The Creatures That We Are

With the imprint of wanderers, Gao Yang, Qing Ling, Officer Huang, Lithe Snake, Nainai, and Chen Ying boarded the plane at nine o’clock at night and arrived at the West Nation airport at eleven in the morning.

The one welcoming them at the arrival hall was a blond man with average appearance but a pair of deep, captivating grayish blue eyes. He was all dressed up in suits with a brand name watch and his blond hair neatly combed, cutting the figure of an elite worker.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to West Nation!” He spoke in authentic West Nation language, his smile friendly.

“It’s been a while, Chen.” He opened his arms to give Chen Ying a hug, only to remember the difference in culture when Chen Ying remained unmoving and opted to shake her hand instead.

Chen Ying took his hand and answered in the same language, “It’s been a while, Dick.”

She let go and turned to introduce the man, “He’s Dick, a West Nation native and a member of the Union’s intelligence department. He’s been spending most of his time here, and he’s the head of this investigation.”

“Can he be trusted?” Lithe Snake asked in their own language.

“He can,” Chen Ying said.

“Dick, this is the head of Operation: Heavenbreaker, Elder Seven Shadow of the Qilin Guild,” Chen Ying introduced Gao Yang separately.

“Your reputation precedes you, Elder Seven Shadow.” Dick offered a hand.

“Well met.” Gao Yang nodded and took his hand.

—Detected Talent: Tracking. Do you wish to replicate it?

Tracking, serial number 125, Support-type.

The Talent allowed one to locate an object they had touched within a certain period of time.

That made the man a human tracker and locator, perfect for intelligence work.

Chen Ying then briefly introduced the other members. With that out of the way, Dick led them to the parking lot, where there was an eight-passenger white van.

It drove out of the airport, entering Zone 1 of A City in an hour.

Zone 1 was the city center with towering skyscrapers, interwoven traffic, and dense population. On the streets, a hodgepodge of cultures could be observed.

It was hard to imagine that the megacity boasting tens of millions of people housed only five hundred thousand in actuality.

Gao Yang had to admire the director—the Heavenly Way—for the impressive mise-en-scene, as well as the professionalism shown by the extras—the wanderers.

Soon, the van drove out of the prosperous Zone 1 to Zone 3.

Gao Yang noticed the obvious decrease in pedestrians. Some streets even seemed bleak, like part of an abandoned city.

Not even the most adept cook could make a good meal with no ingredients. It seemed that the Heavenly Way had its limit.

Dick parked the car on an old street. They got out and pretended to be a small tourist group, settling down at an inn that had obviously been around for a while.

Three o’clock in the afternoon, the seven of them gathered in Gao Yang’s room, discussing their plan for the evening mission while having take-out hamburgers, fries, and iced cola.

Dick took out a map for the city and pointed at the border area. It was Zone 5, the old district with the poorest and smallest population.

Dick made a circle around Zone 5 with a marker.

“This is where the beverage factory is. It’s very suspicious,” Dick said. “One of the warehouses is guarded by armed mercenaries. I looked into it. The warehouse doesn’t have any wares in it, nor is there contraband being smuggled. Every two to three days, though, a black sedan drives into the warehouse and leaves in the early morning.”

“It’s suspicious, but not necessarily a base of the Godbearer Cult,” said Officer Huang.

Dick smiled, revealing his orderly white teeth. “That alone doesn’t say much, but I asked a friend from the intelligence agency to look into the predecessor of the factory. In the 40s of the past century, the place was a private biopharmaceutical company. It later dissolved, and all employees went missing for unknown reasons. Although the incident was covered up, traces were left.”

“Look. This was the logo of the company.” Dick took out his phone and called up a black-and-white photo in the album.

The logo was identical to the one Mischievous Monkey had seen in his infancy, the previous iteration of the Godbearer Cult’s symbol.

“Ha, then we’re at the right place.” Officer Huang was now convinced.

Chen Ying smiled proudly. “Dick is a pro in intelligence work.”

“Thank you.” Dick turned to her with a grateful smile.

—Activate Lie Detection.

Gao Yang tested him secretly. He didn’t lie, and he was benevolent.

While drinking cola, Nainai got to her feet and smirked, speaking in choppy West Nation language, “Ha, what a pity. The one this Empress had defeated survived since Ragnarok, yet ended up in the land of the abandoned. This time, allow this Empress to wield the spear of fate to execute...”

Chewing on her hamburger, Qing Ling looked up at Nainai coldly.

Nainai immediately fell silent, gnawing on the straw in her cola and sitting back down without a word.

“What did she say?” Dick looked confused. “Did I miss something important?”

“No, she was expressing approval for your findings,” Gao Yang explained. “Nothing more.”

Dick chuckled awkwardly. “I suppose there’s a cultural difference?”

No, it’s the difference between a normal person and a chuuni patient.

Gao Yang didn’t voice the comment.

They spent another ten minutes discussing the plan before coming to a consensus.

Gao Yang made the official announcement. “We’ll sneak into the warehouse at three o’clock in the morning.”

“Won’t that be dangerous?” Chen Ying was a little worried. It was the Godbearer Cult after all.

“Don’t worry. It can’t be their main base, but merely a small branch office.” Gao Yang was certain of it.

“Yeah,” Officer Huang agreed. “Their main base wouldn’t stand out so much with all those lackeys guarding it.”

“The priority of the mission is stealth. We do this cleanly and grab only the key figures. Do not attract too much attention, or we’ll alert the enemies in hiding.”

Gao Yang nodded.

“Rest in the afternoon. We set out at night.”