20:12:2024
Port Harbor, Hong Kong, China!
The unguarded gates of the port harbor loomed in the dark night, shrouded in unnatural silence, there were no clouds, no winds, only a bone-chilling silence.
A car, a sleek one, untraceable, was moving around in the darkness as a predator in the night. It should have been a bustling port with workers and heavily protected by security, and not a single person was around.
The car glided over the cracks on the pavements, its engines purring almost like a whisper. With a constant speed, the driver maneuvered through narrow turns with eerie precision without even bothering to turn on the headlights.
It wasn't until the car reached the cover of a towering billboard that it came to a halt.
Thud!
"Are you sure that this is the correct place?"
A young woman stepped out from the passenger side, her sharp eyes scanning the darkness. Her hair was tied in a tight bun and she carried herself with a trained discipline.
She spoke in fluent Chinese while conversing with her partner, her hands smoothly reached out for a gun tied to her slim waist, an action she did out of habit.
As she pulled on the weapons, her hand grazed the brown vest she wore over her slim Blue shirt that emphasized her figure, producing a faint rustling sound.
"There is something wrong with you if you can't sense how wrong this place is."
The voice came from the other side of the car. A man emerged, his appearance was completely opposite to the woman's composed and sharp demeanor.
He was a middle-aged man, his beard roughly trimmed, his loose clothes hanging off him as if he had just rolled out of the bed. Closing the car door behind him, the man lazily scratched his unkempt hair and tugged up his sagging pants, his worn-out belt barely holding everything together under the weight of the holstered weapon.
"You!" The woman bristled at his comment on her intelligence, her lips tightened in irritation. But when her eyes caught the badge peeking from the man's pocket— two blades crossing over each other— something she did not have, she bit back her retort.
Whether she liked it or not, this lazy sloppy man outranked her.
The man also paid no attention to her frustration and pointed towards the empty docks calmly, "This is one of the busiest working ports in the region, handling millions of cargo daily. And yet, here we are, no workers, no security, not even a stray cat. Police report among missing personnel, complaints from cargo companies… it all points to one thing."
"But sir, even if that is the case, how can you be so sure that the cause of all this is the 'people' we are looking—?" asked the woman, her voice steady despite the unease creeping into her gut.
The man's eyes darkened, "Xue Wu, I would say this only once!" his usual lazy demeanor vanished, "those abominations do not deserve to be called 'people.' Their likes do not deserve to be put on the same level as us." he spoke with unusual seriousness.
The sudden interruption from her superior caught Xue Wu off guard. But she was more shocked to see the look of deep hatred and disgust burning in his eyes.
"Yes sir." Xue Wu stiffened and answered instinctively. She spoke no more, maintaining the professional boundary of a senior and a junior.
"Now now, don't be too tense." Much to Xue Wu's frustration, the man's demeanor shifted back. He turned around and tapped the moist ground with his almost worn-out shoes causing a small tear on the sides to widen.
"Follow me closely, I have been tracking them for a while, so I am aware of how they handle things. No lights and no one in the vicinity even when there is supposed to be a whole staff working? This is their work! It has to be them!" while keeping a check on his surroundings with his half-closed eyes, he turned to walk deeper inside the port.
Xue Wu could only grumble in her heart and follow along, her posture tense as if she was prepared to be ambushed or attacked by someone at any time. In contrast, her superior strolled as if he were on a midnight walk.
'This guy! How infuriating…'
Thud!
Just when she was about to let out a series of curses in her heart, a heavy sound broke through the silence.
Xue Wu's hand flew to her gun. While the middle-aged man in front of her only paused and merely raised his head, looking unimpressed. His gaze piercing through the darkness landed on a cloaked figure crouching on one of the containers ahead of them.
A cheerful voice that clearly belonged to a very young woman came from the cloaked figure but her face remained hidden under the shadow of the crane nearby. "Look who finally came to join the party?!"
Xue Wu stiffened, she was practically sweating buckets but her superior, Wang Chen, tilted his head and asked in his usual laid-back tone.
As the words sank in, Xue Wu trembled a bit 'How is this man so calm while facing… that thing?!' She screamed inwardly, the heaviness in the air pressing on her chest.
The woman slowly stood up, and a pair of crimson eyes shone underneath her hood. "How can I not know you, you are practically a celebrity among our kind! The man with the kill record of 89 of my kind, a demon with the mask of sloth. That number might not be much for you human but we did suffer a lot under your hands."
Her eyes pulsed with a red light like burning embers as she added, "As a courtesy of being the host, Let me give you a warm welcome Mr. Wang Chen."
Woosh!
Suddenly the both of them found themselves surrounded by a bunch of cloaked figures from all directions.
Xue Wu noticed how they all were wearing similar clothes that made them appear like mobsters. 'This man was right once again. Ugh, now I have to see his smug face after this is over. What a bastard!'
"I am baffled to hear, a being as uncouth as you speaking of courtesy…" Wang Chen mused, unbetrothed by the hostile gazes from all sides "How can I not repay you when you are treating me so well, Miss Vampire~"
"Hissss~" Almost instantly all the figures surrounding them bared their fangs at the two of them and rushed towards them at a breathtaking speed.
"You just had to piss them off!" Xue Wu shouted before aiming for the closest vampire to her.
Bang! Bang!
"You are not so tense anymore, isn't that a good thing?" With a chuckle, Wang Chen Dodged the claws aimed at his throat and pulled out a silver dagger from his underneath loose shirt.
Splash!
At such a close distance the vampire was unable to dodge the surprise attack from the dagger and was stabbed in his heart. Without looking back at the falling body that slowly showed signs of decaying, Wang Chen moved on to the next one.
Bang!
"Oh, fu*k you!" Xue Wu was so angered that she shot the same vampire three times in the heart, brain, and between his legs.
She started imagining Wang Chen's face in the place of the vampire's face and a small satisfied smile appeared on her face.
But in that moment of distraction, one of the female vampires sneaked up on her from behind, her hand took the shape of a claw aimed at Xue Wu's neck.
Bang!
But before her attack could even land, Xue Wu ducked down and swept her legs on the ground as soon as the vampire landed before taking a shot at her naked heart. 'What a wh*re, wearing such loose clothing!'
Noticing the assets she lacked, Xue Wu felt as if she had just avenged an unknown grudge she had with the dead woman.
Splash!
Bang!
Watching the onslaught from afar, the woman who was under the shadow showed no intentions of joining, she turned around and flashed away.
Her actions did not go unnoticed by Wang Chen who picked up his speed and killed all the last few vampires encircling him with much ease.
Xue Wu on the other side struggled to handle three vampires at the same time, Wang Chen looked at her with a conflicted look before making a quick decision.
Woosh!
He threw one of his blades at the slowest vampire with perfect accuracy and impaled it in the back of his heart. Seeing the vampire falling to the ground, he turned around instantly and ran in the same direction as the vampire woman who had just left.
'This bastard!' Noticing that she was left all alone, Xue Wu screamed at the top of her lungs… in her heart though. 'I cannot lose this job because of him. I can handle these two! Don't panic Xue Wu, you are the most beautiful woman in the whole of China. You have yet to find a handsome rich man to marry, how can you die in this dump…'
While Xue Wu was mumbling words of motivation in her heart, Wang Chen had already caught up with the vampire.
Woosh!
"Look at you, you truly live up to your reputation don't you~" The woman jumped from one container to another while looking back at the man who was hot on her tail. She teased, her voice sultry, "If you like me that much, why don't you just ask me out? I can spare a night for someone—"
Woosh!
The woman suddenly paused and flipped back sensing something approaching her and landed on the ground with her back against a container. Her eyes narrowed as they landed on a silver dagger impaled in the ground.
"Someone like you isn't worthy of lying on the ground before me, let alone with me in bed." Wang Chen also jumped down from the container and picked up the dagger from the ground.
As he raised his head, Wang Chen saw the face of the woman for the first time. She appeared to be in her thirties and yet she certainly had her charms that could make many men walk up to her.
Her pale skin made her look like the natural "jade-skinned" woman who was very popular in that area.
The woman took a step forward, giving him the full view of the long one-piece dress she was wearing.
The dress had a slit on the side which allowed her to move freely. Over that dress, she was wearing a long overcoat which appeared out of place. One of her hands was inside the coat while the other was holding an aluminum briefcase that was tied to her hands by a handcuff.
"Isn't that a bit harsh, Mr. Wang?" the woman ignored the man's gaze on the briefcase in her hand but showed a pained look as she spoke.
Wang Chen looked back at her almond face and spoke with a calm smile on his face, "Not really, I was just thinking about how to turn you into ashes the most painful way. If I had said that out loud, that would have been more harsh."
The woman suddenly lost the smile on her face, "Are you really not going to let me leave? Do we have to engage? You should know I am not like those weaklings, I am a true vampire."
As she spoke, the color of her blood-red eyes intensified. Purple veins started to appear around her eyes, arms, and legs. The pressure radiating from her doubled the size of her canines.
Woosh!
Without wasting time, Wang Chen dashed forward, the grip on the dagger in his hands remained firm.
Realizing she had no choice but to fight, the female vampire also gave up on talking and took action with a speed exceeding that left blurs through the air.
Even though she was faster than Wang Chen, she maintained a proper distance from the dagger in his hands.
The power behind Wang Chen's strike was no weaker than her own which made it difficult for her to land a blow while keeping an eye out for the dagger.
She used everything to fight, her legs, her only free hand.
Bang!
But even with the advantage of speed on her side, Wang Chen gained the edge in their fight with his experience. He was able to graze the woman with the silver dagger, her expression convulsed and her steps faltered.
Wang Chen took the opportunity he needed and kicked the woman away.
The woman coughed after crashing against the container, its wall caved inwardly, she looked at the darkening cu on her arm before looking back at the man who was about to end her life, "You are strong… I wonder what you sacrificed to achieve that kind of power?"
Her sudden remark froze Wang Chen in his tracks for a fraction of a second but that was all she needed.
Woosh!
She hurriedly took out something from her robes and threw it towards him. Wang Chen snapped out of his daze and tried to dodge the attack but he was not so lucky this time.
He felt something piercing his left thigh, his knees buckled but he reacted swiftly and shifted the weight of his body, rolling backward.
Ting!
As he rolled away, a set of flying knitting needles stabbed the area he rolled on missing him by an inch. The sudden action caused his dagger to slip out of his hands, away from him.
"Tch!" Wang Chen pulled out the needle from his leg and threw it on the ground causing blood to spill out of it. He had no time to tend to the wound as the enemy was still in front of him.
"Die!" the woman screamed, her mouth wide open as she lunged to bite down on Wang Chen's throat.
But the fight took an unexpected turn…
Bang! Thud!
A bullet was shot, and the vampire woman froze in the middle of her attack and fell to the ground.
Blood trickled down from the hole in her heart, the wound started to darken showing the bullet was made of silver. Her eyes widened upon seeing the sci-fi looking gun in Wang Chen's hands that was now pressed against her forehead.
The previous shot did not kill her but she could feel the life slowly slipping from her body.
"The era of the vampires is long over. With the human technology on the rise, you have no chance against us." Wang Chen spoke coldly, he watched as the life slowly seeped out of the woman's eyes as she looked at the gun in astonishment and disbelief.
"The end of vampires you said? Haha!" Even while hanging to life with a last thread, the woman showed no fear; she only laughed wildly.
"Oh Dear, you have no idea how wrong you are~ The era of the vampires… is just around the corner… The real Vampires are about to take a step into the light!" She pointed at him in disdain while her skin started to wither into an ash-like state.
She no longer looked like a woman in her prime; her appearance was now that of an old woman on the verge of death.
"Did you know that the key to the rise of our race was once in my hands?" Wang Chen's eyes darted toward the briefcase in her hands almost instantly. He even failed to notice that Xue Wu was rushing towards them, her outfit drenched in blood, clinging to her body.
Bang!
Wang Chen suddenly thought of something and shot the case. He opened it up, only to see a cylindrical shaped cavity in the middle of the black protective foam.
"What was in this Box?" Feeling a dark feeling wash over his heart, he asked sharply but the more he panicked the more she laughed in contentment. "You cannot prevent the inevitable, Mr. Pretentious. The noble Vampires are going to take a step in the world! It's a pity I won't be there to witness it!"
Soon the last bit of energy left her body, and a single tear dripped from the corner of her eyes as she gasped for her last breath.
"What happened?" Seeing the somber air around Wang Chen, Xue Wu set aside the bitterness in her heart and asked cautiously while maintaining her distance.
Wang Chen stared at the dead body before him for a while before shaking his head, "Nothing, just a dead vampire spouting nonsense. Let's go back."
For some reason, she felt that the man before her was lying. But she decided to stay silent and left the scene but not before dropping a golden card on the ground.
The card only had the 'H' and 'X' symbols overlapping each other like a pair of swords striking something.
Soon after they left the scene, sounds of sirens wailing and flashes of lights filled the area from all sides.