Chapter 742: Absolute Defense

Chapter 742: Absolute Defense

On the second day, Nine Frost and Can reached Gao Yang with the communication line in Gregor’s place. They headed to the mansion that had belonged to the Spectres late at night. It was now a new base for the Nine Scions.

On the third day morning, Qing Ling, Hong Xiaoxiao, and Ke Yo returned to Li City safely. They received a signal from Nine Frost Telepathy as soon as they left the harbor and had a secret rendezvous with him. Gao Xinxin and Wang Zikai, on the other hand, were still hiding somewhere in North Harvest.

That was the final step of Qing Ling’s plan.

She had learned from Gao Yang to consider not only her moves, but also the moves the enemies could make.

They had decoupled the train cars. Qilin must have guessed that it was the Nine Scions’ doing.

They would surely return to the train station in Zone D to intercept them given it was the only official channel out of North Harvest. Wang Zikai had punched Raven Shark and signaled that the NIne Scions had rescued Gao Xinxin to fool Qilin.

Wang Zikai never actually left North Harvest with Gao Xinxin. Only Qing Ling, Hong Xiaoxiao, and Ke Yo did. After some time, they could have Nainai head to North Harvest to give them a touch-up and bring them back.

Things went smoothly. They never got tracked or intercepted by Qilin the whole way. It seemed that Qilin thought playing hide-and-seek was beneath him. The man had left already.

It was ten o’clock in the morning. A warm sunny day.

Gao Yang, Nainai, Can, Chen Ying, Wang Weiyan, and Zhang Wei stood in the front yard of the mansion, waiting for Team Qing Ling to return.

Following Nine Frost to base, Qing Ling, Hong Xiaoxiao, and Ke Yo had heard from him what happened at the Starcatching Pavilion.

Objectively speaking, they got lucky. If they hadn’t been sent to Island Nation by Gao Yang, it was most likely that every one of them outside of Wang Zikai would’ve died without leaving a corpse behind.

Hong Xiaoxiao had been crying the whole way back.

Ke Yo joined Nine Scions not long ago and wasn’t that close to everyone, but she was still heartbroken. She tried her best to comfort Hong Xiaoxiao.

Qing Ling kept on a long face the whole way back without making any comment.

Now, Nine Frost was back with them.

Qing Ling spotted Gao Yang in the crowd at first glance. He had become thinner compared to three days ago, making the sharp lines of his face more pronounced. His face was pale and his eyes cold and dark. His longer hair was tied messily into a small ponytail.

He said simply, “Welcome back.”

Qing Ling nodded.

“Can...” Hong Xiaoxiao could no longer hold it in. She rushed up to throw her arms around Can, and Can lost it too. The girls bawled in each other’s embrace.

Zhang Wei’s eyes reddened again. He clenched his teeth to tamp down the urge to cry. He told himself that he shouldn’t turn his tears into a cheap thing.

“Where were they buried?” Qing Ling asked.

“The maple forest in the back.” Gao Yang turned around. “Follow me.”

Nine burial sites were lined up in the depths of the forest, each for Sha Ye, Herb Snail, Lithe Snake, Gray Bear, Little Tian, Chestnut, Empty Life, Shuang Shuang, Buzhou, and Wild Range.

There were no tombstones or epitaphs.

Before Sha Ye’s grave was the camellias Wang Weiyan had picked for her.

Before Herb Snail’s grave was about a dozen pebbles Zhang Wei had arranged into the number 6, the man’s last word to the world.

Before Lithe Snake’s grave was a Black Gold dagger. It was the weapon the man had gifted Gao Yang back in the Ni Nation desert. Gao Yang returned it to its original owner.

[Congratulations! Absolute Defense breakthroughs to level 4.]

[Stats Bonuses of level 4 Absolute Defense: Constitution + 1200, Endurance + 1200, Charisma + 800.]

[Details: The Talent grants energy shields of different types and Absolute Barriers. There can only be one large Absolute Barrier at a time or three small Absolute Barriers. The barriers last 10 minutes with a cooldown of 1 hour.]

[Nothing may enter the barriers or make any in-depth investigation into something in the barriers. Whether the ones in the barriers may leave the barriers is decided by the Talent user.]

[Status Screen updated.]

[You now have 77 Luck points.]

[Constitution: 1640 Endurance: 1641]

[Strength: 1104 Agility: 1851]

[Willpower: 2003 Charisma: 2302]

[Luck: 2020]

[Absolute Defense Lv4]

[Teleportation Lv6]

[Replicate Lv6]

[Fire Lv6]

[Double Lv6]

[Psychic Armor Lv6]

[Lie Detection Lv4]

[Lucky Lv5]

[Access ends.]

...

Gao Yang opened his eyes. There was an inconspicuous flash of determined golden light in his gaze. He put Lithe Snake’s dagger into a sheath on his waist.

“The Nine Scions’ goal has never changed. Born in the dark, we chase the dawn.”

“But before that, there is a path we must walk, and blood we must get on our hands.”

“The Nine Scions, at attention.”

“Captain!”

The chorus of responses rang through the empty forest.

Gao Yang looked around at his companions. In a calm but determined tone, he uttered the words that had been in the depths of his heart.

“We avenge them.”

[End of Act 5 Part I]