Chapter 44

As the sliding door from the living room opened, Zhou Yi gently placed the girl in his arms on the sofa. Although the sun had already risen, the living room, which had sufficient depth, completely blocked the sunlight, keeping the bright rays at a distance from the sofa.

Even at the time of day when the sun slanted most intensely, the sunlight would not reach the sofa where the girl was. The panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows only allowed the sun to fill a third of the hall, no more. This design was originally intended to protect the artworks on the walls from sun damage. But now, it provided a safety guarantee for the vampire girl.

Perhaps it was the first time she was so close to sunlight, or perhaps it was the first time she had come to live with a man. Serana always seemed a bit uneasy and awkward.

She looked around like a kitten in a strange place, and the opulent scene made her secretly marvel. Not every vampire could live a wealthy life like those in novels. Most vampires lived a precarious life, much like those involved in criminal activities. And for a girl like Serana, who had no support and had just come of age, life could be even harder, with even maintaining a basic living standard being a challenge.

Unlike humans, who had a minimum living standard guaranteed by welfare, vampires, who could not step into the sunlight, did not even have the right to receive welfare. The evening was not the time for civil servants to be at work, and this was true even in the so-called democratic United States.

"Do you live in a place like this? It must be very expensive!" Serana asked, looking somewhat inferior. Such a luxurious villa was clearly beyond the imagination of a poor girl who had never handled large sums of cash.

"It's okay, just a place where I can rest peacefully. Comfort is enough for me." Zhou Yi, who had already put away his Dawn Knight attire, walked to the girl with two glasses of milk. He did not want to directly tell her that the villa cost over sixty million dollars, as that might scare her.

"My girl, let me introduce myself. I am Yi Zhou. According to Chinese customs, you should call me Zhou Yi, or just Yi." Zhou Yi said as he placed a glass of milk in front of the girl.

Serana was not a career woman in the financial circle, and Zhou Yi was not a celebrity with high exposure like Tony. So Serana did not know what this name represented. She could only judge from her observations that this Chinese man, who had a dual identity and was willing to bring her home, seemed quite wealthy, though she could not gauge just how wealthy.

The girl took the milk, sitting there awkwardly and fidgeting with the cup, but never drinking it. At that moment, she felt like an ugly duckling who had entered a crystal palace, finding every movement awkward.

Zhou Yi sat next to her, reaching out to hold her hands, which were moving unconsciously, and stroked her hair with the other hand.

"Don't be too拘束, Serana. You can treat this place as your own home. There's only you and me here, so you don't need to worry or think too much."

Serana, meek like a kitten, pressed her face against Zhou Yi's chest, gently rubbing it, and said in a timid voice, "I'm sorry, I'm just a bit uncomfortable. I've never been to a place like this before, and I'm a bit scared."

"Don't be afraid, my dear girl. You might just need some time to adjust to the new environment." Zhou Yi gently combed through the girl's braids and suggested, "I think you should take a hot bath and have a good sleep. You'll feel better soon."

He had already realized that milk was not suitable for the vampire girl, so he had to use another method to calm her. For this girl, who looked about ten years younger than him, Zhou Yi even felt a sense of taking care of Xia Rui when he was young.

Carrying the girl into the guest room, which was regularly cleaned by temporary cleaning staff, Zhou Yi first closed the sliding windows to block out the sunlight. Then he let the girl down and said to her, "Rest for a while, Serana. I'll take care of everything for you."

Serana, no longer as tense as before, had shed her seductive exterior, leaving only the shyness and charm of a young girl. She said "thank you" shyly, looking like a water lily about to bloom. Zhou Yi smiled in satisfaction and turned to leave.

He had many things to attend to, including solving Serana's food problem. Since milk was not an option, could he only feed her with blood? Zhou Yi was already considering getting some supplies from the medical institutions under his control.

At the same time, on the other side, Blade also encountered a problem. Having decided to stay away from the farce, Blade, like the Dawn Knight, chose to leave. However, he found that the enthusiastic host did not want the guest to leave so easily.

A group of people, fully dressed in tactical gear and holding standard firearms, had already blocked his path. There were at least two teams of them. Such firepower, even for Blade, offered little hope of resistance. At most, he could rely on his superhuman physique to hold out for a while and escape.

But it was clear that these people had made thorough preparations and had already identified all of Blade's weaknesses.

Two people were pushed in front of Blade. They were his two assistants, Whistler and Josh.

Facing Blade, Whistler shook his head silently, clearly disapproving of his surrender. Josh, on the other hand, had an awkward smile. "Bro, I don't know what happened; they suddenly grabbed me."

If they had used other hostages to threaten Blade, he might not have cared about their lives in this situation. But using his assistants to threaten him, Blade had no choice but to comply.

Whistler alone was enough to bind Blade. He was not just his assistant and teacher but also a father figure. The reason Whistler had not died despite being captured by vampires a few times was largely due to Blade's existence.

For vampires, controlling Whistler meant controlling Blade. If they could not control Whistler's will, using his life to threaten Blade would have the same effect.

Faced with such a threat, Blade had no other choice. He had spent three years finding Whistler, and the reason he found him was not just good luck but also because the vampires wanted him to live. But now, the vampire grand duke, Makinos, had revealed his true intentions. They no longer cared about Whistler's life because they needed to get Blade this time.

Watching Blade pull out the silver-plated ** from his back and plant it on the ground, then throw away his firearms, the group immediately formed a line, and two men in white coats walked out with some equipment. One of them, Blade recognized, was Carlo, the legal advisor he had met in the castle.

Seeing the puzzled look on Blade's face, Carlo smiled.

"Meeting again, Mr. Blade. I may not have introduced myself fully last time, so let me add that I am also the chief researcher of the European Health Consortium. I believe we will have a pleasant experience."

After saying that, he waved his hand. Two tactical armed men rushed forward. They first removed Blade's trench coat to prevent any hidden weapons. This was indeed fatal for Blade, as his coat contained many things he planned to use to turn the tide.

After removing Blade's last line of defense, the two armed men immediately struck the back of Blade's head with the butts of their guns. Blade held out for a moment, spat, and said, "Guys, did you not eat? Use more force."

The two armed men exchanged a glance and pulled out two stun batons from their belts, pressing them directly onto Blade. These modified stun batons had greater power and could affect even a superhuman like Blade.

The strong current hit Blade, and he lost his resistance in less than ten seconds. To ensure Blade's safety, another man in a white coat immediately injected a strong sedative into Blade's neck. The sedative would not make him sleep, but it would render him unable to fight.

Seeing a man as strong as a lion or tiger become as docile as a pet, Carlo smiled triumphantly. He enjoyed this feeling, and he would enjoy it even more if he could put Blade on the experimental table and watch him break down in fear.

After subduing Blade, Carlo waved his hand. Soon, his subordinates stuffed Blade and his two assistants into the back of a large truck. Inside the truck were a group of people, the blood clan guards who had become useless after sunrise.

At that moment, they were not at ease. Not only had they suffered a psychological blow from the failed attack, but their teammates were also in critical condition.

Chuba was desperately holding down the priest, who was convulsing and struggling on a surgical bed. Two medical personnel were busy injecting drugs into the priest, but it was of no use. The priest continued to struggle, and his appearance began to change terrifyingly.

His hair started to fall out as he struggled, and Chuba accidentally pulled a large piece of scalp off.

At the same time, his skin rapidly turned a ghastly white. Unlike the usual pallor of vampires, this was a color like a rotting corpse, with twisted veins that had turned blue-black. It looked extremely strange.

His eyes also began to change rapidly. Normally, a vampire's eyes were the same as a human's, with a few common colors. The priest's eyes were blue. But now, the color of his eyes was changing. The whites of his eyes quickly filled with blood, and the pupils became cloudy, as if injected with something.

In less than two minutes, his blue pupils were gone, leaving only a murky gray and the color of blood.

And that was not the most terrifying part. The most terrifying was that a fine line suddenly appeared on his jaw, which grew longer and deeper until it reached his throat. The line first cut through the skin, then the muscles, and finally the bones. By the time they reached the jawbone, they could clearly see it split into two, forming a mouth with needle-like fangs, which were moving wildly with the priest's pain.

Chuba no longer dared to hold the priest down. The people around him stood back in silence. For a moment, the truck was filled only with the priest's indistinct cries.

"Kill me, give me a quick death. Kill me quickly!"