Just as Charisse, Kitty, and their friend stood in stunned silence, a strange odor began to permeate the air. It was a sweet, metallic smell, like rust, and with its appearance came a sight that made all three young women shriek.
Blood. Countless amounts of blood gushed like a fountain from the bar's ceiling, drenching the frenzied men and women below. Some, like Charisse and her friends, shrieked, but most opened their mouths wide to catch the spray, their faces morphing into ferocious expressions.
Those who had been passionately kissing moments before transformed into true, biting creatures, baring sharp fangs, bathing in the blood, and embracing the 'lost lambs' to enjoy their feast. For them, this was the hall of the feast; for the lambs, it was absolute Hell.
Charisse, weakly pulling her friends, leaned against the bar counter—the only spot not currently soaked in blood.
Beside her, the mysterious woman's cold lips pressed against her cheek. She whispered, "I warned you not to stray too far from me!"
A million feet above the surface, Zhou Yi floated silently in the vacuum of space, gazing down at the Earth. Unfiltered sunlight poured over him, making him feel every cell in his body breathing and expanding with power.
Standing in this position, he could easily see the distant Sun and everything beneath his feet. His enhanced vision allowed him to clearly distinguish every person, and even every minute detail, millions of feet below.
Taking it a step further, his vision could penetrate obstacles to lock onto familiar spiritual signatures—those essences he knew intimately from long-term interaction, like his sister or his mother.
Here, bathed in pure sunlight, Zhou Yi's eyes seemed to glow a molten gold. These god-like eyes cataloged everything: orbital satellites, sky-borne aircraft carriers, the millions of humans in New York, and even targets deep underground. The endless solar energy sustained him; he required no food, water, or even air, existing solely on the scattered radiation of the Universe.
Sometimes, Zhou Yi felt like an Incarnation of a star. However, such an existence was ultimately too boring for him; he preferred human life.
In these god-like eyes, Charisse's distinct signature had been located. Target locked, Zhou Yi accelerated away, moving even faster than he had arrived.
On the high-altitude aircraft carrier, the cold Commander watched a technician report.
"Officer, our satellite has captured a strange thermal image. It's moving at Mach 25 and is escaping satellite surveillance."
"Mobilize all our satellites to monitor it, report its position, and immediately capture an image of the target!" The cold Commander calmly ordered. She was determined not to let this mysterious object escape her grasp again.
"Target image capture complete, transmitting to the main monitor. But the target has been lost."
The Commander stared intently at the holographic image. The blurry picture slowly sharpened. After a moment, she issued her final orders regarding the object:
"Notify the Director, and immediately seal today's events into archives. Rank level: seven!"
The staff mechanically followed the orders. On the holographic display, the figure that had been lost was now clearly visible: a man, frictionally glowing with countless flames in the atmosphere, plummeting toward the Earth.
With a deafening BOOM, the partying occupants of the underground bar felt the entire structure shake violently. A scorching fireball smashed through the thick concrete and cement, crashing into the center of the dark lair. Countless dust particles mixed with blood surged through the air, silencing the entire bar, leaving only the sound of the monotonous, throbbing music.
Several unlucky patrons directly beneath the impact were instantly incinerated by the terrifying heat. Another who was slightly further away began to scramble when a hand abruptly seized his neck from behind, lifting him effortlessly into the air.
"Charisse, you three, get behind me!" Zhou Yi, holding a struggling Vampire like a captured chick, scanned the entire bar with his golden eyes and addressed the three girls.
"Yi, how is it... you?" Charisse, utterly unprepared for her brother's theatrical, explosive arrival, felt her mind short-circuit. Her two friends were equally shell-shocked. After all, not everyone's entrance comes with the special effect of a human cannon.
At this moment, facing Zhou Yi in his true, super-powered state, the creatures who had been enjoying their feast became agitated and profoundly uneasy. They began to bare their fangs and emit low, terrifying growls, preparing to attack.
Zhou Yi ignored them. He looked at the creature in his hand with detached curiosity, even prying open its mouth to inspect its fangs.
"What are you, Vampires? This is truly quite interesting!" With this comment, Zhou Yi applied a tiny amount of force. The Vampire's neck instantly twisted to a horrifying angle. Before it could even scream, the creature burst into ashes in a bright flash of fire.
This action was like a drop of water in boiling oil, instantly igniting chaos. The Vampire-like creatures could no longer restrain the beast within them and rushed toward Zhou Yi in a snarling mass.
With blood-stained faces and ferocious, terrifying roars, this hellish scene prompted piercing screams from Charisse and her friends.
However, they soon realized the situation was entirely different from their worst fears.
Facing the onslaught, Zhou Yi stood his ground. He launched a direct punch at the foremost Vampire. The creature was instantly propelled backward as if struck by a massive truck. Dozens of Vampires behind him were scattered like leaves in a terrible storm.
A wave of fire seemed to snake through the approaching monsters, but everyone present quickly understood: it was the sight of Vampires turning to ashes, their fiery glow consuming them in swathes.
The entire bar fell silent again, eerily so.
"Mortal! Leave here. Take your friends. We can pretend you never came." The mysterious female Vampire, who had not moved since Zhou Yi appeared, finally stood up and issued her demand.
As she spoke, all the Vampires present involuntarily took several steps back, then cleared a path toward the exit. Clearly, this female Vampire held an unusually high status among them, a respect compounded by Zhou Yi's violent display of power.
Hearing her, Zhou Yi turned with a slight smile and walked toward her, step by step.
"What gave you the confidence to speak to me like that?" His pupils burned like golden flames. With every step, countless broken stones floated into the air, disintegrating into dust. The entire bar seemed to shake with his approach. He was majestic and inviolable—a god walking among mortals.
As Zhou Yi approached, the mysterious female Vampire felt a deep-seated fear rooted in her Bloodline.
As a member of an ancient lineage, she hadn't felt this terror in ages. In her long memory, the only thing that inspired such fear was the Sun, which brought endless light. It was terrifying for a Vampire to witness the Sun approaching. Her ability to act was paralyzed, and she could only watch helplessly.
Just before he reached her, a purple crystal screen materialized before her.
"Charisse, what are you doing?" Charisse's sudden appearance blocked Zhou Yi's path, instantly pulling him from his godlike state back into the role of an older brother.
Charisse ignored his transformation. She looked up at him, deadly serious. "Brother, you can't hurt her. She was protecting us just now!"
Zhou Yi looked at his sister with a stern expression. That terrifying gaze caused Kitty and the other girl to hide behind Charisse in fear. But Charisse stood her ground, arms spread, firmly blocking him. In her eyes, Zhou Yi saw a glimmer of precious, self-sacrificing spirit.
Seeing Zhou Yi raise his hand, Charisse instinctively closed her eyes. Zhou Yi was more than a brother; he was a father figure. She knew the magnitude of her mistake today and prepared herself for the inevitable slap.
However, all she felt was a large hand resting gently on her head.
Charisse secretly opened her eyes to see Zhou Yi wearing a wry smile.
"What, did you think I was going to slap you?"
"I thought I made you very angry, so I assumed you might want to hit me to vent your anger," Charisse said softly, her obedient demeanor utterly unlike her usual self.
"I am very angry, but I won't hit my sister to vent my anger. However, we do need to talk about today's events, but only after I've resolved the problems here. Now, take your friends and go home immediately. Wait for me there."
"Oh! I understand!" Charisse lowered her head and opened the crystal screen teleportation gate, but she poked her head out again before leaving.
"Promise me you won't hurt her, right? I think she's a good person."
"I promise you," Zhou Yi waved his hand impatiently.
It wasn't until the crystal screen vanished that Zhou Yi let out a long breath. He turned to the mysterious female Vampire. "Having a mischievous sister is truly not an easy thing. I haven't even asked your name, Young Miss Vampire!"
"Nysha. Nysha Makinos." The female Vampire, Nysha, still looked at Zhou Yi with evident fear, which compelled her to answer.
"Very good. I believe, as two different species, we've completed the first step of friendly communication," Zhou Yi walked over to the bar counter and tapped the surface, addressing the profusely sweating bartender. "Pal, give me a drink with ice. I've traveled a long way, and I'm practically dying of thirst."
As the bartender's hands trembled while mixing the drink, Nysha, now calmer, began to answer Zhou Yi's question.
"As you can see, we are Vampires, originating from a clan in Romania, Europe. Our ancestors came here centuries ago and established this current situation."
"The story of Vampire entrepreneurship doesn't sound very interesting." Zhou Yi's golden gaze swept over the remaining Vampires, his disgust clear.