American Zombie Detective

Midnight Bar is tucked away in the basement of the Oriental Columbia Building, discreet and understated, with an inconspicuous pentagram mark on the lintel hinting at its uniqueness.

Before Qin Jin and Aresa followed Constantine inside, he repeatedly emphasized:

"There's only one rule: don't cause trouble here, and don't get provoked!"

The bar resembles a late-night session at a retro jazz bar. Under the dim, warm lights, the dark wood decor gleams with the patina of time, and an old-fashioned gramophone plays lazy blues tunes. Guests sit in twos and threes, and at first glance, it seems no different from any other bar.

However, those subtle anomalies did not escape the notice of Qin Jin and Alessa.

A handsome man, pale-faced, his wine glass reeking of blood; a hip-hop youth, embracing and kissing a woman in his arms, suddenly contracting his vertical pupils; in a shadowy corner, a woman playing with tarot cards, her fingers brushing across the table, the cards already jumping and flipping on their own…

More importantly, it's the atmosphere—a mix of cigars, whiskey, perfume, and a faint scent of sulfur and blood, all permeated with a cold, dampness, like wet moss.

Constanze led the two through the crowd. When they saw Alessa, most of them had greed and desire in their eyes, but they hid it very well. Only a few fools, despite being mindful of the bar's rules, did not hide their gazes at her.

Constantine walked with practiced ease to the innermost room, to a wooden door covered in deep red velvet.

The room was more like a collector's secret chamber. The walls were adorned with rustic African masks, brightly colored Haitian voodoo flags, and uniquely shaped tribal wood carvings, while the air was filled with the strong aroma of rum, cigars, and some kind of spicy herbal blend.

The object of Dante's search, Midnight Dad, is slumped in a huge leopard-print sofa.

He wore a crimson velvet suit with a dazzling gold lining, his fingers adorned with rings inlaid with various gemstones, his skin was dark and shiny, and the whites of his eyes appeared exceptionally clear in the dim light. He exuded an aura that blended elegance with deadly danger.

Old Man Midnight looked up, his gaze sweeping over Constanze, Qin Jin, and Alessa one by one. Then, he casually picked up a long, narrow oak box studded with brass rivets from the side and placed it on the walnut coffee table in front of him.

"150,000, old friend price. Cash, now, not a penny less... just pretend you never saw it."

Constantine rubbed his fingers together:

"I know the rules. Look, the 90,000 in cash is right here," he said, placing his handbag next to the box.

"Give me some time with the remaining 60,000?"

At midnight, he leisurely lit a cigar, slowly igniting it with a lighter. As he inhaled and exhaled puffs of smoke, a disdainful smile appeared on his face.

"John, don't forget, your name is marked 'high risk, low reward' in my ledger, and your reputation isn't worth sixty thousand."

Constanze looked at Qin Jin pleadingly, then casually pulled something from his pocket and threw it on the coffee table: a palm-sized notebook with a dark brown cover.

The cover is completely undecorated, with an incredibly fine texture and a warm, aged sheen, yet it also subtly exudes an indescribable air of evil.

Old Man Midnight's casual gaze swept over the notebook. He was about to scoff when his gaze suddenly froze. He leaned forward slightly, staring intently at the dark brown cover, his nostrils twitching almost imperceptibly.

"This is..." Midnight's voice lost its composure for the first time: "Where did this come from?"

"It's an evil art from the East, said to be able to resurrect the dead," Qin Jin said calmly.

"I'll lend you the photo, or make a copy, it'll be credited as the remaining 60,000."

At midnight, Old Man's eyes instantly turned extremely dangerous, like a black mamba eyeing its prey. The patterns on all the voodoo flags in the room seemed to come alive, wriggling slightly.

An overwhelming sense of oppression surged towards Qin and Jin like a tangible tide.

Qin Jin, looking half-dead, raised his hand to cover his mouth and let out a small yawn. The powerful force vanished without a trace the moment it touched him.

Time seemed to stand still.

After a few seconds of deathly silence, the murderous intent churning in Midnight Old Man's eyes receded like a tide, and he suddenly grinned, revealing teeth so white and perfectly aligned they seemed inhuman:

"make a deal!"

He snapped his fingers, and a young man dressed as a waiter immediately walked in.

"Bring the camera. Take clear pictures of every page of this book, every symbol, even the creases and stains." He turned to Qin Jin: "Wait a moment, what would you like to drink?"

Constanze stood up and began pouring himself a drink, but Qin Jin shook his head: "I'm not thirsty, thank you."

More than ten minutes later, Qin Jin and the other two left Old Man Midnight's secret room. Constanze excitedly hugged the huge oak box, while Qin Jin and Alessa followed behind.

Just as they were walking through the slightly crowded bar area toward the door, something unexpected happened!

A tall, thin man leaning against the bar seemed slightly tipsy. As Alessa passed by him, his fingers casually brushed against her skin.

A clear wound appeared on Alessa's almost translucent white cheek, slowly oozing some unknown liquid.

The smile that had just appeared on the man's lips froze instantly. He seemed a little confused as to why, after the face was cut, there were no bright red blood beads as he had expected, but instead... this kind of thing?

Alessa's grey-blue eyes froze instantly, and the back of the Frankenstein puppet was already pulled back!

However, Qin Jin was faster than her!

Without a roar or a warning, the man following behind Alessa, who had been exuding a lazy aura just a second ago, appeared next to the tall, thin man and grabbed his full head of blond hair!

Before the vampire could even recover from his shock, he was already being swung around!

Qin Jin swung the hammer like a giant sledgehammer, using the most primitive and violent method, and slammed it hard against the hard black walnut bar next to him!

"Bang—Crack!"

A tooth-grinding cracking sound of bones bursting and a heavy groan of wood erupted simultaneously!

The entire bar shook violently, and expensive bottles of liquor jingled and bounced around!

The vampire's upper body was twisted and folded on the bar at an angle that completely defied the laws of physics, with his spine piercing through his expensive shirt and exposed to the air!

His face was frozen in extreme pain and disbelief.

boom!

Qin Jin didn't pause for a moment, lifting the limp vampire again and slamming him hard onto the thick carpeted floor!

With a dull, loud bang, the entire floor of the bar seemed to tremble!

The vampire lay there like a piece of rotten mud with all its bones removed, only slight twitching indicating that he was still alive.

"Deka!"

The other two pale-faced men by the bar suddenly sprang to life, their fangs piercing their lips, and they pounced on Qin Jin with superhuman speed!

Qin Jin slapped it directly with his left hand!

*Pfft!* *Snap!*

The vampire who lunged at the front had its head struck by that palm, its cervical spine making a chilling cracking sound, and its entire head collapsed at an eerie angle, actually being forcefully slapped into its chest cavity!

The headless corpse lurched forward with tremendous momentum.

Another vampire was in mid-air when a kukri appeared from the side, circled his neck, and then a small hand grabbed his hair—

Click!

The body continued to surge forward, and the cervical vertebrae were completely broken and torn apart from the body by the impact!

Alessa held the vampire's head in one hand and a blood-soaked kukri in the other, her eyes shining terrifyingly!

Qin Jin picked up a solid wood bar stool from the side, walked over to the tall, thin vampire, squatted down, and seriously smashed the stool on his head!

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft...

As Qin Jin slammed down again and again, the vampire's head was first smashed, then cracked, and finally turned into a mixture of bone fragments and flesh, which Qin Jin then pried open with a stool.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye!

From the moment Alessa was slashed to the moment the three vampires were defeated, the entire process took no more than ten seconds. Only the final process of smashing their heads into mud took a little longer, about three minutes.

Dead!

Absolute silence enveloped the entire midnight bar. The blues music had stopped sometime earlier.

All the guests—whether their pupils changed color, their nails were sharp, or their fingertips shimmered with light—froze in place, their faces etched with shock and deep-seated fear.

They looked at Qin Jin, who stood calmly beside the pile of flesh, as if he were a prehistoric beast in human skin!

"Stop! This is my territory!"

Midnight Old Man's angry roar came, and his purplish-red figure appeared, surrounded by visible black energy, glaring angrily at Qin Jin.

Qin Jin ignored him, instead taking the vampire head from Alessa's hand, placing the contorted, still-breathing head on the bar, and earnestly lecturing her:

"Vampires, even after their heads are cut off, don't die immediately. Do you know what to do next?"

Alessa nodded, raised the kukri in her hand, and with a snap, cleaved the entire head in two. Then, in her childish, clear voice, she answered:

"Cut it up, and you'll die!"

Qin Jin smiled, took Alessa's hand, and walked confidently out of the bar, ignoring everyone's gaze, as if...

Two grim reapers, one tall and one short!