The Creatures That We Are
Chapter 1288: Line of Sight

Chapter 1288: Line of Sight

“What do you mean?” Chen Ying asked.

“There are cheaters every round.” Nana shook the lollipop she was holding. “It’s Baili Yi for your round. I created three projections. They joined the three major factions on the awakeners’ side to act as a balance. In addition to them, I have numerous other sub-accounts. For example...”

“Lin Mengjuan,” Gao Yang guessed.

“Yes, that is me.” Nana coughed a little bashfully. “That one wasn’t created to maintain balance. I was just bored. I have everything here, but it gets tedious after a while... Your world is more interesting in comparison. I created the three projections at first because I was bored and curious.”

Chen Ying couldn’t take that as an answer, and her rage continued to burn, but she dropped it. Nana had given a reason.

Liao Liao mustered the courage to ask, “So... are you the Gluttonous Snake?”

Nana blinked at her. “Why would you think that?”

Liao Liao hesitated for a moment. “...Baili Yi cheated according to the will of the Heavenly Way. You sent your projections for balance, meaning you’re on the opposite side of the Heavenly Way. That’s the Gluttonous Snake.”

“It’s a possibility.” Nana cocked her head and smiled playfully. “But is there another explanation?”

Liao Liao started. “Does the Heavenly Way have another enemy?”

“This is a waste of time!” Wang Zikai was at the end of his patience. He glared at Nana with irritation written on his face. “Just tell us if you’re the final boss. If so, let’s just fight and stop talking!”

“I know you’re eager, Pride, but patience,” Nana said dismissively.

“You—”

Wang ZIkai vanished.

That shocked everyone.

“Don’t worry. The idiot is too noisy. I’ll let him come back in a moment.”

Wang Zikai, who might be the strongest among them, was “vanished” without a warning sign.

Was this the power of God?

Despair burrowed its way into the humans’ bones and froze their blood, halting their hearts. At that moment, even Zhang Wei’s confidence wavered. He questioned if they could win.

Nana adjusted her chair and turned to Liao Liao. “You’re wrong. I’m not the Gluttonous Snake or another enemy of the Heavenly Way. Otherwise, my projections would’ve tried to kill Baili Yi, but as you had seen, they had led their lives freely.”

They fell silent.

Nana thought for a moment. “In your language, I would be a spectator. Sometimes, I play the referee. After all, the game won’t be exciting if one side is cheating too much.”

“Then what are you?” Gao Yang asked bluntly.

“Good question.” Nana’s lollipop turned into a small plastic fan in the shape of a watermelon. She fanned herself and said, “Let me think about how to answer it.”

After careful consideration, she tossed the fan, which scattered into confetti. She jumped off the swivel chair, her clothes changing into a high school uniform as she landed, an extravagant cape befitting an empress draped around her shoulders.

“I’m the reincarnation of Heavenly Way, leader of all beasts, maker of order, weaver of fate, the only descendant between the Creator Witch and the First Fallen Angel, the Empress of Thorns, Na!”

The atmosphere turned into a mixture of disbelief and incredulity.

Nana was disappointed. She reverted to her previous image. “Why? Why aren’t you playing along?”

“You think you’re funny?” Zhang Wei rolled his eyes at her.

“Tsk.” Nana put her hands on her hips. “Weren’t you quite into the act when you sent off the Empress?”

“Stop fucking rubbing salt on my wound!” Zhang Wei was so furious that he forgot his fear.

“Why? Can’t I mock myself?” Nana got angry, too. “What’s wrong with this round of humans? You’re all thugs!”

“Serve you right for toying with us by creating duplicates! Psycho!”

“Bullshit! Why am I a psycho? Don’t you run your mouth when you don’t know a thing...”

“Nana,” Gao Yang interjected, stopping a childish argument from spiraling.

“What?” Nana crossed her arms and turned away. It was clear from her icy tone that she was still fuming.

Gao Yang shared his guess. “Can I take it as you being a creation between Heavenly Way and Gluttonous Snake?”

“You can say that,” she responded.

“So in the end, you’re not God, either?” Dr. Jia said with disappointment.

“I’m not. I’m just God’s line of sight.”

“Wait, that doesn’t make sense.” Liao Liao pointed out the inconsistency. “You’re a product between the Heavenly Way and the Gluttonous Snake, but you’re God’s line of sight. Isn’t that contradictory?”

Nana stared at Liao Liao. “Don’t you have Aptitude? Think about it.”

Liao Liao smiled bitterly. “Please don’t tease me.”

“Then I’ll give you a hint.” Nana liked Liao Liao, so she was willing to offer a friendly hint. “You’ve already spoken the answer.”

Surprised, Liao Liao thought back to the keywords she had said: Heavenly Way, Gluttonous Snake, product, God, line of sight, contradictory...

Contradiction.

Integration.

“Agh!” Liao Liao cried out.

“What? Just spell it out.” Zhang Wei couldn’t wait to make sense of this mess. The others turned to Liao Liao, too.

“The head and the tail,” Gao Yang said.

“Bingo!” Nana clapped. “You finally get it.”

Dr. Jia laughed with realization. “Heavenly Way and Gluttonous Snake are the head and tail of God.”

“What?!” Zhang Wei finally caught up. He shouted in disbelief, “You mean that Gluttonous Snake and Heavenly Way are both wolves, but one plays the good guy and one plays the bad guy, and the two big fish fool us poor villagers together?”

“No, God wouldn’t just do that for fun.” Dr. Jia’s expression turned uncharacteristically serious. “Remember the good apple and the bad apple Baili talked about?”

“That the world is in a dual state?” Liao Liao said.

Dr. Jia nodded. “Now, it seems that Baili is wrong. The one in a dual state isn’t the world, but God.”