The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 1021: Old Friend

“Let’s go!”

Lithe Snake seized the perfect moment to grab Gao Yang’s gun and bolt from the booth. Without hesitation, Gao Yang helped Vermilion Bird into position, then turned and rushed to the door.

Perfect timing.

Pzzt.

A weaker electric explosion echoed. Vermilion Bird lay on the floor, holding her hands to her ears and pretending to be in great pain.

Yan Feng, Gui Zhe, and Berserking Lion stirred. They heard the same electric noise that made them think they hadn’t lost time.

“Catch him!” Vermilion Bird shouted.

The three men looked up to see Gao Yang running out of the door.

Berserking Lion reacted instantly. Still prone, he raised his massive right arm, transforming it into an energy shotgun. Golden bullets—over a hundred of them—shredded the automatic door and surrounding wall.

Gao Yang made a right turn after stepping out and got thrown off his feet by a burst of explosion, landing two meters away. The shrapnel cut his elbows and back.

His heart hammered. If he had been even a split second later, he would’ve died!

What saved him wasn’t his luck, but Green Box. If not for the dozen rehearsals they had done with it, Gao Yang wouldn’t have been able to make a run for it so smoothly.

“Don’t shoot! You’ll attract the police!” Gui Zhe staggered to his feet, barking orders. “Go, catch him alive!”

“Fuck!”

Berserking Lion suppressed his urge to demolish the entire bar and charged out of the booth.

Vermilion Bird immediately contacted her “bodyguards”, Lithe Snake and Gray Bear, completing the act. “Ware’s run away. Catch him!”

...

Gao Yang had the escape route planned. He dashed through the back door of the bar and toppled the objects they had prepared as obstacles to blockade the door. Without turning around, he rushed out of the dirty alleyway. Then an agile man tackled him and pinned him to the ground—Lithe Snake, right on cue.

Gao Yang pushed him off and scrambled to his feet. Lithe Snake lunged again, locking his hands around Gao Yang’s neck.

Gao Yang struggled with his all, but couldn’t break out of the hold. He was suffocating.

Bam!

The blockade crumbled at Berserking Lion’s body slam. He emerged from the door, in time to see the show Lithe Snake and Gao Yang had rehearsed many times for his benefit.

Gao Yang suddenly opened his mouth.

Hiss.

In that instant, the head-splitting electric sound rang once more. It was Ronnie screaming through the device on Gao Yang. Gao Yang merely pretended that the voice was his.

“Agh...”

Lithe Snake was forced to let go, holding his head with both hands.

Berserking Lion pursued through his splitting headache, the distance only partially dampening the effect.

Gao Yang got to the mouth of the alley. He ran to the curb and hopped onto a motorcycle that just “happened to be there”, making a run for it.

He gunned the engine without turning back, following the shortest route they had planned beforehand and taking shortcuts. @@novelbin@@

Ten minutes later, he returned to District 17. He rode right into the abandoned factory they had used as their meeting place yesterday. Getting off the motorcycle, he removed the simplified S Chip from his nape and crushed it under his heel.

With all that done, Gao Yang doubled over, panting and soaked in sweat.

He took off his suit and thought, If I still had my Talents, this wouldn’t be necessary. I could just trick them with my double.

Changing into casual clothes, he sank to the ground. His part was done. Now he just had to wait for someone to pick him up after Vermilion Bird finished the cleanup. Gao Yang could never use his identity again. He would live with Dreamrise members under a new name...

A soft clatter broke the silence.

Gao Yang’s head jerked up. The noise came from a pile of abandoned prosthetics, android components, and fiber cables, resembling a white burial mound.

A hand had tumbled down.

Gao Yang immediately shot to alertness. It didn’t happen naturally. Something was hiding within the pile of trash. Something alive.

He leaped to his feet and grabbed the laser gun from the motorcycle, aiming at the pile.

Finally, the living thing burrowed out.

Gao Yang started, his hands trembling.

A white cat popped its head out of the pile. It blinked its large emerald eyes at Gao Yang.

Meow.

Gao Yang’s mind blanked.

The tangle of thoughts and broken emotions in his head spilled like puzzle pieces. He couldn’t piece them back together, only picking them up in a hurry and shoving them into his pocket.

When he realized it, his face was already covered in tears.

The white cat extracted itself with difficulty. Its smooth fur was all pristine white except for the back, where industrial waste had turned fur into blue knotted strands.

It jumped off the pile a little awkwardly. Its hind legs seemed injured, making it limp.

Settling at the bottom, it raised a paw to groom its face, its spirits seemingly lifted. It looked up at Gao Yang, still pointing the gun at it.

Meow, it called softly, gently.

It wasn’t scared of Gao Yang at all. It limped toward Gao Yang with its tail held high, soon getting to his feet and nudging at his legs with its head. Then it rolled around, revealing its belly.

Gao Yang crouched down and shakily reached out to pat its head, yet didn’t dare to. He didn’t know what he was so scared about.

Meow.

The white cat rolled to its feet and nuzzled Gao Yang’s fingers.

Something snapped in Gao Yang. He burst into tears.

Boom! The factory ceiling suddenly came crashing down.

Gao Yang didn’t have the time to figure out what was going on. His instincts, honed through countless battles, took over. He snatched the white cat and jumped away from the crash. Air rushed past as debris thundered down.

He rolled to his feet, holding the cat in one hand and his gun in the other hand.

Berserking Lion stood in the crater where Gao Yang had been, the floor crushed beneath his feet. A pair of mechanical wings with four boosters stretched from his back—an augmentation meant for short-range transportation, capable of covering ten kilometers almost instantly. Perfect for targeted strikes.

Such advanced prosthetics should have been restricted to special forces. Berserking Lion's possession of them was an unwelcome surprise.

“You think you can run from me, damn dog?” The mechanical wings quickly folded into Berserking Lion’s back.

“I’ve been watching you from the sky!” Berserking Lion looked around, disappointed. “This your base? Doesn’t seem like it. I thought I would follow you to a whole group.”

Gao Yang’s heart sank. Berserking Lion was no fool, and his prosthetics were powerful to the point of absurdity. They had been so concerned with Gui Zhe and Yan Feng that they neglected to consider the threat Berserking Lion posed.

Just then, the back of Gao Yang’s gun-holding hand flickered. His I Chip had received a signal. His companion called.

Berserking Lion’s dark eyes glinted with savage delight. “Haha, so you do have a team.”