Feeling Du Mu's undisguised look of disdain, even Blade, who was usually known for his cold demeanor, couldn't help looking a little embarrassed.
To deal with these creatures of darkness effectively, he had loaded every shell in his shotgun with expensive pure silver.
One burst could cost him several hundred bucks.
As a jobless drifter who hunted vampires for a living, Blade simply couldn't afford to waste ammunition like that.
Otherwise, why did you think he spent all day chopping vampires up with that silver sword?
Did you really think he did it just to look cool?
Well... okay, that was a little bit of the reason.
"Give me the gun." Du Mu held out his hand.
Blade hesitated. "There aren't any shells left in it..."
"Five thousand bucks. I'll buy it."
"Here, catch! The gun and the twenty shells I've got left are yours!"
Blade turned decisive in an instant. Without a moment's hesitation, he tossed Du Mu his shotgun along with every silver shell he was carrying.
Du Mu: (≖_≖)
Bro, your cold-and-deadly image sure fell apart fast.
Du Mu caught the shotgun securely, loaded it quickly, and raised it toward the vampires.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The shots rang out one after another, and several vampire gunmen's heads exploded!
Their headless bodies wobbled, then collapsed to the ground and quickly turned into piles of ash.
Seeing Du Mu's incredible marksmanship, the remaining vampires were terrified. They hunkered down behind cover and didn't dare show their faces.
Du Mu calmly took out a few grenades, pulled the pins, and hurled them toward the cluster of cover where the vampires were hiding without even looking.
BOOM!!
A massive explosion rang out!
Several unlucky vampires were blasted into the air. Their skin was torn open, and they fell to the ground, howling in pain.
Vampires really were tough. Even after taking injuries that severe, they still had plenty of breath left to wail.
Du Mu raised his gun and finished off the vampires on the ground one by one. His mission progress shot up by several points.
Seeing how ferocious Du Mu was, Quinn swallowed hard and shouted, trying to sound composed, "Don't be afraid! Let's attack together! There's no way he can kill us all at once!"
The vampires exchanged glances, seeming to be convinced. They all raised their guns and aimed at Du Mu.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
As the shots rang out, another layer of ash covered the ground.
As it turned out, Du Mu really could kill them all at once.
Bang!
Du Mu lifted his gun slightly and shot Quinn in both legs as he tried to escape amid the chaos.
"He's yours."
Du Mu ignored Quinn's wails and walked over to the vampire Blade had just knocked down, Watermelon Knife in hand, to finish the job.
[Current vampire kills: 665]
Looking at the number, Du Mu frowned. Something just didn't feel right.
He turned to Blade, who had just finished briefly interrogating Quinn. "Want this kill?"
Blade shook his head. "No."
Swish!
The blade flashed, and Quinn's head came clean off.
[Current vampire kills: 666]
"Ah, that's better!"
Du Mu let out a long breath, as if he'd just set down a thousand-pound burden.
"..."
Watching Du Mu's relieved expression, Blade couldn't shake the feeling that the guy had some kind of strange fixation.
Du Mu put away Watermelon Knife and asked, "What are you planning to do next?"
Blade said gravely, "Quinn said Frost has been planning something big lately, but he didn't know the details. I'm going to search every piece of territory Frost owns and drag him out."
At the mention of Frost, Blade's voice turned bone-chillingly cold.
Frost had killed his biological mother. The hatred between them was irreconcilable, and Blade had to avenge her!
Du Mu grinned. "As it happens, I'm hunting vampires too. How about we team up for now? You look for Frost, and leave the kills to me."
"Fine."
Blade considered it, then accepted Du Mu's offer.
He wasn't stubborn. Having another powerful ally would only make finding Frost easier.
The moment Blade agreed, the system's notification rang in Du Mu's mind:
[NPC Eric Brooks has joined your party]
[You can view your teammate's personal panel]
Surprised by the notification, Du Mu asked, "This game actually has a party system? Why didn't it show up before?"
He remembered fighting a boss with Tony not long ago, but there hadn't been a notification then.
[To form a party with an NPC, the player must send an invitation. The party is formed once the NPC accepts. NPCs cannot initiate party invitations]
"Why didn't you tell me earlier!" Du Mu said, exasperated.
[This game offers a high degree of freedom and aims to provide the most immersive experience. All gameplay and story developments are for players to discover on their own]
"Fine."
Du Mu pursed his lips and curiously opened Blade's personal panel.
[NPC: Eric Brooks (Blade Warrior)]
[Race: Half-human, half-vampire]
[Attributes: Strength ?, Agility ?, Constitution ?, Spirit ? (Cannot view until you reach the required affinity)]
[Equipment: Show-off sunglasses, bulletproof armor, silver sword, silver knife...]
[Affinity: 0]
"So this guy's half-human, half-vampire."
Du Mu was a little surprised, but then he had another thought. Did that make Blade half a vampire?
Would killing him increase his mission progress by 0.5?
Just then, Du Mu noticed that Blade's equipment list seemed interactive. Curious, he tapped the silver sword.
[Your affinity with this NPC is too low. You cannot remove this equipment]
"!!!"
Du Mu's eyes widened.
He immediately asked the system, "So, if my affinity with an NPC gets high enough, I can take their equipment whenever I want!?"
[Yes]
"Yikes~"
Du Mu sucked in a sharp breath, making a small contribution to global warming.
He seemed to have stumbled onto this game's most broken mechanic!
He looked at Blade, his expression suddenly turning incredibly warm. "Bro, do you have any quests? Or anything you need help with? I'm free anytime!"
"No."
Watching Du Mu's sudden enthusiasm, Blade felt a strange chill creep up his spine, as if some kind of scheme were waiting for him.
The two didn't stay long at the nightclub.
After agreeing on where and when to meet for their next outing, they left one after the other.
Before he left, Blade carefully searched for the silver shells scattered across the floor. He even used his dagger to dig out the ones embedded in the walls.
The pure silver bullets were precious to him. He could take them home, melt them down, and forge them into ammunition again.
That was what life looked like behind the scenes for a superhero: hard and real.
Du Mu also asked Blade for some specialized equipment for dealing with vampires.
Blade hesitated at first. After all, his gear had cost a fortune.
Du Mu said nothing. He simply pulled out a thick stack of bills bearing Franklin's portrait.
Seeing that Du Mu was trying to insult him with money, Blade immediately changed his tune. He snatched the Franklin bills and stuffed them firmly into... his own pocket. Then he took off all his gear and weapons without hesitation and tossed them to Du Mu.
If Du Mu hadn't made it clear that he wasn't interested in Blade's signature sunglasses, Blade might even have taken them off and given them to him too.
It was no wonder Blade reacted so strongly.
The price of pure silver had soared lately, and he was almost too broke to protect New York by killing vampires.