The Creatures That We Are

Dick took his leave first. The others got a few hours of sleep in preparation for the mission at night.

In the evening, the six of them had take-outs in Gao Yang’s room. Again, the meal consisted of high-calorie food like hamburgers, fried chickens, french fries, mac and cheese, and apple pies, paired with salad.

Chen Ying felt guilty after finishing the meal. Wiping her mouth with a napkin, she complained, “How many sets of HIIT workouts do I have to do to offset all the calorie intake?”

Her comment garnered no agreement. She looked at them with confusion. “Don’t you worry about losing weight?”

Gao Yang, Qing Ling, Lithe Snake, Nainai, and Officer Huang didn’t really concern themselves with diet. They ate whatever they wanted to eat, but maintained a healthy weight.

“It’s good to be young,” Chen Ying comforted herself. “You’ve got a quick metabolism.”

“First, I’m not young.” Officer Huang bit off a chunk of meat from the piece of fried chicken in his hand. “Second, recent studies show that teenagers and adults share similar metabolism.”

“Officer Huang, how did you get your wife to be with you when you have no tact with women?” Chen Ying joked rather than getting angry.

“You misunderstood, Miss Chen,” Officer Huang said glibly. “What you need to find true love is heart.”

Gao Yang thought back to the man Su Xi remembered Huang Qi to be. How did he end up like this? Time sure was a sharp chisel. It could change someone so dramatically.

One o’clock in the morning, they changed into stealth suits and hopped into Dick’s car.

The car drove to Zone 5 and parked in a remote area two blocks away from the beverage factory. Then the seven of them crossed the mostly abandoned old street with the night as their cover, moving to the side behind the factory.

The warehouse guarded by armed mercenaries was located in the southeastern side of the factory, behind which was a stream the wastewater was released into.

Gao Yang and his team crouched behind the cover on the other side of the stream, observing their destination with binoculars.

Through the tall wire fences, they could see a large warehouse with a blue rooftop and yellow walls. The front door was manned by about a dozen mercenaries armed with submachine guns. They didn’t wear formal uniforms. Most of them were dressed in black tank tops and camouflage pants, their skin covered in tattoos.

Only the three mercenaries on the rooftop of the warehouse were standing watch with full attention. The others gathered on the clearing outside the warehouse, sitting around a few small tables while smoking, playing cards, cursing, and exchanging dirty jokes.

“Lithe Snake, draw their attention,” Gao Yang said. “I’m going to scout ahead.”

Dressed in a stealth suit, Lithe Snake nodded and rushed across the wastewater stream, approaching the wire fences. He quickly vaulted the fences and disappeared.

Thud.

The noise came from behind a cargo box not far from the front door of the warehouse.

“Who is it?!”

The mercenaries on the rooftop were immediately alerted. They called out to their colleagues, and the ones gathering outside the warehouse rose to their feet, throwing away the cards in their hands and spitting out the cigarettes in their mouths. Raising their submachine guns with their fingers on the triggers, they slowly surrounded the cargo box.

Waiting on the other side, Gao Yang immediately teleported through the fences.

He quickly ran to the side of the warehouse, pressing his ear to the wall and enhancing his hearing. It was dead silent inside.

Without hesitation, Gao Yang teleported again into the warehouse.

His eyes quickly got used to the lack of light. There were rows of long, empty shelves. While there weren't any bottled drinks, there was nothing suspicious, either.

Walking in between the shelves, Gao Yang quickly noticed that two of the shelves were further apart than the others.

He thought back to what Dick had found—every two to three days, a car would drive into the warehouse and wouldn’t leave until early morning.

Gao Yang eyed the gap between the shelves. It was wide enough for a car to fit through.

He quickly turned into the aisle, reaching the end. Soon, he noticed the three meter wide square metal door under his feet.

He knelt down and knocked on the automatic door. Judging by the bright sound, there was an underground space.

Gao Yang tried to teleport inside, but his body remained where he was after blurring for a second.

There’s a barrier, Gao Yang realized with a start. There’s an awakener here!

Of course, Gao Yang could very well destroy the door with Fire Punch, but that would draw too much attention, which would be at odds with their intention of conducting an investigation secretly.

Moreover, there could be powerful awakeners or elite monsters underground. Gao Yang might not be able to deal with them on his own.

After some deliberation, he decided to call in the team and had Chen Ying open the door with Skeleton Key.

Three minutes later, Gao Yang returned to the other side of the stream, where his teammates were hiding.

“What did you find?” asked Officer Huang.

“There’s nothing in the warehouse, but under the warehouse is an underground space. The entrance is sealed with a barrier.”

“I can open it,” Chen Ying piped up.

Gao Yang nodded, saying into his earpiece, “Lithe Snake, buy us another two minutes. We’re going in.”

“Roger that,” Lithe Snake answered concisely.

Soon, noises came from around the warehouse. Outside of the guards on the rooftop, the other moved toward the source of the noises, cursing and taunting as they went.

“Get ready.” Gao Yang waved his hand.

Nainai covered half of her face with one hand. “Haha, mortal, this Empress will give you a chance to serve me...”

Gao Yang glared at her. “Start making sense.”

Nainai quickly corrected herself. “I...I can shrink myself and stay in your pocket.”

Gao Yang quickly caught on. “Okay.”

Nainai activated Scale and shrunk herself like one would in a sci-fi movie. In less than three seconds, she became thumb-size.

Gao Yang bent down and extended his hand. She jumped onto his palm.

He put her in his breast pocket. Nainai, now shrunk, popped her head out of his pocket, muttering something too quiet for others to hear. Safe to assume that she must be speaking her embarrassing chuuni lines again.

“Wow, my god! It’s amazing!” As someone with low-ranking Talent, Dick had never seen strange powers like hers.

The others weren’t too surprised.

With Lithe Snake drawing the mercenaries away, they vaulted the wire fences stealthily and avoided the watchful eyes of the guards on the rooftop, entering the warehouse through a small window on the side.

Gao Yang could teleport through a wall, but he couldn’t take his teammates through the wall with him. Moreover, level 5 Teleportation was capped at 30 uses in half an hour. Since they could get into a fight soon, he tried his best to save more uses for later.

Without stopping, they reached the entrance to the underground space.

Chen Ying crouched down and placed her hands on the metal door under their feet.

Two seconds later, she said with certainty, “There’s a barrier, but it isn’t strong. I can open it. You should stay back.”