Blade's Commission

Mike had just lain down and chatted with some girls for a while. A few of them sent rather revealing photos, trying to lure him out. After all, it was only midnight; nightlife had just begun for the club crowd.

Nightclub bikinis, bodies slick with sweat... Who could resist that?

Mike's temptation meter was about to burst through the ceiling.

What, just because a man had a cheat ability, he couldn't have normal human desires?

"No, no. Things are ambiguous with Skye right now; how could I mess around? No, we only said it was ambiguous. We haven't made anything official, so I'm single. How can a single man's business be called messing around? Yeah, that's it."

"And there are so many delicate flowers in the outside world that need watering. How could I cruelly reject them? Right, filling that emptiness means women have a little less greed, anger, and delusion, and society has a little less hostility. This is a righteous cause. I'm making my due contribution to world peace. I'm... damn brilliant to be able to twist it around like this."

Mike muttered to himself like he had split personalities.

Heh~ men.

Just as Mike was about to leisurely get up, he caught a whiff of something rotten.

The smell of Vampires.

Ever since he had killed Deacon Frost and Gaten of the Vampire Council had paid him a visit, the Vampires in Hell's Kitchen had become much more cautious. They never appeared on the block where Mike's supermarket stood.

"Will these Vampires never stop?"

Mike sat up with a dark expression, though he felt much more relaxed inside. At least he no longer needed to make excuses for himself, and now he had someone to vent on.

He jumped out the window and onto the street.

Three "people" stood across the street, waiting for Mike.

"This is the mercenary you mentioned?" Nyssa of the Bloodpack looked at Mike as he landed. "There's nothing special about him. I don't understand why you value him."

Blade glanced at the arrogant pureblood female Vampire but ignored her. In front of others, he maintained his image as a ruthless man of few words.

Want to know?

Deacon Frost probably thought the same way. He was dead cold now.

"Blade, I didn't expect you to be hanging around with Vampires too. Have you finally become what you hated?" Mike, dressed in blue-and-white striped pajamas, spoke with sarcasm.

"It's only a temporary partnership," Blade answered stiffly. "I remember telling you that I prefer the nickname Daywalker."

"Uh... sorry."

Their only meeting had been at the Foot Gang warehouse where Mike had killed Deacon Frost. Mike vaguely remembered having that conversation. At the time, Blade had specifically warned him.

Mike glanced at the two Vampires behind Blade. "I remember saying that without my permission, Vampires weren't allowed in this neighborhood. Not even in the sewers."

Nyssa said coldly, "That was your agreement with the Vampire Council. It has nothing to do with us."

"So you're Vampires from the Vampire Kingdom?"

"The Vampire Kingdom," Nyssa emphasized. Like other pureblood Vampires, she disliked the term Vampire and loved fussing over such trivial distinctions in wording.

"Fine, Vampire Kingdom it is." Mike sounded indifferent. "But calling it an agreement isn't right. It was only a unilateral demand from me."

Mike turned to Blade. "You didn't come knocking in the middle of the night just to make small talk, did you?"

After thinking about it, Mike added, "Not that I couldn't. I charge by the minute."

"There's a commission." Blade looked at Nyssa. "Nyssa will explain the details."

Vampires were like infectious viruses, and like viruses, they could mutate and evolve.

About seventy-two hours ago, a mutated Vampire named Chad Norma had appeared. Not only did he feed on humans, he could feed on Vampires as well. And the Vampires he bit didn't die; they became new carriers.

The mutated Vampires known as Reapers had astonishing metabolisms and ravenous appetites. They needed to feed once every few hours.

"So once all Vampires become Reapers, humans will be next—you want to use that reason to persuade me, right?" Mike said with a smile.

Nyssa glanced at Blade. That was precisely the reason they had used to persuade Blade.

Mike smiled. "Don't look at him. He's a volunteer; I charge money. We're not in the same line of work, so the same reason won't work on me. Besides, humans are weak, but we're also strong. Reapers can cause some chaos at most. They're nowhere near capable of wiping out humanity."

He said to Blade, "Can we talk privately for a moment?"

"Sure." Blade nodded.

Nyssa and Asad exchanged a glance, then turned and walked away.

Mike asked directly, "What do you think?"

"Reapers really are a huge threat to humans," Blade admitted. "I don't trust Vampires, so I wanted to find a helper I could trust."

As he spoke, Soul Energy and Destiny Energy drifted out from Blade's body.

System prompt:

[Blade's Commission: A Trustworthy Teammate.]

[Payment: 500,000 US dollars (the system takes 90% after fees)]

[Mission Details: Help Blade eliminate the Vampires, while guarding against threats from other Vampires.]

[Note: Good comrade, my backsi... no, my back is in your hands.]

What a mischievous note.

"You trust me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Instinct."

"When you put it that way, it feels like I can't give you a discount on the payment." Mike laughed. For some reason, his instincts told him Blade was a trustworthy teammate.

"Don't give me a discount." Blade remained expressionless. "Because I'm not the one paying."

Mike froze, then gave him a thumbs-up.

You took the commission, and someone else paid.

Impressive!

"There are some special rules for commissions, but I doubt you're interested, so I won't explain them. Fifteen minutes." Mike explained, "You can't expect me to go into battle in pajamas, right?"

Five minutes later, Mike had changed into combat gear, strapped two silver blades to his back, and arrived outside Skye's apartment.

After hesitating for several seconds, he knocked on the door.

"Who is it?!" Skye's voice was wary.

"Me."

"In the middle of the night, Mike..." Skye opened the door. It sounded like a complaint, but more like a coy whine. Then she saw Mike in full combat gear and widened her eyes. "A job?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to tell you." Mike scratched his head. "So you wouldn't wake up tomorrow and not find me, then think I went out fooling around again."

"Like you haven't gone out fooling around before. I'm used to it." A trace of sweetness rose in Skye's heart as she said faintly, "Besides, I'm just an employee. What right do I have to interfere with my boss's private life..."

"Uh..." Sweat formed on Mike's forehead. He spotted the lit laptop screen inside and hurriedly said, "Staying up late is bad for your health. Go to bed early and drink more hot water."

"Whew~ so much pressure."

Mike practically fled. "I hope the Reapers are good for relieving stress."

"Scaredy-cat!"

Skye was both angry and amused. She shut the door, threw herself onto the bed, and rolled back and forth while hugging her blanket.

Back on the street, Blade and the other three were waiting.

Mike asked Blade, "What's next?"

Nyssa answered, "First, we'll meet the other Bloodpack members."

"Oh, I have no objection." Mike rubbed his fingers together. "It's just that I personally prefer to get paid before I work. Five hundred thousand US dollars. Cash, transfer, or check are all okay."

Nyssa rolled her lovely eyes, took out a checkbook, and swiftly wrote down the amount and signature.

"You're not like a warrior at all."

"What does a warrior have to be like? Don't warriors need to eat?"

Facing Nyssa's "accusation," Mike only smiled. He gave Vampire benefactors special treatment—for example, when cutting them down, he tried to aim for vital points so they would die with less pain.

Did that count as humanitarian concern?