I work as an editor at Marvel.

Before Lü Yue could finish speaking, a communication message popped up, from the Heavenly Emperor.

"Twelve hours have passed. How is the situation? Do we need to use a high-level treasure to clean it up?" Yang Qiu's voice came from outside.

"Reporting to the Heavenly Emperor, I believe it is not necessary for the time being, and I suspect this may be a means for the enemy to deplete our energy reserves," Lü Yue said.

"Tell me more about it."

"The special substance discovered globally is tentatively named Vampire's Touch. This substance can slowly transform infected individuals into vampires, and conventional detection and eradication methods, including ultraviolet light and allicin, are ineffective before the critical threshold is reached."

"To be precise, commonly used drugs such as antibiotics have no effect. For now, we have a hypothesis that this stuff does not work on the body, and the changes in the body are just an external appearance."

"Furthermore, according to the emergency report from Clock Tower Hextech, the scanning report from Huaxia.com, and the third-party global testing report, the number of infected people worldwide is currently around 100 million, all of whom are non-professionals. Based on the analysis of population groups, the susceptible population is middle-aged and elderly people over 45 years old, as well as literary workers who are exposed to vampire-like culture for many years."

"No clear mode of transmission has been found yet, and it is also impossible to determine whether it can be transmitted from person to person."

"After discovering the target, we retrieved all relevant spells, magic, and other techniques for testing. All techniques have the ability to remove the target's characteristics, and no side effects have been found so far. However, apart from the 21 high-level techniques, the others cannot cure the root cause."

"The average regeneration time for the Vampire Touch is 3-6 hours, and the vampire-like characteristics of those affected begin to return after the substance reappears."

"Furthermore, because it was discovered in time, it seems that the substance has not yet developed any magical resistance or lethality, which also indicates that this thing must have only been spread recently."

Lu Yue briefly explained the situation, saying that, in short, there was a solution to the problem.

Leaving aside the Plague Department, Lü Yue himself has rules for controlling plagues, viruses, and other disasters. However, as the old saying goes, large-scale use of rules consumes a day's worth of energy, and that energy is compressed energy that must be pre-processed.

The global cleanup network would probably take a year to operate and only consume about the same amount of resources as a major rule cleanup, so if you can avoid doing it, then don't.

"I understand. You can continue. Try to come up with a solution that addresses both the symptoms and the root cause as soon as possible, or even develop a vaccine. Access to the time control room has been granted." Yang Qiu said, then ended the communication.

Meanwhile, Lü Yue continued to get busy.

Earth. Yang Qiu walked to the window and looked out. The world was peaceful, just like any other day.

Whether infected or not, everyone is living their lives as usual, because very few people on Earth know about the existence of some terrifying vampire-transforming substance.

After all, it's not even clear whether the active substance is a virus, bacteria, fungus, or something else; releasing this information would only cause unrest.

Looking up at the sky, within the atmosphere, a vast magical network covering the entire surface of the planet had begun to operate.

The immortal arts of China and the legendary magic of the Clock Tower are triggered alternately, providing protection for all living beings on Earth while reducing the possibility of magic resistance.

A faint, imperceptible golden purifying light descended, penetrating the layers of high-rise buildings and the ground, merging into everyone's body and continuously purifying them.

Blade and Van Helsing could finally breathe a sigh of relief. These two vampire hunters casually activated their skills and found themselves surrounded by countless vampires. Suddenly, they had to fight against the whole world. Who could withstand that?

Hey ~

Yang Qiu suddenly let out a long sigh. Although as a script editor, he possessed all the abilities of the characters that evolved from the scripts, it was precisely because he knew too much that he was not as proficient as those who specialized in one ability.

For example, Yang Qiu can't help Lü Yue right now, and if she insists on helping, it's no different from throwing resources at him.

But if that were the case, we wouldn't have needed to develop for so long. When in doubt, we could just pull out the history books and write it down like making a wish.

Of course, that won't work; even if you have plenty of energy, you can't do that.

Lu Yue couldn't offer much help, but that didn't mean Yang Qiu couldn't approach the issue from another angle.

If you can't solve the problem, you can try to find a way to deal with the person who caused it.

Yang Qiu refused to believe that something so inextricably linked to vampires could have absolutely no connection to that guy Dracula.

That guy hasn't stepped out of the castle for so long, Yang Qiu almost thought that Dracula was really scared by Xerath's words, or that he had really behaved himself and was waiting here!

Dracula is quite remarkable; even with Xerath watching over him, he managed to orchestrate a major incident without anyone noticing. Moreover, Yang Qiu has a feeling that the mastermind behind this might not be just Dracula alone.

Chapter 289 Olaf: Hey, I'm not pretending anymore, I'm coming clean~

"Hey, this is Jax. Where are you? I can't see you." Jax stood on the hillside, looking at the ancient castle in the distance, and made a phone call to his unreliable teammate.

That's right, Jax's teammate is Olaf again.

Jax was furious. Who on earth picked this guy?! Couldn't they have chosen someone else?!

He could accept it even if his teammates weren't legends.

Jax genuinely felt that he clashed with Olaf, that goofball, and sometimes Olaf really annoyed him, especially since Jax knew the guy's truly awful personality.

“I’m right across from you, look this way!” Olaf shouted to Jax from the other side of the hill, raising his hand. “I’m here… here… here…”

Crack! Jax's phone shattered in his hand. Although the mission didn't require stealth or concealment, being this arrogant was still inappropriate.

Despite their arrogance, the castle below remained completely silent, as if no one lived inside.

Before Jax could say anything more, Olaf pushed off with both legs, and the huge reaction force made the mountain below him tremble.

Sunlight reflected off Olaf's leaping axe and directly onto the ancient castle. "I'll lead the charge!"

"Waaaaah!!!"

Jax covered his face; he really didn't want to deal with Olaf anymore. Although Olaf sometimes clearly articulated the meaning of "great wisdom appearing as foolishness," most of the time his foolishness was hard to accept.

Regardless of whether Olaf's performance was genuine or not, Jax felt so uncomfortable he wanted to scratch his feet; his tendency to feel embarrassed for others was incurable.

A few seconds later, Jax looked up. Where was Olaf's voice? How come there wasn't a sound after he went down? Was he instantly killed? Impossible!

With a few leaps, Jax landed down the mountain, but after running only a few steps, he spotted Olaf.

In front of the castle wall, Olaf planted his two axes in the ground, crossed his arms, and looked up at something.

"What's wrong?" Jax slammed on the brakes and stopped next to Olaf, asking.

Olaf pointed to the door. "I've never seen anything like this bat before, so let's wait for you to come up with a plan."

Jax looked at the wall Olaf had pointed to, which was covered with inscriptions. Judging from the writing style and format, it seemed to be something like a contract. However, it couldn't fit on one wall, and there was no sign of a signature or witness mark.

"What's this?" Jax blinked. "Who made a contract with Dracula?"

“The Sorcerer Supreme – Master Ancient One,” Olaf said. Don’t assume that just because he’s a berserker he doesn’t understand magic. On the contrary, Olaf would easily be rated as a sub-legendary in terms of magical knowledge.

"This is the contract that the Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme, signed with Dracula," Olaf continued, explaining that he had specifically researched a lot of history in order to have more fun on Earth.

"The content is not complicated or difficult to understand, and the contract is also very well made. The only slightly advantageous clause for Dracula is that as long as Dracula does not leave this castle, neither the Ancient One nor any of the Sorcerer Supreme's subordinates can attack him."

Jax understood, and hesitated for a moment before recalling, "The Ancient One's contract seems to be officially recognized, right..."

Olaf nodded. The Human Alliance still respected the Sorcerer Supreme who had protected the Earth for five hundred years, and they recognized the contracts she signed.

Gu Yi had told Yang Qiu about this decision beforehand, and she had already dealt with all the debts. In fact, since Gu Yi's death, no one from the Human Alliance has come to collect debts.

No one expected to see this thing here with Dracula.

"What do we do?" Olaf scratched his head and asked, genuinely at a loss for words.

These castle walls weren't particularly sturdy, but the carvings on them seemed to give them the strongest defense.

"I don't know." Jax was also a bit of a headache.

The People's Alliance has a sense of shame; it's inappropriate to blatantly break the contract. Moreover, the benefits of breaking the contract far outweigh the potential negative effects. Yang Qiu has put in so much effort to steer the global mindset in a positive direction; this could be the end of them.

As for why the Vampire Touch is so rampant outside, yet the contract still exists stably, it's because over the years, Dracula has long since figured out how to bypass the contract's restrictions.

Also, although it's obvious that Vampire's Touch is 100% related to Dracula, there's no evidence whatsoever.

What? You mean do it secretly?

This contract isn't just something to be written casually; it has witnesses, who might be powerful figures from other dimensions—the kind you can't even communicate with.

As for whether it's possible to invalidate the contract? Of course, it is, but that brings us back to the first problem: energy consumption.

Moreover, Jax is confident that as long as they trigger this contract, the matter will be spread throughout the entire universe and even various dimensions by those with ulterior motives, with pictures, videos, and proof.

Thanos's reputation in the universe is beyond saving. What they want to do now is to bring the reputation of the Human Alliance to the same level as their own, so as to both annoy the Human Alliance and reduce the potential allies of the Human Alliance.

"How about... I pretend I can't read the words and charge in?" Olaf suggested after thinking for a while.

"Are you sure?" Jax asked.

“Three layers, I guess. I’m a master at playing dumb. If I further enhance Ragnarok’s interference effect on spells, it’s still possible to break this contract,” Olaf explained.

Jax thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No, we can't take that risk. Let's go first, tell the higher-ups what's going on, and see what their final decision is."

After leaving the area around the castle, Olaf and Jax walked to the back of the mountain, out of normal sight, and immediately squatted down and began to use sign language.

"I'll go and discuss what to do with the others. You wait here. If that bat takes even half a step out of the castle, just swing your axe at it. It doesn't matter if you hit anyone or not, just tear the castle down!" Jax gestured as he spoke.

When Dracula was outside, the castle collapsed, and the contract naturally broke.

“No problem!” Olaf stopped fussing and gave Jax an OK sign.

After a brief communication, Olaf controlled the energy fluctuations to the limit, creating another version of himself. This clone then left the area openly with Jax.

Chapter 290 Some people oppose slavery simply because they are not slave owners.

Inside Dracula's castle, watching Jax and Olaf leave, Dracula sat back and forth in his chair, looking utterly content.

The smile on my face was incredibly bright; I was smiling triumphantly, so triumphantly!

It had been a long, long time since Dracula had felt truly happy. Ever since he was forced to sign that contract by the Ancient One, Dracula had been living a life of constant frustration, though not exactly living in misery. He never imagined that fortunes would turn around, and that after the Ancient One's death, the contract would actually come in handy and even benefit him.

Xerath floated out from the side. He had been thinking about one thing: if Jax and Olaf attacked, should he abandon Dracula and run, or should he abandon Dracula and run?

Don't say Xerath isn't loyal. He's been hiding here for so long and runs away as soon as trouble comes his way. If it were a magic-based character, even if it were Aegwynn, he would dare to stand up for Dracula. But it's Olaf, the berserker, who's here. Standing up for him is just asking for death!

Xerath could imagine the scene: countless magical lights falling on Olaf were deflected, and those that didn't deflect only added some light effects to Olaf.

Olaf then raised his axe and cleaved himself in two with a leaping strike.

Then, I will have to go through a long resurrection and recovery process. And this time there are no idiots like Hydra. The period of weakness after resurrection is really hard to get through.

Xerath couldn't see the point, since his relationship with Dracula wasn't close enough to be life-or-death.

"You're out?" Dracula raised his glass to Xerath, the wine in it still being the tribute from those vampires long ago. "Let me tell you, even though there's no one outside and no energy fluctuations, there's definitely someone hiding somewhere, waiting for me to come out so they can chop my house down."

Dracula took a sip of his drink. "Do they really think I'm stupid? With this guy around, no one can do anything to me until things get serious. By the time things get serious, I'll be long gone."

For so long, Dracula could only chat with Xerath, so their relationship was fairly good.

"Go? Where to?" Xerath asked back. He was also wondering why Dracula had suddenly caused such a big incident, since he hadn't seen Dracula contact anyone while he had been here for so long.

"You'll find out when the time comes." Dracula stood up and flicked his cloak. "Don't worry, I won't forget you. It's much more dangerous over there than here. The people there are shameless. If the two of us are together, we can look out for each other."

Where? More dangerous for Dracula than Earth? Xerath stood there, deep in thought.

"And then, there will be all kinds of slaves and servants of all races to choose from." Dracula was envisioning the future. "Hmm... I can't wait! What will the blood of those people taste like?"