The Creatures That We Are-Chapter 1037: Get to Work

Zhang Wei didn’t know how long he had been cursing Gao Yang out. He was drenched in sweat, mouth parched and throat raw from the strain. He didn’t even know what words were falling from his lips by now. He might as well be spouting gibberish.

Even so, Gao Yang hadn’t woken up. Zhang Wei no longer had the words to say. He could only repeat the name again and again.

“Gao Yang!”

“Gao Yang!”

“Gao Yang!”

His desperate calls echoed across the silent street. Behind him stood Qilin, locked in the Absolute Barrier.

Zhang Wei didn't know when the barrier would break, but he knew it wouldn't be long. His imagination tormented him with visions of Qilin rushing to pierce his back and crush his heart with the Black Gold cane the moment the barrier crumbled. The image crawled up his spine like a viper, hissing in his ear.

Zhang Wei didn't dare turn around once. He could not—would not—waste the time.

Perhaps he would die the next second. Perhaps Gao Yang would wake up the next second.

“Gao Yang!”

“Gao Yang!”

“Gao Yang!”

Zhang Wei seized Gao Yang’s shoulders and screamed his voice hoarse.

He was the conscious one, yet his legs trembled and threatened to give out.

Finally, he broke down, tears and snot running down his face. “Gao Yang, I’m begging you! Wake up! You can’t fall here. We can’t let Qilin win!”

“You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever known, Gao Yang! Wake up! Sometimes, I don’t even have faith in myself, but I have faith in you. I’ve never once doubted you!”

“Gao Yang, you’re the Divine Scion, the hero, the savior!”

“Gao Yang!”

“Gao Yang!”

Clink. Zhang Wei started. He heard glass shattering—Absolute Barrier was down.

Half a second later came a threatening whoosh, like the flap of death's cape.

Shit, we still lost.

At that moment, Zhang Wei surrendered. His brain already conjured the pain of getting his chest penetrated, as if preparing him for death so it would terrify him less—

Death did not come.

Qilin had rushed up to Zhang Wei and thrust his cane at his heart, but a translucent golden energy shield blocked the attack.

Zhang Wei sensed more than saw the flickering golden light blanketing him from behind. Without turning, he stared ahead at Gao Yang, eyes brimming with tears of surprise and joy.

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He only realized then that Gao Yang had closed his possessed eyes, and when he opened his eyes once more, they were shimmering with golden light, signifying his overflowing energy.

Gao Yang had woken up.

An overwhelming joy flooded Zhang Wei. This was the greatest moment of his life.

“Gao...”

As soon as he uttered the first syllable, his arm was already in Gao Yang’s steady grasp. Whoosh! Gao Yang lifted his hand and sent Zhang Wei flying like a carelessly tossed bottle.

In the same motion, Gao Yang aimed his other hand at the ground, Fire's ample energy concentrated in his palm. A pillar of flame rose three meters into the air, the flames devouring both Gao Yang and Qilin. The temperature surged continuously until the whole street was cast in blinding red.

Two seconds later, the pillar of flame dispersed.

Qilin remained where he was, armored in black with Phantom, which he had gained access to by reconnecting with his corpse puppets. The Gao Yang before him was pierced and lifted off the ground by three protruding ice thorns.

The young man sneered down at Qilin, covered in blood. The figure slowly faded and vanished.

At the same time, the real Gao Yang had teleported to Zhang Wei mid-flight and caught him, teleporting again to land on the billboard atop the building across the street.

“...Yang.” Zhang Wei finished his call like a lagging robot. “You got hit by Eidos! I’d been—”

“I know,” Gao Yang interrupted, his eyes scanning the entrance of the park, quickly spotting Adept Horse, Chen Ying, and Nainai collapsed in different spots.

He made his decision in that split second. Knocking on Zhang Wei's forehead, he quickly conjured a small concentrated spot of energy that resembled a golden mole. Once Zhang Wei encountered danger, it would create a small Absolute Barrier lasting a few minutes, shielding him from all threats. Gao Yang granted Zhang Wei permission to move through it in advance.

“Wake the others, as soon as possible.” Gao Yang stared at Qilin, speaking in a low voice. “Leave him to me.”

“Got it!” Zhang Wei nodded vehemently, his heart finally settling.

Gao Yang teleported Zhang Wei to ground level. Zhang Wei bolted immediately.

Gao Yang walked up to Qilin.

Qilin met him halfway with his cane. Five seconds later, they stopped simultaneously, staring at each other across the street under the deep night sky.

Suddenly, a green light flashed through Gao Yang’s golden eyes before quickly fading. Gao Yang smiled. “It seems that Eidos can no longer influence me with illusions.”

Qilin showed no reaction. He had just attempted to give Gao Yang a micro illusion based on reality; Gao Yang had easily detected and resisted it.

That was the side effect of All Will Be One: once a target woke up from it, they became permanently immune to all illusions, tricks, and illusory realms conjured by Eidos, and their psychic resistance increased.

Gao Yang had possessed strong resistance to psychic attacks like Eidos from the start, and now his resistance had improved further. With his Golden Armor, he could more or less render Eidos obsolete.

Qilin had ambushed Gao Yang with Eidos to confirm this, adjusting his strategy accordingly.

Being trapped in the Absolute Barrier for ten minutes had allowed Gao Yang to wake up at the last moment, throwing a wrench in Qilin's plan.

However, it wasn't all negative.

During those ten minutes, Qilin had concentrated solely on recovery. With the energy shot, he had restored fifty percent of his power. With Eidos and Puppeteer both at level 8, he could manipulate numerous corpse puppets while controlling his five living puppets: War Tiger, Gregor, Heavenly Dog, Ke Yo, and Liao Liao. He also had a hidden trick up his sleeve... All in all, Qilin remained the most powerful awakener in the Mist World at this moment, bar none.

Gao Yang's immunity to Eidos wouldn't help.

While Qilin analyzed the situation, Gao Yang was catching up too. He didn't need Zhang Wei's explanation to piece it together:

Qilin had trapped everyone in a dream with All Will Be One, with Zhang Wei alone immune. Then, taking Zhang Wei with him, Qilin had collected the Rune Circuits. When he reached Gao Yang, he triggered the mouse trap and got imprisoned for ten minutes, which was equated to three months in Gao Yang’s dream. The voices calling out to him in the dream belonged to Zhang Wei.

It was thanks to Zhang Wei that Gao Yang spotted the flaws of the dream and woke up two seconds before the mouse trap deactivated. He already had one foot in the mouth of hell.

Gao Yang exhaled a soft sigh.

System, let’s get to work.