I work as an editor at Marvel.

The urge to kill was rising... wait... the urge ended prematurely...

Parker stared blankly at the blood-soaked ground of the camp, while a name on his list flashed a few times before disappearing.

Immediately afterwards, a corpse flew out of a third-floor window and landed with a thud in front of Parker, splattering blood everywhere.

A few seconds later, a man climbed out of the window and landed nimbly on the ground. He paused for a moment when he looked at Parker standing in the doorway. He was yet another person who was startled by Parker's ability to conceal his presence.

“You stole my prey…” Pike said, looking at the man.

After so much development, Pike now has his own consciousness, but his consciousness is rather special. His rules of conduct are basically no different from those of some wild beasts. The memories left by Sandel only serve as some informational guidance and have not had much impact on Pike.

"Really? Then what do you want?" Frank twirled a spring-loaded knife in his hand. It was one of his favorite melee weapons, and the blade could easily take the life of a target within ten meters.

“You’re not on my list…” Parker said after a long pause.

"The list? So what if it's there? So what if it's not?" Frank stopped wielding his knife. Although he didn't use a gun at all during this gang cleanup, he was actually most skilled with firearms. After all, he was a former Level 10 agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. How could he not know how to use a gun?

"Sensing hostility..." Parker finally sorted out his thoughts when facing the rather impolite Frank: just go for it.

Swish! An arrow landed between Parker and Frank, the entire arrow embedded in the concrete, with only the tail sticking out.

"Parker, he didn't mean it. Don't be so murderous."

Turning his head to look in the direction of the arrow, Frank saw a man falling from the sky, his hand gripping the talons of an eagle. Frank found this sight somewhat unbelievable; the eagle was less than half the size of a man, so how could it possibly lift a person up?

After Van Helsing appeared, Blade jumped down from the roof, slung his longbow over his shoulder, and the eagle flew back onto his shoulder. This was the animal companion he had won over under Van Helsing's guidance.

Parker tilted his head and looked at Van Helsing. He could sense the friendly mark left by Yang Qiu on Van Helsing, but he didn't recognize the guy.

"What, it's been over a hundred years, and you don't even greet an old friend?" Van Helsing said, smoothing his hair.

He came to New York specifically to find Parker. After seeing Parker's blurry figure in a third-rate tabloid, Van Helsing retrieved information about Parker from his memory.

This was a figure from the same era as him, but because of his ruthless methods and extremely strong desire to kill, he was not accepted by most monster hunters at the time. Coincidentally, he was similar, so the relationship between the two of them was quite good at that time.

However, Van Helsing remembered that Pike had died in the sea in an accident before he went to find Dracula. He never expected that a hundred years later, this guy would also crawl out of his grave.

Of course, all of this was patched up by Yang Qiu.

What? This isn't a patch, it's a retcon?

Did Warcraft not eat enough? Did the League of Legends official team not eat enough? Everyone else can eat it, so why can't they? And can you call an editor's actions a rewrite of a book?

"Master, why do I feel like this senior... has gone mad?" Blade asked in a low voice.

Frank stood to the side, feeling like an outsider. Logically, he should have left by now, but his lingering agent instincts told him that the information these people were revealing was extremely important, seemingly involving a field he had never explored before. This piqued his curiosity, and he didn't want to leave at all.

"His mind is indeed a little unclear, please forgive him."

Parker suddenly changed, and at the same time, the surrounding space and time distorted, and a clock could be vaguely seen spinning. Blade subconsciously assumed a fighting stance, but Van Helsing beside him became respectful.

"Master Kiran?" Van Helsing asked tentatively.

“It’s me,” Parker (Yang Qiu) nodded in response, and with a wave of his hand, several chairs appeared beneath them. “Sit down and let’s talk.”

"Teacher, who is this Mage Kilan?" Blade asked in a low voice. It was the first time he had ever seen his teacher so respectful to someone.

"One of the founders of the Monster Hunter Association, the world's most powerful mage," Van Helsing said, looking straight ahead.

"Hahaha, I can't accept that, I can't accept that. The younger generation is always pushing the older generation forward, and each wave is higher than the last. Today's young people are much more capable than my generation." Kieran laughed heartily.

“You’re too modest.” Van Helsing paused after speaking. “Master, has the Monster Hunter Association disbanded? Why haven’t I found a single trace of it?”

"It wasn't exactly a disbandment, more like a merger. You haven't been dead long, have you? The Night Watchers, the Witcher, the Monster Hunters, and other associations merged to form the current Ouroboros Containment Organization," Kieran explained to Van Helsing.

Ouroboros? Frank sat motionless in his chair, silently memorizing the name.

"Then why aren't there any officially announced outposts anymore? I remember back then, every major city had one," Van Helsing continued.

"Because of the Ancient One."

"The Ancient One? The Sorcerer Supreme? Wasn't she on a different path from us?"

"Shortly after you fell into a deep sleep, the Ancient One had a meeting with the leaders of various factions. In the end, we all agreed that with the rapid development of ordinary people, the interference from the mystical side was becoming an obstacle. Now, apart from the mysterious matters which we are still responsible for, all other matters are left to the mortals to decide themselves. At the same time, all members of the mystical side are not allowed to reveal their special abilities without permission."

"Should I write a report explaining the situation, and why the vampires are still active even though we've stopped taking action?" Van Helsing asked, somewhat disgruntled.

“Dracula, representing the vampires, relinquished his place on the mystical side and continuously lowered the mystical level of his race. Therefore, he is now considered one of the ordinary people,” Kiran explained.

Van Helsing crossed his arms and remained silent. He hated political balance, but he was also surprised that Dracula would pay such a high price—trading the future of all vampires for freedom, and it seemed that freedom had not yet been achieved.

However, on another note, Van Helsing was quite pleased. Vampires originated from humans themselves and could not be eradicated. But if Dracula did this, the vampire race would be wiped out sooner or later, and it would be the kind of extinction that could never be restored.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Blade and Frank Join

"Master Kieran, what's wrong with Pyke? How did he end up like this?" Van Helsing asked after calming himself down.

“He is different from you. In that disaster, he lost most of his consciousness. Although we used the magic of the Blue Sacfish to reconstruct his body, the recovery of his consciousness is still very slow. A hundred years have passed, and he has only recovered some of his instincts,” Kieran continued with a regretful tone.

"There's one more thing. You're a veteran of the Monster Hunter organization, so now that you're awake, will you come back?"

When asked about this, Van Helsing paused for a moment, then shook his head. “Kieran, as you know, I wasn’t exactly a qualified monster hunter before. In the eyes of most of my colleagues, I was too self-serving. So, now that Monster Hunter no longer exists, I won’t get involved. However, I will abide by the necessary rules.”

“By the way, although I don’t plan to join, I can recommend someone to you.” Van Helsing’s eyes lit up as he slapped Blade off his chair. “My apprentice, a half-human, half-vampire, was a vampire hunter before I woke up. He has never actively hunted humans. He has trained with me for so long, and his skills are quite good. Do you think he meets the requirements to join?”

Hearing his teacher's recommendation, Blade straightened his back. He had trained for so long but was still no match for his teacher. If he could join the organization his teacher used to belong to, his strength would definitely improve significantly.

"The addition of new recruits is not my responsibility, but I can recommend him for the next round of new recruit assessments," Kieran said with a smile.

"That's enough. As long as he can participate in the assessment, that's enough." Van Helsing patted Blade on the shoulder. He had high hopes for his apprentice. Blade's hybrid advantage was a significant one. In his memory, many monster hunters who had undergone a period of training were not as strong as Blade now.

“Well, there’s something I need to make clear beforehand. The new recruit assessment is also life-threatening. Your vampire bloodline might not guarantee your survival. Are you sure you want to participate?” Kieran asked Blade.

"Master, I am not afraid of death," Blade replied earnestly. If he were afraid of death, he would have already joined forces with those vampires, and he wouldn't have been able to stay on the path of a vampire hunter for so long.

Kieran nodded and waved his hand, and the Ouroboros mark appeared on Blade's right forearm. Blade's consciousness successfully connected, and as long as he touched the mark, Blade could "see" the tasks to be done.

He currently has only one task on his to-do list: the new employee assessment, the date of which is yet to be determined.

Then, Kieran turned to look at Frank, who had been listening in.

After being targeted by Kieran, Frank felt as if he had become invisible, and he felt that Kieran's eyes were not focused on him, but rather on his future.

“My friend, are you interested in joining Ouroboros?” Kieran asked.

Frank took a deep breath. "Could joining you make my dream come true?"

His dream was to eradicate all criminal gangs, but he also knew that he had no hope of realizing his dream in this lifetime.

Kieran shook his head. "Your dream cannot be achieved by one person or by one's own efforts. The help you get by joining us can only help you take a few more steps on this road with no end in sight."

“I’ll join,” Frank said immediately after Kiran finished speaking. He wouldn’t have believed it if the other man said he could make his dreams come true. At the same time, Frank bowed to Kiran, “Thank you for your recommendation.”

"No need to be so polite. I'm just making a recommendation. This time, the examiners have a rather wicked sense of humor, so you'd better be prepared." Kieran's voice grew louder and louder, as if it had risen from in front of everyone to the heavens.

Van Helsing, who was keeping watch, suddenly remembered something, "Master Kieran, did you take Dickon away?"

“No, it’s the Ancient One.” Kieran’s last words echoed in Van Helsing’s ears.

Van Helsing recalled the portal that swallowed Dickon and suddenly laughed helplessly, "I owe him a favor before we even met. Looks like I'll have to behave myself. Really."

Frank stared silently at his right hand. "Kieran the Mage... I'll definitely repay this favor someday!"

A loud splash startled the group. Pike, who was standing on the street, suddenly turned into a puddle of water and crashed into the ground, disappearing from their sight in an instant.

"Still as elusive as ever." Van Helsing grumbled, then looked at Frank. "Hey, tall guy, let's exchange phone numbers. In case you and my apprentice are assigned to the same new recruit assessment, we can look out for each other."

Frank pulled a phone the size of a brick from his pocket and threw it over. "This phone is hard to eavesdrop on. It contains my number. Also, I advise you to throw away your phones. They all have backdoors in them."

Frank's suggestion was based on his experience at S.H.I.E.L.D., where all the mobile communication devices sold to the public had eavesdropping backdoors. Although he had left S.H.I.E.L.D. some time ago, based on his understanding of the organization, the eavesdropping was definitely not canceled, but rather more frequent.

"You mean this?" Blade pulled out a cell phone from his pocket that was already badly damaged. As a former vampire hunter, he knew the nature of various organizations and had long since destroyed it. He only kept the outer shell and the internal parts because Van Helsing wanted to understand the general structure of this kind of information device.

Seeing that Blade was prepared, Frank didn't say anything more, turned around and entered the alley next door, quickly leaving the place.

He's received so much information today; he needs to go back and process it all, and also prepare for the assessment that may come at any time.

“They’ve all left, it’s time for us to go too,” Van Helsing called to his apprentice.

"Teacher, what are we going to do next?" Blade asked from behind.

"What are you doing? Training! I told you to shoot an arrow into the ground, and you actually shot it in."

"Teacher, don't blame me. This cement floor is too soft. I didn't expect it."

"..."

At Yang Qiu's home, after manipulating Parker to put on a show, the foreplay was almost done, and he no longer planned to involve people who already existed in the Marvel universe.

After all, this fictional Ouroboros organization didn't have many members to begin with, and it wouldn't be the outcome Yang Qiu wanted if it ended up becoming a branch of the Avengers or S.H.I.E.L.D.

It's only because of Gu Yi's support that Yang Qiu can be so magnanimous; otherwise, it would have been difficult enough for a script to evolve into a single character, let alone dare to do something like this.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Preliminary Preparations

The personnel issue is settled for now. When the new script starts, Yang Qiu plans to add three more characters to maintain a 1:1 ratio of characters to roles.

The second issue to address is the location. It's unrealistic for Yang Qiu to create land out of thin air, and borrowing people from the Ancient One to construct a mirror space is absurd. Therefore, for now, we still have to rely on physical locations for script design.

Fortunately, the United States has many abandoned buildings and unused land, giving Yang Qiu a lot of options. Currently, what has come into Yang Qiu's view is a large haunted house that was abandoned due to funding problems before it even started operating.

This haunted house is located in the suburbs, where few people are around. The interior is full of dust, but fortunately, the main structure is relatively intact, and some of the facilities used in haunted houses have not been removed. No other decorations are needed. As soon as night falls, the environment here is enough to deter most people.

At dusk, Yang Qiu formed a spiritual body and walked through the haunted house. Since learning about the Ancient One's true thoughts, some of the restrictions that bound Yang Qiu's actions have been lifted. At least now he doesn't need to worry about the Sorcerer Supreme capturing traces of his abilities when he uses them without a script or cover, thus causing additional trouble.

The haunted house occupies a considerable area, mainly consisting of two floors: one above ground and one below.

The above-ground environment is mainly a hospital and a school, with only a wall separating the two areas. The underground environment simulates ruins, prisons, and other similar environments.

The remaining environment is fairly well preserved, but the equipment is extremely scarce. There are only some broken tables and chairs left, and even props like severed hands and feet are all gone.

However, these problems are all surmountable and quite easily overcome. Creating life and special items during script evolution consumes a lot of energy, but creating ordinary items consumes almost zero energy.

After Yang Qiu finished wandering around the entire area, the sun had completely sunk below the horizon, and the pitch-black environment, combined with the chirping of insects, created a terrifying atmosphere.

Touching his chin, Yang Qiu pondered which person or group of people should be blamed for the mess in the newcomer assessment script. Who would want to come back to this lousy place?

Cult! Yang Qiu suddenly remembered a characteristic of the United States, or rather, not the United States, but most non-Chinese countries.

Having lived in New York for so many years, Yang Qiu can say with certainty that cults, which are rare in China, are not uncommon here. His family has been stuffed with leaflets more than once, and these sects are sometimes more cruel and disgusting than people imagine.

Every single one of these sects is a bad thing, and Yang Qiu felt no psychological pressure at all about pinning the blame on them.

Having confirmed this, Yang Qiu floated to the ground and used his mental power to imprint some strange patterns and formations that he couldn't quite understand on the floor of several large rooms. He also placed some dried bloodstains, several candles that had burned down to the bottom, and a small knife with blood dripping from its blade.