The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 1028: S Class Weapon

A minute ago.

Having received Lithe Snake's message, Gao Yang drove through the path between stacks of cargo containers and headed to the clearing outside the No.8 warehouse.

Meow. Just when he was going to open the door and get out, a white cat jumped onto his shoulder from behind, nuzzling his face enthusiastically.

“Why are you here?!” Gao Yang lifted it off his shoulder with pleasant surprise but also resignation, stroking it in his arms. “Didn’t I tell you not to follow me to work?”

It wasn’t the first time. There had been two missions when it sneakily followed Gao Yang, hiding in the car and only found when they were on the way.

Meow. The white cat acted cute, like it was saying, I know I’m wrong. I’ll do it again.

Gao Yang could never keep a straight face with it. He stroked its head and placed it on the passenger seat. “Wait for me in the car. Don’t just run out, you hear me? Or I’ll be mad at you.”

The white cat meowed in response, curling into itself on the seat meekly, blinking up at Gao Yang.

Gao Yang got out of the car. He first saw Xiran with his right arm “gone”. The young man was on concealment duty.

Xiran spoke first, “Seems to be going well.”

Gao Yang eyed the door to the warehouse. “Isn’t it going too well?”

“Probably a false intel.” Xiran adjusted his glasses. “An S-class weapon isn’t going to just randomly show up here. They must be smuggling regular wares.”

Gao Yang nodded.

“Better this way.” Xiran chuckled. “Although everyone’s always looking for a great gig with great reward, I still prefer everyone to be safe and...”

Boom!

Suddenly, there was a flash coming from behind Gao Yang, followed by a booming explosion and a gust of hot currents. Gao Yang and Xiran both jumped. When they realized it, the door behind them was already gone—or melted, to be more precise. A five-meter wide charred ditch stretched across the clearing.

The ditch extended narrower and narrower to the large cargo container across from the warehouse. Although the container was metal, a large hole was put into it with signs of it melting from high heat.

Inside the hole lay a person.

Gao Yang and Xiran quickly made out Gray Bear, but his body was incomplete. He only had two-thirds of his head left and half of his body, his limbs all gone. Even his torso showed obvious signs of melting.

It was thanks to his military-grade cybernetic skin that would repel even lasers that he wasn’t rendered a molten pile of melted metal.

Swoosh. Then a flash of white light shot through the warehouse’s rooftop, drawing a parabolic trajectory in the sky before landing on the clearing outside.

Gao Yang and Xiran slowly turned to look at it—no, her. A slim girl with hair tied into twin tails. She wore no clothes, her light silver cybernetic skin resembling armor. Under the moonlight, she looked like an intricate piece of art.

On her face was a black hologram mask with a twinkling red S.

Cybernetic skeletal wings stretched from her back, equally intricate. Each bone vibrated slightly but at a high frequency, unleashing a force field that easily destroyed Xiran’s Mute barrier.

She descended slowly like an “angel”.

“What...is that?” Xiran blanched in shock.

Gao Yang couldn’t answer. He was equally shocked. What he saw was absurd.

Just then, Vermilion Bird, Can, and Ronnie rushed out of the warehouse.

“Run!” Vermilion Bird shouted, her gaze more panicked than ever. “It’s a humanoid weapon!”

Humanoid Weapon, with S-class superpower, genetic modifications, state-of-the-art cybernetic prosthetics, and 100% digitized consciousness—a perfect amalgamation. It was said to be the greatest weapon in localized wars.

And it had never been anything but a theoretical construction. Yet here it was. @@novelbin@@

They wouldn’t be its match. Even the whole Moon Cavalry would lose half of the members to subdue it, let alone Dreamrise.

...

Thirty seconds ago, No.8 Warehouse.

Inside the metal box, a girl with twin tails curled into herself, lying on her side with her hands holding her knees close, head resting on her legs. She was naked, her skin pale. She looked like an infant, completely pure.

When she sensed Vermilion Bird’s gaze, though, light silver “scales” instantly grew out of her skin to form a cybernetic armor, covering her entirely.

When Gray Bear, Can, and Ronnie looked over, too, the girl’s long black lashes fluttered.

She opened her eyes; they were blank like ink.

Then she cocked her head at the four people circling the box.

She smiled. It was an innocent smile with a hint of bashfulness, yet it sent a shudder down everyone’s spine. The smile was neither good nor evil.

While remaining in the fetal position, a strange hologram mask appeared on her face, and simultaneously, she lifted her slim right arm.

Clack. It took less than a second for the arm to turn into a charging energy cannon.

“Away!”

Gray Bear pushed his companions out of the way.

Boom!

A powerful energy beam overwhelmed him and sent him flying out of the warehouse door.

...

“Can, save Gray Bear!”

“Cover me, Ronnie!”

Vermilion Bird knew her resistance would be akin to an egg clashing with a stone, but she had to try. She had to infiltrate the humanoid weapon’s system, slowing it down for even a moment so that the others could escape. Otherwise, they would all die here.

“On it!” Can went invisible.

Instead of responding, Ronnie pinched his Adam’s apple, where his artificial vocal cords were.

Vermilion Bird, Gao Yang, and Xiran all fired at the flying humanoid weapon with their laser handguns. The lasers scattered like simple light hitting a mirror. The shots didn’t even leave a trace, let alone burn through the weapon’s body.

“Get down!”

Lithe Snake shouted from behind them. They ducked without hesitation.

Kneeling on one knee atop a cargo container, Lithe Snake propped his right hand up with his left, his right hand quickly transforming into a railgun.

The electric magnetic shot would instantly disrupt the target’s monocular structures when penetrating them, causing incredible damage. It was meant to deal with a physically invincible enemy.

However, the energy stored in Lithe Snake was only enough for one shot. This was Lithe Snake’s one-time killing move.

When Gray Bear got attacked, Lithe Snake had quickly climbed to a vantage point and locked onto the enemy, looking for an opening.

Bam, bam, bam—

The world seemed to dim for half a second. A great pale lightning shot out of Lithe Snake’s arm, streaking toward the humanoid weapon in the air.

Ring. The humanoid weapon responded immediately, concentrating the force field its wings generated to form a visible hexagonal shield.

The moment before the electromagnetic shot hit the white defensive force field, it split into dozens of lightning bolts and rushed elsewhere. One hit the trunk of the car, melting a great hole into it.

Beep, beep, beep—

The car’s alert blared.

Shit, the cat’s still in the car!

Gao Yang immediately shot to his feet, rushing to the car while the humanoid weapon was slowed.

“Ronnie!”

Vermilion Bird hadn’t missed the opening.

Ronnie’s bulging throat had charged up for long enough. He opened his mouth.

Pzzt.

The head-splitting, disorienting electric noise hit everyone like a stake.

Gao Yang stumbled to the ground, but without an S Chip, he was less affected by the power than others.

Clenching his teeth, he stood up with difficulty, stumbling his way to the smoking car.

Ronnie’s Disorientation was more effective the greater the percentage of the artificial construct was in a target.

The humanoid weapon stiffened, still hovering in the sky with its defensive force field active, but the hologram mask showed its chaotic state, quickly switching between strange symbols and scrambled codes.

Now!