The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 957: Choose Again

"Enemies!"

Once "Chen Ying" got stabbed, "Zhong He" and "Fat Jun" immediately shouted their programmed lines and rose in unison, moving to attack—mere posturing was all the substitutes could manage.

Harvest Song dove into her triangular blade. Flap. Countless yellow talismans poured down like locusts, encircling "Zhong He" and "Fat Jun," leaving no escape route.

Boom! The yellow talismans detonated simultaneously seconds later.

Yellow energy bullets and air bullets rained from above onto the explosion site. Decaying Particles swarmed upward in tandem.

From over a thousand meters overhead, a giant toy UFO plunged toward the laboratory, carrying Colorless, Wandering Tune, Bumblebee, Canary, Lin Fu, Old Seven, Small Luo, Veggie, Rewind, and Crimson Bee.

“Wandering Tune!” Colorless ordered.

"Got it!" Wandering Tune spread his arms, summoning a normal-sized portal on the UFO leading directly into the laboratory. Colorless jumped through first.

Lights blinked. Complex machines surrounded them, their lights blinking.

Dr. Jia stood at a control panel in a pink sleeping robe, a half-eaten cucumber in hand and his parrot perched on his shoulder as he did calibrations.

Behind him stood "Qing Ling."

The moment "Qing Ling" turned, Colorless began to petrify her but stopped halfway.

Boom! "Qing Ling" exploded into countless golden energy particles, a single strand of black hair among them—Qing Ling's hair reduced to ash in the blast.

"A substitute!" Colorless hadn't considered this possibility. Despite her fears of marching to their deaths, they'd had no choice.

Her teammates poured through the portal into the laboratory.

The commotion jolted Dr. Jia from his work.

"Whoa!" He dropped his cucumber in shock. "Why...why didn't you knock?"

Without responding, Colorless used Petrify on Dr. Jia.

She wasn’t sure if Dr. Jia was a substitute, and she didn’t care. Her mission was to launch a surprise strike at the laboratory, killing Dr. Jia. Once that was done, she would get everyone out without even a second of delay.

“Ah...”

Dr. Jia felt numbness spread through him as paralysis set in.

The moment he was injured, golden energy erupted from the Black Gold bracelet on his wrist, forming a translucent golden coffin around him and the parrot. It was a small Absolute Barrier.

Understanding dawned on Colorless.

Dr. Jia was the bait, and her team was the prey.

She faced two choices:

First, wait for Dr. Jia's Absolute Barrier to dissipate and kill him, completing the mission.

In theory, without the Talent user present, the pre-made barrier shouldn't last long.

However, that time would suffice for enemy reinforcements to arrive and engage them.

Before the attack, Colorless had Rewind sweep the area to confirm no other enemies were nearby. That meant they were hidden further out. Yet with Heavenly Dog's Fly, Nainai's Gale, and Gao Yang's Absolute Defense serving as a flying vessel, reinforcements could arrive swiftly.

Second, retreat now for a chance of survival.

Or...

"I'll create a portal now!" Wandering Tune shouted. "Rewind, check which direction is the safest."

"Got it." Blue light shot out of Rewind's eyes, penetrating the walls to scan outside.

Boom! The door slammed open. Harvest Song rushed into the laboratory. "Those were substitutes! We fell in a trap..."

She stopped, seeing her teammates' expressions and realizing the warning was unnecessary.

Twenty seconds later, Rewind deactivated Clairvoyance, face pale and voice trembling.

"Behind us is the Mist. We can only go forward." Rewind turned to the front door. "There are people everywhere. The least...least dangerous way will be our nine. We should be able to..."

"Did you see Gao Yang and War Tiger?" Colorless paused. "And Wang Zikai."

Rewind shook her head. "No."

Colorless's heart sank. She knew they couldn't escape. What seemed like the way to salvation would lead to greater danger.

"Colorless, we don't have time!" Wandering Tune shouted. "Let's run!"

Colorless tipped her head back and released a long breath. She felt relieved, like finally submitting a test paper. She scoffed. "We aren't running."

"Are you mad?!" Crimson Bee forgot Colorless's leadership. "If you wanna die, die on your own. I'm not following you to hell!"

"Me neither!" Old Seven's face and neck flushed with rage. "It's fucking clear now that while Qilin and Surnamed Li always claim to act for humanity, they've never cared about our survival. He knew this was a trap before sending us!"

Lin Fu lost it, too. "Our lives don't matter to him. As long as we kill Dr. Jia, he's fine with all of us dying."

"Sister Colorless, I...I don't wanna die..." Small Luo's eyes reddened. She choked, "I don't wanna be Qilin's puppet."

"Stubborn Weasel paid such a price to save us, yet we're going to die here. What a waste!" Bumblebee shouted, his double chin trembling.

"Ugh! Annoying! So annoying!" Canary tore at her hair.

Veggie said, face pale, "I, I also..."

"We've got no time! Green Snake and Heavenly Dog are coming!" Rewind activated Clairvoyance again, expression despairing. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"What are you waiting for, Wandering Tune? Open a portal!" Crimson Bee shouted. "Those who want to stay, stay. I'm going now. No one's stopping—"

"Enough!"

Colorless's furious shout came with psychic energy, freezing everyone—except Dr. Jia.

Inside the Absolute Barrier, he had retrieved his cucumber from the ground, sharing it with his parrot.

Though uninformed, Dr. Jia had understood everything when the barrier appeared. He realized he was both asset and bait.

"Why's the coffin soundproof? I can't hear what they're saying." Dr. Jia enjoyed the show. "Judging from their expressions, things are bad for them."

"Bad! Bad! Bad!" The parrot showed more excitement than Dr. Jia.

The laboratory fell silent for several seconds.

Colorless spoke calmly, "You can't run away, everyone. And even if you could, would you return to the Ocean River Union?"

No one answered.

"That's not home."

Colorless's eyes radiated bright red light. Her red hair rose strand by strand, visible psychic power twisting it into thin red snakes.

"I picked the wrong way and got many killed..."

"I'm making another choice."