The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 73: Coach, I wanna play basket

The one in the elevator was Dead Pig.

Given how big his build was, he alone was enough to fill the entire elevator, and he looked like a giant stumbling upon Lilliput, the nation of tiny people. He walked out of the elevator and looked around. Then he turned to War Tiger and let out a bitter nasal laugh. “I knew it had to be something bad when you called me here.”

“Thanks, Dead Pig. I’ll buy you a meal later.”

“Three whole lambs, deal?”

“Three whole lambs, deal!” War Tiger agreed without hesitation, but then he added, “On Wu Dahai’s tab.”

Dead Pig chuckled while walking toward Lovely Lamb.

For a moment, Gao Yang felt bad for Dead Pig. It seemed to be a common occurrence for him to endure the injury transferred from his teammates. No matter how good his regenerative ability was, the pain was real.

It took Lovely Lamb 15 minutes to absorb most of the injury from everyone and reattach Officer Huang’s right hand and War Tiger’s cut arm. Of course, the reattached parts wouldn’t be good as new immediately. A two days’ rest was suggested, and it would be best to receive treatment from a healer like Fat Jun to fully recover.

With all the damage stored in Lovely Lamb’s body, her transferring all of it to Dead Pig resulted in quite the grotesque picture. For the next ten minutes or so, Dead Pig’s body kept bursting into wounds. He bled everywhere.

After all the mess was cleaned up, Lovely Lamb and Dead Pig were both exhausted, and they fell asleep on the ground.

Compared to the cold-blooded man who had gone on a killing spree before, War Tiger couldn’t be more talkative if he tried. And true to his job title as their teacher, he had been giving them lessons the whole time.

“Green Snake’s God of Blades, Yellow Ox’s God of Firearms, and my Killing Expert are all Damage-type Talents. From now on, the three of us will be the main damage output of the organization. The two of you are pretty good fighters. Once you’ve recovered, you should go on missions with me. There’s no better learning experience than actual battles.”

“I’ll formulate Strategy A, B, and C for you later. The two of you should practice to get better at fighting as a team. The combo of Lovely Lamb and Dead Pig is my invention. Ain’t it awesome?”

War Tiger kept talking, but no one paid him any attention.

After the near death experience, Officer Huang was in a solemn mood, and he leaned against the wall, smoking and talking on his phone with his wife, “What are you doing, sweetheart? Ah, don’t worry. I just want to hear your voice. Yeah, you should go to bed. I’m still working overtime. I’ll return home later...”

“Yellow Ox! What’s gotten to you? You’re married?” War Tiger seemed disappointed. He kept shaking his head with his arms crossed. “Women would only slow down your blade.”

“I use guns.” Officer Huang had to put on a smile facing War Tiger’s prowess. “I promise I’ll do my best in your lessons from now on. Would you mind leaving my private life out of this, Teacher?”

“Fine.” War Tiger turned to Qing Ling. “How about it, Green Snake? Would you like to go on a mission with me...”

“No.” Qing Ling sat cross-legged on the floor, still reeling from the terrible defeat she had suffered at War Tiger’s hands.

“Heh, you aren’t being a sore loser, are you?”

Qing Ling looked away.

Chuckling, War Tiger crouched down next to her. “Well, Uncle Tiger isn’t a devil. How about this? As long as you and Yellow Ox follow me to missions and do them well. I promise to help your God of Blades and his God of Firearms reach level 4.”

Qing Ling’s eyes lit up, but then she questioned, “White Rabbit said we don’t have Damage Rune Circuit.”

“We don’t, but others do! We can make a trade with our existing Rune Circuits. Or we can always just make a grab for it if all other options fail.” War Tiger pounded himself on the chest. “How do you think I pushed my Killing Expert to level 5?”

“Hey!” White Rabbit said unhappily. “Don’t make such an important decision on your own.”

War Tiger had made up his mind. “I’m the vice-captain. I’m in charge when the captain isn’t around.”

“Deal,” said Qing Ling.

Pleased, War Tiger reached out to help her up. “Deal.”

Qing Ling stared at him with a serious expression. “Once I reach level 4, we’ll have a rematch.”

“Haha, of course! Anytime!” War Tiger was overjoyed. Finally, he had a student who shared his passion.

“Um, Teacher War Tiger,” Gao Yang piped up weakly. “Have you...forgotten about me?”

Coach, I wanna play basket...I mean, I wanna level up my Talents as well[1]!

“Oh, you?” War Tiger scratched his mess of curly hair. “You’ve got limitless potential, but given how useless you are right now, it’s too early to send you out on missions.”

“Right.” Gao Yang’s shoulders sagged. Did the man really have to be so direct about it? He had his pride too, and it could bruise!

“You should stay with White Rabbit and Electric Mouse for the moment. There’s quite a lot they can teach you.” War Tiger turned to White Rabbit. “Ah, what were you going to do earlier? I’ll get out of your hair, so you should go back to that.”

“Why, thank you!” White Rabbit shot daggers at him with her eyes. Lovely Lamb had fallen asleep in her arms. “I’ll keep an eye on Uncle Pig and Cute Little Lamb. Wu Dahai, you take them to the underground base.”

Sitting in the messy office with his back hunched, Wu Dahai looked at all the limited edition figurines, models, and blind boxes scattered on the floor, his heart bleeding.

Without looking up, he said, “Give me a moment. I’m still hurting.”

“Where?” asked War Tiger. “Didn’t Lovely Lamb treat you?”

“This can’t be treated,” Wu Dahai yelled at War Tiger. “It’s my heart that’s hurting!”

...

A few minutes later, Wu Dahai picked himself up and led Gao Yang, Qing Ling, and Officer Huang to the underground base that had just finished construction. Having taken in three students with good potential, War Tiger was in a good mood, and he decided to follow them down.

The five of them exchanged glances in the quickly descending elevator.

Although War Tiger had a friendly smile on his face, Gao Yang still shuddered when he remembered the coldblooded killer from earlier.

Officer Huang seemed to share Gao Yang’s sentiments. He couldn’t help but ask, “Teacher, what if you stabbed me at a wrong angle and ended up hitting my heart? Would Lovely Lamb still be able to save me?”

“Of course not!” War Tiger seemed surprised. “Why would you ask such a silly question? Even monsters can’t survive having their hearts stabbed, let alone a human.”

“Listen carefully. There are many limits to Lovely Lamb’s Injury Transfer. First, the injury must have been inflicted no more than thirty minutes ago, and it has to be the kind of damage that can be treated with modern medicine. If irreversible damage has been inflicted, of course the injury wouldn’t be transferable.” War Tiger explained with animated gestures like a passionate teacher.

Officer Huang felt a shudder run down his spine. He suddenly felt like calling his wife again. He wanted to hear her voice.

It was good...to be alive.

Ding!

In no time, the elevator reached the underground sixth floor.

“We’re here,” said Wu Dahai.

1. A quote from Slam Dunk. ?