The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 252: Finishing Move

“Give me some space,” said Gao Yang.

The others took a few steps back.

Gao Yang was exhausted with all the injuries he had suffered, but he held on and walked up to Black Tortoise’s body.

He was going to destroy the body just in case. He would burn Black Tortoise to charcoal.

“Fire!”

Gao Yang activated his Talent with his hands extended, and the flames immediately enveloped Black Tortoise.

After about eight seconds, Gao Yang realized something was wrong. The body awash in flames wasn’t changing shapes at all.

Based on his previous experience, the corpse should be melting under the high heat by now.

[Warning...]

Gao Yang startled. He didn’t even have the time to finish hearing the system’s warning.

Swish, swish, swish!

Six bone stings shot out of the flames in three directions, aiming at the three people still able to put up a fight—Gao Yang, Qing Ling, and Officer Huang.

Qing Ling and Officer Huang were standing a little farther, and while they only had half a second to react after realizing that something was coming out of Gao Yang’s fire, it was enough time for them to dodge instinctively, thus saving their lives.

Qing Ling avoided one bone sting, while the other one stabbed into her abdomen.

Officer Huang had avoided one bone sting as well, and the other one ended up hitting his shoulder.

Originally, the four bone stings should’ve penetrated their hearts.

The two of them were both visibly shocked and confused.

How could one survive getting a hole put into his heart?! What manner of monster were they fighting?

Gao Yang wasn’t as lucky.

Being the closest to Black Tortoise, he didn’t have the time to react, and his hands were still shooting fire.

The two bone stings thrust toward his heart.

Yet he lived.

Because one man had realized the danger at the same time as Gao Yang and reacted in time—he alone was able to react in time.

Ghost Horse.

He teleported before Gao Yang and took the bone stings instead.

One hit him in the side from the back, and the other pierced through his heart.

The six bone stings retracted.

Gao Yang didn’t have the time to be shocked. He held onto Ghost Horse and hurriedly pulled back.

Swish, swish, swish!

The bone stings shot out of the flames again, this time targeting Gray Bear and Nine Frost.

The two men had lost their ability to fight, but they pushed themselves to quickly get up and dodge when they saw the sneak attacks against Gao Yang, Qing Ling, and Officer Huang.

The bone stings missed their vitals, but they were still stabbed, and after a few seconds, they collapsed to the ground.

Bang, bang, bang!

Injured, Officer Huang tamped down the pain and supported Qing Ling, who had been stabbed in the abdomen, moving backward while firing nonstop.

Clink, clink, clink.

The bullets hit the burning Black Tortoise and glanced off him.

Three seconds later, he emerged from the dying fire.

His clothes had been entirely burned, his body now covered in slick, hardy violet scales. His penetrated chest was slowly recovering.

Gao Yang’s eyes widened, speechless.

He realized now that Black Tortoise had gained Yellow Butterfly’s ‘Talent’ as a monster.

It was a trump card no one had foreseen.

“You...almost won.”

Black Tortoise’s voice was hoarse, low, and pained, like a devil from hell. “Unfortunately, you didn’t know that my heart is positioned in the right.”

Bang, bang, bang!

Bullets flew toward Black Tortoise’s eyes. He raised his left hand and easily blocked them.

Dragging his feet, Black Tortoise walked up to Gao Yang one heavy step at a time.

It was done. Although he had been seriously hurt, monsters had impressive regenerative power. More importantly, there was no one present who could put up a fight against him now.

Gao Yang crouched down, still holding onto Ghost Horse.

Blood foams leaked out from the corner of the man’s mouth. He knew he was dying. Suddenly, he grabbed Gao Yang’s hand tightly, using up the last of his strength to say his final words.

“Go, go to Songstress’ shop for me...and buy a bouquet of...forget-me-nots.”

Then Ghost Horse’s head tilted to the side, his hands dropping.

He was dead, irreversibly.

He couldn’t be resurrected again.

Bang, bang!

Officer Huang was still making shots, and he yelled, “Gao Yang! Back off...”

Yet Gao Yang seemed deaf to the urging. He simply held onto Ghost Horse’s body with his head lowered, unmoving.

Black Tortoise stalked up to him while defending against the incoming bullets.

Three seconds later, Gao Yang was now in his range of attack. He could pierce through Gao Yang with his bone stings.

Black Tortoise had lived his whole life shrewdly, calculating his every move. Yet he almost met his downfall because of Gao Yang.

He had to admit that for the first time in his lifetime, he felt anger toward someone.

But all that would come to an end.

He lifted his right hand.

Swish, swish, swish.

Three bone stings shot toward Gao Yang, who was still holding onto Ghost Horse.

Strangely, the two seemed to disappear at the same time, and the bone stings ended up piercing the floor.

When Black Tortoise took another look, Gao Yang and Ghost Horse were sitting slightly to the side.

What just happened?

It looked as if he had missed the target by mistake.

But it couldn’t be.

Black Tortoise retracted the bone stings before shooting them again.

The same thing happened.

Gao Yang and Ghost Horse appeared beside the spot he hit again, as if he had mistakenly aimed at their double image.

Gao Yang slowly looked up at Black Tortoise, his gaze blazing with determined and furious killing intent.

...

Five seconds ago.

Ghost Horse died in Gao Yang’s arms.

This time, he was truly dead.

Gao Yang didn’t have the time to be angry or sad. He immediately remembered one thing: the last time he entered the Talent Pantheon, he had checked the remaining Talents of each type, and there were no unclaimed Time-Space-type Talents left.

[Access granted.]

[You have accumulated 731 Luck points.]

—Comprehend a Talent, picking the Time-Space-type.

[There is only one unclaimed Talent of the Time-Space-type. Do you wish to comprehend it?]

—Yes, skip all the failure notifications.

[A total of 720 points were used until comprehension succeeded.]

[Talent: Teleportation. Serial number: 19. Rune type: Time-Space.]

[Level 1 Teleportation: Allow one to teleport 3 meters. Cooldown: 1 second.]

[Stats Bonuses of Level 1 Teleportation: Strength + 100, Agility + 200.]

[Status screen updated.]

[Constitution: 500 Endurance: 500]

[Strength: 600 Agility: 700]

[Willpower: 500 Charisma: 116]

[Luck: 454]

...

Gao Yang used Teleportation three times to dodge Black Tortoise’s attacks, and the Talent immediately reached level 2.

[Level 2 Teleportation: Allow one to teleport 5 meters. Cooldown: 1 second.]

[Stats Bonuses of Level 2 Teleportation: Strength + 200, Agility + 400.]

[Status screen updated.]

[Constitution: 500 Endurance: 500]

[Strength: 700 Agility: 900]

[Willpower: 500 Charisma: 116]

[Luck: 454]

......

“No, this can’t be!”

Black Tortoise couldn’t believe what was happening. It was beyond his comprehension. “Why do you have Teleportation too?”

For someone at his status and level, Black Tortoise naturally knew the rule: no two awakeners would have the same Talent. Even with his Puppeteering, he couldn’t use his puppets’ Talents while they were using theirs.

That was why Black Tortoise hadn’t joined the fight himself when his puppets fought Gao Yang and his companions.

But why would Gao Yang have Teleportation?

Never in his wildest dream would Black Tortoise imagine that Gao Yang had comprehended the Talent immediately after Ghost Horse’s death, thanks to his access to the Talent Pantheon.

Gao Yang wasn’t going to explain. His instinct told him that Black Tortoise was recovering, and he had less than one minute to kill the man. Still, it was enough.

This was the one chance his companions had earned him by fighting to their last drop of blood. Gao Yang knew it very well.

This time, I must win!

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