The moment Damon's words left his mouth, the entire room went silent. Everyone looked shocked as the young man dared to call a councilman—the Vice Head of the Mage Association—stupid in a room full of people.
Tang Yue, who had brought Damon in, had her jaw dropped. She had wanted to say the same thing after hearing all their ridiculous claims, but to bluntly say it like that, interrupting the meeting—she never imagined Damon would dare.
"Who are you? How dare you interrupt the Councilman!" one of Zhu Meng's subordinates shouted as Damon slowly pulled out his Hunter's badge.
"A Master Hunter and a citizen of China," Damon said, stepping forward under the watchful eyes of the guards. He took the papers from Zhu Meng's hand and began reading them without hesitation.
"Ms. Tang Yue brought me here, and the bank provides me with enough credibility to be eligible to attend this meeting anyway…" Ignoring the sharp remarks and insults of others, Damon began reading the documents aloud.
"A day after the Black Snake appeared in the city, the bodies of two people suspected to be poisoned were found near the outskirts of Hangzhou."
"Tang Zhong, for your face I've been quiet, but I will not tolerate this disrespect! You woman—" Zhu Meng was about to shout at Tang Yue, but Damon's voice cut him off.
"Two bodies were found, suspected to be poisoned, and you immediately put the blame on the Black Totem Snake? How ridiculous," Damon scoffed at the so-called evidence. "A monarch-class creature that can destroy the entire city with a turn of its head—and you want to hunt it because two people were found poisoned?"
"Two people were found poisoned. That's all we need to know to find the culprit!"
"Hah! Like any other poisonous beast doesn't exist. Not to mention—why would that giant even bother poisoning two random people?"
"For thousands of years, that thing lived among humans. For decades, the Head of the Union and members of the tribe coexisted with it, and not once did a case like this happen."
"Never happened doesn't mean it never would! That thing is a threat—to humans, to Hangzhou! I can't let it live!" Zhu Meng declared righteously, to which Damon laughed.
"So now, based on random deaths, we're hunting monarchs? Listen here—Hangzhou exists because of that snake, not the other way around. A single breath from it is enough to destroy this entire city. And now, for your political games, you want to attack it? If it wanted to kill those two, it wouldn't even need to come this far. A breath from afar would be enough to wipe them—and the entire city—out."
Damon's words were firm, silencing the room as the crowd began nodding, his logic swaying them to the side of the Black Snake.
"Okay, gentlemen, let's calm down, please. Fighting amongst ourselves won't lead to any solution," Councilman Luo Mian said. "I think the young man here is right. And honestly, I don't think you're worried about the Black Totem Snake disrupting peace. You're just concerned that as long as it's still here, your threat-elimination strategy won't gain traction—no supporters, no presidency."
Hearing this, Zhu Meng burst into laughter. One of his subordinates leaned down and whispered something in his ear, making Zhu Meng glance at Damon with surprise before clearing his throat and standing up.
"I'll make this clear, Senator Luo Mian. The demon god that they worship is harming humans. If you think I'm purposely picking on it, go ahead—try calming the public after the recent terror. Comfort the people living in this city. I bet you can publicly admit that you're worshipping a gigantic snake and see how they react!" Zhu Meng retorted.
The guardian of the Totem Beast, Tang Yue, finally lost her patience and blurted out, "The Black Totem Snake would never harm anyone! How can you prove those two corpses were its doing?"
"You—" The guard behind Zhu Meng was furious, but Zhu Meng silenced him with a gesture before looking Damon straight in the eye.
"Investigations aren't my specialty. My job is to eliminate possible threats. The fact that it showed itself in a busy city is enough to list it as our highest-priority target. You have two days to hand over the Black Totem Snake, or I'll deal with it myself!" Zhu Meng pointed sharply.
He stepped forward, coming close to Damon. "You're a capable young man. Coming here for your teacher's sake is admirable, but you need to learn to differentiate between right and wrong."
"Is it me who needs to learn that?" Damon asked with a faint smile.
"The threat elimination will proceed as planned. There's nothing you can do to stop it," Zhu Meng declared.
"Oh, maybe not," Damon whispered, lowering his voice. "But the next election—I can do something about that, don't you think?"
"Are you threatening me, young man?"
"Yeah, I am. You carry on with your so-called 'threat elimination,' and I'll throw my full support behind Senator Shen. After all, he has the best chance of becoming President, don't you think?"
Zhu Meng chuckled coldly. "Do you really dare to oppose me?"
"I fuck with the Black Vatican almost every day. Do you think I don't dare?" Damon shot back.
The two men smiled coldly at each other before Zhu Meng left the room in a foul mood.
"Don't worry, Tang Zhong," Luo Mian said as Zhu Meng exited. "The Black Totem Snake is the protector of our city—a heritage of our nation. I won't allow Zhu Meng to harm it."
Damon laughed inwardly at Luo Mian's hypocrisy, fully aware of the man's true motives. Afterward, he was lectured by Tang Yue and the elders for his rash behavior during the meeting, but he didn't bother listening.
Understanding everything that was going on, and knowing the entire plot in advance, Damon began planning his next move.
With Tang Yue's support, Damon contacted Leng Qing, who was investigating the blood serums, and requested the details. He then arranged for truckloads of blood serum for himself.
It was a massive request, as blood serums were a lifeline for people in emergencies—but Damon didn't care. With Tang Yue's authority and Leng Qing's help, obtaining them was easy.
Tang Yue had asked Damon to accompany her to escort the Snake out of the city for its safety, to which he agreed. It was important—but Damon also wanted to solve the crisis instead of letting events play out as they had before.
Since he couldn't be in two places at once, he decided to send someone to investigate on his behalf.
***
In an apartment in Hangzhou, a young man was resting his head on the lap of a beautiful girl.
Her gentle hands caressed Mo Fan's hair as Ye Xinxia looked at him fondly.
They had finally reunited after months apart, following the Blood Sarira incident, and could finally spend some time together.
"Mm… Xinxia, you don't know how much I missed your lap pillows," Mo Fan mumbled as he tried to sleep—but every time he closed his eyes, he saw the terrifying gaze of the snake. Those reptilian eyes haunted him.
"Do you like it that much, Brother Mo Fan?" Ye Xinxia giggled, just as her phone began to ring.
"Brother Damon?" She immediately picked it up. "Hello! Yes, brother. Oh… yeah, he's here. Brother Mo Fan, Brother Damon wants to talk to you."
"How the hell did that bastard know I'm back? Are you spreading rumors behind my back?" Mo Fan asked suspiciously, but Ye Xinxia shook her head like a startled rabbit before handing him the phone.
"Hell—"
"BOOOOOOOO!"
Before Mo Fan could even finish his greeting, a loud horn blasted from the speaker, nearly blowing his eardrums. He jumped up in shock.
"What the hell!" Mo Fan cursed, before Damon's familiar voice echoed through the phone.
"Get your bitch ass up now! We've got work to do!"