The alley fell into silence.
"What does 1000 minus 7 mean?" Dracula wondered aloud, his voice strained. His recovery abilities had stalled after the silver spear pierced his heart, forcing him back into his human form, but he was still barely hanging on.
The blade warrior, Eric Brooks, adjusted his sunglasses and pondered the question.
Dracula opened his mouth to respond, "It's equal to 993."
"F**k," Kaneki Ken said with a snap of his fingers.
Snap!
Kaneki Ken's whip lashed across Dracula's face. "How much is 999 minus 7?"
"Snap!"
"992!" Dracula cried out desperately.
"Snap!"
"Keep it up. How much is it?"
"Snap!"
"What!!"
"991!"
"990!"
...
Kaneki Ken's whip relentlessly beat Dracula's body. Each strike reduced Dracula to a mangled mess, his regeneration proving futile against the constant assault. Dracula's screams of pain were haunting, and even though Eric had initially taken some satisfaction in witnessing Dracula's suffering, the relentless brutality soon became unsettling.
Eric shuddered, not from Dracula's cries, but from the sheer madness of Kaneki Ken's relentless assault. The last time they crossed paths, their encounter had nearly ended in disaster.
"Snap!"
"882…"
Dracula's voice grew weaker with each strike until he could barely make a sound. Kaneki Ken, his face expressionless, continued his gruesome work, unsatisfied even with the number reaching 882.
"Dead?" Kaneki Ken asked, his tone almost casual.
Dracula, however, was not yet defeated. His immortal nature meant that merely reaching 882 was insufficient.
Eric Brooks intervened, "The heart can be a weakness for Dracula, but it's not fatal. He's not truly dead yet."
Kaneki Ken looked at Eric, his sneer widening. "Seems you know quite a bit."
Eric carefully removed the silver spear from Dracula's heart. "If you remove the silver, the heart will regenerate, and Dracula will come back to life."
Dracula's eyes widened, and his body began to heal miraculously. Kaneki Ken watched with a mix of curiosity and frustration.
"Are you still alive?" Kaneki Ken muttered.
The blade warrior quickly reinserted the spear, causing Dracula to convulse once more, returning him to a weakened state.
"Just removing the spear allows Dracula to come back," Eric explained. He sighed, noting how many vampire hunters had fallen victim to Dracula's regeneration.
Kaneki Ken, intrigued, continued his assault with renewed vigor. He whipped Dracula repeatedly, each strike eliciting a tragic scream from the vampire. Dracula, now resigned, no longer bothered to answer Kaneki Ken's questions.
Snap! Snap! Snap!
Eventually, Dracula's cries faded, and he died again. Kaneki Ken, still unsatisfied, pulled out the silver spear and drove it back in, his frustration evident.
"Huh—you devil!" Dracula exclaimed as he revived once more, his eyes burning with rage.
"You've never met anyone as perverse as me," Kaneki Ken remarked, folding his whip with an emotionless expression. He raised one hand, preparing to strike again.
Before Eric could ask what would happen next, Kaneki Ken's hand plunged directly into Dracula's chest.
With five fingers gripping Dracula's heart, Kaneki Ken crushed it, the thick blood spilling from his grasp. Without hesitation, Kaneki Ken consumed the blood.
Eric, horrified, watched as Kaneki Ken drank the vampire's blood. "What are you doing? Vampire blood can turn humans into vampires!"
Kaneki Ken's behavior was perplexing. Why wasn't he afraid of becoming a vampire?
Dracula, in pain and disbelief, laughed bitterly. "I didn't expect you to be such an admirer of vampires."
Kaneki Ken smirked, "Admirer? No, I just see you as an endless supply."
Dracula's arrogance faltered, his face contorted with disbelief. The notion that he was viewed as mere food was a crushing blow.
"No! You can't do this. You're humiliating the great vampire lord!"
"Snap!"
Dracula's furious roar was met with another crushing blow from Kaneki Ken's whip.
Kaneki Ken continued to strike Dracula, his anger and hunger unabated. After a final round of brutal beatings, Kaneki Ken retrieved a large black bag from his backpack. He stuffed Dracula's mutilated body into it, sealing the bag with a grim satisfaction.
Eric, pale and shaken, struggled to cope with the stench of blood from the bag. "Why? What's that smell?"
Kaneki Ken glanced at him, amused. "It's just a bag for food. I always carry one. You never know when it might come in handy."
Eric's face went ashen. The thought of being on the receiving end of Kaneki Ken's methods was terrifying.
Kaneki Ken swaggered out of the alley, carrying the black bag with a sense of triumph.
Eric, watching him leave, was horrified by the scene he had witnessed. The white-haired boy, with his disturbing behavior, had left an indelible mark on him.
Eric proceeded to sprinkle silver water over the remains of the bats and other evidence, preparing to finish the job.
Manhattan District
In a brightly lit villa, Xu Mo watched a news report on the mutant registration bill. The door creaked open, and Kaneki Ken walked in, carrying the black bag.
"Kaneki Ken, what's in that bag?" Xu Mo asked, his curiosity piqued.
Kaneki Ken hesitated. "It's the vampire lord, Dracula." He seemed indifferent to the gravity of the situation as he unzipped the bag, revealing Dracula's body, pierced by silverware, in a grotesque, meatball-like form.
Xu Mo stared in shock. "The endless bag! That's a rare find."
Xu Mo nodded in approval of Kaneki Ken's approach but noted that the smell was overpowering. "There's a basement. Just lock it in there."
Kaneki Ken followed Xu Mo to the dark basement, where he tossed the bag onto a large rock.
Xu Mo, uninterested in Kaneki Ken's bizarre actions, returned to the sofa. Skynet Alice projected from his phone as he settled in.