The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 1058: I’m Late

The powerful collision seemed to freeze time and space. Clink! The golden glove, golden vambraces, and golden armor protecting Qilin instantly shattered into pieces, and so did the golden lotuses restraining Gao Yang and Qing Ling.

Shockwaves erupted from the point where the fists met. Blinding golden light illuminated the blond young man's arrogant smile and Qilin's bloodied, shocked face.

Boom! A second later, Qilin flew tens of meters backward, slamming into the crater wall and leaving a smaller hole. The impact sent Gao Yang and Qing Ling tumbling onto the charred ground nearby.

Gao Yang lay prone, unable to rise.

With his back to Gao Yang, Wang Zikai spoke in an uncharacteristically serious voice, “Sorry, bro. I’m late.”

Gao Yang wanted to remind Wang Zikai that Qilin wasn’t easy to deal with, but he didn’t even have the strength to speak. The only thing he could do was to open his eyes wide and fix his gaze on Wang Zikai’s tall, fierce back.

Win, Wang Zikai!

Win this!

...

Northern entrance of Green Lotus Park.

War Tiger and Heavenly Dog stopped attacking the monstrous spider when they heard Nine Frost’s telepathic message, landing on the rooftop of a short residential building.

“What’s wrong?” War Tiger asked, resting his greatsword on his shoulder.

“Look.”

Nine Frost looked up at the giant spider trapped in the Time-Space Gap. War Tiger and Heavenly Dog followed his gaze and noticed that the leg they had cut was already as good as new.

“What kind of regeneration power is that?” War Tiger commented with a frown.

“That’s a cheat,” Heavenly Dog echoed.

Nine Frost responded gravely, “We are already in its cage of webs. Whenever it’s injured, it sucks energy from everyone in its webs to heal the injury. Sooner or later we will be completely drained.”

“Seems...to be the case.” Heavenly Dog realized belatedly that some of his energy had been stolen.

“Then what?” War Tiger asked. “Do we not fight it?”

“We have to fight.” Nine Frost narrowed his eyes. “If we leave it unchecked, pretty sure something terrible will happen.” An idea came to him. He asked Heavenly Dog, “Can you knock it back into the gap with one hit?”

Heavenly Dog shook his head.

Then Nine Frost turned to War Tiger. “Or kill it with one attack?”

War Tiger scoffed bitterly. “You saw it. It’s got eight legs. Feels like I'm doing maintenance one limb at a time.”

“What if we attack it together?” Nine Frost suggested. “I have Three Heads Six Arms.”

War Tiger’s eyes glinted, but then he shook his head. “Still unlikely. Given its sheer size, we won’t kill it in one go even if we merge.”

He suddenly felt furious and irritated. With a clang, he dropped his greatsword and sat on the ground. “What-fucking-ever. I’m out!”

Nine Frost started to protest, but an overwhelming wave of pessimism crashed over him. Helplessness and despair dragged him down beside War Tiger. “Then we’ll all wait for death.”

After a pause, Heavenly Dog followed suit with the same sentiment, putting his headphones on and picking a farewell song for himself.

On the rooftop, the three men sat in a circle as the giant spider gazed down at them quietly. There was something tremendously strange about it. None of them noticed that invisible dominating threads wrapping densely around them, almost turning them into green mummies. And two of the faces on the spider’s legs were gone—sadness and calmness. The two emotions combined into a pessimistic sense of meaninglessness.

Quietly, the three men’s mood shifted under the influence.

War Tiger fished out a pack of cigarettes from his pants pocket, shaking one out and popping it into his mouth, only to realize that he didn’t have a lighter.

He turned to Nine Frost. “Got a light?”

“No.” Nine Frost lowered his head.

“Heavenly Dog?”

The youngest man had already closed his eyes, lost in his personal concert.

“Fucking depressive.” War Tiger crushed the cigarette and tossed it away. “Can’t even smoke before dying—”

He stopped.

Cigarette.

The word triggered a realization.

I want to smoke, but I don’t have a lighter with me.

Why? Because I’ve quit.

Why? Because White Rabbit died, and I blamed myself.

I made an oath to never smoke again until I avenged her.

Have I avenged her? No? Then what the hell am I doing?

Yeah, why am I just sitting here and waiting for death?

Why the fuck...

AM I NOT FIGHTING?!

“Agh!” A crushing energy descended from the sky and hit War Tiger like a bolt of lightning, rushing into his head. A cold, holy voice spoke in his mind:

“189, Grumpy, Damage.”

“189, Grumpy, Damage.”

War Tiger gasped for breaths, eyes burning with excitement. Grabbing his greatsword, he kicked Nine Frost down and tore away Heavenly Dog’s headphones. “Wake up, trash!”

Nine Frost and Heavenly Dog jolted as if waking from a dream. They stared at each other, bewildered by their spell of pessimism. It felt as if some foreign entity had hijacked their minds, feeding them thoughts that weren't their own.

“Our moods were...dominated?” Nine Frost stood and turned to War Tiger.

“More or less!” War Tiger raised his voice. “Nine Frost, Heavenly Dog, merge!”

“Got it!” Nine Frost perked up. It was clear that War Tiger had come up with something.

War Tiger flashed them a lopsided grin. “I’ll show you what your Vice Captain’s made of!”