The land lay strewn with the starved dead
For Luo Li now, crossing the Pacific Ocean is merely a slightly longer [Space-Trace Instant Shadow] journey.
When he set foot on the west coast of America, on the outskirts of that giant fortress city known as the "City of Silicon Crystals," even he, who was used to seeing apocalyptic scenes, couldn't help but have his pupils slightly contract.
Unlike the Order of Longxia, the harsh resilience of Su'e'ai, the twisted decadence of Europa, and the devastation of the Middle East deserts, America presents an extreme, fragmented cyberpunk landscape.
Towering skyscrapers flashed holographic advertisements, hovercars silently traversed pre-set routes, and energy barriers outlined dazzling arcs of light above the city.
Everything showcases the technological prowess of the world's leading economy in the old era, and even though it has now been overtaken by Longxia, its superficial prosperity is still dazzling.
However, moving the gaze downwards, beyond the cold alloy city walls, reveals a completely different hellish scene.
At the foot of the city wall lies a vast slum, a sprawling mass of dilapidated tents, abandoned vehicles, and makeshift shacks.
The air was filled with the stench of rotting garbage, the pungent smell of substandard chemicals, and a faint odor of blood.
Ragged, emaciated people rummaged through the garbage heap like zombies, searching for anything that might fill their stomachs or earn them a meager income.
Their eyes were mostly empty and numb, occasionally flashing with a wild, wary look or a longing for the light in the city.
The drug addict huddled in a dark corner, injecting himself with drugs of unknown composition, his body convulsing unnaturally.
Many more were simply homeless, shivering in the cold wind, awaiting death, or... something worse, that might come at any moment.
"Tsk, truly... all show and no substance."
Xiao Hong emerged from her personal space and looked down at the scene below; the six-colored radiance within the energy sphere seemed to have dimmed somewhat.
"The smell here is worse than that of Beelzebub's cloisters."
Luo Li watched in silence.
He could clearly sense that a considerable number of vampires lurked in that vast slum.
They don't travel in packs, but rather like cunning hyenas, lurking in the shadows, searching for lone, unnoticed "food."
The well-equipped America private military company soldiers who patrolled the walls often turned a blind eye to this; their duty was to ensure that the "decency" inside the walls was not disturbed, and the "garbage" outside the walls was none of their business.
This is America, where the top echelons and elites control 90% of the wealth and resources, enjoying cutting-edge technology and the most stringent protection.
Meanwhile, the vast majority of the lower class, considered "useless," were abandoned in this lawless land, left to fend for themselves, or even reduced to "public granaries" that vampires could use at will.
Let's go.
Luo Li withdrew her gaze, her heart not feeling much.
He is not a savior, and has neither the interest nor the obligation to change this twisted country.
His goal was clear and singular.
Instead of entering the glamorous "City of Silicon Crystals," he headed directly towards the coastline based on intelligence obtained from the Middle East Alliance.
The Sin of Envy, Leviathan, dwells in the deep ocean trench. To find it, one must begin by clearing the coastal areas and searching for a suitable "entrance."
His first stop was an abandoned coastal industrial area marked in the intelligence report. It was a stronghold for several vampire gangs and smuggling rings, and also one of the nodes for Leviathan's forces to infiltrate the land.
When Luo Li appeared in this rusty and dilapidated industrial area, she immediately attracted attention.
Several burly men wearing modified leather armor, with strange tattoos on their bodies and fierce eyes blocked his way. They exuded vampire aura ranging from C to B grade, clearly members of a local gang.
"Hey! Yellow-skinned monkey! This is our ' Blood Fang Gang ' territory! Want to get through? Leave some toll! Or... leave your blood!"
The bald vampire in the lead grinned, revealing sharp fangs, and toyed with a crackling stun baton in his hand.
They were used to bullying homeless people who had escaped from the slums and were trying to make a living by the sea, and they treated Luo Li as a fat sheep that they could easily manipulate.
Luo Li didn't even bother to glance at them, continuing forward without stopping.
"Court death!"
Enraged, the bald vampire roared and charged forward with his minions.
Then--
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
The vampires who had pounced on them froze in place, their forward momentum halting. The next second, their bodies were sliced cleanly into pieces as if cut by an invisible blade. No blood gushed from their wounds, because all their blood and life force had been drained in an instant by [Endless Blood Drain], leaving only a few rapidly weathering, fragile, dried corpses that scattered on the ground with a clatter.
Luo Li walked through the fragments of the mummified corpse as if brushing away a few grains of dust.
Deep within the industrial zone, more vampires were alarmed, roaring as they poured out from abandoned factories and pipes.
Among them were even several leaders whose aura reached Level A; they manipulated rusted metal as weapons or spewed highly corrosive venom.
However, all of this was meaningless in front of Luo Li.
He didn't even use Enma.
It was just a slight thought.
Within a radius of 100 meters centered on him, the rules of space were briefly rewritten.
All vampires that entered this area, regardless of their level, had their physical structures instantly disintegrated at the molecular level by an invisible force, collapsing and dissipating like sandcastles, turning into the most basic energy particles, which were naturally absorbed by Luo Li and the surrounding space.
The cleanup effort was far more horrific and more... desperate than in Europa and the Middle East.
He was like an absolutely precise and ruthless purification machine; wherever he went, vampires vanished, leaving only exceptionally "clean" empty spaces.
Occasionally, some who try to hide or escape using the complex terrain will be caught up by the spatial rifts that Luo Li casually creates, or their minds will be slightly affected by Xiao Hong's newly acquired "Sloth" authority, and then they will be sluggishly broken down by the subsequent rules.
The entire cleaning process was quiet, efficient, and carried an inhuman indifference.
The industrial area isn't only home to vampires.
There were also some poor people struggling to survive here, hiding in the shadows, trembling as they watched this scene.
When they saw the vampire gangs that usually swaggered around and treated them like pigs and dogs vanish in droves before the man in black, their eyes first widened in disbelief, then erupted in ecstasy and... deep awe.
"God... is it God who came to save us?"
"He... he's so strong!"
"Those vampire bastards... are all dead!"
No one dared to approach her; Luo Li's cold, unapproachable aura deterred them from going near.
Luo Li remained indifferent to all of this.
He quickly cleared the industrial area and found the entrance to the underground smuggling tunnel, which led to a hidden underwater path leading to the near sea, filled with the rich, deep-sea scent of Leviathan.
Just as he was about to enter the passage, his [Eyes of the Time Abyss] passively captured a scene unfolding in the distant slums.
Several relatively clean-looking but lewd-eyed humans were dragging a emaciated girl who was struggling and crying, toward the entrance of what looked like some kind of underground bar, which was lit up with pink neon lights.
Several vampires watched with great interest, as if waiting for the "goods" to be handed over.
Such dirty deals are commonplace in the America underclass.
Human traffickers sell their fellow human beings to vampires in exchange for resources or shelter, while the vampires enjoy fresh blood and the pleasure of toying with their prey.
Luo Li's gaze lingered on the girl's despairing face for less than a fraction of a second.
Then he looked away—again, he wasn't a savior.
Countless tragedies unfold in this world every day; he can't save them all.
His goal, from beginning to end, has always been singular.
Slaughter, grow stronger, find them.
That's all.
The passage slowly closed behind him, temporarily isolating that land filled with sin and despair.
On the empty industrial area he had just cleared, the surviving poor people remained kneeling on the ground, murmuring prayers in the direction he had disappeared.
They didn't know who the black-clad Death God was or where he came from.
All they knew was that he brought a brief, cold... peace.