The Creatures that We Are

Wang Zikai tensed up immediately. Like a kid getting caught being naughty by a parent, he blinked guiltily. “What, what’s wrong?”

“Nine Frost said that,” Gao Yang paused, “When you attacked the base of the Ocean River Union this time, you killed no one.”

“Sheesh!” Wang Zikai slapped his thigh and sighed in relief. “Things were urgent. I didn’t think too much. Why, I’ll kill them all next time!”

“That’s a lie,” Gao Yang said bluntly.

Wang Zikai’s smile stiffened. He lowered his head and couldn’t meet Gao Yang’s eyes.

“You’re not Qilin’s match, and it would make sense for you to not be able to kill someone like Colorless while racing against time. But the others? You went through all of them without killing anyone completely. That couldn’t be a coincidence, and they didn’t get lucky. You pulled your punches.”

Wang Zikai didn’t say anything, and his head lowered further.

“I’m not blaming you, Wang Zikai, and I’m not asking for you to get blood on your hands like I do. I’m simply curious about why.”

Wang Zikai finally looked up. He looked lost and a little sad. “I don’t know why, bro.”

“Ugh, I don’t know how to explain it.” Wang Zikai anxiously brushed his wet blond hair back with both hands.

“To me, killing someone can’t be easier. I’ve killed lizard people without batting an eye, and I lost count of the number I’ve killed. The Ocean River Union is the target of our revenge. Why would I not be able to kill them? To tell the truth, I’ll kill anyone you point me to even if there’s no bad blood between them and us, bro. I won’t even hesitate.”

That only compounded Gao Yang’s confusion. He waited for Wang Zikai to continue.

Wang Zikai said weakly, “But when I really got to kill them, I had a strange thought for some reason: don’t kill them completely. At least leave their bodies intact so that they can come back alive.”

“Why?” Gao Yang was shocked. You’re a monster, my friend! You don’t even bat an eye when killing your kind, but you hesitate to kill an awakener?

“I don’t know.” Wang Zikai looked confused. “It’s a strong hunch. I have a feeling that if I kill someone, there’s an important line I will have crossed, and I’ll regret it greatly…”

Gao Yang looked at Wang Zikai. His friend suddenly seemed foreign to him, but that eased and comforted him. If Gao Yang was a boat in a storm, Wang Zikai was the heavy anchor preventing him from losing his way.

Gao Yang softened his voice and tried to find the answer, “What is the important line?”

Wang Zikai shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s just a feeling, but it’s a strong feeling.”

“Take a guess. What can it be?” Gao Yang approached the question from another angle.

“Hm…” Wang Zikai scowled as he thought hard for ten seconds. “Maybe…they are too weak? Maybe it would be beneath me to kill weaklings like them?”

Gao Yang gumbled to himself, The monsters you killed were weaker, and you didn’t seem to find it beneath you.

Gao Yang continued to ask, “Think about it more. Is there another possibility?”

Wang Zikai gave it some more thought, and his eyes lit up suddenly. “Oh, is it because I’m God’s reincarnation?!”

“Huh?”

“How can God kill people? God should save all!”

Gao Yang wasn’t sure what to say. It seemed to make sense at first, but it was absurd if one thought about it.

Wang Zikai felt the same after the words left his mouth. He waved a hand and said, “Ugh, maybe my brain just short-circuited. I’ll kill more people on the next mission to break the mental block…”

“No!” Gao Yang shouted suddenly.

“Why?” Wang Zikai jumped.

Gao Yang was surprised by his own reaction, too. For some reason, he felt like he had caught something important in that split second.

Something wasn’t right.

There must be a deeper reason that Wang Zikai subconsciously shied away from killing people. It couldn’t just be that way.

Realization dawned on him like a spark.

That was what differentiated between Wang Zikai and other monsters fundamentally! Why had his monsterhood not awakened after everything? Because his trigger didn’t respond to sensory stimuli or mental stimuli, but his behavior!

Deep in his cognition was an absurd yet unwavering belief: monsters kill humans, and I don’t. So I’m not a monster. Then I don’t have a monsterhood.

Gao Yang calmed himself and met Wang Zikai’s eyes. “You’re the reincarnation of God, Wang Zikai, and God is merciful. You should follow your heart and not kill anyone since you don’t want to.”

“Really?” Wang Zikai was a little touched. But then he quickly shook his head. “No, no, no! Then I’ll be useless! I’m not gonna be a pushover…”

“How about this?” Gao Yang came up with a compromise. “If we ever encounter an enemy we have to kill, just defeat them and leave the rest to us. Killing someone is beneath God. There’s no reason for you to do it.”

“Holy! That makes so much sense!” Wang Zikai’s eyes lit up, and he grinned. “Gao Yang! You’re the smartest!”

“Then…” Gao Yang extended a hand. “That’s a promise.”

“Yeah!” Wang Zikai took his hand in a firm handshake. “A promise!”

Gao Yang smiled at Wang Zikai, but hidden in his eyes was a deep sorrow.

I hope you never kill anyone and never awaken as a monster, Wang Zikai.

Then we’ll be best friends forever.

I’ll lie to you until the end of the world or the end of my life.

…

Meanwhile, in the hidden laboratory somewhere by the underground railways for the hyperloop system, a great variety of advanced instruments and equipment filled the brightly lit space. At the center of the laboratory was a cylindrical petri dish with a diameter of ten meters, filled with light blue solution. The bottom of the petri dish was connected to twelve Black Gold wires to supply vital energy, which Dr. Jia had specially made for his purpose.

A clump of black and white vital energy floated in the petri dish like an abstracted three-dimensional taiji pattern. It was extremely unstable, seemingly getting pulled in all directions and would break down at any second.

Dr. Jia’s hair was greasy from ten days of unwash. Wearing a white coat and a pair of shorts, he stared at the vital energy in the petri dish like a man possessed, right hand clutching a remote control.

He raised his right hand, nerves preventing him from pressing the button.

Then a parrot flew over to perch on his shoulder. Looking at the petri dish, the parrot croaked, “Miracle! Miracle! Miracle!”

“Yes!” Dr. Jia shouted and pressed the button. “It’s time to witness a miracle!”

[Activating.]

[Injecting all vital energy.]

As the robotic voice announced, blue light shone from the bottom of the petri dish, and particles of light flowed along the Black Gold wires. Twelve different types of vital energy were injected into the petri dish at the same time.

Since the Qilin Guild merged with the Hundred Rivers Union, Dr. Jia had collected the vital energy of all Talent types, which renewed his courage and determination to study the vital energy of the Divine Scion again.

After the first failure, he thought long and hard and concluded the biggest issue: he had neglected how fragile the Divine Scion’s energy must be.

With the Divine Scion being such a rare occurrence with a low odd of existing, his vital energy must be incredibly fragile, and a delicate balance must be reached.

Thus, to study and observe how it related to and reacted to other vital energies, all twelve types must be collected.

That was the barrel theory. The shortest board decided how much water the barrel could contain, and by taking out one board, all the water would leak out.

Now, he only had to wait.

Dr. Jia stared at the petri dish with bulging eyes, forgetting to breathe for a moment.

The twelve vital energies turned into colorful glowing clusters of dust and started spinning clockwise, each going along its own trajectory. At the center of the trajectories was the Divine Scion’s vital energy, tugged and pulled by the other clusters.

From afar, the whole picture looked like twelve celestial bodies orbiting the taiji star.

“Good! Great! That’s it!” Dr. Jia was beside himself with excitement. He moved closer to the petri dish and was just short of pressing his face into the thick glass.

“Merge! What are you waiting for! Go!” Dr. Jia clenched his fist and cheered the energies on like a gambler addicted to horse racing.

“Go, go, go!”

The parrot took flight in the heat of the moment too, hovering around the petri dish. A few feathers came loose as it flapped its wings.

Houseau3's Thoughts

Why...does that seem like a flag...

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