"What? That happened?"
Fang Cheng asked in surprise, "There's a mole in your Countermeasure Department? Wait... how did they manage to notify every vampire in advance?"
Even Fang Cheng, a "fake vampire," had to search slowly by scent, finding them one at a time. How had the mole in the Countermeasure Department managed to get the message to every vampire all at once?
"That's exactly what we're puzzled about."
Kanzaki Rin frowned. "The Countermeasure Department relies on Patrol Drones, cameras all over the streets, and big data to locate some of the vampires. There's no way one person could deliver a message to so many places in such a short time."
"Could there be more than one mole in the Countermeasure Department?"
Fang Cheng stroked his chin, guessing. "Or maybe a vampire has infiltrated your department?"
"Impossible!"
Kanzaki Rin shook her head, disagreeing with Fang Cheng's guess. "Vampires don't like going out during the day, and security at the Countermeasure Department is extremely tight. If a vampire had infiltrated it, they'd have been caught by now. It's possible there's more than one mole, though. We've been investigating the source of the leak these past few days. Sooner or later, we'll catch them."
Fang Cheng laughed, looking delighted. "Then I hope you don't succeed."
Kanzaki Rin's face darkened. "What do you mean?"
"Why don't you spend some time cleaning house while the two of us deal with the vampires?"
Fang Cheng hoped the Countermeasure Department would never catch the mole. He didn't want them stealing his kills.
Kanzaki Rin pursed her lips slightly and sneered. "Are you in a hurry to expose yourself and drag me down with you?"
Now it was Fang Cheng's turn to ask, "What do you mean?"
But before Kanzaki Rin could explain, he understood.
The Countermeasure Department was already furious and busy searching for the mole. If Kanzaki Rin found another vampire at a time like this, they'd definitely pin the blame on a mole.
"Wait a second."
Fang Cheng pointed at her in surprise. "Could you be the mole?"
This woman clearly viewed the vampires as a way to earn credit for promotion. Could she have leaked the information because she was afraid someone else would take the credit?
Kanzaki Rin was unhappy that Fang Cheng suspected her. She snorted. "I'm not that despicable. If we're talking about suspects, you're far more suspicious than I am."
"Come on. If you said I was bigger in some other respect, I might reluctantly admit it."
Kanzaki Rin had grown used to this guy suddenly making dirty jokes.
"So what do we do now? Let those vampires secretly grow stronger while we just stand by and watch?"
Fang Cheng said to Kanzaki Rin, "You're always saying how good you are at planning. It's time to put those skills to use, Dora-Rin."
"What are you in such a hurry for?"
Kanzaki Rin folded her arms. "Those vampires probably won't dare come out for a while. We're still on an even footing. We can deal with them after things have died down. Just stay home and keep training."
"Give me a specific timeframe."
"No more than half a month."
At this point, Fang Cheng could only accept reality. He couldn't force Kanzaki Rin to risk going out with him.
She probably wouldn't agree to staying home and having fun, either.
"By the way, why haven't you asked me to give your photos back?"
Fang Cheng suddenly remembered something. Ever since they started working together, he'd been waiting for Kanzaki Rin to ask for her "artistic photos" back.
But she seemed to have forgotten all about it, so Fang Cheng had to remind her.
Kanzaki Rin sneered. "After you used my USB drive, you didn't look at those photos, did you?"
Fang Cheng was startled. "Did you put a virus on my computer with the USB drive?"
"What do you think? Don't worry, I left the rest of your collection alone. Heh heh heh ha ha!"
Kanzaki Rin planted her hands on her hips and laughed merrily. Ever since meeting Fang Cheng, she'd never laughed this happily.
Staring at her rare smile, Fang Cheng indignantly condemned her. "How could you be so shameless? If I hadn't backed them up on a USB drive, those precious photos, true works of art, would have been destroyed!"
Kanzaki Rin's laughter abruptly stopped.
"You backed them up?"
"Of course. Guess how many copies I made?"
"So you deliberately reminded me just to laugh at me?"
"No. I mainly wanted to condemn your vile behavior of putting a virus on someone else's computer. Laughing at you was just a bonus."
Watching Kanzaki Rin's discomfiture, Fang Cheng laughed happily.
Trying to outsmart me? You're still too naive, young lady.
Kanzaki Rin suddenly seemed to lose control. She grabbed a chair and hurled it at Fang Cheng. "Go to hell, you bastard!"
Fang Cheng reached out and caught the chair. "Don't be rash. If you break it, you'll have to buy me another set."
That only made Kanzaki Rin angrier. She glared fiercely at Fang Cheng, then turned and left.
If she stayed any longer, she was afraid she'd kill the bastard.
"Wait. There's something I need to tell you."
Fang Cheng suddenly called out to stop her.
Kanzaki Rin had no choice but to turn around, annoyed. "What now?"
"Wash the dishes before you go."
"Get lost!!!"
A few days earlier.
In a dim apartment, a young man was cooking in the kitchen, humming a tune and seeming to be in a good mood.
After cooking the food down into a fine mush, the young man carried it to a bedroom and knocked on the door.
"I'm coming in."
Without waiting for a response, the young man pushed the bedroom door open.
There were three people in the room: a middle-aged couple, haggard and tightly bound to chairs with ropes.
A beautiful girl of high-school age lay on the bed. Her skin was an unhealthy pallor, and her lips were completely colorless.
If not for the faint rise and fall of her chest, she would have looked almost like a corpse.
"Time for dinner."
The young man said with a smile. He first brought the food to the couple, peeled the tape off their mouths, and fed them with a spoon.
The couple didn't scream. They'd tried that countless times during their captivity, but it had never helped.
They didn't refuse food, either. Doing so would have brought a terrifying punishment.
When he was done, the young man taped the couple's mouths shut again, then carried the remaining food to the bed and spoke in a gentle voice.
"Ami, I made your favorite curry rice today. You must be so happy."
The young man sat down beside the bed and slowly fed the girl spoonfuls of food.
When he was done, the young man adjusted her position to expose her snow-white neck. Then he sank his teeth into it and began to drink.
The middle-aged couple watched in despair, tears blurring their vision as they could only struggle helplessly, making faint sounds.
The young man didn't drink for long. The girl's complexion grew even worse, and she looked as if she could die at any moment.
"Ami, you mustn't die."
The young man gently stroked the girl's face. "We promised we'd be together forever."
The girl stared blankly at the ceiling as a tear slid from the corner of her eye.
The young man didn't take advantage of her well-developed body.
Before becoming a vampire, he'd used the girl's clothes and photographs as spellcasting materials for years, wishing he could possess her completely.
But after becoming a vampire, his desire seemed to have vanished entirely. At most, he might kiss her.
Vampires could only create their own kind through the "first embrace." They couldn't produce offspring through sex, so their sex drive was passively reduced to indifference. It wasn't that they were incapable; they simply had no interest.
The young man kept talking to the girl, lost in beautiful dreams of the future.
He'd tried to turn the girl into a vampire, but he'd never succeeded. That was an ability only high-level vampires possessed.
"Ding-dong!"
The sudden chime interrupted the young man's fantasy.
He frowned in displeasure, picked up the dishes, and left the bedroom. He wiped the blood from his lips, then strolled over to open the door.
He assumed it was a salesperson. Perhaps they could help him stock up on food.
When he opened the door, someone stood outside wearing a hooded trench coat, sunglasses, and a mask.
Their face was hidden, and neither their age nor their gender could be discerned.
The young man asked in confusion, "May I ask who you are?"
The mysterious person chuckled. Their voice, coming from beneath the mask, was the artificial voice used by a tech company online. "Hiya Kyohei, you're being watched by the Disaster Countermeasure Department. Did you know?"
Hiya Kyohei's pupils contracted slightly, and the fingernails on his hand grew sharp.
He said in a low voice, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"No, you do. Your parents and younger sister haven't been seen in a long time. Could they have gone missing?"
Hiya Kyohei's hand instantly tore several holes in the door.
His eyes had turned blood red, the whites swallowed by black. Cold words spilled from his mouth. "Are you looking to die?"
Faced with Hiya Kyohei's blatant threat, the mysterious person's synthetic voice showed no trace of emotion.
"Looking to die? No, I'm here to offer you a deal—one that would be hugely beneficial to both of us."
"A deal?"
Hiya Kyohei raised an eyebrow. "What kind of deal?"
The mysterious person wasn't in a hurry. "Won't you invite me in for a seat first? It wouldn't be good if someone saw us standing at the door."
Hiya Kyohei slowly stepped aside, letting the mysterious person enter.
"Bang."
The door slammed shut under his forceful push.
Before you continue