The Creatures That We Are-Chapter 1131: What a Genius

“Will we win?” Nine Frost asked.

Vermilion Bird shook her head. “I don’t know. But there is some information I can be certain of. We fight the death monsters in Li City, during the Three Double-Hours of Heavenly Tribulation. That night, the death monsters are all split up.”

“Our doing, or do the death monsters choose to split up?” Gao Yang asked.

“Don’t know,” Vermilion Bird said. “That’s all I saw.”

“It should be us splitting them up, right?” Chen Ying speculated. “Death monsters aren’t going to just give us the chance to divide and conquer.”

New novel 𝓬hapters are published on ƒreewebɳovel.com.

“Chen Ying,” War Tiger tapped his temple with an index finger, eyes gleaming. “On the contrary, perhaps the death monsters are trying to divide and conquer us, yes?”

Chen Ying said after a pause, “Ah, that is possible.”

“That’s more likely, I think,” Gao Yang said.

Everyone turned to him for his reasoning.

“The death monsters will be weakened during the Three Double-Hours of Heavenly Tribulation. They must know we’re going to launch an attack that night. That was why Greed had been so eager to eliminate us before then. Unfortunately for them, they failed twice.”

Gao Yang turned to Dragon. “You all know why: Greed can’t pry into Dragon’s fate or mine.”

“Greed is wary of Dragon. Although Sloth’s domain seems able to restrict Overlord, it’s not impossible that we will find a way around it. And Sloth may not be able to maintain the domain throughout the night. Greed must have considered the possibility of Dragon killing all the death monsters with Overlord.”

“Wait, that’s seven death monsters!” Old Seven’s jaw dropped. “Captain Dragon, it’s not that I don’t trust your strength. But one against seven? Really?”

Many shared the sentiment. They turned to Dragon.

“If Overlod reaches level 8, and you buy me enough time, it’s doable,” Dragon said easily. When he saw the expressions of shock on their faces, he added for their sanity, “I think.”

Zhang Wei slapped his thigh and shot to his feet. “Holy shit! Then what are we so worried for?! We’re gonna win this!”

“Don’t celebrate just yet, Zhang Wei,” Gao Yang said. “Dragon isn’t going to participate in the Battle of the Curtain Call.”

“Huh?” Zhang Wei didn’t understand.

War Tiger stroked his chin. “Dragon will help. But we'll be mostly on our own.”

“Why?” Hong Xiaoxiao couldn’t wait to have Greed killed to avenge Ke Yo. She didn’t understand why Dragon wouldn’t lend a hand when he could defeat the death monsters.

Dragon said openly, “The Battle of the Curtain Call is your responsibility.”

“We’re all in the same boat.” Chen Ying was equally befuddled. “Why would you separate yourself from us?”

Dragon turned to her. “Even those sharing a boat have different jobs to do. I’m sorry. This is all I can tell you.”

None pressed him further. They were all used to Dragon being mysterious and cryptic. Still, it was a serious blow to the morale when they had to give up on a sure-fire way to secure victory. The room fell silent for a moment.

Gao Yang was the one to break it. “Let’s get back to my speculation. Greed cannot pry into Dragon’s fate, so naturally, she won’t know that Dragon isn’t one of the main forces in the final fight. Due to her wariness of Dragon, she divides the death monsters to prevent them from getting killed at once.”

“Wait.” War Tiger smacked his lips, pointing out the flaw of the logic. “Were I Greed, why would I be afraid of Dragon killing all of us together but not of Dragon taking us down one by one?”

“Do you not see a difference?” Gao Yang said, his eyes cold and dark. “Greed makes that choice. There must be a reason for that. Let’s think about it. Is there really no difference between the two?”

“Time,” Qing Ling said. Though she spoke little, she had been following the conversation intently.

“That’s right.” Gao Yang nodded. “The difference is time.”

“Ah.” Liao Liao caught on. “Killing all of them together costs less time than killing them one by one.”

War Tiger huffed out a laugh and slapped his forehead. “So that is what Greed is betting on.”

“What?” Zhang Wei's brow furrowed in confusion.

Nine Frost turned to him. “It seems now that the death monsters are weakest during the Three Double-Hours of Heavenly Tribulation, thus making the period our best chance to take them out. I’m guessing that the death monsters will get what they want—for example, destroying our hope completely—if we fail to kill all of them that night. Thus, Greed’s goal isn’t to win the final battle, but to make humans fail to win. Even a deuce will count as a loss for humanity.”

Understanding dawned on Zhang Wei's face, but another question followed. “Then why don’t the death monsters just hide? Can’t they just not fight us during the Three Double-Hours of Heavenly Tribulation?”

Nine Frost considered it. “Perhaps it has something to do with their scheme. They have to appear in Li City that night in order to realize the plan.”

“Alright. Makes sense...” Zhang Wei frowned. Then he lit up. “Ah, why don’t we just kill them all beforehand? Let’s not wait until the Three Double-Hours!”

“Yeah, why don’t we?” War Tiger responded with a question.

“Because we can’t find them?” Zhang Wei paused. “Oh, because we can’t win even if we find them?”

“Oh my! How did you realize that?” War Tiger gave him a thumbs-up. “What a genius you are!”

Zhang Wei shut his mouth and went over the situation.

The last time Greed attacked them with other death monsters, Zhang Wei wasn’t here. But he had heard the stories. If not for Dragon's timely intervention, their main combatants would have all perished. That was with only five death monsters present. Envy had come and left without engaging, and Pride, the most powerful among them, hadn't even shown his face.

If all seven death monsters appeared now, with Dragon refusing to take center stage, they stood no chance. But during the Three Double-Hours of Heavenly Tribulation a fortnight later, the seven would be weakened. By then, they would have concentrated their power, with many acquiring new Talents. Perhaps some of their top fighters would have pushed their Talents to level 8, too. Then they would have a chance.

“We have our conclusion.” Gao Yang scanned the room. “The night of the Heavenly Tribulation, we must kill all the death monsters. If we fail, we may not have another chance to turn things around.”

Just as Baili Yi calculated and deduced.

“By the way,” Lying Wood pursed his lips and adjusted his glasses. “Outside of concentrating our power, shouldn’t we make other preparations for the final fight?”

Old Seven snorted. “You’ve decided to ditch us, Lying Wood. Why are you concerned about the final fight?”

“I’m going to be a regular person again, but I still want to help you as best as I can.”

“Yeah.” Small Luo huffed. “Why are you hating on regular folks? We’ll still be your companions, right?”

“Sorry, sorry,” Old Seven apologized with a smile. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

War Tiger put a cigarette into his mouth. “During our previous clash, we’ve come to learn about the death monsters’ power. We can strategize accordingly.”

“The death monsters have strange powers.” Liao Liao thought back to the fight. “But I think it’s closely connected to their names.”

“That’s right.” Adept Horse recalled his experience. “Gluttony’s power is related to eating. Wrath is like an angry bull. As for Lust...”

He turned to Nine Frost and Chen Ying. “What happened to you two?”