Chapter 51

"Hey, aren't vampires afraid of the sun? Is it convenient for you to come out in broad daylight?" Ma Le waved the new longsword he had just obtained. This thing was supposed to be a two-handed sword, but with Ma Le's superhuman strength, it was as easy to wield as a dagger.

Brad spoke in the hoarse voice characteristic of his vampire form: "Don't compare me to those inferior, incomplete evolutions. They dare to call themselves bloodline when they can't even withstand the cleansing of sunlight?" As he spoke, Brad spread his wings, and a murderous aura pointed directly at Ma Le. He extended his already mutated giant claws and pointed, saying, "You were the one who injured me last time. This time, I will make you apologize with your life!"

Ma Le was somewhat surprised and said, "You remember me? I mean, I've changed so much, how did you recognize me, and how did you track me here?" Brad pointed to the spots of blood on Ma Le's body and said, "I can remember the taste of all the blood I have tasted. You killed Kirenmaru, and I have tasted Kirenmaru's blood!"

Ma Le slapped his forehead and sighed, "I should have changed my clothes. What a mistake... Well, it's too late now. Call out your companions!" Brad snorted disdainfully, took two steps closer, and said contemptuously, "Do I need companions to deal with you? I can handle you alone!" Ma Le listened and pointed behind him, saying, "So, there's no one hiding behind me?"

Brad spat, "I wouldn't stoop to using such tactics against a nobody like you!"

"Thank you very much!" Before the words were even out of his mouth, Ma Le picked up the harpoon gun and aimed it at Brad's face. Brad had seen the power of this weapon before and tried to dodge, but found himself in a narrow alley with walls on both sides. He couldn't spread his wings to fly up, so in a panic, he used his hands to block. With a "thud," the harpoon pierced his palm and stuck there. Brad, in pain, grabbed the harpoon with his other hand, just as he was about to pull it out, a high-voltage current surged through it. Even with his vampire form's superior physique, Brad's muscles contracted from the electric shock, and he couldn't pull it out for three seconds.

When the electric shock stopped, Brad had lost about 200 health points. He angrily pulled out the harpoon and looked for Ma Le, but he was nowhere to be found! Brad put his fingers to his nose and focused all his attention on locating the scent, but the smell of Kirenmaru's blood had disappeared! Could that guy have run five kilometers in the complex streets of Los Angeles in just a few seconds? Impossible, even Brad couldn't fly that fast. The cunning guy must have used some method to eliminate the scent! With no other choice, Brad flew high into the sky to search for Ma Le from above.

Brad thought Ma Le would try to escape as far as possible, so he circled in the sky, searching everywhere. However, the real Ma Le was hiding in a building next to the alley where they had just confronted each other. This building was a department store, and on the first floor was a fast-food restaurant. Ma Le was hiding in the restaurant, watching Brad anxiously circling in the sky through the glass. Many citizens saw this strange sight and were taking photos and shouting, which annoyed Brad even more and made it impossible for him to notice Ma Le, who was secretly laughing.

Ma Le had the ability to absorb and reshape organic matter, so dealing with a little blood was no problem. Once he entered the fast-food restaurant, the vampire, who thought he could see far from the sky, wouldn't be able to find him and would go elsewhere. Then Ma Le could come out and meet up with the others, making it like finding a needle in a haystack for the adventurers from Hurricane City. Ma Le's plan was good, but reality often doesn't go as planned. Just as he thought he was about to escape successfully, a hand touched his shoulder.

Ma Le was startled and instantly turned around, ready to fight, but he saw that it was an Asian girl. The girl was frightened by Ma Le's reaction and timidly asked in perfect Mandarin, "Excuse me... are you, Yang Guo?"

"Huh?" Ma Le was completely confused. What Yang Guo? And Xiaolongnü? Before he could answer, the girl was already excitedly talking to herself, "Yes, it must be Yang Guo, it must be you. I didn't expect you to be so tall... Ah, Mom, come and look, it's Yang Guo!"

The girl called over a middle-aged woman, who, upon seeing Ma Le, became even more excited, "Indeed, you must be the actor who played Yang Guo! You're in America too?"

Ma Le was even more confused. What actor? Just as he was about to protest, the mother and daughter were already in a frenzy, "I love watching 'The Return of the Condor Heroes.' You're so handsome. I specifically checked the cast, you're Andy Lau... Ah, I'm seeing you in person, and in America, this is fate!"

Ma Le finally understood. He currently had Anderson's appearance, and Anderson looked very similar to "Andy Lau." The mother and daughter were Chinese tourists in America, and it was 1984, the year when Andy Lau's early hit, 'The Return of the Condor Heroes,' was popular. So, they mistook him for the rising star, the idol "Andy Lau"!

However, these two women had first-class soprano voices, and their screams pierced the sky and reached Brad's ears. Brad, who had been in Hurricane City for a long time, naturally understood Chinese. In a city full of Americans, these few standard Chinese words naturally caught his attention. Brad followed the sound and saw Ma Le, who was desperately trying to explain...

Brad roared in the sky, and a powerful ultrasonic wave spread out, shattering glass and even causing pedestrians to lose consciousness from the shock to their eardrums. Ma Le's perception was above average, so he could hear the high-pitched ultrasonic wave, but ordinary humans couldn't. Thus, in the eyes of the general public, the originally noisy street gradually quieted down with the sound of shattering glass, leaving only Ma Le and Brad facing each other.

It seemed this fight couldn't be avoided. Ma Le gently laid the unconscious mother and daughter on the ground, held the harpoon gun in his left hand, and drew the newly acquired Kirenmaru in his right. Brad, in the sky, also revealed his weapons. Like Ma Le, he held different weapons in each hand: a short knife he had taken from Jasmine in his left and a set of gauntlets with long, extended nails in his right, making his already terrifying claws even larger.

Brad took the initiative, raising his iron claws and diving down at Ma Le. With the added speed from the height and gravity, a hit would cause several times the damage! Ma Le didn't dare to take it head-on and dodged, moving several meters away. Just as he stood still, the vampire changed his position and came at him again. Ma Le transformed back to his original form, his hands turning into iron fists, and he thrust the longsword at the vampire, aiming to use the advantage of length. Brad's two weapons were too short, so a direct charge would definitely favor Ma Le!

However, Ma Le overlooked one thing: the difference in agility! After transforming into a vampire, Brad's agility had greatly increased to a terrifying 78 points, almost twice that of Ma Le. This resulted in a huge difference in dynamic vision and reflexes! To Ma Le, this thrust seemed certain to hit, but in Brad's eyes, it was still too slow. He had plenty of time to adjust his position and let the long Kirenmaru pass through the gaps in his body. Conversely, Brad's short knife accurately hit Ma Le's abdomen!

The knife pierced deep, but a sense of resistance and sluggishness was transmitted through the handle to Brad's hand. Most sharp weapons would reduce the defense of a target by 50% when attacking flesh, so theoretically, the highest defense against sharp weapons was 50%. Moreover, Brad, at his current level, had never faced a defense higher than 40%, and his defense against sharp weapons was less than 20%. In his experience, sharp weapons always cut through unarmored targets effortlessly.

However, this time was different. The priority of the sharp weapon's defense reduction was level 3, while Ma Le's absolute defense talent had a priority of level 4, making him completely immune to the reduction! Furthermore, his defense ratio was an astonishing 54.5%, so Brad's knife, despite the speed boost, only dealt about 130 points of damage after being reduced by Ma Le's defense! Even so, being stabbed still hurt. Ma Le tightened his abdominal muscles, clamping Brad's short knife, and raised the harpoon gun to fire at Brad's face.

Brad, being so agile, had been hit by the two previous shots once due to carelessness and once due to the confined space. Now, in this open area, how could a flying vampire be hit? As Ma Le raised his gun, Brad dropped his knife and dodged.

Ma Le's shot missed, and he swung the longsword horizontally. But Brad was too fast, and with a flap of his wings, he flew back into the air. Ma Le, looking at the vampire in the sky, felt both anxious and angry! He was anxious that the vampire might call for reinforcements, and if the fight dragged on, he would be at a disadvantage once the team arrived. He was angry that the vampire, who seemed noble and reckless, was fighting so cowardly. If he had any guts, he would come down and fight!

If Brad knew what Ma Le was thinking, he would definitely call him shameless. A flying, agility-specialized character wanting to fight on the ground against a strength and endurance-specialized opponent was insane! Although Brad was impulsive and reckless, he was a natural warrior in a fight. He was bold yet cautious, knew when to take risks, and understood how to maximize his advantages to defeat his opponent as quickly as possible!