The Creatures that We Are

Nine o’clock in the morning, Gao Yang and his family sat around the dining table, dressed in loose pajamas and lazily having the breakfast provided by the hotel—Wang Zikai included.

They talked about where they were going to have fun in the morning as they ate, the familiarity of their interactions made it seem like Wang Zikai had become part of the family.

Chewing on the curry fritters like a robot going through the motions, Gao Yang glared at Wang Zikai sulkily.

He was still hung up on the fact that Wang Zikai had conspired with Gao Xinxin to steal his last can of spam. And he didn’t expect Wang Zikai to be the mastermind between the two!

Feeling guilty under the accusing gaze, Wang Zikai picked up a piece of bacon with his fork and dropped it on Gao Yang’s plate. “Here, bro, Have some bacon…”

“Eat that yourself.” Gao Yang stabbed at the bacon and threw it back into Wang Zikai’s bowl.

“Yang Yang, Little Kai, did you get into a fight?” His father opened the can of worms he shouldn’t touch.

“No!” Wang Zikai denied vehemently. “Don’t say that, Uncle Gao! We’re the tightest bros! Why would we fight?”

“Yeah.” Gao Yang’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “We’re so tight that even if there is only one can of spam left in the world, we’ll leave it to the other.”

“Enough already!” Gao Xinxin burst out, fed up. “It’s just a can of spam. It’s not worth that much. How long are you gonna be hung up on it?”

“It’s not a matter of the spam itself, but the fact that you didn’t get my permission…”

Gao Yang suddenly shot to his feet, his expression tense. Casting his knife and fork aside, he dashed into the restroom and slammed the door shut.

“Yang Yang, why did you lose your temper? Ugh, this kid!” His dad yelled after him.

Gao Xinxin snorted. “Don’t mind him. This brother of mine is just going through a belated rebellious phase.”

Gao Yang locked the door and flushed the toilet, crouching down with his body curled up while muffling his mouth with both hands.

“Hmph—”

Despite his best effort, moans still leaked out of his mouth. Thankfully, the sounds were covered up by the flushing noises.

Holy fuck, that felt too good.

Having two Talents level up at the same time overwhelmed him with the most intense of pleasure. He felt like he had ascended to heaven and come back in that split second.

Replicate and Lie Detection reached level 4 at the same time.

It was thanks to his keen six senses that he noticed the minute change in his internal energy beforehand, allowing him to hide in the restroom before the moment hit.

Otherwise, things would’ve been troublesome.

Over the past few days, hiding the Rune Circuit on him had always been a headache, especially after Vermilion Bird handed him the second Rune Circuit.

It was fine for Wang Zikai to see it. As a special brand of monster, he would likely ignore the Rune Circuit even when staring at it straight.

Gao Yang’s family, though, was another story. During the week they stayed in Naldives, they had been spending time in a villa that wasn’t terribly big day and night. He didn’t have his own bedroom or any personal space to start with. It was difficult to keep something hidden, and a misstep could lead to great disaster.

For that, Gao Yang had gone all out.

He kept wearing cropped pants despite the smothering weather, and the two Rune Circuits were attached to his inner thighs with layers of scotch tape, one on each thigh.

It was…a little disgusting, but the safest hiding place he could think of.

When he fell asleep during the night, he always kept his legs pressed together unconsciously, lest anyone take notice.

“You okay, bro? Don’t be mad at me. I’ll buy you spams once we get home. I’ll buy you a box—no, ten boxes!” Wang Zikai knocked on the door outside.

“I’m not mad at you. I was messing with you. It’s just diarrhea.” Gao Yang flushed the toilet again. “I’ll be done in a minute. Go back to eat first.”

“Sheesh, you should’ve told me earlier.” Wang Zikai audibly perked up.

This guy is so easy to placate.

Gao Yang sighed with a smile and accessed his system.

[Access granted.]

[You have a total of 183 Luck points.]

—Look up level 4 Replicate.

[Level 4 Replicate: Allow one to replicate any Talent with a serial number greater than 15.]

[Method: Touch the target’s body for 0.7 second.]

[Number of Talent Replicated: 1. Storage Duration: 5 hours.]

[Use Duration: 20 seconds. Cooldown: 6 hours.]

[Stats Bonuses of Level 4 Replicate: Willpower + 400, Charisma - 100.]

—Look up level 4 Lie Detection.

[Level 4 Lie Detection: Allow one to determine if the target is lying and if the lie is benevolent or malevolent once every 24 hours.]

[Stats Bonuses of Level 4 Lie Detection: Willpower + 80, Charisma + 40.]

[Status screen updated.]

[Constitution: 500 Endurance: 500]

[Strength: 800 Agility: 1100]

[Willpower: 730 Charisma: 480]

[Luck: 565]

—Wait, is the math right?

—Oh, it is. The bonuses for each level up don’t stack, do they? So only the differences between the bonuses granted are added.

[The system does not make mistakes.]

—Look at you being all arrogant.

[Access ends.]

…

The weather was nice in the morning. The family decided to cruise all the islands that made up Naldives on a yacht, including not only the commercial areas, but also the aboriginal settlements.

Everyone was excited, save for Gao Yang’s mother. The treasurer of the family was worried about their budget.

The problem was swiftly dealt with by Wang Zikai. He insisted on paying for everyone as payment for them letting him stay the night.

Gao Yang’s mother was the only one who didn’t easily accept it. It took some convincing.

The six of them had a productive and fun day.

In the evening, they had dinner together, and the family decided to laze about in the villa. Saying that he wanted to take a stroll on the island alone, Gao Yang left.

Gao Xinxin was naturally unhappy about it, but having foreseen her reaction, Gao Yang had Wang Zikai deal with her.

And Wang Zikai did not disappoint. Under his shameless begging, Gao Xinxin caved and played a mobile game with him.

Gao Yang walked around the F Island to make sure that he wasn’t followed before heading to the private water villa on the Shooting Star Island in secret.

The extravagant villa, reserved for ten days by Wu Dahai, was still brightly-lit with music blaring from the inside, making it seem like there was a big party going on.

In reality, only Vermilion Bird and Scarlet Fox remained. Everyone else had returned to Li City on different flights.

Gao Yang easily vaulted the metal gates and made it across the deep blue open swimming pool. Then with a series of parkour moves, he made it up to the balcony on the second floor.

When he entered the living room, he was greeted with the sight of Scarlet Fox drinking coffee and Vermilion Bird playing with her phone.

Alerted, they looked up and only relaxed when they saw his face.

Vermilion Bird asked, “What is this about?”

“Is everything going well?” Gao Yang asked instead of answering.

“The others have gone back first. Little Fox and I are waiting to leave for Li City with X.” Vermilion Bird thought for a moment. “We should be getting on the flight tomorrow morning if nothing goes wrong.”

“Alright.” Gao Yang gave Scarlet Fox a pointed look before looking back at Vermilion Bird.

Understanding his unspoken words, Vermilion Bird smiled and said, “Just talk. Little Fox is my right-hand man. You can trust him.”

Scarlet Fox didn’t say anything, but there was a look of pride on his face.

“Alright.” Gao Yang relaxed his guard and walked up to Vermilion Bird while taking off his pants.

Houseau3's Thoughts

I get it Gao Yang. I hate it when people touch my food without asking too, like the icecream cone I'd saved for the next day only to get eaten by my brother-in-law. Still remember that.

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