The Creatures that We Are

The one with Invisibility wasn’t Gray Bear, but Can, who seemed to be the slacker of the team. Invisibility did fit her role, though.

Lithe Snake’s Gecko allowed him to walk along walls and ceilings, move swiftly, and see clearly in the dark like geckos, which were perfect for infiltration and assassination. Moreover, he could regrow his limbs once he lost them and had excellent regenerative power, making him a hybrid of warriors and assassins.

Gray Bear’s Beastly, as the name suggested, allowed him to transform into a great beast, significantly increasing his explosive power, damage output, and defense. He was the tank of the team.

Xiran’s Mute allowed him to make everyone within a certain range unable to use Talents for a certain duration, which was similar to how the silence debuff worked in games. Used well, it could be clutch in a battle, but Gao Yang remembered that there were many restrictions. And given that the Talent worked on both friends and foes and it being level 3 at the moment, it wouldn’t be too useful yet.

Ronnie’s Talent was Disorientation, which inflicted psychic damage through special screams and rendered everyone in the effective range disoriented. Again, it didn’t differentiate between friends and foes.

Can’s Invisibility, while useful, didn’t last long at level 3. And Can didn’t have any other Talent, which was a shame. If only she had Ghost Horse’s Teleportation in addition to Invisibility, she would be one hell of an assassin.

All that analysis happened in seconds. Gao Yang then replicated Level 4 Gecko from Lithe Snake.

“May the odds be in our favor,” Gao Yang declared as cover.

“May the odds be in our favor,” the others repeated haphazardly before pulling their hands back.

[Level 3 Replicate: Allow one to replicate any Talent with a serial number greater than 20.]

[Method: Touch the target’s body for 0.8 second.]

[Number of Talent Replicated: 1. Storage Duration: 4.5 hours.]

[Use Duration: 15 seconds. Cooldown: 7 hours.]

[Stats Bonuses of Level 3 Replicate: Willpower + 200, Charisma - 40.]

[Status Screen updated.]

[Constitution: 164 Endurance: 165 ]

[Strength: 217 Agility: 259 ]

[Willpower: 409 Charisma: 77 ]

[Luck: 132 ]

Gao Yang stood still with his eyes squeezed closed, his breathing quickened and his face flushed. The pleasure of leveling up almost pushed him to climax. It was all he could do to not let it show.

“Come on, Captain,” Can called out to him, looking over her shoulder.

Gao Yang opened his eyes and exhaled deeply before quietly catching up to them.

Deep into the alleyway was the Thai massage parlor. The signboard was off, but the interior was still lit up with warm light like it normally would be.

Gao Yang stopped a short distance from the massage parlor and ordered, “Xiran, Ronnie, and Can, keep watch on the alleyway and don’t let anyone through. Gray Bear, Lithe Snake, come with me.”

“Okay.”

“No problem.”

They each took on their assigned role.

Gao Yang accessed the system to check his Luck points. Then with composure, he headed to the massage parlor with his two teammates following behind him.

When they entered, Sister Luo was sitting before the counter with half a cigarette in her mouth, flipping through the account book with a gloomy expression. By her side was a calculator.

Beep, beep beep. She tapped on the calculator in a flurry.

“Ma’am.” Gray Bear greeted her while taking out his badge. “I was here yesterday.”

“Why did you come again? We’re closed! The girls have returned home too!”

No longer in a cooperative mood, Sister Luo gave them the cold shoulder. “I’ve given my statement and told you what I knew. What else do you want? Are you only satisfied once my lifework goes out of business?”

Gray Bear smiled at her like her reaction didn’t surprise him. “We’re only doing our job. I’d ask for your understanding.”

He exchanged a glance with Gao Yang before turning back to Sister Luo. “There’s something else we’d like to ask you.”

“Go on.”

“This isn’t a good place for it. Why don’t you come with us?”

“Whatever you want to ask, do it here.” Sister Luo had lost her goodwill. “I’m not going anywhere today.”

“Alright.” Gray Bear didn’t push. He shot Lithe Snake a pointed look.

With his arms crossed, Lithe Snake walked to the door and stood with his back against it, casually blocking off the exit.

Gao Yang also took a few steps back to guard the stairway to the second floor, his energy gathering in his hands.

Gray Bear was standing before Sister Luo at an angle, blocking the door to the back room. Now all the possible escape routes were cut off.

Looking down at Sister Luo, who was still preoccupied with the account book, Gray Bear steadied his breathing and got ready for a fight.

“Ma’am, did you kill the man who died at your shop?” Gray Bear asked.

“What?!” She looked up in surprise and raised her voice. “Why would I kill him when we were total strangers? Look at how the murder killed my business! Besides, how was a woman like me supposed to…”

“Calm down. Calm down.” They had anticipated her response during their earlier discussion.

Gao Yang didn’t use Lie Detection on her. It wasn’t yet time.

“What I’m trying to ask is,” Gray Bear gazed at her sharply, “Did you kill the monster?”

“What monster?” Sister Luo looked up at him confusedly.

“Did you kill this monster?” Gray Bear repeated. Then he pushed on, “You killed your own kind.”

Sister Luo froze, her gaze going blank for two seconds before there was a strange flash of light.

Her face was suddenly ashen, and fear brimmed her eyes like she was recalling something horrifying.

She kept shaking her head and trembling as she muttered, “No, no, nonono… I didn’t kill, It wasn’t me. I’m human. I’m not. I’m not a…”

She couldn’t utter the word ‘monster’ no matter how she tried.

Gao Yang activated Lie Detection.

—The target lied.

“Gray Bear!” Gao Yang shouted. “It’s her!”

Gray Bear growled, the sculpted muscles covering his body bulged while more hair grew at an unusual speed. In the blink of an eye, he transformed into an actual gray bear that was more than two meters in height.

At almost the same time, Sister Luo leapt up from behind the counter and pounced on Gray Bear.

He weighed nearly two hundred kilograms, yet he was tackled to the ground, barely withstanding the impact.

Stradling Gray Bear, Sister Luo clawed at him with all her nails growing over ten centimeters into long claws, her face deathly pale, eyes bulging like two yellow marbles, and limbs transformed into appendages that were long and slick.

“It wasn’t me! Not me! I didn’t kill. I didn’t kill…”

She was clearly a wanderer, and she had lost control.

Gray Bear crossed his arms to block the claws with his thick pelt and skin.

Gao Yang would like to provide support with Fire, but with the two all tangled up, he might end up hurting his teammate.

Lithe Snake, on the other hand, remained by the door, not moving even an inch as his lips curled into a cold smirk. His gaze shone with absolute trust.

“Hah!” Gray Bear howled and broke out of his position as a passive defender. Blocking the attacks with his two thick arms, he managed to seize Sister Luo’s hands. Unable to break out of his hold, Sister Luo screamed and struggled thoughtlessly.

Gray Bear growled again, tightening his grip and breaking her wrist bones.

“Ahhhh—” Sister Luo cried out in pain.

Gray Bear rolled up and flung her away with a powerful swing of his hands, sending her hurtling into the counter with a heavy thud. She collapsed in the corner of the room.

Trembling, she drooled from her mouth, her pupils dilated to the point of almost taking up the whole irises. Her expression was angry, fearful, and disoriented.

Gray Bear steadied his footing, chest heaving. “Damn. Even wanderers are not to be underestimated once they go berserk.”

Lithe Snake shot Gao Yang a glance. “Do we kill her, or take her back for interrogation?”

Gao Yang pondered. To his knowledge, wanderers usually lost their rationality after going berserk, making it impossible to communicate with them. Then when they calmed down, they would revert back to their human form and forget what they had done as monsters, making it a perfect loop of ignorance.

However, this wanderer had killed her companion with purpose while transformed. There must be something more to it.

“Let’s bring her back,” Gao Yang concluded.

“Alright. Leave it to me.” Gray Bear stalked up to Sister Luo, who was cowering in the corner of the room.

Thud!

Without warning, a monster broke through the door of the back room.

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