Ying’s sight with her prophetic dream, though. They were blurry, but she speculated that the Nine Scions should be hiding in a large basement. What she saw through Chen Ying’s eyes was a place without windows.

According to the clues, Black Fish started his secret search.

For the next three days, Black Fish slept for only an hour per day as he searched row after row of buildings with Clairvoyance from a tall building, holding the map of the Feiyang District. His search was focused on the underground parking lots, underground warehouses, and underground floors of the malls.

After every use of Clairvoyance, he would rest for five minutes. And he put crosses on the map as he checked every place.

It wasn’t until eleven o’clock tonight that he searched the place he thought was least likely to be the Nine Scions’ hiding place, the Starcatching Pavilion. To his surprise, there was a hidden basement under the Starcatching Pavilion, and seeing through it, he screamed in excitement.

There! The Nine Scions and Chen Ying’s group were all hiding there!

He saw Gao Yang and Qing Ling talking about something seriously a little away from the group.

Without delay, Black Fish reported to Yan Liang, and Yan Liang notified Azure Dragon to gather most of the Guild members on the rooftop of the Rongsheng Building.

He didn’t call Qilin because Qilin was heading to Island Nation with Vermilion Bird for an important cause, and Qilin’s Eidos wasn’t key in this operation.

After Yan Liang and Qilin failed to take out the Nine Scions the last time, he reflected on the reasons. He believed it was because Gao Yang was too agile and quick-witted with unparalleled ability in fleeing.

He had Teleportation. And he could somehow increase his mental resistance in a short time to defend against Qilin’s psychic attack. Moreover, he could also unleash a white energy shockwave to silence all awakeners within a few hundred meters for half a second. The ability seemed to have a cooldown though.

He also had the help of Waking Insects from the Spectres, who could move at the double speed of sound. Although the Spectre didn’t have any means of attack, he could whisk people away easily, impossible to stop.

Moreover, Little Tian’s joining would allow the Nine Scions to know everything that was happening within three kilometers, allowing them to avoid detection.

If they attacked from a close range, it would be impossible for them to catch Gao Yang unless he stayed and fought. He could escape as long as he wanted to.

Yan Liang wasn’t going to repeat his mistake.

He had formed a rough plan when he had the conversation with Surnamed Li. The key to this operation was the strongest awakener on paper—Azure Dragon.

While Azure Dragon didn’t like Yan Liang, he was absolutely loyal to Qilin. Qilin had stated that Yan Liang would be the commander in chief for this operation.

January 1st, 23:59. The operation officially commenced.

Yan Liang had his hands behind his hunched back, facing the strong gusts with his mask. His voice was hoarse but strong as he exclaimed, “Focus, everyone!”

“Tonight, we erase the Nine Scions and put a period to the civil war that shouldn’t have broken out.”

“We fight for humanity, for survival!”

Yan Liang made the declarations in Qilin’s place.