"Quick! Quick! Report to the clan! The Outer Ring is attacking the grain depot—ah!"
A mixed-blood vampire stumbled and rolled across the ground, barely managing to reach the entrance of Warehouse No. 1. He seized a fellow guard by the collar and screamed himself hoarse.
The guard's expression turned solemn. Hearing that the depot was under attack—and seeing that the messenger was clearly one of their own—he didn't doubt it for a second. He immediately pulled a walkie-talkie from his waist, preparing to tune it to the proper frequency.
But in the middle of the operation, a piercing flash suddenly flickered in the corner of his vision. He instinctively turned his head—
A lightning-wreathed arrow was already tearing toward him at terrifying speed.
Whoosh!
"Ah!"
There was no time to dodge. In the blink of an eye, the arrow punched straight through his forehead.
Roaring thunder surged through his body like a runaway beast, trampling every cell in its path.
His internal organs burst apart simultaneously, and a blackened corpse, wisps of white smoke curling from its surface, collapsed limply to the ground.
"See, Phaga? I told you I wasn't wrong. Relying on high-tech alone just doesn't cut it. Compared to satellite maps, following these low-level grunts who live in the streets every day gets you faster, better-hidden routes."
Asaba Harumasa smiled faintly, bow in his left hand, his right hand casually spreading outward. He glanced sideways at the handsome man beside him, who wore a monocle and held an umbrella in his right hand.
Phaga lowered his gaze to the notebook in his hand and replied without looking up, "In reality, this route doesn't allow trucks through. We simply arrived faster. Conservatively speaking, the convoy still needs another five minutes."
"Five minutes is perfect! Five minutes is enough to wipe out the guards. When the trucks arrive, they can just focus on loading the goods!"
Harumasa laughed brightly and strode forward.
Meanwhile, the mixed-blood vampire whom Harumasa and Phaga had deliberately left behind to "lead the way" was now kneeling on the ground, fumbling with the walkie-talkie that had fallen from his colleague's hands.
"Come on, come on! It was like this before, and it's still like this now! The frequency's already set—so why won't it connect?!"
He growled under his breath. As a hidden sentry, he had spotted Phaga's convoy and tried to report it to the organization, only to find that his own walkie-talkie wasn't working. Thinking it was just a fluke, he had risked his life to return and grab someone else's device to transmit the intel.
But now, even his colleague's walkie-talkie wouldn't work.
An inexplicable fury flared in his chest.
Damn this useless equipment!
His colleague had been killed instantly by Harumasa's arrow, but in the final moment—though he couldn't evade the attack—he had still managed to throw the walkie-talkie away.
The mixed-blood vampire could swear with his life that the device had never hit the ground. It wasn't damaged.
The frequency was correct, too.
So why couldn't it connect?
"Why… why?"
He muttered endlessly, stubbornly trying again and again—until a blade was pressed against his throat.
He lifted his head in confusion, staring blankly at the smiling face beneath a yellow headscarf.
Harumasa's lips curved slightly as he drew the blade across the man's neck.
"I can tell you worked hard," he said lightly. "But all that effort just gave me more work."
"Harumasa, clear this place as soon as possible. There aren't many people around Warehouse No. 1—only about twenty. Even though we've blocked their communications, we can't rule out other ways they might pass messages. Finish it quickly."
Phaga rubbed his eyes, their color gradually fading from crimson back to black, and spoke in an even tone.
"Ugh, another captain who loves ordering people around. My life is exhausting."
Harumasa muttered the complaint, then slashed twice, cutting open the tightly sealed metal doors of Warehouse No. 1. He swaggered straight inside.
Phaga's lips lifted slightly as he shook his head with a quiet chuckle, then casually pressed his earpiece.
[Nicole, just drive over at full speed. Surveillance shows no mixed-blood vampires in the surrounding area.]
Nicole's voice soon came through.
[No wonder I've been driving forever without running into a single troublemaker. All that worrying for nothing. I'll bring the truck over right away… By the way, Phaga, why do you think the vampire clan hasn't tried to stop us?]
[Not sure. But it's a good thing.]
Phaga replied softly. Then, as if sensing something, he lifted his head and looked toward the entrance of Warehouse No. 1.
Harumasa strolled out leisurely and leaned against the wall to rest. Aside from a faint smear of blood on his face, he looked completely relaxed as he waved a hand.
"My part's done. So I'm free now, right?"
"Not a chance, Harumasa. This job is critical. Until everything is completely finished, we need to stay fully alert."
Phaga adjusted his monocle, a distinctly capitalist smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
Harumasa finally lost it. He slapped his forehead, his hand slowly sliding down his cheek as he sighed helplessly.
"Ahhh—You're even more ruthless than Tsukishiro."
"It's not that bad. I consider myself a good captain. I adjust work assignments based on my employees' physical condition."
"Adjust based on condition… shouldn't that mean resting when you're not in good shape?"
"Of course not. If your leg's broken, you use a wheelchair and work hard enough to match your speed from when it wasn't. If your arms are sore, then let your two lower-body take over. Letting different joints rest in rotation is still rest, my friend."
"…"
Harumasa had nothing to say. He could only stare silently at Phaga.
It wasn't until a thunderous roar of truck engines echoed from the far end of the road that Harumasa raised an eyebrow.
"They're here."
Phaga turned to glance back.
Sure enough, more than thirty trucks were lined up in a long convoy, rumbling toward them.
[Convoy, line up in order. Enter in batches.]
Phaga lifted the walkie-talkie and issued instructions. With Warehouse No. 1 now completely quiet—though he couldn't quite understand what the vampire clan was planning—he was happy to take advantage of the lull and began directing the trucks to enter in groups to load the cargo.
Still, the fact that not a single vampire had appeared to interfere made his skin crawl. It felt as though something big was about to happen.
Suddenly, as if sensing something, Phaga glanced to the side—and immediately spotted Ellen running toward him, Eous cradled in her arms.
Her expression was clearly panicked.
She barely came to a stop before blurting out, breathless, "Phaga, Eous's signal suddenly cut out!"
...
Meanwhile, near Janus District General Hospital.
Clang!
With a single strike, Miyabi cut down the last mixed-blood vampire within sight. She slid the demon blade back into its scabbard, the metal ringing out with a crisp sound.
She slowly opened her eyes and spoke calmly.
"Yanagi, there shouldn't be any more vampire clan members nearby, right?"
Yanagi nodded slightly, her brows tightly knit.
"It's strange. Along the way, we barely encountered any resistance from the vampire clan. It's like they don't even take us seriously."
Yanagi didn't believe the vampire clan could be this careless—especially not when it came to someone trying to seize their medicine.
She had expected this to be a hard fight.
At the very least, the vampire clan should have caused them serious trouble.
But instead, it felt as though they were dealing with beggars—only a handful of insignificant stragglers had been sent to deal with them.
Koleda rested her chin in her hand, thinking for a moment.
"Could it be that all the pressure's been pushed onto Phaga's side?"
After all, while both counted as essential supplies, food always took priority over medicine. Abandoning one line of defense to send more manpower to block Phaga made perfect sense.
"That's plausible."
Yanagi pondered briefly, then picked up her walkie-talkie and tried to contact Phaga.
But after waiting more than ten seconds, she still couldn't connect to his frequency.
"Huh?"
Yanagi's pupils widened slightly. Something felt very wrong.
...
At the same time, the third party involved—the force led by No. 11.
The battlefield where No. 11 was stationed was in full chaos.
Watching the situation grow more and more deadlocked, with mixed-blood vampires appearing in ever-increasing numbers for reasons unknown, No. 11 clicked her tongue and cursed under her breath.
"Tsk. There are more and more of them. What the hell is going on?"
Suddenly, something at her waist vibrated.
No. 11's eyes flashed. Knowing this must be the colleague Zhu Yuan had mentioned, she immediately answered the call.
[Hello, this is No. 11.]
[Huff… huff… Huh? You're not Zhu Yuan? Whatever—anyone's fine. There's no time to explain who you are. Hurry up and notify the troops to leave New Eridu! Now!]
[Damn it, they've caught up again!]
Beep… beep…
The call abruptly cut off.