The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 116: Business is Business

“Because there aren't a lot of people,” Gao Yang answered for Officer Huang.

“Ah, I get it now!” Fat Jun came to a realization. “Less people mean less monsters, and less monsters mean less danger.”

“That’s right.” Officer Huang nodded.

Gao Yang fell into thought. He now knew the territories the three major organizations occupied respectively. The Twelve Zodiac Signs based itself in the Daxu District, the prosperous city center, with the neighboring Shanqing District as part of the territory. The two districts might not be big, but the population density was high. It was proof of how powerful the Twelve Zodiac Signs were that they were able to gain a stable foothold where the risk of exposure ran so high.

There was no need to emphasize the Qilin Guild’s dominance. Their main base was located in the Feiyang District, an area as prosperous as the city center, and their territory spanned the Changyan District, Anliang District, and Beiyong District, claiming almost half of the city as their own.

The Hundred Rivers Union, on the other hand, had to lay low in the remote Nanji District despite their large number of members, making clear their lack of confidence.

That left the Dongyu District and the Xijing District unoccupied. Located on the eastmost and westmost points of the city, the two districts were home to all manners of smaller factions, and among them were undiscovered gems and unknown talents.

For the three major organizations, the two districts were dangerous lawless lands.

If Li City was compared to a coin, the four million and more monsters were the head of the coin, and the awakeners among the four hundred and some humans were the tail of the coin.

Both sides followed their own rules and unspoken agreements.

In theory, an organization held the absolute power to rule and govern their territories, and they had the exclusive rights to the resources found there, especially for a S-class resource like a Rune Cave.

If anyone wanted a finger in the pie, they better be ready for a fight.

However, the reality was much more complicated than what was written in the playbook. With competition between the organizations being as intense as it was, the different organizations spared no effort in infiltrating and interfering with each other’s territories.

For example, the second Rune Cave ever found by the awakeners was located in the Anliang District, once a fringe territory of the Hundred Rivers Union. However, the Union was unable to acquire the Rune Circuit on their own, and in the end, the Qilin Guild got involved. Not only was the Rune Circuit taken from them—the Union was only allowed to rent it for free for three months per year—the Anliang District had slowly become a territory of the Qilin Guild. The Hundred Rivers Union ended up losing both the battle and the war.

They learned their lesson. That was why the Hundred Rivers Union contacted the Twelve Zodiac Signs as soon as they discovered a Rune Cave at the Cattle Farm Station.

“What are you thinking so hard about again, Gao Yang?” Wang Zikai noticed Gao Yang’s serious expression and put an arm around his shoulder. “We’re here to have a good time. You should lighten up!”

Gao Yang silently snorted. What is this, a field trip?

After some thinking, Gao Yang said, “Including the Time-Space Rune Circuit we just got, a total of seven Rune Circuits have been found so far, right?”

“Yes.” This was something Qing Ling had been paying attention to. “We have two and a half. The Qilin Guild has three. And the Hundred Rivers Union has one and a half.”

“And who has what?” Gao Yang knew the answers, but it was a habit of his to compare notes with other people.

“Let me think.” Officer Huang scratched his head with the hand holding the cigarette, his eyes slightly narrowed. “We have Life, Damage, and Time-Space, but we share Time-Space with the Hundred Rivers Union. At the moment, the Qilin Guild has Buff, Knowledge, and Miracle. The Hundred Rivers Union only has Psyche, and they got it from a trade with us.”

Gao Yang’s heart quickened. The Qilin Guild sure lived up to their reputation. Not only did they have the most number of Rune Circuits, but they also had the ones Gao Yang needed.

Knowledge Rune Circuit—or Wisdom as his system called it—could level up Lie Detection, while Miracle Rune Circuit could level up Lucky.

Over time, Gao Yang had come to learn the value of Lucky. It might seem useless at first glance, but one way or another, things would be nudged into a direction that benefited him, and sometimes there were pleasant surprises.

For example, he unlocked the Talent Pantheon once he accumulated a certain amount of Luck points, and the Luck points acquisition bonus granted in dangerous situations was only available after Lucky reached level 2.

What would happen if he got to max level with Lucky?

The more he thought about it, the more Gao Yang grew interested in the Miracle Rune Circuit.

“White Rabbit said that the Miracle Rune Circuit was the first ever Rune Circuit found by awakeners, and Qilin, the head of the Qilin Guild, was the one who found it twenty years ago.”

“That’s right.” Officer Huang nodded.

“But,” Gao Yang said, “She didn’t tell us where it was found.”

“Well, we aren’t high-ranking enough in the organization.” Officer Huang smiled awkwardly. “I asked Wu Dahai about it in private once, but he didn’t give me anything.”

Qing Ling said, “I asked him too, and he wouldn’t talk.”

Gao Yang was suddenly impressed with Wu Dahai. If he kept his mouth shut even when Qing Ling asked him about it, he might not be as much of a horndog as he presented himself to be.

Qing Ling’s eyes flashed. “But once, when I was training with War Tiger, he let some information slip. Although he didn’t name the location, I guessed it.”

“Where is it?” Officer Huang and Gao Yang asked at the same time.

Without any change to her expression, Qing Ling extended her right hand to them. “One jinwu for each of you.”

Gao Yang was a little surprised. “Are you serious, Qing Ling?”

“Yeah,” Qing Ling said openly. “I want to buy items that’ll help me level up. I’m not sure if I have enough money.”

“I’m out. I’ll keep working, and sooner or later I’ll earn access to the information.” Officer Huang was worried about his wallet.

“Fine,” Gao Yang said with difficulty. “Tell me first. Once I get changes, I’ll give you 1 jinwu.”

“Deal.”

Qing Ling grabbed Gao Yang’s hand and quickly wrote a word on his palm: door.

Gao Yang realized what she meant immediately.

—The Gates of Closure!

Qilin found the Miracle Rune Circuit on the Gates of Closure twenty years ago!

Speaking of which, the location of the Gates was a tightly kept secret, and most awakeners were not privy to the information.

Once Qing Ling pulled back, Gao Yang thought for a while and turned to Officer Huang, “Give me your hand. I’ll tell you where it is at 0.5 jinwu!”

“Deal!” Officer Huang’s eyes glinted.

“Seriously?” Fat Jun was getting exasperated. “We’re companions who have been through hell together. That makes us family. Is there a need to haggle over every ounce?”

“You know nothing!” Wang Zikai swiped Fat Jun on the head. “My dad always told me since I was little that even real brothers should settle every account clearly. Mixing relationships and money will end up hurting both!”

Gao Yang was a little surprised. Since when was Wang Zikai capable of saying something wise?

Anyhow, he managed to earn 0.5 jinwu back by selling the information to Officer Huang as a secondary distributor.

The abandoned amusement park was bigger than they had expected, and there was still a ways away from the haunted house. With moonlight paving their path, they walked past a dried artificial lake and returned to their previous topic.

“Why is the Qilin Guild so precious with the Miracle Rune Circuit?” Gao Yang asked on purpose. “From what I’ve gathered, there are very few awakeners with Miracle-type Talents. I haven’t heard about more than a couple.”

Gao Yang hadn’t told anyone about Lucky for a variety of reasons.

“I don’t know. Still, according to War Tiger, the Qilin Guild would trade anything but the Miracle Rune Circuit.” Officer Huang turned to look at Gao Yang from the front. “But things may be different now.”

“Why?” Gao Yang’s eyes glinted.

“Because we have the Time-Space Rune Circuit,” Qing Ling said coolly.

“That’s right.” Officer Huang continued his explanation as he walked. “During our training, War Tiger told us that the reward pool for intel regarding the Time-Space and the Element Rune Circuits amount to an astronomical fifty thousand jinwu, greater than anything else in the awakener society, and the ones pushing the figure that high are none other than the Qilin Guild. They must need the two Rune Circuits very much.”

“Fifty thousand!” Gao Yang was so shocked that his eyes must be shaking.

“Insane, right?” Officer Huang looked slightly peeved. “We’ve earned twenty-five thousand jinwu for the organization, yet the monthly salary and bonus combined is as little as 5 jinwu. How does that make sense?”

“The employers are always evil!” Gao Yang complained.

“Whoa, that’s crazy!” Fat Jun was getting worked up as well. “If we offer the Time-Space Rune Circuit in exchange for the Miracle Rune Circuit, the Qiling Guild is bound to be tempted. Doesn’t that make the Twelve Zodiac Signs even more amazing?”

“Are you an actual pig? None of us have a Miracle-type Talent. Why would we want the Rune Circuit? To prop an uneven table up?” Surprisingly, Wang Zikai had been listening, and he asked after he was reminded of something, “Oh, Gao Yang. What type is my Talent? Which Rune Circuit do I need?”

“Yours?” Gao Yang quickly got into conman mode. “Destiny belongs to neither of the three realms and is beyond the constraint of the five fundamental elements. You don’t need a Rune Circuit. You simply have to work hard to exceed yourself continuously.”

“For real?” Wang Zikai was ecstatic.

“For real!” The rest of them answered in unison, hoping to get over the topic as soon as possible.

Their conversation then shifted. Meanwhile, Gao Yang wondered if he should let the organization know about Lucky once Heavenly Dog’s Time-Space Talents leveled up. Perhaps the organization would be willing to trade Rune Circuits with the Qilin Guild for him.

However, Gao Yang didn’t feel safe revealing his greatest secret, Lucky.

“Who is it?!”

Leading the way, Officer Huang suddenly stopped to draw his gun.