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Van Helsing shook his head, swung his silver sword twice to end their lives, then turned to Blade and said, "Hey kid, aren't you going to take me for a drink? I'm not familiar with this place, you're not going to leave an old man here all alone, are you?"

Blade nodded. "Senior, please follow me."

In the final second before stepping out of the nightclub, Van Helsing looked up at the only surviving security camera, made a gesture with his right hand in front of his neck, and said, "Dracula, I'm back, and this time I will truly kill you!"

With the prologue ending perfectly, Yang Qiu breathed a sigh of relief. This time, he had designed an entire background information for the protagonist, Van Helsing. With such complete information, Van Helsing was fundamentally different from Parker. Without Yang Qiu's intervention, he could be directly regarded as a complete life, with his own likes and dislikes, and his own beliefs and persistence.

The script for this kind of person is not easy to write, so for each scene, Yang Qiu only set the general direction and some guidance and behavioral framework, leaving the rest to Van Helsing's own interpretation.

Yang Qiu glanced at the script he had designed. There was a certain amount of time left between the prologue and the first act, to allow Van Helsing to adapt to this world and, incidentally, to track down clues about Dracula.

To solve the problem of vampires, which are a stubborn disease that grows on humans, it is unrealistic to expect to achieve it overnight. It must be done step by step. Yang Qiu has enough time and patience. His strength is growing rapidly every day. The day when vampires completely disappear from the earth is not far away.

In a secluded residence of the Blade, Van Helsing plopped down on the sofa, shifting his backside contentedly. He had never sat on such a comfortable chair before.

"Van Helsing, what was the meaning of your last words when you left there?" Blade asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

Van Helsing took a sip and then spat it out immediately. "This stuff is bitter?"

Van Helsing pushed the coffee away, shook his head, and sighed, "You really haven't heard of me?"

Blade shook his head. He had just checked and there was absolutely no information about Van Helsing on the internet.

"Time is indeed the most terrifying force," Van Helsing remarked. "And do you know about the Ark of the Covenant?"

Blade's eyes lit up. Could God really exist? Could Van Helsing be a believer in God?

“Don’t misunderstand,” Van Helsing followed up. “I don’t get along well with God and the church either. The Ark of the Covenant I used was just a replica, but it did carry me through more than a hundred years.”

Van Helsing began to slowly introduce himself: "I was born in 1880. My father and mother both died at the hands of vampires. I was the only one who was lucky enough to escape. Later, I joined an organization that may still exist today. If I get in touch with them, I can tell you more about it."

"In short, after a period of training, I successfully graduated and became a Monster Hunter. However, I am ashamed to say that I am a little different from other Monster Hunters. Because of hatred, I have basically hunted vampires since my debut."

"Later, by chance, I found Dracula's lair, which was severely wounded, and then I pierced his heart with my arrow. I thought Dracula was completely dead from this world, but unfortunately a colleague told me a prophecy that Dracula was still alive."

"At that time, I was already seriously injured and didn't have long to live. Fortunately, after so many years, I still had some friends. My old friend got me a replica of the Ark of the Covenant. Relying on the energy in my body, it repaired my body. When I woke up and crawled out of it, I found that more than a hundred years had passed and Dracula had become a vampire prince. How ridiculous!"

At this point, Van Helsing's eyes flashed with hatred.

"It's just a pity that time is always merciless. Now I can barely fight against a marquis-level vampire, and that's only because they don't use firearms from your era."

Listening to Van Helsing's lament, Blade didn't know what to say. He had clashed with a Marquis-level vampire and was badly beaten. If it weren't for an accident, he would have died on the spot. Yet, the Marquis-level vampire was still stronger than him even after being delayed for over a hundred years. Compared to him, was he too weak?

Chapter Ten: Mutual Learning

After briefly introducing himself, Van Helsing didn't ask about Blade's background; he didn't care. He looked up at Blade and said, "Young man, I have a request. Teach me how to use the firearms of your time. I don't want to become an old relic out of touch with the times."

Blade nodded. Regardless of whether Van Helsing was telling the truth or not, he was willing to offer help to anyone fighting vampires.

"Hahaha, that's great!" Van Helsing patted Blade on the shoulder, and Blade swayed a couple of times. "I won't let you teach me for nothing. I also have some special skills. Let's switch. But to be honest, as a half-vampire, your body isn't in the best shape."

Blade suddenly tensed up. After Van Helsing revealed his identity, he was a little worried about his own, since he himself had ties to vampires.

“Don’t be nervous. Many of my old friends are of mixed race. Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter, in the eyes of many outsiders, we are monsters too,” Van Helsing explained.

The next day, in an underground shooting range, Blade stood there with his mouth agape, not knowing what to say.

He watched as Van Helsing mastered the various firearms he had brought within two hours, and his marksmanship skyrocketed, going from being unable to hit the target at all to hitting the bullseye every time.

"Hmm, this thing is simpler to use than I thought. As long as you take into account the environmental factors and counteract the recoil, you can basically hit exactly where you point it," Van Helsing said softly, putting down his gun.

The more Blade listened, the more he doubted his own existence. This old-fashioned uncle in front of him was too terrifying. Putting everything else aside, he was an absolute genius when it came to shooting.

“No need to sigh, no need to sigh, it’s standard procedure. In our time, it was impossible to become a monster hunter without some talent. Many of my old friends were just as talented as me,” Van Helsing said, patting Blade on the shoulder to comfort him.

“Alright, come here. I’ve almost finished practicing. It’s your turn,” Van Helsing continued.

Blade let out a breath. He was a little nervous, afraid that Van Helsing would be disappointed in the end, after all, he wasn't some kind of genius.

"I will lead you into the hunter's realm, but before that, you must make a promise to me."

Van Helsing's expression was solemn. "Once you embark on this path, there's no turning back. I won't interfere with your private life; there are plenty of people more chaotic than you anyway. But if I find out that you're entangled with cannibalistic monsters and pointing your gun at humans, then I will kill you!"

Blade nodded seriously, raised his right hand, and swore, "I promise!"

“Alright! Then I’ll trust you for now.” Van Helsing said, taking a brilliant gem out of his pocket.

"This is a treasure left behind by my former companion, a Siberian bear named Sur. He never left my side after I entered the Ark of the Covenant until his death. I will use it to pave the way for you. I hope you will not make me regret it, nor disappoint him."

Blade's gaze was completely drawn to the gem, which seemed to possess some kind of magic, making it impossible for him to look away.

The next second, Van Helsing pressed the gem directly against Blade's chest. The arcane power in his palm broke through the barrier on Blade's skin, opening an energy channel, and the gem merged directly into his body.

Hot! Very hot! This was Blade's first feeling after the gem merged with it. He felt as if he had been thrown into a pressure cooker, and all the fluids in his body seemed to be boiling.

The gem that entered his body transformed into pure energy that clashed wildly within the veins of the blade, causing numerous wounds to appear on his body, including a large gash in his heart. Fortunately, the half-vampire's self-healing ability was not suppressed, and these wounds, which would be fatal to ordinary people, were quickly repaired automatically.

After the heat subsided, Blade's mind was filled with pain, a pain that lasted for a very long time. He gritted his teeth and endured it. What was a little pain? He had felt it when he was born!

Van Helsing looked at Blade with satisfaction, his eyes closed. Normally, magic gems wouldn't be used like this. They would need to be neutralized with various herbs to neutralize the magic's frenzy, and then protected by arrays and rituals to guide the magic to quickly integrate into the user's body. However, there weren't enough resources available now, and since Blade was a half-vampire and not so easy to kill, he decided to keep things simple.

Time passed slowly, and an hour later, Blade collapsed to the ground with a thud. He was completely exhausted from the pain, but the gains were definitely worth the suffering. The remaining magic power had already been integrated into his blood.

At the same time, under the influence of magic, Blade's body rapidly expanded, and he suddenly became much stronger. This was the power of the Siberian hamster!

Hearing the commotion, Van Helsing quickly walked over, patted Blade's body to check for any major problems, and then patted Blade's thick arm. "Get up. Take this time to adjust to the changes in your body. I'll teach you other things after this period."

"Yes, teacher." Blade immediately changed his address, "Teacher, what are your plans for the next few days? Do you need to learn computer skills? I can find someone to teach you."

Van Helsing glanced at Blade, neither acknowledging nor objecting to the word "teacher" he mentioned. "No, just tell me all the vampire outposts you know. With Dracula's arrogant attitude, he won't care about a harsh word. I need to beat him hard enough to see if this guy is stronger or weaker than before."

“But, teacher, you are now…” Blade wanted to persuade him, but didn’t know how to say it. His teacher had just said yesterday that he was now a marquis, while Dracula was a prince, two ranks apart.

"Don't worry, I won't seek death before Dracula dies. I just want to see how far he can endure and how much your society restricts him." Van Helsing's eyes gleamed with wisdom.

“A hundred years ago, if five viscounts had died, he would have retaliated long ago. Now there’s no movement at all, so there must be some force restraining him. I want to see how far this guy can endure after a hundred years.”

“I do know something about it. S.H.I.E.L.D. is indeed cracking down on vampires, but they always compromise, inexplicably compromise, which is very frustrating,” Blade said.

"Suppression? Ha, it's just a political exchange. This kind of trick has been around for a hundred years," Van Helsing said with great disdain.

Blade remained silent. He didn't quite understand these things, but those agents were indeed not trustworthy.

Chapter Eleven: Maggots Among Humans

Two days have passed since Blade acquired his magic. In these two days, Van Helsing single-handedly destroyed five vampire strongholds, and his record expanded from four viscount vampires to five viscounts, three barons, twenty-six ordinary vampires, and countless blood servants.

Indeed, the combined level of the vampires in the five strongholds was less than the traps they set for Blade, which convinced Van Helsing that the vampires' strength had not increased much in the past century, at least much slower than the growth rate of the human population.

Inhale~ Exhale~

Van Helsing lit a cigar and walked with his hands behind his back on the deserted street. He had just finished scouting a location, but the empty streets in broad daylight were definitely suspicious.

Suddenly, Van Helsing stopped right in the middle of the street.

“Come out, there’s no point in hiding anymore,” Van Helsing said to the surrounding darkness.

Under his keen observation, he noticed that many people with guns were crouching in various corners around him.

With a whoosh, the humans rushed out and surrounded Van Helsing.

"Tsk, I thought the first ones to come looking for trouble would be those little bats, but I didn't expect a bunch of human maggots to come first."

As he spoke, Van Helsing's nose twitched. He couldn't smell any vampire scent on these people, so he could basically rule out that they were being controlled by vampires.

"Hands up above your head. I hereby announce that you are under arrest!"

The leader came up and pointed at Van Helsing very rudely, speaking loudly.

Van Helsing crossed his arms and looked around. His eyes glowed blue, a unique faction-detection ability unique to monster hunters.

Surprisingly, everyone around them was flushed red, with the leader's skin turning a deep purple.

Clearly, from the perspective of the collective consciousness of humanity on this planet, none of these people are good; killing one of them would be an absolute mistake.

"Pah!" Van Helsing spat the cigar he was holding onto the ground. The next second, he drew the iron sword hanging on his left hand and launched a surprise attack.

Rat-a-tat-tat... The moment Van Helsing began to move, the surrounding agents opened fire.

With a whoosh, a blue bird flew above Van Helsing's head, its energy shield blocking all the bullets.

After Van Helsing charged into the crowd, the gunfire suddenly subsided. He was moving too fast; in that situation, all the bullets would hit his teammates.

Those agents who drew their short blades for close combat died even faster. The longer the blade, the stronger the agent. Van Helsing's use of cold weapons already overwhelmed them, and with the added advantage of his weaponry, not a single agent could withstand a single blow from him.

Before long, the streets were littered with corpses. Van Helsing glanced at the bodies lying on the ground and sighed.

It's much easier to kill vampires. Just use your magic to turn them all to ashes, and you don't even need to clean up.

Immediately afterwards, Van Helsing stepped on the leader and looked down at the survivor he had deliberately left alive.

"I'll give you a chance. Make a phone call and tell the people behind you that Dracula and his vampires are dead. I'm telling you, even Jesus couldn't have saved them."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the energy shield rippled, and then a gunshot rang out, reaching Van Helsing's ears.

Looking up into the distance, a sniper was lying on a rooftop a kilometer away; the attack that had just occurred was fired by him.

With a snap, Van Helsing stomped the guy below to death, then pulled out his longbow and drew an arrow from the side of his boot, nocking it on the bow.

The sniper, who could see everything through the high-powered scope, was completely bewildered. This person with special abilities wanted to shoot at me with a bow and arrow?

Despite his doubts, the sniper, recalling how Van Helsing killed agents like chickens, put away his rifle and prepared to change positions.

The instant he was pulled away from the wall, Van Helsing let go.

Silent firing! Penetrating firing!

The arrow flew at supersonic speeds without making a sound, piercing the outer wall and exploding the sniper's head.

After killing the sniper, Van Helsing took a step into the shadows and disappeared from the sight of spy satellites and surrounding surveillance.

Although his stealth skills were not as good as those of professional assassins, they were not bad either. After learning about some modern monitoring methods, he made some targeted preparations.

At that moment, Yang Qiu, far away at home, tapped his fingers on the table. He had sensed the situation over there the instant Van Helsing was surrounded.

It's S.H.I.E.L.D. again! Are these S.H.I.E.L.D. agents green-skinned? Did they sprout from the ground? How come they're everywhere and we can't seem to get rid of them all?!

However, unlike Van Helsing, Yang Qiu is better able to recognize the power of the resources possessed by this group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

Blade's hidden location was indeed well chosen, allowing him to evade the vampires' search, but one thing is certain: once S.H.I.E.L.D. got serious, they wouldn't find out in much time.

After all, the two of them eat quite a lot every day, and the traces left by their food purchases are enough to make them noticeable.

So now, besides speeding up the script's progress and reducing the time Van Helsing needs to adapt to the current world, they also need to do something to help distract S.H.I.E.L.D. from some of their attention.