Yin Fu's face was grim as he stepped forward, gripping his son's hand tightly. Without hesitation, he brought Zach to Abraham, his voice firm despite the tension in his chest.
"I'm going too."
Just before dawn, he had gone out searching for his son, only to arrive in time to witness something that would haunt him forever. A man—someone he once knew, someone who had once been a rival in love—had already turned, lunging at Zach with bloodthirsty intent. There had been no time to think, no time to hesitate.
Yin Fu had killed him.
Now, looking at his frightened son and the chaos consuming Red Hook, he knew there was no such thing as waiting safely anymore. Standing still meant dying.
Abraham didn't answer immediately. Instead, he placed a hand gently on Zach's head, a rare softness in his movements, before returning to his task. He wiped down the blade of his silver sword with steady precision, then glanced at the clock on the wall.
There were still two hours before noon.
Boom!
The basement door slammed open.
"Shit!"
Daqi rushed in, breathing heavily, with Vasily following right behind her. It was clear they had gone out early that morning, though whatever they had done left Daqi visibly shaken. Her usual careless expression was gone, replaced by something closer to guilt.
She looked around at everyone present, her voice tight.
"I… I'm partly responsible for all of this."
The room fell silent.
She explained everything quickly. She had been hired by the Stoneheart Group to hack into government systems, shutting down communications across Red Hook. At the time, it had just been a job—money, nothing more.
But when she returned home with Vasily, everything had already been taken from her. Her partners had disappeared, along with her payment, leaving her with nothing.
At first, she thought it was just betrayal.
Now, after walking through ruined streets, seeing dead children and walls plastered with missing person posters, she realized something else.
It felt like punishment.
Without communication, no warnings had gone out. People had been caught blind, unaware of what was coming.
They never stood a chance.
"If we kill the Blood Ancestor," Abraham said quietly, his eyes sweeping across each of them, "this ends. Everything goes back to normal."
No one argued.
…
At the subway entrance in the center of Red Hook, the group stood in silence. The stairs leading down into the underground were empty, the usual crowds gone, replaced by an oppressive stillness.
Based on the sewer maps Vasily had provided, this was the closest access point.
Abraham didn't hesitate.
He stepped forward and descended into the darkness.
Above ground, something else was happening.
Across Red Hook, Stoneheart Group personnel were moving into position. At key sewer access points, teams began sealing exits and reinforcing structures, cutting off any potential escape routes.
On the top floor of the Stoneheart Building, Eldridge stood by the window, staring down at the streets below. His complexion was no longer deathly pale. Instead, his face carried a faint flush of life, his posture stronger than before.
One drop.
Just a single drop of Locke's blood had done this.
Combined with the white blood he had already consumed, the effect had been astonishing—still inferior to the Blood Ancestor, but close enough to ignite something dangerous inside him.
"Mr. Lin… the rest is in your hands."
His gaze shifted toward the sewer entrances below, where his men worked tirelessly.
Deep underground, the tunnels stretched endlessly.
The Red Hook passageways connected directly to the city's sewer system, forming a labyrinth that had once served as emergency shelters. Now, they were something else entirely.
Abraham slowed his steps, his eyes narrowing as he stared into the darkness ahead.
A figure moved.
Behind him, Yin Fu and the others tightened their grip on their weapons—spears, shields, anything they could carry. Every step forward felt heavier than the last.
Roar!
The sound erupted suddenly, echoing through the tunnel like a beast unleashed.
The vampire didn't attack from the front.
It leapt onto the wall, its limbs gripping the surface as it sprinted along the side before launching itself toward them from an angle.
Abraham reacted instantly, his blade cutting through the air—but the angle was off.
The strike missed.
The creature's tendrils shot forward, aiming straight for Yin Fu and the others.
Vasily moved first.
He shoved Yin Fu aside, stepping into the attack as his spear thrust forward with brutal precision. The weapon drove straight through the vampire's chest, halting its momentum mid-lunge.
Twisting his body, Vasily tilted his head to avoid the snapping tendrils, then drove his foot into the creature with a powerful kick, knocking it off the spear.
In the same instant, Abraham stepped in.
A flash of silver.
The vampire's head dropped to the ground.
Yin Fu exhaled sharply, forcing his racing heart to slow as he stared at the lifeless body. But there was no time to recover.
More roars followed.
From deeper within the tunnel, shapes began to emerge—crooked figures moving in the dim light, their presence multiplying with each passing second.
Abraham's grip tightened.
For a brief moment, he looked less like an old man and more like the hunter he had once been—unyielding, relentless.
The clash came fast.
Four vampires rushed them at once, their movements chaotic and aggressive. The group held formation, shields raised, spears thrusting in coordinated strikes that kept the creatures at bay.
Then—
Light.
Vasily raised the ultraviolet lamp, flooding the tunnel with a harsh purple glow. The vampires recoiled instantly, their flesh burning as they were forced backward.
That hesitation was enough.
The group struck together.
In seconds, all four were down.
Silence followed.
Then—
A low growl.
Different.
Abraham's expression changed.
He knew that sound.
He had heard it before.
There was something else in it now.
Weakness.
Without warning, Abraham broke formation and surged forward into the darkness.
"What is he doing?!" Yin Fu shouted, startled by the sudden move.
Vasily didn't answer.
He simply followed.
The rest had no choice but to chase after them.
The deeper they went, the worse it became. More vampires appeared, but this time, they were prepared. Ultraviolet light swept across the tunnels, keeping the creatures at a distance as the group pushed forward relentlessly.
Finally, they reached a narrow cave.
Abraham didn't slow down.
He dove inside.
The passage was tight, barely wide enough for a person to crawl through. One by one, they followed, squeezing into the confined space.
Vasily hesitated for a fraction of a second.
He was too large.
There wasn't enough room to turn around.
But he went in anyway.
Behind him, the light disappeared.
The vampires surged.
With a curse, Vasily reached back for the ultraviolet lamp—but when he flipped the switch, nothing happened.
It was dead.
"Shit!"
He forced himself forward, his movements slow in the cramped tunnel. Behind him, he could hear it—the sound of something closing in fast.
He risked a glance.
The vampire was right there.
Less than half a meter away.
Its mouth split open, a twisted grin forming as its tendrils began to extend, ready to strike.
"Move, Darcy!" Vasily shouted, his voice tight with urgency as he pushed forward.
There was no room.
No way to fight.
For the first time, a flicker of desperation crept in.
Then—
A scream.
The vampire's body jerked violently, as if something had grabbed it from behind. In the next instant, it was yanked backward, vanishing into the darkness it had come from.
The tunnel fell silent.
Vasily froze for a moment, his breathing heavy.
Then he kept moving.
Finally, he crawled out of the cave and turned back, staring into the darkness behind him.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
....
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