Castle, Traces of Vampires

Xu Mo handed all the equipment over.

Hill went to search for the traces left behind by the previous agents, leaving Xu Mo alone in the hotel.

After all, investigating was the job of agents like her.

Xu Mo was only there to provide military assistance.

After she left, Xu Mo had nothing to do, so he walked out of the hotel and wandered around town.

It was only the beginning of May.

The peak tourist season had just begun.

Tourists carrying backpacks could be seen everywhere on the town's streets.

"Looks like the government suppressed news of the tourists' disappearances!"

Xu Mo sighed.

Otherwise, after learning that so many people had gone missing, there was no way this many tourists would still come here.

"Something's not right!"

He suddenly realized that if no one was pulling strings behind the scenes, the government likely would not have chosen to suppress the news.

After all, there were over a hundred people involved. Just silencing their families would have been difficult enough.

Why would the government do something so thankless?

If that was the case, high-ranking government officials were likely involved.

After all, the temptation of immortality was more than enough to attract those officials.

Although it came with the side effect of being unable to live in sunlight, when choosing between death and merely avoiding the light, no one would care about such a minor flaw.

Xu Mo wandered through town aimlessly like an ordinary tourist.

Several hours later, the sky had gradually darkened, and he reached the area filled with ancient buildings.

This district was enormous.

It occupied nearly half the entire town.

Several castles located in the center of the old buildings were private property and not open to the public.

Xu Mo had barely stepped onto a road leading to the castles when someone stopped him.

Seeing that, he did not insist and simply turned around to leave.

Once he reached a spot the guards could not see, a suit of armor abruptly appeared over his body, covering him from head to toe. Then he moved, flying toward the castles.

If there was anywhere in town most likely to be connected to vampires, it was these castles before him.

After all, from the movies he had seen, vampires always lived in castles.

But reality seemed to disappoint him.

He checked several castles in succession.

Other than a few maintenance workers, he found none of the pale-faced vampires he had imagined.

Since it was completely dark now, he could not determine whether these people were vampires based solely on appearance.

He could only test them one by one.

The test was simple: spray them with the liquid mixed with silver particles that Hill had given him.

If any of them were vampires, they obviously would not remain unaffected.

But the result was clear. These people really were just ordinary humans.

It was not until he approached a castle located at the very center that a scream came from a room on the top floor.

"Something's happening!"

Delight appeared on Xu Mo's face.

With a flash, he floated outside the window of the room where the scream had come from.

He looked inside.

The one who had screamed was a young girl tied to a chair.

An elderly man with more than half his hair gone gray stood in front of her.

His hands were currently tearing at the girl's clothes.

Her clothes had nearly been ripped away, leaving only a set of white lace underwear.

If he had seen this scene in a movie, and someone had suddenly appeared at this crucial moment to play the hero and save the beauty, Xu Mo probably would have cursed that hero's ancestors for eighteen generations.

But in reality, Xu Mo still chose to act.

A pistol loaded with silver bullets appeared in his hand. Aiming at the old man in the room, he pulled the trigger.

Bang!

After the gunshot, a bloody hole appeared in the old man's head, and he slowly fell to the floor.

"Villain killed. Points +80!"

"Not a vampire either?"

Looking at the blood flowing from the man's wound, Xu Mo sighed in disappointment.

He moved through the open window into the room. With a casual wave of his hand, a throwing knife flew out and sliced through the ropes binding the girl.

As it cut the ropes, the throwing knife seemingly accidentally brushed against the girl's skin.

The girl appeared completely unaware of it.

Looks like I was too sensitive!

Seeing this, Xu Mo thought to himself.

"Put your clothes on. I'll take you out of here!"

He then stood and walked to the window, looking out at the scenery beyond it.

Since he had not encountered any vampires, he planned to leave as soon as possible.

Hill should be returning soon as well. He wondered whether she had found anything.

The moment the bound girl saw the throwing knife, a strange glint flashed through her eyes.

When she heard that he was going to take her away, she did not hurry to put her clothes back on. Instead, she walked over to Xu Mo's side.

"You're a Mutant?"

Looking at the girl standing before him, Xu Mo spoke coldly.

"That doesn't seem to have anything to do with you."

Seeing that Xu Mo had not denied it, the girl grabbed his arm with both hands and hurriedly said,

"Please, save my younger sister! As long as you can rescue her, I'll agree to any condition you name!"

But Xu Mo remained unmoved.

"I can take you to the police station later. They're the ones you should ask for help with."

Doing good deeds and saving people?

That was what police officers and other public servants were supposed to do.

Saving someone in passing like this was no big deal.

But becoming a superhero was not something he had any interest in.

Hearing Xu Mo's refusal, tears streamed from the girl's eyes.

"I already called the police, but those officers did nothing at all. They even used it to threaten me..."

As she spoke, her gaze fell on the old man lying dead nearby.

"This man was the chief of police!"

Hearing her explanation, Xu Mo clicked his tongue.

As expected of the land of freedom. This chief's methods were pretty impressive.

Not only did criminals deserve a few rounds, even people who came to report crimes were not spared.

"Who took your sister?"

"They weren't human. They were monsters, like vampires!"

Hearing that, Xu Mo's expression shifted.

"You're saying she was taken by vampires?"

Hope reignited in the girl's eyes. She hurriedly wiped away her tears.

"I don't know whether those monsters really were vampires, but they looked a lot like the vampires in movies!"

Half an hour later.

Xu Mo brought the girl directly back to the hotel where they were staying.

At the entrance, they happened to run into Hill, who was returning from outside.

Seeing Hill's puzzled gaze land on the girl behind him,

"We'll talk in the room!"

Xu Mo gave a brief explanation, then took the lead upstairs.

After returning to the room, Hill first took out a small device and scanned the room. Only after confirming there was no eavesdropping equipment did she ask,

"Who is this?"

Xu Mo explained what had happened earlier to Hill.

"Where was your sister taken by those monsters?"

Hill turned her gaze toward the girl.

"It was in a bar called the Irish Bar!"

"The Irish Bar? Is it in the eastern part of town?"

The girl froze for a moment, then quickly nodded.

Noticing Xu Mo's puzzled look, Hill explained,

"Based on some information left by the previous agents that I found on the streets today, these people lost contact in that area!"

"Wait!"

Xu Mo looked at Hill with a baffled expression.

"Don't agents send messages or make calls? Why are you still using such primitive methods to pass information around?"

Hill spread her hands.

"I'm not entirely sure either. The fact is, after those agents came here, they all lost contact very quickly. Only one agent ever managed to send a message—the one related to vampires!"