The Creatures That We Are

“No, no!” No.10 said petulantly like a child. “Without holy water, I’ll...I’ll be useless. I don’t wanna be a real tail...”

“Even with holy water, you aren’t that useful.” Hyena still had a fake smile on his face, but his words were cutting. “I told you not to bother the awakeners in Li City.”

Astronaut’s voice sounded cold and monotone through the helmet, like it was coming from some device. “The three organizations are working together to look for us, and yet you provoked them actively. Do you have a death wish, No.10?”

No.10 lowered his head, his ugly face looking even uglier, while his eyes shone with stubborn dark desires. “But I really want new toys...”

Hyena said derisively, “If No.12 hadn’t saved you, you would’ve become their toy. Remember, No.10, you may be difficult to kill, but you aren’t actually unkillable.”

No.10 looked at the last bottle of black solution in his hand. “Alright, I’ll control myself.”

“Just wait. Once we catch a living white phoenix, we will have an endless supply of holy water—and it’ll be fresh. Then the Tails won’t be vermin being chased down. You’ll have all the toys you can wish for.”

“We’ll take all that should belong to us.” Astronaut’s monotone voice was colored by devotion and deference. “Heavenly Godbearer blesses us.”

“Heavenly Godbearer blesses us,” Hyena repeated.

Then No.10 also followed suit. “Heavenly Godbearer blesses us.”

“No.7.” Astronaut said to Hyena. “The awakeners have come to the West Nation. You’ll soon be exposed. You should move base.”

“I know,” said Hyena. “I’ll extract the last batch of holy water and blow this place up before moving out.”

“We’ll be off first,” Astronaut said before diving into the black sedan with his short, fat, and ugly companion, No.10.

Qing Ling manipulated the hidden Black Gold dart carrying Nainai with Metal, laying it down on the top of the car secretly, planning to have Nainai hitchhike to keep tracking the two men, but the car ignited too suddenly, and with a sudden turn, Nainai was thrown off the car, and Qing Ling’s Black Gold dart had gotten out of the maximum range she could exert her control, unable to catch up.

“We’ll lose them,” said Officer Huang.

Gao Yang said quietly into his earpiece, “Go back and get the car, Chen Ying. Once you see a car leaving the winery, do your best to track it. Remember, safety first.”

“Understood.” Chen Ying cut the call.

Gao Yang quickly thought about what to do.

Their top priority was to find out more about the Godbearer Cult.

Astronaut’s power was yet not known, and No.10 was quite a formidable enemy once injected with the black solution. Gao Yang wasn’t certain that they would win if the three Tails members stayed together; he worried that there could be casualties.

It was a good thing that Astronaut and No.10 had left first.

They could focus on dealing with Hyena, and they had a very good chance of winning.

As Gao Yang thought, Hyena had already turned around and gone back into the main hall of the mansion.

Holding onto the Black Gold dart, Nainai flew back.

She jumped off the dart and turned back into normal size, quickly repeating what the three men had said. Thanks to the enhancement of Medicine M, she was able to recite them almost word for word.

The others fell into thought.

Gao Yang identified the two key points: holy water, and living white phoenix.

Based on No.10 and Hyena’s exchange, Gao Yang was certain that the holy water they were talking about was the insidious black solution that could turn people into terrible abominations. With Cockroach, No.10 gained formidable power without losing control after injecting himself with holy water.

Last time, No.10 used holy water to go after Gao Yang and Qing Ling. However, he failed to defeat them and ended up rescued by his teammate.

Tonight, No.10 sought Hyena out for more holy water, but Hyena told him that it was the last bottle; they had almost run out.

Which meant that holy water was produced, and the ingredient was something precious. According to what they had said, they had almost run out.

Then Hyena mentioned living white phoenix.

What was it? Could it be an elite monster?

A life monster? A death monster?

Hyena mentioned fresh holy water, which was most likely holy water made with living white phoenix.

Judging by what they said, the holy water would be more premium and bring about greater power. Once consumed, the Tails would become top awakeners.

The way they put it, the Tails might become as powerful as those with the top 1 to top 12 Talents.

But what did Astronaut mean by taking what should belong to them?

Dragon had said that the head and tail of the Talents were connected. Could it be that the Tails could take the top 1 to 12 Talents’ power for themselves through fresh holy water?

How? Like X, were they going to kill the awakeners and comprehend the Talents themselves? Or was there a special way to go about it?

There were too many unanswered questions.

But they could just catch Hyena and take the time interrogating him. Even if they failed to catch him alive, they could have Vermilion Bird question his body.

Gao Yang looked up to make sure that the car Astronaut and No.10 were in had left the winery.

“Let’s go.” Gao Yang waved a hand. “Remember, safety first. We don’t necessarily have to catch Hyena alive.”

That was what Lithe Snake had been waiting for. He was the first to rush toward the mansion.

When the six bodyguards noticed the agile figure leaping out of the garden, two of them had already gotten silenced by two throwing knives buried into their throats, while three Black Gold darts had stabbed three of the other four bodyguards in the chest.

The last surviving bodyguard also failed to make a shot. Gao Yang had already teleported to him and punched him in the chin with an upper hook, sending him flying and lying prone on the ground.

“Let’s go.”

Gao Yang led the way into the mansion.

The main hall was extravagant and magnificent. Gao Yang and the others went in and ran into two young men in servant uniforms. They must be wanderers.

Gao Yang didn’t kill them. Nor did he use his Talents.

He simply rushed to them and knocked one of them out with a punch, grabbing the other in the throat at the same time to stop him from shouting.

“Don’t...don’t kill me... Please...” The young man was terrified. Face flushed and body going limp, he dropped to his knees.

“Where’s your master?” asked Gao Yang.

“In, inside the basement...”

“Where?”

The young man pointed to the right. “Go straight there and turn left before turning right. At the end of the corridor is a door...but a passcode is required... I don’t know the passcode...”

Qing Ling came up to the young man from behind and knocked him out with a knife-hand strike.

Gao Yang let go, allowing the wanderer to fall on the ground. Stepping over him, Gao Yang headed to the direction the young man had pointed him to. The others quickly followed.

A minute later, the five of them reached the door to the basement following the young man’s instructions.

There were two armed guards outside the door. Officer Huang dealt with them easily with two bullets.

Lithe Snake found a keycard on one of them. He opened the door and led the way in.

Gao Yang glanced at Officer Huang. “Keep watch here. We’re going in.”

“Leave it to me.” Officer Huang pointed his two guns at the end of the corridor, looking out for incoming enemies. “Be careful.”

“You too.”

Gao Yang, Qing Ling, and Nainai followed Lithe Snake into the underground tunnel behind the door.

This chapt𝙚r is updated by fr(e)ew𝒆bnov(e)l.com