The Creatures that We Are

"Guildmaster! Here they are!” Rewind's voice cut through the crowd, her orange megaphone gleaming in her grip—the petite blue-haired girl dressed like a pretty, youthful cheerleader. A few days ago, she acquired her second Talent, Clairvoyance.

"Continue," Qilin commanded, voice steady.

Rewind's eyes flickered with ethereal blue light. "They're on a bus. War Tiger's driving. I see Gao Yang, Green Snake, and..." Her voice wavered as fear crept in at the sight of her greatest nightmare: The Blond Grim Reaper.

"Wang Zikai."

Sister Ling's hand found her shoulder, steadying her. Rewind drew a breath. "And Nainai, Heavenly Dog, Mischievous Monkey, Dead Pig, White Rabbit, and Zhong He."

"Only eight?" Disbelief colored Amon's voice. Even though she was reluctant to fight, she felt the insult.

Crimson Bee's eyes narrowed. "The others must be hidden nearby."

"Rewind, sweep the area," Colorless ordered.

"Yes, ma'am."

Rewind's gaze shifted from the approaching bus, scanning the bridge's far end, the riverbanks, the roads, and surrounding blocks. But without a specific focus, the search yielded little.

"Dragon isn't here." Surnamed Li's words carried weight despite her soft tone. She was addressing Qilin, of course.

Qilin nodded, his suspicion confirmed. Dragon remained dormant.

Still, he warned, "We can't let our guard down."

"Don’t worry.” Surnamed Li could see into the next ten seconds. Even if Dragon was awake and had been hiding somewhere to use Overlord on them, she would have enough time to warn Qilin to foil the attack.

The bus rolled onto the bridge, War Tiger at the wheel. Cautiously, he stopped a hundred meters out, and eight figures emerged into the night.

Gao Yang took point, his black trenchcoat whipping in the wind, dark eyes unreadable beneath his tied-back hair.

War Tiger slouched forward, toothpick between his lips as he hefted the Green Dog Demon Blade with deceptive casualness.

Their companions spread out behind them, weapons ready, faces set with grim determination.

The two groups confronted each other silently at the center of the bridge. Night wind continued to whisper. Killing intent curdled slowly in the air. Everyone was breathing a little heavily.

War Tiger grinned and strode forward, shouting, “Qilin, Surnamed Li, tonight will be your death...”

Boom! Golden energy erupted from the river below, a ten-meter column of pure power surging skyward like the Monkey King's legendary cudgel. It punched through the bridge's center with surgical precision, engulfing the eight figures and their bus in blinding light.

Golden ripples raced along river and bridge, twin rings of radiance filled the space between heaven and earth.

Outside of Qilin and Surnamed Li, the Ocean River Union members froze in shock. They had anticipated Qilin's hidden ace, but not such ruthless efficiency. This was war—no theatrical declarations or dramatic introductions like in a shonen manga.

A web-shaped brand materialized in Qilin's left eye, pulsing with green light.

He had already branded Azure Dragon's corpse with a level 7 Puppeteer mark and concealed it beneath the river's surface. The moment War Tiger's group arrived by bus, Qilin had silently commanded his puppet through their mental link, directing Azure Dragon to unleash a five-second charge for a Serious Punch.

Level 7 Puppeteer granted him control within a thousand-meter radius. The number of puppets he could control would depend on the strength of the puppets. With regular humans or wanderers, Qilin could in theory control more than a thousand puppets provided he used enchanted Black Gold accessories as mediums.

With a powerful puppet like Azure Dragon, Qilin could at most control four, and the duration would depend on the condition of the puppets. The use time ranged from 3 to 15 minutes, to the dot.

As soon as Qilin activated Puppeteer and manipulated them to move, the duration would be eaten away even when the puppets weren’t attacking.

That was to say that Qilin could exhaust the total use time of a puppet at once, or he could use the puppet a few dozen seconds at a time or even a few seconds at a time to maximize its value.

In theory, a puppet would be as powerful as they were when they were alive, but the one manipulating them must be fully focused to achieve the effect. If the Talent user was doing multiple things at once, the puppet would be weaker.

Moreover, whether it be a living person or a corpse puppet, they would lose their use if their vitals were over 50% damaged or if the puppet brand on them were seriously damaged.

A ten-meter crater gaped in the bridge a hundred meters away. No bodies remained.

Colorless's frown deepened. It couldn't be this simple.

Disregarding all else, Gao Yang had Absolute Defense. Even if he had failed to conjure an Absolute Barrier because he was caught off guard by Puppet Azure Dragon, he shouldn’t have been wiped out entirely provided his overall physical defense, only hurt by the Serious Punch’s energy shockwaves.

Unless...this Gao Yang was a double.

No, it was possible that the Gao Yang was a fake.

Right, substitutes! They are all substitutes made by Quiet Book, just like what happened at the Millennium Tower. The ones killed then were all substitutes as well.

Colorless quickly concluded. She was about to give a warning when Surnamed Li spoke up first.

"Above, Heavenly Dog," she announced, eyes closed.

The group's collective gaze shot upward, finding nothing but empty air. Colorless's breath caught—Heavenly Dog must have acquired Invisibility, or there was an ally who could grant it.

"Wandering Tune," Qilin commanded sharply.

"Yes, sir!” Wandering Tune immediately understood what he must do after all the rehearsal of tactics he had done.

Above them, invisible and carrying Hong Xiaxiao, Heavenly Dog extended his hands as power gathered around them.

—Spatial Shards!

A hum filled the air as space itself froze around thirty-plus people on the bridge, transforming the area into a prismatic cage. The prison held for one heartbeat before shattering into countless fragments, taking its captives with it.

Sweat trickled down Heavenly Dog's face as his chest heaved. War Tiger's lessons echoed in his mind: Nothing was more foolish than testing an enemy's defenses with half-measures. A killing blow at the first opening—that was true respect for an opponent.

Victory seemed certain. Until searing pain erupted through his back, followed by a desperate cry:

"Wake up!"

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