The Creatures that We Are

Meanwhile, the Judge’s domain.

Two grenades exploded where Gao Yang was. Fire erupted, smoke billowed, and charred flesh scattered across the ground.

"Gao Yang! Gao Yang!" Dr. Jia's voice cracked with panic. "Answer me! You can't be dead!"

Qin You and Liao Liao flinched at the sudden violence.

Liao Liao recovered first. Gao Yang had Absolute Defense and exceptional physical prowess. The grenades wouldn't kill him—but they'd leave their mark.

That worked in their favor.

The gray barrier materialized, dividing the arena. The fifth turn ended as the countdown for the next began.

"Qin You!" Liao Liao called out. "We'll settle our scores later. Gao Yang goes down first! Next turn decides everything!"

She continued with certainty, "He doesn't have enough energy for another Absolute Barrier. He'll have to eliminate one of us and gamble on surviving the other's attack."

“Good news is he can’t use Fire Punch, and he may not be able to kill us with one attack.”

"We must attack next turn! No hesitation!"

"I know." Qin You's expression darkened.

The equation was simple: if Gao Yang survived their next assault, any survivor would fall in the following turn.

To Qin You, the best-case scenario was Gao Yang killing or critically injuring Liao Liao, and then Qin You would take down Gao Yang.

Or the reverse could happen: Gao Yang killed or injured Qin You first before Liao Liao took care of Gao Yang.

Worst-case scenario, both Qin You and Liao Liao chose to defend themselves out of distrust and ended up dying at Gao Yang’s hands.

Qin You said, “This is our only chance. Do not hold back.”

“Ha, I should be saying that to you…” Liao Liao frowned. The fire and smoke filling the other side of the barrier dissipated, revealing a figure.

Gao Yang, covered in melted flesh and burns, had lost an arm.

When Nico charged at Gao Yang, Gao Yang had reached out his left hand and grabbed the grenades, pushing them toward Nico’s abdomen to minimize the damage the explosion did to him. In the end, Nico got blown to pieces, while Gao Yang lost an arm.

"Haha, I knew you'd survive!" Dr. Jia's voice trembled with unprecedented relief. Never had another's survival mattered so much to him—though admittedly, his own life depended on Gao Yang.

"Can you still fight?" he asked urgently.

Gao Yang answered with a slow nod.

Dr. Jia fell silent, unwilling to disturb Gao Yang's focus.

Gao Yang, now missing an arm, slowly sat down with his back hunched and head lowered, letting his blood flow. He raised his eyes to glance up at the red bar and golden bar above his head. Both were below the quarter mark. ṙἈΝò₿Ɛs̩

Through the barrier, he saw Qin You—full health, one-fifth energy—and Liao Liao—three-quarters health, one-fifth energy.

Gao Yang drew a deep breath and looked at the gray pillar. Clear Mirror's face had faded to a ghostly outline. Gao Yang scanned his arsenal of skills, eyes moving down the translucent list until he found what he sought.

He exhaled slowly and closed his eyes, relief washing over him.

The thinking time soon came to an end.

[The sixth turn begins.]

…

The pattern beneath Gao Yang's feet flared green, yet he remained cross-legged, motionless.

Liao Liao and Qin You's hearts hammered. Their eyes locked on the patterns beneath their feet.

Who will he kill? What power will he unleash? Can I survive it?

Anxiety gripped them both.

Suddenly, their patterns blazed yellow! They stared, bewildered.

Gao Yang lifted his head, parted his lips.

"Ah—"

An inhuman cry tore from his throat as pure white energy pulsed outward, washing over everyone like sacred light. Liao Liao and Qin You tensed for an attack that never came.

Three seconds passed. Gao Yang's energy bar plummeted, leaving only a tenth remaining.

Liao Liao and Qin You exchanged baffled looks.

Had Gao Yang surrendered? Given up?

No time to ponder. The pattern beneath Liao Liao's feet turned green.

She raised her gun, but her finger wouldn't respond. The trigger remained untouched.

What?!

Three seconds of paralysis, then her arm dropped. Her energy bar emptied.

"What the hell was that?!" Qin You snarled. "Why didn't you fucking shoot?!"

"I couldn't!" Liao Liao's voice cracked with panic. "I tried—I couldn't move!"

"Useless trash!"

Then it was Qin You’s turn. Eyes fierce, he aimed his hands at Gao Yang, using the most powerful strangling move of Plant.

Nothing happened. He stood frozen, hands raised, expression fierce but powerless.

Three seconds passed. His energy bar drained. He lowered his trembling hands, turning to Liao Liao. "I...I couldn't attack either!"

"Could it be..." Recognition dawned in Liao Liao's eyes. Another power inherited from his life monster mother. "The silencing white light?"

Yes.

Gao Yang just used Wave of Serenity to silence both his team and the opposing team—to be more precise, the power was meant to interrupt others’ actions; it only presented that way due to this being a turn-based match.

It didn’t make sense for all moves to become single-target attacks in this match.

For example, Gao Yang’s Fire Punch, Sir Jiang’s Spatial Blender, and Liao Liao’s Disorientation should all target everyone. However, Clear Mirror exploited the concept of fairness and forcefully adjusted some of the rules, making it so that all players’ Talents became single-target skills—it was clearly meant to restrict Gao Yang.

However, he had adjusted the rules at the price of quickly depleting his life—it made sense that Clear Mirror would need to pay a greater price to be an unfair judge. Such was the hidden mechanism of the Talent.

With the sixth turn arriving, and the loading time lengthening in the domain, it was clear that Clear Mirror was at his limit. The few rules that got adjusted reverted back to normal once more.

To make sure he was right, Gao Yang had carefully gone over his rows of skills once more, and indeed, Wave of Serenity had gone from targeting an individual to targeting all.

It cost little energy, so Gao Yang could still move in the next turn. On the contrary, Liao Liao and Qin You had used up their remaining energy on their attacks, yet were stopped short by Wave of Serenity.

Next turn, they could neither move nor dodge. Only go into a forced rest.

Missing an arm, Gao Yang picked his tattered, injured body back up. Like a demon bathed in blood, he stared at Qin You and Liao Liao, her eyes piercing their hearts like cold daggers.

“You aren’t the ones to laugh in the end.”

Houseau3's Thoughts

That setup finally pays off here.

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