The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 16: Stalker

“Pregnant?!”

Gao Yang and Qing Ling exclaimed at the same time. They couldn’t be more shocked.

Monsters could get pregnant?

Didn’t they not have a human reproductive system?

Gao Yang’s head was throbbing. There were too many questions to figure out. However, he was still a wimp in combat. He didn’t know how many more days he could survive.

Without pause, Qing Ling asked, “Are you sure she didn’t lie to you?”

“I am.” Officer Huang’s voice didn’t have a trace of doubt. “There’s no reason for her to lie to me.”

“Are you sure the child is yours?”

“Um...” That was the crux of the matter. After making a thoughtful hum, Officer Huang said, “I’m pretty sure I’m not cheated on.”

Qing Ling didn’t say anything else.

After some hesitation, Gao Yang asked, “Officer Huang, may I ask you a personal question?”

Officer Huang smiled a little awkwardly. “I know what you’re going to ask. Although my wife is a monster, we love each other very much. After all, we got together before I awakened. Even now, we do it once every week on average.”

Gao Yang nodded, indicating for him to continue.

“My wife is shy. Every time we do it, we turn off the light. And we often have some red wine first...” Officer Huang stopped himself and coughed. “Right, you’re still young, so I won’t go into the details. Anyway, I have never had sex with human women, so I never thought there’s anything odd when I’m with her.”

Officer Huang sighed. “My wife has always wanted a child, so we never use protection. I thought monsters couldn’t have children.”

“What now?” asked Gao Yang. “What do you plan to do?”

Officer Huang took out another cigarette and put it to his lips before putting it down. “To tell you the truth, when I heard that my wife is pregnant, my first reaction wasn’t shock. I was overjoyed.”

“Overjoyed?” Qing Ling frowned.

“Yes, I’m happy as a father. I find that hard to believe myself.” Officer Huang took out his lighter and, seemingly resolving himself, lit the cigarette and took a deep drag. “I’m going to have the baby. If the baby can be delivered, that is.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Qing Ling couldn’t understand. “She’s a monster!”

“I know...” Officer Huang smiled bitterly. “But she’s also my wife, and she’s pregnant with my child.”

Gao Yang didn’t say anything. He actually was in favor of Officer Huang’s decision. He had a feeling that the birth of the child would reveal more of the secrets of this world. It was likely to get Officer Huang into more danger as well, but it was a risk worth taking.

“Have it your way,” Qing Ling said. “Just don’t drag me into the mess.”

“Of course,” Officer Huang said gratefully. Then he turned around and leaned against the desk. “Alright, we’ll get to the next thing on the agenda: the mission is a failure. I can’t tell you the full list of Talents then. However, I’ll still grant you the bonus we’ve agreed on out of gratitude. You may ask me two questions. Think it through first.”

“How do we level up Talents?” Qing Ling asked immediately.

Officer Huang’s eyes flickered. “Why do you think Talents come with a level?”

“Yeah, why?” Gao Yang was curious too. He seemed to be the only one with a system after all.

“I wasn’t sure in the beginning.” Qing Ling looked down at her palms.

“But I’ve experienced what felt like level-ups. It’s a different feeling from my body gradually getting stronger through training over time. At some point, energy rushed into my body and changed me from head to toe. It’s like being born anew. I’ve been through that with God of Blades twice.”

“But not Metal?” asked Officer Huang.

“I had it happen with Metal once, but never again. When I first acquired Metal, I could only manipulate metal objects lighter than 1 kilogram. After the level up, it’s increased to 10 kilograms. In theory, I should be able to level up further.” Qing Ling tightened her fists. “I don’t know what’s stopping me.”

“You’re keen to have gotten this far on your own.” Officer Huang took off his police cap and thought for a moment. “Every Talent can level up. It’s said that the limit is level 8. Your God of Blade is only level 3. There’s a long way ahead of you. My God of Firearms is level 3 too, of course.”

“Then how do I level it up?” Qing Ling’s eyes lit up.

“I’m sorry. I can’t tell you that.”

“Why?”

“It’s a rule.”

“Whose rule?”

Officer Huang smiled and didn’t answer.

“Now it’s my turn.” Gao Yang raised his hand like a student eager to ask a question in class.

“Go on.”

“How do I meet them?”

Caught off guard, Officer Huang laughed. “You’re quick, kid.”

“It’s nothing.” Of course he had to be quick. With a useless Talent like his, he wouldn’t even be an expendable side character if he didn’t have a quick mind. “You belong to an organization, don’t you, Officer Huang? It’s a rule of theirs?”

Officer Huang nodded and sighed. “Actually, I’m not even an official member of the organization, but an affiliate. They contact me and give me instructions like I’m some tool. I’m in no position to initiate a conversation with them. Since I’ve been an outstanding tool, however, I occasionally get some useful information from my handler.”

Officer Huang’s smile was replaced by a serious expression. “He prohibits me from spreading their information. Things will get ugly for me if I run my mouth and they learn of it.”

“Why didn’t you join them?” asked Gao Yang. “Wouldn’t your job be a great advantage?”

Officer Huang responded with an embarrassed smile. “Because I’m too weak.”

“You...are too weak?”

Gao Yang felt an indirect blow to his ego.

“I wasn’t able to pass their test, so at the moment, I’m only a trainee with no end to the trial period in sight.” Officer Huang looked out of the window. “The organization is quite mysterious. They have been very secretive about their existence and the way they run. To survive, even awakeners much stronger than us are cautious.”

“I understand.”

“But.” Officer Huang turned around. “With the two of you with me, I feel like I can give it another try. That is if you want to join as well.”

“I’m in!”

Gao Yang agreed immediately and turned to Qing Ling.

Qing Ling asked with an impassive face, “Will I learn how to level up my Talents if I join?”

This girl...does she think about anything other than getting stronger?

“Of course.”

“When will the test be?” asked Qing Ling.

“No rush. It’ll probably be in a couple days. Wait for me to notify you.” Officer Huang glanced at his phone. “Let’s end things here. I have to accompany my wife to an ultrasound scan.”

Gao Yang grumbled, “Aren’t you at work? Is it okay to just give yourself a leave?”

“You don’t know how good it feels to skip work...” Officer Huang’s smile dropped in an instant. With a dark look on his face, he drew his gun lightning fast and aimed at the door. “Who’s there?!”

Qing Ling was closest. She whirled around and conjured her Tang Dao, stabbing it through the closed door.

Shing!

Qing Ling pulled her blade back out and shook her head. “There’s no one outside.”

Gao Yang was stunned.

Wait, did you just stab at it? What if there were monsters? What if it were a human outside?

She really would rather kill a thousand innocents than letting one monster go.

Officer Huang slowly holstered his gun. “It seems that I’ve overreacted. I’ve been tense recently.”

He put on his cap. “Alright. Let’s go our separate ways.”

...

Things had been quiet for Gao Yang the whole day.

Every once in a while, he would access his system to check his Luck points, making sure there hadn’t been an unusual spike, which would mean that he was safe and hadn’t been exposed as an awakener.

Then he continued to keep the system running in the background.

After the evening self-study, Gao Yang returned home on his own.

The street was eerily quiet at night. The rain had stopped, but the street was still damp with puddles of different sizes. Under the scintillating neon light, they looked like portals to a different world.

Splat. Gao Yang stepped into a puddle and stopped.

Something...was wrong.

His muscles tensed. Someone was following him.