The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 474: Synthetic Ascension

Madam Wu crossed her arms and raised them, blocking Qing Ling’s attack.

Qing Ling pushed down with great power and momentum, forcing Madam Wu to bend her back slightly, her feet sinking into the concrete ground and breaking it.

However, it wasn’t enough to threaten Madam Wu. The power generated from her waist spread to the rest of her body, and she pushed Qing Ling off with a strong push from her arms.

It was then two flashes came from Madam’s Wu’s right. The two Black Gold darts aimed at her head. Qing Ling had staged a sneak attack by distracting Madam Wu.

Madam Wu tilted her head to one side, but didn’t manage to dodge the darts. The sharp darts brushed past her face.

Did I get her? Qing Ling frowned when she got a good look. No.

Madam Wu slowly turned around to face Qing Ling. The Black Gold darts had left deep gashes on her right cheek and nose bridge, but didn’t draw blood.

Qing Ling saw it then. The skin was merely lifelike synthetic tissues, under which was a light gray Black Gold skull.

A shudder ran down Qing Ling’s spine.

Madam Wu had even replaced her skull for a Black Gold one!

Was it really possible with the current technology level? Regular humans wouldn’t have survived the transformation!

Yet Madam Wu managed with Talent: Strong.

“What does it mean to be strong?”

Madam Wu grabbed the torn synthetic skin on her face and peeled it off, revealing half of the Black Gold skull and the complicated webs of synthetic tissues.

“To be strong is to evolve at whatever price!” Madam Wu screamed in hysterical excitement.

“You’re no longer human,” said Qing Ling.

“Haha, why wouldn’t I be?” Madam Wu smiled. “Haven’t humans evolved from single-cell organisms? Who is to say that the future of humanity doesn’t lie in synthetic ascension?”

Her tone grew hateful and frustrated. “What a shame. I can’t swap out my brain yet, but I believe I’ll reach true evolution by reaching max level with Strong!”

But it wouldn’t be easy.

First, she would have to acquire the Buff Rune Circuit and reach level 4. Then she would have to kill the awakeners with top-ranking Talents. They were the ones stopping the Tails from leveling up their Talents.

That was exactly why Madam Wu worked for the Godbearer Cult.

It’s more or less what I thought, Qing Ling quietly planned. Her only weakness is her brain. Find the right opening, and I’ll win!

She took a deep breath and readied her blades, rushing at Madam Wu.

It was then a burst of powerful, scorching waves threw Qing Ling and Madam Wu off their feet. Gao Yang’s father, lying unconscious on the ground, rolled about seven meters away too.

...

A second ago, Gao Yang had used Fire Punch at full power.

Without fear, Xing Kong swung his left fist too, the faint golden light converging to the fist, stopping Gao Yang’s attack perfectly.

When the two fists collided, the blazing flames rippled out, blended with the golden energy. A pillar of flames shot into the sky, making the sky dyed red by the setting sun pale in comparison.

Gao Yang was shocked—not because Xing Kong had suddenly gotten stronger and blocked his Fire Punch, but because Gao Yang could sense that their punches were identical in power.

Xing Kong had retaliated with such perfect control that the punch was no stronger or weaker than Gao Yang’s. It was as if Gao Yang was fighting himself. Was he somehow matching his power?

A few seconds later, flames dispersed from Gao Yang’s left fist, and Xing Kong came out unscathed.

Their fists remained pressed together for a second.

Then Xing Kong pulled back, jumping backward while mocking with a despicable expression, “Trash. That's all you got? And you want to avenge your father? At this rate, your mother and sister are gonna become No.10’s toys hahaha...”

The furious punch hadn’t hurt Xing Kong, but it did release the anger welling up in Gao Yang, and his brain calmed for a moment.

Wait, something’s not right! Think, think...

Finally, Gao Yang peeled away the distracting surface and figured out the truth, seizing the strand of clues amid the tangled mess of thoughts.

Xing Kong was fueling Gao Yang’s anger on purpose.

He had grabbed Gao Yang’s father and run in order to draw Gao Yang and Qing Ling to Tails’ temporary base, fighting them alongside Madam Wu, his companion.

That made sense.

However, why didn’t Xing Kong kill Gao Yang’s father? Why did he injure Gao Yang’s father instead and announce that his father would at most live for another two minutes?

Just for the hell of it?

No, it was to break down Gao Yang’s self control.

Anxious to save his father, Gao Yang didn’t have the presence of mind to think of anything else.

Then Xing Kong and Gao Yang exchanged blows. The man ended up getting tricked by Gao Yang’s Double, and the punch that landed injured him seriously.

Gao Yang seized the chance to save his father with a shot of Medicine C.

Then Xing Kong suddenly changed his story, claiming that he had poisoned Gao Yang’s father, and that his father would die sooner or later.

Thinking about it, though, Gao Yang realized that Xing Kong didn’t have the chance to do that, and he wasn’t an awakener with Poison-type Talents. It was a simple lie.

Why did he do that though? To anger Gao Yang and prevent him from calming down, of course.

Family was Gao Yang’s weakness. He did fall for the trick and become possessed with anger, overlooking all the discrepancies.

In fact, Xing Kong had been humiliating and taunting Gao Yang throughout their fight, like he wanted nothing but to anger Gao Yang.

The angrier he was, the better.

Grumpy!

Realization dawned on Gao Yang at that moment. He now knew why Xing Kong’s threat level kept increasing, as if he had sealed away his true power.

Every time he became stronger, it was after Gao Yang had gotten more furious.

It turned out that Grumpy didn’t make the awakener stronger as they got angrier, but as their enemy grew angrier.

Xing Kong’s energy came from the energy his enemy radiated when furious.

At first, the aura around Xing Kong was a faint green. It turned blue after Gao Yang raged for the first time, then a light gold after Gao Yang grew even more furious.

Xing Kong had been sneakily absorbing Gao Yang’s energy and using it against him. The more agitated and angry he was, the easier it was for Xing Kong to take his energy to arm himself.

Thus, Gao Yang wasn’t fighting Xing Kong in that state, but his own limit.

Gao Yang quickly regained composure, checking the energy inside him. Indeed, he had used up double the energy as he should.

A bead of cold sweat streaked down from his forehead. That’s close. I almost fell for it.

In the short span of time, Xing Kong had reached Gao Yang’s full strength in his usual condition, making him a formidable enemy.

Gao Yang made up his mind. I’ll have to use it.

He swallowed a scoff. I’ve seen through you now, while you know nothing about my trump card.

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