The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 290: Team Matches 2

The landing point wasn’t ideal, and Qing Ling got the ball up again.

Moving his position, Gao Yang then passed the ball to near the net.

Good placement.

Qing Ling leapt up, her body arching back with her waist as the pivot, her legs curled. Under the sunlight, her beautiful form drew a clean curve in the air.

Bam!

Qing Ling made a perfect smash. Her form could only be described as beautiful.

Among the audience, Wu Dahai, X, and Can exclaimed with differing emotions.

“So cool!” Can was in love.

“Nice,” X said in approval.

“I can fucking watch a game like this all day,” said Wu Dahai.

Qing Ling’s smash was powerful and precise.

Green Tea was surprised by how well she played. He threw his large body toward where the volleyball was quickly landing, extending an arm to dig the ball, but only barely managed to do it.

The volleyball bounced up high toward the free zone.

Vermilion Bird dashed out of the court, chasing after the flying volleyball. Just when the ball was going to fly out of the free zone and land on the beach, Vermilion Bird made a powerful jump, saving the ball after flying more than two meters in the air.

Clearly, the jump was beyond what a regular human was capable of, but since no particular Talent was used, it didn’t count as a foul.

“Nicely done!”

Green Tea was already waiting at the center of the court.

Seizing the right timing, he jumped up high and made a powerful smash.

Bam!

The ball was quick. Tapping into the energy in his body, Gao Yang lunged to get the ball up.

At the last second, though, he hesitated and didn\'t extend his arms.

The volleyball slammed into the ground like a bullet, bringing up a puff of fine white sand before rolling over half a meter.

Qing Ling turned to look at him questioningly. “Why didn’t you save it?”

Gao Yang sighed in relief. “If I did, we would’ve lost.”

Qing Ling paused and looked at the ball. Indeed, it was leaking and had already deflated into an oval.

Gao Yang smiled as he explained, “Green Tea’s smash exceeds a regular man’s capacity. That made me cautious. As expected, he had done something. If I had saved the ball, it would’ve been considered my responsibility that the ball broke.”

“Seriously?” Green Tea said in a surprised tone. “How did you notice?”

Vermilion Bird walked back to the court from the surrounding beach. She shook her head and sighed. “I was wondering why you wanted to be at the front. So this is what you were planning.”

Green Tea chuckled. “Elder Vermilion Bird, Elder Seven Shadow and Miss Green Snake are natural volleyball players given their physical abilities. If we play fair, we can’t win.”

“I know, and I don’t intend on winning.” Vermilion Bird cracked a smile too. “But at least we can play a little longer as their training partners.”

“That won’t help much.” Green Tea disagreed. He turned to Gao Yang. “I hadn’t hidden my intention well, Elder Seven Shadow, and you saw through me easily. If someone pulls the same trick on you later, you should be extra careful.”

“Thanks for the warning.” Gao Yang understood what he was getting at. It seemed that Green Tea and Vermilion Bird had bet on him and Qing Ling at the very start.

Team 10 was eliminated for breaking the volleyball. Team K automatically won.

The third game was between Team Q and Team J.

Team Q: Wu Dahai, Can.

Team J: White Rabbit, Joker.

It seemed like a match that was already decided. Were this televised, the audience would’ve changed the channel already.

Wu Dahai sauntered into the court and passed Can the ball. “Go serve.”

Can took the ball that was bigger than her head with her frail hands, looking helpless. “I, I don’t know how.”

“And I do?” Wu Dahai retorted unabashedly.

“Then, then I’ll just do it.”

“Yeah, we’re just playing to be eliminated anyway.”

Although Wu Dahai was a man with many undesirable traits, one would be remiss to call him arrogant. He knew that the unsporty ones, meaning him and Can, were only here to fill the numbers.

Can couldn’t be more nervous. Rigidly, she threw the volleyball high and made a forceful swing, but ended up missing the ball. It fell on her head.

“Ah!”

Can held her head with both hands. When she realized what just happened, the ball was already gone.

It should’ve been funny, but none of the spectators reacted.

“For some reason, I knew that was how things would go,” Vermilion Bird said.

The others nodded.

Can missed her serve. One point to Team J.

It was Team J’s turn to serve. Joker made a powerful one. Wu Dahai rushed to save the ball with both hands, but perhaps due to his one arm being robotic, the volleyball didn’t return to the center of the court as he had intended, but instead flew to the free zone.

Can tried her best to keep the play going, leaving deep and shallow footprints on the sand before she tackled toward the ball. However, she was just a little short of reaching it.

Can fell face first into the sand. The volleyball was just before her, and it rolled away.

There was still no laughter from the audience.

“Christ, this...is hard to watch.” Chen Ying’s heart ached a little for the girl.

Gao Yang sighed inwardly. What little confidence he had given Can would be shattered in the volleyball game.

Feeling ashamed, Can became all red from her face to the bottom of her neck.

She shouldn’t have tried. She should’ve given up like Electric Mouse.

Can stood up and picked up the ball, walking back to the court with her head lowered. She looked at Electric Mouse and said—no, begged, “Why don’t you make the last serve?”

“Ugh, whatever. Just do it already.” Wu Dahai was getting impatient.

“Oh.”

Can quietly went back to her position.

“Come on, Can! You can do it!” Ronnie raised his voice to cheer on his teammate without making any strange pause.

Can stopped to look at him, then at Gao Yang, who was standing by Ronnie’s side.

Without even a hint of mockery on his face, Gao Yang reminded her, “Don’t be in such a hurry, Can. Swing your arm only after you’ve gotten a good look.”

“Okay!”

Can nodded seriously.

Can closed her eyes and took a deep breath, repeating Gao Yang’s words in her mind.

Swing your arm only after you’ve gotten a good look.

Swing your arm only after you’ve gotten a good look!

She opened her eyes and gently threw the ball up.

One second, two seconds.

Can kept her breathing slow and steady.

Eyes following the trajectory of the ball, Can swung her arm.

Bam!

The volleyball made it over the net, toward the court on the other side.

Joker caught it easily, making a pass to White Rabbit.

Leaping high into the air, White Rabbit smashed the ball, which flew right at Wu Dahai’s face.

Wu Dahai didn’t even get to react. The ball hit him in the face before flying out of the court, and he fell with a scream.

White Rabbit had done it on purpose. Serve him right for being so impatient with Can.

The match ended.

Team J won without losing points.

“I, I did it!” Can didn’t even care about their loss, still overjoyed from the successful serve.

She turned to Gao Yang. “I did it, Captain!”

“You did it!” Gao Yang praised with a smile.

“Nice serve, Can!” Vermilion Bird encouraged her as well.

Ronnie clapped and even whistled in excitement.

“Good job!”

“Nicely done!”

“It’s a good serve for a first attempt!”

...

They all offered praises to Can generously. Standing where she was, Can felt a prickle in her nose, her eyes reddening again.

At that moment, the feeling of inferiority and discomfort in her heart evaporated.

She was glad that she had come to Naldives on a mission with everyone!