The Creatures That We Are-Chapter 1212: Willful Heart

The night sky was silent under the watchful gaze of the white moon. The rainbow faded away, and the body the young man was holding scattered into energy particles.

Golden energy receded from the blood-stained jacket. It draped on him, all wrinkled. It did little to cover his torn body and empty soul.

His injuries stopped bleeding. His bones, flesh, veins, and skin regenerated in order.

Like a trusty 3D printer, Gecko mended all he had lost—but not his heart.

A soft sigh. The system appeared in a red dress. She stood out like a rose in winter amid the pale ruin. She sat down on the rubble next to Gao Yang with her hands holding her knees. She looked up at the white moon in the sky with him. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

Neither said anything. Time slowly crawled as the moment lingered like a still painting.

Finally, a motion broke the stillness. A firefly flew toward Gao Yang and hovered once before flying away.

Gao Yang spoke up in a hoarse, steely voice and a droning tone:

“How much longer do I have?”

“One double-hour,” the system said softly. “No rush. Rest a little longer. Fighting doesn’t take that long.”

“Report.”

“You have accumulated 1447 Luck points. No other changes.”

Gao Yang didn’t say anything.

“This is quite a lot,” she offered. “Considering you haven’t even fought Envy for three minutes.”

“Put everything into Luck,” Gao Yang said.

“Understood. Your Luck is now 11919.” The system seemed too lazy to conjure a status window, so she simply gave him the number verbally.

Gao Yang rose to his feet and tore off what remained of his t-shirt, revealing a lithe body covered in scars. He put his bloodied jacket back on and started walking.

The system watched him pick himself up approvingly, breaking into a small smile.

She pushed herself up and caught up with Gao Yang with her hands behind her back. Her voice was bright with a barely concealed excitement as she said, “I’ll tell you the details about level 7 Lucky, Gao Yang.”

“Yeah.”

“Level 7 Lucky, the ceiling of your six stats is now 7000.”

“Willful Power evolved to Willful Heart with a use time of 30 seconds and a cooldown of 12 hours. During this time, you can shift your stats as you want three times—the first time included in the three. And no stats loss will follow.”

“Basic gains in Luck points increase to 4 points per hour.”

“You are now the ‘Butler’ of the Talent Pantheon, able to check all the remaining Talents and choose what you want to comprehend. Once you comprehend a Talent, you have a 50% chance to gain another Talent, with the privilege of even odds for top and bottom Talents.”

“Comprehended Luck Aura. You may use up your Luck stat during a fight in exchange for a buff on your fate.”

“Side note: the speed at which your Luck stat is used will depend on the threat level of your opponent. Every second, you’ll lose as many points as one-tenth of the threat level. The expended Luck will not replenish. Please use it at your discretion.”

Gao Yang remained quiet.

Soon, they walked out of the heart of the ruin and arrived at a crossroad that retained its structure. A bus appeared on the road, its origin unknown. Gao Yang teleported atop it and saw the softly glowing firefly once more. Gao Yang had been following it.

Exhausting the last of its energy, the firefly dimmed and slowly fell. Gao Yang caught it, balling his hand into a fist.

He sat down on top of the bus and halted in place like a statue.

The system looked up at him, as if she wanted to sit up there with him but couldn’t—as if she was a regular person. In the end, she got into the bus instead and sat by a window, right below Gao Yang.

Like they were neighbors living on adjacent floors.

“Fellow tenant up there,” the system popped her head out of the window, “Although you still have a lot of time, it shouldn’t be spent striking a cool posture.”

Gao Yang didn’t deem that a response.

“Friendly warning, Pride is the head of the death monsters, at a completely different level than the other death monsters.”

Gao Yang didn’t break his silence.

“Don’t underestimate your enemy. Prepare properly. I’m always here for consultation.”

Gao Yang stayed silent.

The system stopped asking for more silent treatment and huffed with what could be complaint or self-deprecation, “I’m like a eunuch anxious about something the emperor does not worry about. Tsk, whatever. You do you.”

The system vanished.

A wind rustled Gao Yang’s hair. A few seconds later, four people came out of invisibility above him: Liao Liao, Nainai, Hong Xiaoxiao, and Old Seven.

“Captain!”

Liao Liao was the first to jump onto the bus with unconcealed relief. The teams had lost contact due to a signal blackout. Liao Liao had used Insects King as soon as they defeated Sloth in order to send countless insects to where the other teams would be, checking on the situations and drawing everyone to a meeting point. It was one of the plans they had formulated in advance.

Team Liao Liao could tell how violent the fight had been when they flew above the ruin. Their hearts sank when they saw Gao Yang alone sitting atop the vehicle.

After some hesitation, Liao Liao asked, “Is Envy...dead?”

“Dead,” Gao Yang’s steely voice rang like a stone cast into the abyss.

“Where’s that woman?” Nainai asked with a pale face, forgetting her usual chuuni language.

“In a coma,” Gao Yang said.

The four sighed in relief. Good, Qing Ling hadn’t died fighting, but she had used Equivalent Exchange.

“Hmph!” Nainai lifted her chin with her arms crossed, her voice trembling with joy. “Mortal, getting herself in that state by a mere death monster.” She turned to Gao Yang. “Where is she?”

“Three o’clock, five hundred meters away.”

“This Empress will be right back!” Nainai flew away.

Liao Liao sat down and said tiredly, “What do we do now, Captain?”

“We wait,” Gao Yang said.

“Okay.”

Liao Liao could tell how badly Gao Yang was hurt from this close. She glanced at Hong Xiaoxiao, who immediately jumped onto the bus and took several syringes out of her bag to treat Gao Yang.

After administering the medicine, Hong Xiaoxiao realized that Gao Yang was staring at her.

She stiffened nervously. “What is it, Captain?”