Chapter Forty-Five: The Source of Destruction—A Narrow Escape from Death

"The sluice gate was just something I used to guide you, so I can shut it off," the woman said, pressing a few buttons.

"Very well, let's move on to the next one! Your new creation..." Mingchuan began, but the woman interrupted him, "I can only say that my new creation is called a vampire, or a bloodkin. Of course, there is one specimen that has gone out of control and seems to call itself Dracula." She introduced her work. "As for their attributes... whatever weaknesses Dracula has, they all share," she admitted candidly, which took Mingchuan by surprise.

"Oh? Why that expression? Never mind, do you think I'm especially honest? In truth, working for the Lord of Death wasn't my choice—everyone just wants to survive. I’m living by the skin of my teeth, and you’re fighting for your life. There’s no difference!"

"No difference? It's because of your new breed of Satans that our survival has become so difficult. You were once human too! Why turn on your own kind?"

"Survival of the fittest, self-improvement! The human body simply can't withstand the harsh environment, so it's better to transform ourselves and become stronger beings!"

"So this is why you forcibly turn humans into Satans? Creatures without self-awareness? Nonsense! Those abominations? Nonsense! Disgusting!"

"In that case, there's no need for peaceful conversation between us! Let’s fight!"

...

Elsewhere, Wenxin and her team had also encountered the so-called vampires, who moved with uncanny agility and were nearly impossible to track. "We need to find the source quickly, otherwise they'll keep coming endlessly!" one member of the Fire Squad shouted to their captain.

"Damn it, I don't know! The problem is, where is the source?" The laboratory was littered with shattered glass and broken equipment. To make matters worse, the vampires could fly, making them even harder to spot.

"Can you all hear me?" Suddenly, Mingchuan’s voice came through the communication system again.

"Mingchuan? Are you alright?" Wenxin responded immediately upon hearing him.

"Hi~ Do I sound alright? I’m currently brawling with the boss! You lot—do me a favor and activate the self-destruct in your lab. Just blow everything up!" Mingchuan sounded casual, or perhaps he was just pretending to be.

"But where is that device?"

"The room directly ahead of you. Just fight your way in, activate it, and run. Don’t worry, you’ve got electromagnetic shielding—you’ll be fine!" Hearing this, Andrew fired a heavy shell, clearing a path.

"Hurry up! My weapon needs a long cooldown—now’s your chance!" Seeing Andrew mow down a swath of enemies, Thompson piloted the Warwolf X straight through, while Wenxin sprayed bullets from her machine gun, cutting down the dazed vampires still recovering from the earlier blast.

"It's activated!" Thompson shouted.

"Alright, retreat immediately, cover fire!" Andrew ordered. All the heavy assault pilots unleashed maximum firepower, blasting away nearly half the vampires.

"Why didn’t you use that earlier?" Wenxin complained.

"What do you think? It’s got a five-minute cooldown, and during that time, I’m almost useless!" Andrew retorted.

After that assault, the source was finally revealed: in the corner stood a device containing a viral breeding matrix, capable of endlessly spawning vampires. As long as the nutrient chute below kept feeding in material, it would continually generate new monsters.

"The laboratory will self-destruct in one minute. Please evacuate immediately!"

"Only one minute left! Move!"

"Ten, nine, eight, seven..."

"Is this what you call a minute? Close the sluice gate, now!" Andrew ordered his subordinates to shut the gate, but Thompson and Wenxin hadn’t made it out yet.

"Six, five, four, three, two, one—boom!"

At the last possible moment, Wenxin and Thompson slid out through a gap just as the gate slammed shut. The lab’s miniature black hole bomb detonated; in an instant, everything inside was sucked away.

"Damn it, were you trying to get us killed?" Thompson, barely having escaped with his life, immediately confronted Andrew for almost locking them in the self-destructing lab.

"It wasn’t my intention! But we can’t afford to lose any more teammates!" Andrew replied, powerless to defend himself, yet Thompson’s fists still found him.

"Let it go, Thompson. When it comes to risking total annihilation to save two people or ensuring the safety of eight, most would choose the latter," Wenxin forgave Andrew. "But more importantly, let’s hurry and help Mingchuan! He could be in danger!"

"Fine! We’ll settle this later. For now, let’s move out, everyone!"

...

—— Author’s Note ——

February has arrived, and it’s almost time to return to school! So I won’t be updating this story for now. Honestly, I feel the quality has been slipping, and I need a break. I’ll be working on ‘The Continent of Origin’ instead. So, this will be the final chapter for January!