The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 546: Business

They all turned to Gray Bear, who was lying a few meters from them. The resurrection pill had come to effect, and he lived.

He had turned back to man from beast, his naked upper body covered in bushy hair. With his jeans dropped, his butt was raised. He was wearing a pair of yellow underwear printed with a fat blue cat.

He rolled to his side with difficulty, pressing a hand to his not yet healed injury, expression pained.

“My head...it hurts...” Gray Bear covered his face with his other hand and slowly sat up. He noticed the mess around him. A serious fight had taken place.

“Ah!”

Gray Bear’s mind cleared up instantly. He remembered now. They were fighting the little bastard, and he got stabbed and lost consciousness. No, he probably died.

“It’s...done?” Gray Bear looked at them in disbelief.

“Congratulations on literally winning while lying down.” Lithe Snake had been waiting to mock him.

“Holy shit...” Gray Bear jerked up, pulling the wound on his abdomen and sucking in a breath. “The body...where’s the bastard’s body?”

“Captain incinerated it for free.” Nine Frost bit down a laugh and threw the belt back to Gray Bear. “Put your pants back on first.”

“Fuck!”

Gray Bear looked down and hurriedly pulled his pants up, expression panicked. “Why did you take off my pants?! What the hell did you do to me?!”

“I’ll explain later.” Nine Frost went up to help him to his feet.

“Whatever. Take me to the remains first...” Gray Bear took his phone out of his pocket. The screen was cracked. “I’m taking a picture.”

Nine Frost helped him to the pile of ash the Cursed Offspring had been reduced to. Gray Bear was disappointed, but he still took a few pictures of it, as well as taking two shots of the obelisk.

“What’s the son of a bitch’s name?” Gray Bear asked. “A child of a life monster. Is it...”

“The Spectres call it the Cursed Offspring.” said NIne Frost.

“Spectres? What Spectres?” Gray Bear was still a little disoriented. He turned around, and only then did he notice three strangers standing by War Tiger: a kid, a tall man, and a beautiful woman holding a white cat. All of them had silver hair and red eyes.

“They are the Spectres?!” Gray Bear jumped.

“Yeah.”

I’ve missed so much!

Gray Bear felt his heart burn, but he put aside his curiosity. Forget it. Let’s get to business first.

He clicked around on his phone and broke into a pleased smile. “Dr. Jia’s tech is great. The phone’s connected even here.”

Three seconds later, Gao Yang, Qing Ling, Lithe Snake, and Nine Frost all heard their phones ring.

Gao Yang checked his and saw that Gray Bear had sent two pictures of the scene to the group chat, Team Heavenbreaker❤❤❤.

Gray Bear: Just fought the Cursed Offspring. Got a little injured.

Can: Whoa! What’s a Cursed Offspring?

Can nudges Seven Shadow.

Can: Captain, is everyone alright?

Gao Yang: The odds are with us.

Gray Bear nudges Can.

Gray Bear: An abomination produced by a life monster. It was stronger than a Spectre!

Heavenly Dog: Cool.

Amon: +1

Chen Ying: It seems to be another terrible fight. As long as you’re all fine.

Nainai: (Coldly) Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.

Lithe Snake: It was quite strong. Gray Bear got taken down before he could even get a clear look of it, and he didn’t wake up until we were finished.

Gray Bear nudges Lithe Snake.

Gray Bear: That was tactic, tactic! I bought precious time for my teammates!

Nine Frost: I can attest to that. Gray Bear had a good nap.

Gray Bear: Piss off!

...

Gao Yang put away his phone and turned to Gray Bear. “Stop texting. Can you move now?”

“I can! I’m good now!” Gray Bear put away his phone, too.

It was clear from the way their phones kept ringing that the others in the group chat were far from done with the conversation.

“We’ll wrap up and get out of here,” said Gao Yang.

They took a short rest and treated the injured. Then they looked around the whole temple ruin and took pictures, packing up what seemed to be important evidence.

Half an hour later, they left the temple through the way they had come from.

Spring took flight, sending a powerful force to the ceiling above them, creating a temporary skylight through the quicksand. Carrying two people at once, Waking Insects flew out—technically, he couldn’t fly, but his ultrasonic speed allowed him to walk up walls, which was as good as flying in this case.

In only ten seconds, after a few gusts, all members of Team Heavenbreaker and the Spectres had returned to above the desert.

One o’clock in the morning, on top of the dune not far from the triangular towers, Dr. Jia sat on the sandy ground, calling Chen Ying from the Hundred Rivers Union. He spoke vehemently, “I didn’t lie. War Tiger asked me to leave for a moment, so I did and wandered around. When I came back, lo and behold, all six of them were gone... How did I know where they went...”

“Dr. Jia.” War Tiger and the others went up to Dr. Jia from behind.

“Shut it. I’m on a call!” Dr. Jia shot back impatiently. Then he paused and jumped in surprise. “Whoa! Where did you go?”

“It’s a long story.” War Tiger grinned.

“Wait, who are these three? Why’s there a cat? It’s pretty. What’s the breed? Let me take it and study it...”

“Dr. Jia.” Gao Yang explained. “Calm down. These three—no, four—are Spectres...”

“The Spectres?” Dr. Jia got even more excited. “Awesome! I finally see living Spectres! Please do come back to my lab with me. Let me study your bodies!”

His eyes shifted to White Dew. “Hm, let’s start with you.”

“You should be glad that I’m not hungry yet, old man.” White Dew, holding her sister, scowled. “Or you would be dead already.”

“Old man?!” Dr. Jia got hit with a truth bomb. “You’re a pretty girl, but your manners are lacking!”

“My manners are lacking?” White Dew’s lips twitched. She considered herself an elegant, beautiful, and dignified woman. She could accept it when people called her evil, but she would not hear anyone criticize her manners.

“Repeat that if you dare! I don’t mind having a meal that tastes like trash...”

Gao Yang felt a headache brewing. He rubbed at his forehead and walked along. “I’ll leave it to you, Uncle Tiger.”

War Tiger lit a cigarette and took a drag, walking away without turning around. “Deal with it, Green Snake.”

Qing Ling glanced at Nine Frost icily. “Do it.”

Nine Frost turned to Lithe Snake, but he was gone already. He could only turn to Gray Bear.

“Don’t worry. Leave it to me.” Gray Bear had been waiting for it. He grabbed Dr. Jia and said, “Leave it, Old Jia. Let me tell you where we went earlier. I’m sure it’ll interest you.”

“Sure.” Dr. Jia’s curiosity was piqued.

“After you walked away, we activated the altar, but then we encountered quicksand. Let me tell you. It was dangerous...”

“Surprisingly, there was a ruin underground, and it was a temple of the ancient Ni Nation. It was so magnificent...”

“There was a mummy in the stone coffin, and it turned out to be a life monster. It was pregnant...”

“Whoa was the cursed one strong. I was well-trained though, and I took the lead to pour attacks upon it...”

“When I had just about reduced it to nothing, the Spectres stepped in. They had been following us, it turned out...”

“That’s the gist of it.” Gray Bear concluded his story.

Dr. Jia blinked. “You’re stronger than I expected, Old Bear.”

“Well, that’s not the most important part.” Gray Bear lit a cigarette and breathed out smoke with practiced ease. “It’s about my rich experience accumulated from countless fights. I’ve concluded the three deciding factors for a victory. I’ll tell you in detail...”