The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 782: Unreplicable

The official channel leading out of Aurora Town was a long, straight highway, sandwiched by vast snowy land. Of course, if one got out of the car and investigated the two sides, they would find it impossible to go further after two hundred meters. There was a supernatural barrier that one could never approach—the Mist.

An orange bus drove smoothly along the road. Most of the twenty or more passengers had fallen asleep due to injury and exhaustion. The few still awake looked out of the windows, silently dwelling in their thoughts.

The passengers looked like tourists who had been traveling for half a month with fading excitement and enthusiasm, left with only exhaustion and the urge to go home.

With a cigarette in his mouth, War Tiger held the driving wheel with both hands. In the passenger seat was Surnamed Li, who was also awake.

Without Little Tian as a radar, Surnamed Li’s ability to see the next ten seconds was the next best thing.

Out of boredom, War Tiger struck up a conversation with Surnamed Li.

“Hey, can you believe it? We killed thousands of elite monsters earlier. Most were killed by Azure Dragon, though.”

Surnamed Li stared at the silent night view outside the window and only gave a small nod in response.

“After the Crimson Tide and the fight tonight, the young elite monsters with the ability to fight in the Mist World should mostly be wiped out.”

“As long as we come together, what can’t we do?” Surnamed Li smiled faintly.

War Tiger laughed. “However, some people reject forming a united front.”

“Do you mean the Nine Scions?” Surnamed Li played dumb on purpose.

“Not just them, right?” War Tiger tested her with a half-joke and a disingenuous smile.

Surnamed Li didn’t deem that a response. She continued to look at the end of the road and the seemingly unreachable horizon, bemused.

Meanwhile, Liu Qingying and Yan Liang sat side by side in the back row of the seats. Liu Qingying rested two fingers on the back of Yan Liang’s wrinkled hand. They closed their eyes and entered a Sweet Dream.

Due to their sleep being shallow given the environment they were in, Liu Qingying didn’t put in the effort to create a vivid, interesting setting this time. Instead, they found themselves in the tight space of a confessional.

Liu Qingying was in the compartment on the left, and Yan Liang, the right. Between them was a wooden screen that covered their faces.

“You’ve helped me get revenge, Elder Yan Liang. I’ll honor my word and give you two important pieces of information.” Liu Qingying paused. “However, you’ll be the one to judge if they are true.”

“Go on.”

“First, the requirement for a Talent to reach level 8 by merging with a Rune Circuit.”

“There’s a requirement?” Yan Liang was surprised.

“Haha, I had the same question when I heard that.” Liu Qingying shared what Gao Yang said with Yan Liang.

Yan Liang thought for a moment. He didn’t dwell on it since he didn’t want Liu Qingying to catch his emotions and thoughts.

He nodded slightly. “Alright.”

“The second piece of information is closely relevant to the Ocean River Union,” Liu Qingying warned. “You should take it seriously.”

“Please continue.”

“The Nine Scions are formulating a plan to take revenge against the Ocean River Union.”

“Ha.” Yan Liang was unfazed. “That’s as expected. Do you know the details of the actual plan?”

“He isn’t going to just spell it out.” Liu Qingying smiled delicately. “The only thing I can tell you is that he asked me to get him a lot of bombs.”

Yan Liang nodded. “I’m satisfied with the trade.”

“So am I,” Liu Qingying said. “Pleasure working with you.”

Yan Liang didn’t say anything.

Soon, darkness overwhelmed them, and the dream crumbled. Five seconds later, Yan Liang opened his eyes on the bus, and Liu Qingying woke up, pulling her hand back.

Yan Liang’s thin, frail frame shook along with the movement of the bus, his old eyes glinting coldly under the mask. What are you up to this time, Gao Yang?

...

Spectres’ Mansion, Xijing District, next early morning.

“Captain’s back!” Can, who had been playing a Rubik’s cube on the couch jumped to her feet and called out as soon as she heard the door open. Although it could be the members out on patrol returning, there was a slight difference in the sound everyone made when opening the door.

Captain always opened the door more gently. Can could recognize it immediately.

“I’m back.” Gao Yang gingerly closed the door behind him, taking off the black coat covered in snow.

“How did it go, Captain?” Can went up to take the coat from him and put it on the coat stand behind the door.

Everyone was opposed to Gao Yang heading to Snow Nation on his own, but Gao Yang insisted. He had Nainai change his face and replicated Telepathy, Invisibility, and Gale before setting out.

Can had been on pins and needles the past two days. She prayed for Gao Yang’s safe return even in her dreams.

Now that Gao Yang had returned, she only showed a faint smile on her face, but if she had a tail, it would be wagging.

The other members heard the commotion and emerged from their rooms. Outside of Wang Zikai and Qing Ling, who were on patrol, and Nainai and Raven Shark, who were out on a mission, they all gathered in the living room.

“How did it go, Captain?” Nine Frost, their deputy captain, asked.

“Dust died. Clear Mirror escaped. There were two other enemies—primes of wrath monsters, I think—and both are dead, too...” Then Gao Yang described what he had witnessed in Aurora Town.

“You were right.” Nine Frost shuddered. “It was Dust’s trap for you, and if the Nine Scions bit the bait—even on purpose—we were likely to get wiped out.”

“Yeah. That was thousands of elite monsters. Even if they stood there and let me hit them, I would sooner exhaust myself than kill all of them.” Can felt numb in the scalp at the thought alone.

Gao Yang nodded. “If not for Surnamed Li predicting the danger with Prophet and calling for reinforcement, the entire Team Azure Dragon would be dead, too.”

“That’s troublesome,” Zhang Wei said with concern. “How are we going to take revenge with the old fox around?”

Chen Ying didn’t say anything. She never did when Surnamed Lie was brought up.

She hated the woman, so much so that she never wanted to talk about her.

Gao Yang pondered for a moment before making the decision. “We follow our plan.”

Nine Frost nodded. “Right, the Ocean River Union just had a huge fight. The members are exhausted. It’s the best time for payback.”

“Has your Talent leveled up, Chen Ying?” Gao Yang asked.

“It did last night,” Chen Ying said. “I’ve returned the Damage Rune Circuit to Qing Ling.”

“Good.”

The night Chen Ying attempted suicide after what happened at the Starcatching Pavilion, she fell deep asleep and woke up with her third Talent: Explosives Expert.

That was why Gao Yang thought of using bombs.

The Ocean River Union’s base was underground. They would break it with an explosion to flush the members out if nothing else.

Of course, Gao Yang didn’t think the bombs would be enough for their revenge. It was simply the first step of the plan to force the Union to abandon the secure underground base.

“Zhang Wei.” Gao Yang extended a hand to Zhang Wei. “Let’s try once more.”

“Okay!” Zhang Wei immediately took his hand.