The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 780: New Mission

Zhong He and Dead Pig looked up to see two figures a hundred meters away. Supporting each other, they jumped between the rooftops of the town. It was clear that they had adjusted the gravity around them judging by their light movement.

“It’s Dust and Clear Mirror! Hurry!” Dead Pig shouted.

“I’m going as fast as I can. If I go any faster, the car’s gonna break down,” Heavenly Dog grumbled but quietly pushed himself to go a little faster, slowly decreasing their distance from the targets.

“Zhong He!” Dead Pig stared at Zhong He with blazing eyes.

“You sure?”

“Yes!” Dead Pig shouted. “It should work at this distance!”

Zhong He stopped hesitating. Phantom rushed out of his body and turned into countless black strands to tie Dead Pig from head to toe.

“Too loose!” Dead Pig shouted.

Zhong He pushed the shadow to strangle him harder.

Hiss, hiss. The black strands cut through Dead Pig’s skin and sank into his flesh, turning him into a bleeding cacoon.

“Huh?” Heavenly Dog started. Weren’t they supposed to be chasing the enemies together? Why did the two men suddenly get into a fight? “Stop, don’t fight...”

“I’m fine! Keep going faster!” Dead Pig endured the pain and howled. “Just a little closer!”

“Oh.” Heavenly Dog stopped asking. He could guess that Dead Pig and Zhong He were going to make a decisive move.

He pushed himself past the limit for explosive power at the cost of damaging the energy route in his body, quickly drawing close to the targets.

“Have you skipped a meal, Zhong He?! Stop tickling me. Harder!” Dead Pig shouted. “Don’t stop until I tell you to!”

Fuck, you lunatic!

Zhong He threw reservation out of the window and pushed Phantom to the max with the determination to kill.

Hiss. The black strands cut further into Dead Pig’s body, going past the skin, muscles, and blood vessels, almost reaching the bones.

Dead Pig was like a cabbage wrapped in steel wire. The leaves on the outside continued to break off and turn to pieces as the wire cut further and further into the heart of the cabbage.

I can’t keep going! You’ll die!

Fucking tell me to stop! I don’t wanna commit murder!

Zhong He watched Dead Pig turn into a black and red rice dumpling, at his breaking point.

“Stop...”

Finally, the bloodied Dead Pig spoke up. His face was red and terrifying from all the splattering blood, but he was smiling. His bloodshot eyes burned with rage as he stared at Dust and Clear Mirror, who were traveling at high speed fifty meters away. He gradually locked onto Dust’s back. An energy turned into countless intangible planktons and snuck up on her.

Anytime now. She was almost within his reach.

Closer, just a little closer!

...

“Someone’s catching up on us.” Clear Mirror could sense pursuers approaching not far away in Dust’s hold.

Dust kept running without looking back. “Almost there. We’ll reach the station soon.”

“We don’t have time, Dust,” Clear Mirror said calmly. “Go. I’ll slow them down...”

“Shut up!” Dust kept jumping. “Both Tia and Tokoos are dead. If you die, too, how am I supposed to complete the mission?”

“Then give up,” said Clear Mirror. “Live, and you’ll have another chance.”

“No! Never! We’re getting out of here together. I can do it...”

Suddenly, Dust felt a shudder run down her spine, and her hair stood on end. She caught a strange energy wrapping tightly around her with her keen senses.

She didn’t know what it was, but she had a strong feeling that she was not getting out of it.

At the last second, Dust used Zero Gravity and pushed Clear Mirror hard. Clear Mirror started. When he realized it, he was already flying toward the station.

“No!”

Clear Mirror reached out to his sister, but he could only watch as Dust grew distant from him.

Dust shouted at Clear Mirror, “Live! Avenge...”

Whoosh.

Dust vanished.

All of a sudden, Dead Pig took her place, covered in blood and minced flesh. The man had blacked out, and he plunged and crashed through the rooftop with a loud bang, falling into the lamb pen of a farmhouse.

The Talent Dead Pig had acquired was Displacement.

He locked onto Dust from fifty meters away and swapped places with her, putting her in the prison of Phantom.

Given Dead Pig’s large frame, however, he demanded Zhong He tighten the shadow around him to the point of cutting into his flesh to make the restrain as tight as possible; it was to make sure the shadow would restrain Dust instantly for certain, giving her no chance to resist. It was the combo Dead Pig and Zhong He had come up with the previous night at the hotel. They hadn’t known that it would be of use.

Locked up by Displacement, Dust found herself suddenly by Zhong He’s side between one blink and the next, tightly restrained by Phantom.

“Aghhh!!”

She cried out in pain, given no time to resist.

“Dust! I finally caught you!”

Zhong He shouted with catharsis. Leaving nothing to chance, he continued to strangle Dust until she was completely wrapped by his shadow, turning her into a black mummy.

“Ahhh...”

Dust felt the shadow tighten around her. Blood leaked out from the cacoon of black strands.

No.

Zhong He stopped. Although he wanted to kill her to avenge Team Leader Goldthread, he must not do that. It would be too selfish of him.

Dead Pig and Liu Qingying had waited ten years for this moment. They should be the ones to have revenge. It would be their salvation. Zhong He couldn’t take it from them.

...

Clear Mirror moved quickly to the station in a weightless state. He saw Dust get caught by a strange move and turn into a bleeding black mummy amid her cries of pain.

He knew that Dust was done for. Even if she was still alive now, she would die sooner or later. The awakeners hated her too much to let her off the hook.

He wanted to turn back and avenge his sister now, but he knew he couldn’t do it. There were too many enemies here and too many powerful awakeners. He wouldn’t stand a chance.

Moreover, he had an even more important mission—to kill the Divine Scion.

“Live! Avenge...”

...Me.

Clear Mirror heard Dust’s last words ring in his head. He now had another mission to carry out.

Don’t be scared, Sister. Death is not the end.

I’ll complete our mission. We’ll both turn into the aurora and reach God’s side.

In that eternal world of bliss, there would be no sadness, pain, confusion, or fear.

There, people love the world, and the world loves people.

There, we’ll always be together, forever.

The weightlessness faded. Clear Mirror fell on a bus in the station’s parking lot. He rolled off the bus and quickly and calmly rushed into a nearby alley. Inside were two racing motorcycles. One red and one black.

He hopped onto his sister’s red motorcycle and started the engine, rushing to the endless highway, leaving a crimson trail through the dark veil of night.