The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 392: Trade Restriction

Gray Bear and Nine Frost exchanged a glance and a wry smile.

They had anticipated the question from their captain and prepared for it.

Gray Bear took out a folded piece of paper from the breast pocket of his leather jacket, saying concisely, “The list.”

Gao Yang realized it was the list of awakeners who had been killed that night.

He took it and unfolded the paper, looking for the dead of the Twelve Zodiac Signs immediately.

There was only one name: Electric Mouse.

Gao Yang paused, conflicting feelings warring in his mind. He was thankful that Qing Ling, Officer Huang, and Fat Jun were fine.

But Wu Dahai was dead.

He thought back to his first meeting with the man. In a rundown arcade, the pervert who dressed loudly and spoke frivolously had tried to harass Qing Ling every chance he got.

Gao Yang had disapproved of him then, even hated him.

After joining the Twelve Zodiac Signs, though, he saw the man at his most extravagant and most dishonest, as well as the inferiority complex and loneliness hidden deep in his heart.

During their trip to Naldives, Gao Yang got a call from Wu Dahai. The man told him to treat Qing Ling well, playing out a love triangle on his own in spite of Gao Yang’s and Qing Ling’s intentions.

Then they ‘killed each other’ in the Werewolf game and survived it...

Without realizing, Gao Yang had come to see Wu Dahai differently and even cared about the man a little.

“How did Electric Mouse die?” Gao Yang was curious. War Tiger was incredibly strong, and there was the combo of Lovely Lamb and Dead Pig. How did Wu Dahai die despite all that?

“I heard that Team War Tiger ran into a pride monster named Wei, a powerful master of single-edged swords.” Gray Bear thought back to the information he had gotten. “Electric Mouse seemed to have gotten his body cut in half when taking a slash for Green Snake. There was no saving him.”

Gao Yang’s heart clenched, and his fingers pressed together until his knuckles were a little white with the list between them.

You’re a real man, Electric Mouse.

After a moment of silence, Gao Yang took a deep breath and looked down at the list of deaths from the Qilin Guild. A total of ten had been killed, including Ronnie, Scarlet Fox, and White Tiger.

“Scarlet Fox and Elder White Tiger...” Gao Yang was surprised. “They were killed too?”

“Scarlet Fox took down a pride monster at the price of his life...” Can sounded a little down. “And Elder White Tiger...he...he fought to the last moment to protect those at the rear...”

Gray Bear spent two minutes explaining what he had heard about the situation.

Gao Yang stayed quiet, reconciling with the tragedy and the feelings it brought him.

Then Gao Yang looked at the ones the Hundred Rivers Union had lost. There were a total of 36, including Joker, with whom Gao Yang had gone on a mission.

The Union had suffered the most. It seemed that although the Poison of Hell had been stopped short, some weaker awakeners had been claimed by it still.

Gao Yang sighed. “How many do we have left?”

He was talking about the entirety of awakeners.

“Including the newly awakened ones in the past three months, there are a total of 102 awakeners among the three organizations and the unaffiliated ones.” Then Nine Frost added, “That is according to the survey conducted by the Guild. It may not be wholly accurate.”

Only half of all wakeners had survived.

Compared to the total wipe out Surnamed Li had prophesied, though, it was already a better result.

Gao Yang nodded.

Manipulating energy, he ignited the list in his hand at once, the fire illuminating everyone’s face.

With a casual wave of his hand, he sent the burning list to the trash can like a will-o’-the-wisp, and the paper burned completely to ashes a second before falling into the trash can.

“Whoa, it’s like magic.” Can marveled at the display. “Captain, are you able to manipulate fire elements with precision now?”

“Yeah, my Fire has reached level 5.” Then Gao Yang thought of something. “By the way, the Rune Circuits on me...”

“Don’t worry. It’s not gone,” Gray Bear answered. “From what I know, Guildmaster Qilin, Elder Azure Dragon, Dragon, and War Tiger had woken up while you were unconscious. By then, the Heavenly Way seemed to have almost finished with the cover job. Guildmaster and Dragon found you and took the Rune Circuits on you...”

“Where did the three Rune Circuits each go?” Gao Yang asked.

Nine Frost’s eyes glinted. “The three organizations each took one. The Time-Space Rune Circuit is with the Guild, the Element Rune Circuit with the Twelve Zodiac Signs, and the Poison Rune Circuit with the Hundred Rivers Union—but in names only. The Rune Circuit is actually managed by all three organizations. If the Union wants to use it, it has to be done under the watch of the other two organizations.”

Gao Yang immediately thought of Qing Ling and Mischievous Monkey. With the Element Rune Circuit, Qing Ling’s Metal and Mischievous Monkey’s Earth must have reached level 4.

What a shame that Wu Dahai had been looking for the Element Rune Circuit to level up Lightning and even put a bounty on it, only to die before he could get his hands on it.

“Captain.” Gray Bear gave him a shrewd, meaningful smile. “We all know that you’re quite close with some of your former colleagues from the Twelve Zodiac Signs, but allow me to remind you: you should keep a distance from them from now on.”

Gao Yang nodded, hearing the unspoken words. “We’re in this together, Gray Bear. Be frank with me.”

“Captain is the straightforward sort.” Gray Bear smiled. “Let me preface this by saying that it’s only my personal observation. Originally, I thought the three organizations would become more of a united front after the Crimson Tide, but things seem to have been developing in the opposite direction the past three months.”

“I share the feeling,” said Nine Frost.

Can blinked. “Huh? Really? I didn’t notice anything.”

Ignoring Can, Gray Bear continued, “My friend from the back office told me that the trade for Rune Circuits had become much stricter, with a lot more red tapes and precautions than before.”

Gao Yang frowned. Why would that be?

Then realization dawned on him. He knew the answer.

It was because of Talents’ level 8!

Dragon, Qilin, and Surnamed Li must know of the existence of level 8 Talents now. Thus, the Rune Circuits were no longer simple tools to help awakeners reach level 4 with their Talents, but powerful and terrifying weapons that warranted caution.

“Is the Psyche Rune Circuit still with the Hundred Rivers Union?” Gao Yang immediately asked.

“No, the Twelve Zodiac Signs have it,” Gray Bear said. “The Twelve Zodiac Signs traded for it with the Support Rune Circuit.”

“Then does the Guild still have the Knowledge Rune Circuit?”

“Yeah.” Can was confused. “Why did you ask, Captain?”

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