Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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An explosion seemed to echo from the direction of the distant city, followed by a brief, crimson flash.
At the same time, a new system notification popped up.
“Ding! Dear host, the system is gifting you a failure countdown.”
A red countdown appeared in the lower right corner of his vision, displaying: 24 hours.
Only 24 hours.
Having grown accustomed to being tricked by the system, Li Yuebai found 24 hours surprisingly long.
In his previous life, the original owner, Gu Xisha, only encountered Gao Chengyu’s revenge after the world had descended into chaos and ordinary people and vampires had entered a formal battle. In this life, it happened earlier.
Li Yuebai felt as if a cold, sharp claw had gripped his heart, and a long-forgotten sense of fear crept back in.
Having experienced so much, facing countless dangers every day, he was no longer as afraid of death as before, but if he failed, facing the potential endless torment, it would be a lie to say he wasn’t afraid.
Fortunately, beyond fear, there was more anger.
In his limited life, he hadn’t been truly angry many times, but each time he was, it had an unexpected effect. When his adrenaline surged, all gentleness and timidity temporarily vanished, leaving only the desire to win.
Now, only the desire to win could overcome fear. His small phone rang intensely again; it was Liang Jing calling.
“Xiao Gu, your blood sample, your blood sample, it’s been stolen!” Liang Jing’s voice was almost hysterical.
Stolen?
Li Yuebai’s eyebrows furrowed instantly.
Normally, a stolen blood sample wouldn’t be a big deal, but the problem was, it was VILA’s blood! He didn’t dare think about what VILA’s blood would be used for.
“Sister Liang, calm down, tell me slowly how it was stolen?” He had no choice but to try and appease Liang Jing first.
“Just now, a medical team from the military general hospital came to discuss some issues and toured my lab. I had locked your blood sample carefully, but after they left, it disappeared!” Liang Jing tried hard to recall; although she didn’t understand VILA, she knew very well the importance of that blood sample.
“Was there a time gap? Did you feel mind control?” Li Yuebai suddenly grasped the key point.
Since Liang Jing claimed she had properly locked up the blood sample, it meant the key or password could only be in her possession. How could anyone else have bypassed her and stolen the blood sample? The only explanation was that there was a vampire among those present who used mind control to make Liang Jing unlock the lock and willingly hand over the blood sample.
“I…” Liang Jing was also confused. After thinking carefully for a moment, she gave an affirmative answer: “Yes, I did. I’ve experienced mind control before, so if I think about it carefully now, I can recall that feeling; it was similar.”
“Have you checked the surveillance footage?”
There were surveillance cameras in the lab, and the video could be viewed in the control room, which was downstairs.
“There’s no way to investigate. The area outside the lab is in complete chaos.” Liang Jing opened the window, sticking her phone out to collect the sounds of a chaotic, noisy, and violent scene of vandalism and looting. “I dare not leave the lab. It’s dangerous outside. The news about the vampires has leaked out, everyone’s causing trouble… and it seems there’s been an accident in the control room too.”
Sure enough, the city was in its most chaotic period— the news of the vampires had just spread at lightning speed, causing widespread panic. Driven by fear, everyone was doing crazy things, and the higher authorities hadn’t fully contained the situation yet. This was the most dangerous time.
Since they couldn’t watch the video, they had to make an assumption, choosing the most likely line of reasoning— a member of the medical team was a vampire who had controlled Liang Jing’s mind and stolen the blood sample… But that was impossible! Vampires are extremely sensitive to VILA blood, which was a contradiction. If he were a vampire, how could he withstand such intense stimulation? How could he calmly and quietly take the blood sample without smashing the bottle and drinking it on the spot?
They couldn’t understand it, no matter what.
“Sister Liang, don’t worry about it. Just focus on your own safety. I’ll check the blood sample situation again,” Li Yuebai said. “Also, give me the medical team’s phone number.”
After hanging up with Liang Jing, Li Yuebai immediately dialled the medical team’s number.
The call was answered by the front desk.
Li Yuebai calmly gave Ye Qing’s badge number and then inquired about the medical team’s whereabouts. The operator at the front desk was young and, adhering to the principle of transparency, readily told him— the medical team had first gone to the military general hospital to discuss experimental issues with Expert Liang, and then immediately went to the city orphanage to vaccinate the children; they should be arriving at the orphanage soon.
“Can I ask you a question?” Li Yuebai rubbed his temples. “It’s the middle of the night. Why is the medical team vaccinating children at the orphanage so late? And with the chaos outside, aren’t they afraid of danger?”
“This…” The operator was stumped and could only honestly reply, “I’m sorry, officer, I don’t understand why either. It’s just a temporary order from higher command. Due to the riots in the city, diseases are easily spread, so we need to carry out disease prevention work overnight…”
It sounded plausible, but upon closer inspection, it was all an excuse.
Vampires— there must be vampires on the medical team. Only vampires could manipulate them to do something so incomprehensible at this moment.
And the orphanage…
Li Yuebai’s mind skipped a beat, as if a switch had been flipped on some memory.
The original owner, Gu Xisha, had his parents murdered by criminals when he was very young. Therefore, he actually grew up in this orphanage. The orphanage was his home; even before transmigrating, the original owner would visit it regularly.
From a macro perspective, what strategic importance could an orphanage possibly have?
In an instant, Li Yuebai made a judgment— the “medical team’s” operation was definitely aimed at him.
“Respected host, you have received new communication,” the system suddenly popped up to remind him.
“Master,” it was Ye Qing’s voice: “Your phone received a video call request. I’ll transfer it to you via the system now.”
Li Yuebai bit his tongue hard, barely suppressing the urge to reply to Ye Qing verbally; the pain almost brought tears to his eyes.
He gritted his teeth and manipulated the system to reply with a single text: Okay.
At this moment, who would send a video call to Gu Xisha’s phone? It was obvious.
The system quickly transferred the video.
The video angle was strange, as if filmed with a webcam— it was live video. At this moment, in the orphanage’s bedroom, rows of small beds were filled with sleeping children. Suddenly, the bedroom light was turned on, and an orphanage staff member walked in with a smile.
This staff member was very familiar with the original owner, Gu Xisha. Therefore, Li Yuebai used the original owner’s memories to compare, and it was obvious that her smile was stiff now, different from before; she was clearly being controlled.
The aunt woke the children one by one from their beds, then made them get out and line up to get vaccinated.
The children were also puzzled as to why they had to get vaccinated in the middle of the night, rubbing their eyes and yawning, but they always trusted their aunt, so despite their reluctance, they all went obediently.
In the outer room, the camera showed a medical team— actually, there weren’t many people, just a few doctors. The doctors took out a small vial filled with bright red blood and used a syringe to inject the blood from the test tube into the vial containing the vaccine.
Li Yuebai recognized the blood— it was his own, VILA blood.
He wondered what the consequences would be if such blood were injected into a human body. At best, it might cause the recipient to emit the scent of VILA, attracting vampires; at worst, it might turn the recipient into a VILA with impure blood.
The video paused, and someone’s voice cut in.
It was Gao Chengyu.
“Officer Gu.” Gao Chengyu didn’t show his face, his voice still as refined and businesslike as ever: “That’s how things are as you see it. However, if you’re willing to do as I say, there’s still room for reconciliation.”
“Stop!” Li Yuebai shouted directly.
On the other end of the video, seemingly because of his words, some people were thrown about, and even some vampires let out maniacal laughter.
“Why did you speak? To give me a hard time?” Gao Chengyu laughed on the other end: “Officer Gu, I must say, your voice is very seductive. Just now, my men couldn’t resist killing a few more prisoners.”
It’s fake, to increase my guilt, to put pressure on me— Li Yuebai reminded himself, but he still couldn’t help feeling a wave of nausea.
Worse still, he realized that Ye Qing must have heard what he just said.
Li Yuebai gritted his teeth and switched to sending a text message.
“What are your conditions?”
“You.” On Gao Chengyu’s end, it seemed that many vampires were laughing triumphantly.
“Okay, cancel your vaccination first, and I’ll agree to anything.” – Li Yuebai sent the message without hesitation.
There were only twenty-four hours left in the countdown, what was there to be afraid of?
He didn’t know how Ye Qing perceived his message. In Ye Qing’s eyes, such an agreement was humiliating, forced, and a self-sacrifice.
“Honestly, Officer Gu, I didn’t expect you to become a VILA.” Gao Chengyu’s voice was full of smug satisfaction at closing the deal, even adopting a casual tone: “Blame that leaked photo of you.”
Ah, so that’s it!
Li Yuebai suddenly understood.
No wonder he was surrounded by vampires in the small square, even with the curtains covering his face. At first, he thought it was because the car doors weren’t properly sealed, not blocking the scents well enough. Now he realized that his photo had been taken, perhaps along with the car, and then posted online… so the vampires found him.
From becoming a VILA to being photographed, and now… how short a time had it all been?
Li Yuebai suddenly wanted to laugh but held it back.
He sent a message: “Gao Chengyu, your subordinates are starting to get out of control, aren’t they?”
“Why do you say that?” Gao Chengyu didn’t intend to admit it, his tone full of interest.
“Because you’re too eager to capture me.”
According to the records in “The Examination of Blood Charms,” vampires only had the ability to manipulate humans’ minds; vampires could not manipulate each other.
However, if you possess a VILA, it’s like possessing drugs, easily making other vampires submit to you.
Gao Chengyu’s eagerness to get him could only mean that his rule in Europe wasn’t entirely smooth, and the best option right now was to use a VILA to gain the loyalty of other vampires.
Gao Chengyu didn’t respond to his speculation at all.
The video switched back to the orphanage. Because Li Yuebai agreed to Gao Chengyu’s conditions, the vaccination was cancelled, the medical team put away their syringes, and the sleepy, yawning children were taken back to their bedrooms by the nannies.
However, the medical team did not leave the orphanage. To prevent Li Yuebai from backing out halfway, such hostage-taking was still necessary.
“One hour later, Seven Star Tower.” The screen displayed these words, and then the video disappeared.
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