Draco didn't answer Lucian's question, but instead asked, "If I can think of that, then what do you think is the purpose of the vampires going to such lengths to track you down?"
Upon hearing this, Raze's expression turned even more unpleasant:
"... You've ruined our plans." With that, Raze lost interest in continuing the negotiations and hurriedly left the negotiation room.
Lucian sprang up from his chair, forcing a stiff apology. "Excuse me, everyone, I'll have to take my leave now."
He was just about to catch up with Raze when
Draco's question rang out from behind, "Why are you risking exposure to track down a human?"
Lucian abruptly stopped in his tracks at the doorway, turning his head to say, "This is a private matter within our wolf clan, and I apologize that I cannot disclose it to you, Mr. Malfoy. What we just agreed upon was to join forces against the vampires and sign a binding agreement between the two clans."
"Investigating this person is outside the scope of the cooperation agreement."
This airtight response didn't faze Draco, who continued, "You've planted people at their house, haven't you? Give me the address, I'll go and detain them."
Lucian was jolted and abruptly turned around:
" Mr. Malfoy, please forgive me for not being able to tell you... This matter involves the core secrets of the Wolf Clan and cannot be disclosed to outsiders."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lucian quickly left.
Hermione gazed at the doorway, calmly analyzing, "It seems this person is crucial to the werewolf clan. Considering Raze's reaction just now, he must be connected to the 'methods for dealing with vampires' the Werewolf mentioned. However, since this involves Muggle, we can't just sit idly by..."
As she spoke, Hermione pulled her wand from her bag, pointed the tip at the ground, and whispered, " Footprint-Revealing Charm."
A pale golden light flowed from the tip of the staff and disappeared into the ground. A few seconds later, a series of mixed human and werewolf footprints appeared on the ground.
The footprints stretched forward along the passage, marking the traces left by Lucian and Raze as they hurriedly left.
Watching Hermione's practiced movements, Draco's lips curled into an approving smile, "This person might not be Muggle. But—we might as well go and join in the fun."
"You mean..." Hermione vaguely understood.
"This guy is definitely connected to Werewolf or vampires," Draco said confidently, then suggested to Hermione, "Honey, you go first. You can practice your tracking and Apparition skills."
Hermione nodded and teleported away following the footprints. Draco, with Trillian in tow, followed at a leisurely pace, reminding her, "Keep invisible, and conceal your scent."
As he spoke, Draco first cast the Disillusionment Charm and the Scent-Blocking Charm on himself and Trillian. Hermione understood immediately and followed Draco's lead, casting the Invisibility Charm and the Block Scent Charm on herself.
The three of them teleported and took turns moving forward in the sewers, with Hermione leading the way, tracking the footprints, while Draco followed closely behind with Trillian.
As Trillian teleported, she excitedly exclaimed, "Young Master, you're amazing! Following you, I feel like I'm starting to develop my own brain. If I were in charge of the negotiations, I'd be led by the nose the whole time!"
Draco was pleased to hear this and chuckled, "Keep it down, keep it down. After all, my wife praises me like this every day."
Hermione, who was focused on tracking the footprints ahead, suddenly stopped teleporting. She turned around and retorted speechlessly, "When have I ever praised your arrogant and boastful nature all the time?"
Just as Hermione paused, Draco appeared beside her and teleported with her. "No reward for doing well, no one to praise you—so I'll just slack off next time."
Hermione kept her eyes glued to the footprints, lecturing, "Does the work stop without reward and praise?"
"Everyone should act out of a sense of responsibility and sound judgment, not to seek praise and rewards."
After her lecture, Hermione added, "... Objectively speaking, your analysis of various things was indeed very insightful, but that's all. Don't push your luck."
After saying that, Hermione teleported back to her previous position.
"Young master, Hermione is still so stubborn."
"I like her just the way she is..." Draco laughed.
Although Hermione was walking with her back to them, she hadn't plugged her ears. After hearing their conversation, her cheeks flushed.
Then, turning back with a displeased look, he said seriously, "Can you guys stop mixing irrelevant jokes into serious matters? The problem hasn't been solved yet; now is not the time for idle chatter!"
"Shh..." Draco raised his index finger. "Ahead..."
Hermione looked back and saw a Werewolf -like figure moving swiftly through the sewer pipes. He moved nimbly through the pipes, sometimes climbing up the pipe walls, sometimes leaping down drops, as if walking on flat ground, completely unaffected by the complex terrain. The Werewolf's ability to move in this environment was truly amazing.
Hermione stopped and waited for the other two to catch up. The three of them walked side by side, and she lowered her voice, saying, "There are still a few Werewolf ahead. They're probably the advance team led by Raze who left earlier."
"Understood," Draco replied, his gaze fixed on the faintly visible figure in the distance. "We'll overtake him."
Hermione nodded in understanding, and the two simultaneously activated Apparition, avoiding Lucian's Werewolf's path.
Just as they passed Lucian in his Werewolf form, he seemed to sense something and looked around warily.
But that strange feeling vanished in an instant.
Lucian the Werewolf glanced back at the path he had come from, then sniffed the air, finding nothing amiss. He frowned, then stopped thinking about it and continued hurrying forward.
After passing Lucian, the three chased for a while and soon spotted Raze's group in the distance. Since they didn't know their exact destination, Draco others didn't rush ahead but kept their distance and followed behind the group.
After traveling a distance in the darkness, several wolf howls suddenly came from overhead, as if conveying some kind of signal.
As expected, Raze and the other Werewolf went to a manhole cover, but instead of moving forward, they leaped up, pushed open the heavy cover, and jumped out. Draco and Hermione also cast spells at the same time, teleporting to the ground right behind them.
The streets were completely different from the bustling neighborhoods of New York. Not a single streetlamp was lit; only the headlights of an oncoming car streaked across the darkness.
The three covered their eyes, and after their eyes adjusted slightly, they looked in the headlights and saw a man leaning halfway out of the passenger seat, wildly and indiscriminately firing a pistol at the rear.
The gunshot rang out, followed by the Werewolf's agonizing scream.
The sound was particularly jarring in this quiet neighborhood.
Just then, a manhole cover in front of the car suddenly flew into the air with a loud bang. The woman in the driver's seat seemed to have expected this and swerved to avoid it. The manhole cover grazed the car, but the car went out of control due to the violent inertia and crashed into the spot where Draco and the other two had teleported up!