The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 950: Intimidated and Excited

After a stunned moment, War Tiger’s eyes widened. He sucked in a breath.

Qing Ling and Nine Frost were silent for a second, feeling a shudder run down their spines.

“Hmph!” Nainai crossed her arms before her chest snobbishly, as if she had long anticipated the conclusion and deemed it beneath her to join the discussion. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“You’re good with analogies.” Dr. Jia nodded in approval.

Gao Yang chuckled wryly. “I’ll keep going. Tell me if I’m getting it right, Dr. Jia.”

All the others turned to him, including the supposedly omniscient and omnipotent Nainai.

"Our Talents come from the Heavenly Way—we've inherited its energy and will. When we enter the Mist, we think we're the observers, but the Heavenly Way is the true beholder."

He paused, gathering his thoughts. "Look at everything the Heavenly Way has done. Giving humans Talents. Protecting regular humans from monsters. Fighting the Mist's advance. Maintaining normal function. Even after the Mist devoured parts of our world, the Heavenly Way cleaned up and kept the isolated islands running."

His gaze swept the room. "From this, we can conclude the Heavenly Way 'loves' this world. It wants to maintain order and existence."

"When the Mist claimed that tourist site in the desert, even God couldn't escape the paradox. The very act of observation interferes with what's observed. The Heavenly Way either wants to see the desert as it was before the Mist, or that's all it can see."

"That explains why Qing Ling and Nainai saw the desert, but not the true realm beyond the Mist. The proof? Those four minutes of blank recordings."

"Precisely." Dr. Jia beamed. "You interpret my words beautifully."

Gao Yang’s explanation made even Nainai understand their working theory.

The room fell silent, overtaken by helplessness and confusion. The more they knew about the world, the more confused and insignificant they felt.

Soon, Gao Yang broke the silence, “Dr. Jia, if the Observation Theory is correct, can I deduce from it that the Gates of Closure is the official channel that’ll lead us through the Mist for real?”

"That's my thinking." Dr. Jia nodded. "Without an official channel, we'd likely be devoured, erased, or absorbed by the Mist."

"But through proper channels, we might rise above even the Heavenly Way's perspective—break free from the observer's limitations and truly understand the Mist. Being optimistic, we might learn to deal with it, adapt to it, or even change it."

War Tiger smacked his lips. "Why do I feel both terrified and thrilled?"

“I feel the same.” Nine Frost spoke in a low voice, his expression complicated, “I got a shudder and goosebumps.”

Qing Ling’s face remained impassive, but she unconsciously tightened her grip around the hilt of her blades.

“Tsk, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s still speculation at this point. We need more information.”

Dr. Jia scratched his head with anxiety. “We’ve run out of Sir Jiang’s vital energy, and all pride monsters and life monsters are gone. Wrath monsters and greed monsters don’t seem to be in the same league and likely won’t cut it. Without a high-level monster’s energy, I can’t make another mist-dispersing lantern, let alone improve the design.”

“There’s the death monster,” Qing Ling said.

"Bold of you to consider using a death monster." War Tiger approved. As expected of his protégé.

"Actually..." Nine Frost began, but Gao Yang's sharp look silenced him.

Gao Yang knew what Nine Frost meant to say. They'd discussed it privately: Wang Zikai might be an unawakened death monster. They estimated the probability at fifty percent.

Ever since witnessing the Gates of Closure through Qilin's illusion, that terrible thought had haunted Gao Yang. But he wouldn't—couldn't—extract Wang Zikai's vital energy for Dr. Jia's experiments.

Too much could go wrong. One mistake might trigger Wang Zikai's monsterhood. And if he truly was the death monster, if the death monster's mission was to kill all humans...

Gao Yang forced his mind away from that path. Such thoughts led to despair deeper than any abyss.

They needed to explore the Mist within their capabilities. The Gates of Closure remained their priority.

Everything they'd encountered only strengthened his conviction: opening the Gates was humanity's sole hope.

...

The six of them ate and rested at the hotel, waiting until nightfall to quietly return to S Base.

Dr. Jia burst through the door, scanning for his pet without even acknowledging the faces, old and new. His eyes lit up. "Parry!"

“Fake Doctor! Fake Doctor[1]!” The fat parrot flapped its wings happily from its perch on Lying Wood’s shoulder.

"Parry!" Dr. Jia rushed forward, stroking the bird's head and chin. "Nice, your head feathers grew back... Hm, have you lost weight?"

"Your pet kept eating things it shouldn't and getting diarrhea." Relief flooded Lying Wood's face as the burden lifted from his shoulders. He'd rather face the frontlines than endure another day of birdsitting.

"How many times have I told you, stupid bird? Eating everything only hurts you!" Dr. Jia scolded.

"No mud ball! No mud ball!" The parrot squawked indignantly.

"Holding a grudge now? Just wait till I teach you a lesson!" After ensuring his pet's well-being, Dr. Jia turned around. "Raven Shark! Where are you, Raven Shark?"

"Here."

Raven Shark stood behind Vermilion Bird's wheelchair.

"Open your dimensional storage. Time to get to work!" Dr. Jia rubbed his hands together.

"That won't do, Old Jia." War Tiger approached with a knowing grin. "This place is cramped enough with all these people. Your lab won't fit."

"Then what?" Dr. Jia demanded. "I can't work inside the dimensional storage—I'll die in there!"

"Don't worry." War Tiger's smirk widened as he glanced at Gao Yang. "We've found just the place for you. An auspicious site with great fengshui. You're going to love it!"

1. Fake is pronounced jia in Mandarin. ☜