"""
A moment later, Su Ming felt a slight vibration emanating from underground, as if a torrential flow was rushing toward them, and a buzzing echo sounded from the entrance of the sewer.
Hel stepped back a few paces, put on her gloves, and stood with her arms crossed silently waiting.
Soon, gray-white waves surged out from the sewer.
It wasn't water or ice and snow, but numerous small animal skeletons, mostly dead rats, along with some deceased various pets.
Most of them had already turned to bones, with dark magic binding the skeletons together, and a few still had shriveled and broken pelts, like mummies mixed among the skeletons.
No matter their appearance, their hollow eye sockets burned with a dark green ghostly fire, quietly and orderly emerging from the sewer onto the road.
Thankfully, nobody was on this street right now; otherwise, such a large-scale resurrection of the undead would be enough to drive someone mad.
Hel's power was to enslave the dead, not limited to controlling deceased humans and the Divine Race; as long as there were corpses, Hel could control various animals too.
Hel had never been to human cities, but she could sense that beneath this city, in places where the air was murky and filthy, there existed an undead army awaiting her command.
Soon, tens of thousands of undead filled the entire street, countless small green points of light staring at the four individuals, turning the street ghostly and eerie with a sharp drop in temperature.
Without Hel uttering a word, she simply waved her hand, and these skeletal small animals dispersed, forming hundreds of streams large and small, vanishing into the surrounding alleys.
"Now it's fine; whether the vampires are hiding in sewers or coffins, my pets will uncover them, and we just need to wait a little."
Hel returned to the group, and Satanah naturally embraced her arm: "Great, when we catch a vampire, let's roast one to eat?"
"Low-level vampires can't withstand high temperatures; they turn to ash upon encountering open flames, so you won't get to eat them." Su Ming lightly reminded, vampires eating humans, devils eating vampires, it's all natural.
"Oh, then let me taste what their souls are like later." Satanah licked her lips, seemingly longing.
"Legends say vampires don't have souls; their eternal life is merely in body and consciousness. Sithorn took their souls long ago." Su Ming offered another reminder.
Satanah scratched her head: "If they have nothing, why bother them? Such trouble for no gain."
"Intimidate the Blood Eater Faction to make them more compliant while I need intel about the Inhumans from them. Recently, they plan an underground world war."
"Inhumans?" Satanah lifted her head in deep thought but seemed never to have heard the term before: "No idea, have you heard of them, Hel?"
"I haven't either, but I know about mutants. Their history lasts tens of thousands of years, hiding within Midgard's human society." Hel shook her head, sitting on the riverbank railing as naturally as sitting on her throne.
Su Ming sat beside her, the three patiently waiting amid the light snow: "Indeed, the history of Inhumans isn't long; even Mephisto hasn't heard of them, and it appears their souls aren't managed by anyone after death."
"So... if one were to take charge of their soul's destination, it would essentially be an extra source of power?" Satanah's eyes lit up; if the Lords of Hell are unaware of these special souls' existence, could there be a chance to claim them?
Hel shared similar thoughts, but unfortunately, her Helheim Netherworld had high admission thresholds—either Asgard or Warnerheim residents, or dead believers from other planets; acquiring souls was the hardest.
"Inhumans are experiments by the Kree; their souls after death probably fall under the Supreme Wisdom's management, which poses a threat to you lot, and none of you understand technology, right?"
Su Ming shared some intel and conjecture before silently smoking, gazing at the frozen river's night view.
Satanah immediately clung again, grabbing Su Ming's hand and stuffing it into her clothes: "Don't say that, my heart hurts; feel if it's broken. Let us go see the Inhumans."
"If you're not afraid to die, then you can follow me."
Su Ming broke free from her grasp, wary she might have hidden a poisonous snake in her clothing.
"No worries, if things go south, we'll run; let the Evil Spirit Knight cover our retreat." Satanah grinned widely; although she hadn't reclaimed her hell yet, drawing in customers was a start.
Not far away, Palham looked at her expressionlessly; demons are indeed demons. The Supreme Mage, who knows what he thinks, fighting alongside such fellows risks betrayal at any moment.
"Found them; these guys are underground." Hel suddenly received news; it's unclear how those undead notified her: "Follow the river, there's an abandoned underground dock."
Palham mounted his horse, its hooves clapping toward the trio: "It's a Prohibition-era bootlegging route, transporting spirits by boat under cover of darkness, gangster antics."
Su Ming surely understood this; if in New York, underground ports were mainly bootlegging docks, but in Philadelphia, it could also be a fencing port, that is, the Thief's Guild of old.
Philadelphia was once the capital; back then, many pickpockets got rich here, and stolen famous paintings or sculptures had to be turned to cash, thus forming the Thief's Guild. They handled stolen goods, introduced manpower, settled disputes, sometimes took assassination or poisoning commissions for the bold.
The Thief's Guild rose in Middle Ages' Venice, gradually this model was accepted throughout countries' darkness, subdividing into mercenaries and assassins.
Nowadays, New York still has a Thief's Guild existing, but now renamed the Black Market, only handling stolen goods without mixing in sewers anymore.
Su Ming stood up, discarded his cigarette butt, and brushed the snow off himself: "Whatever that place is, let's go see, let's start the action."
Their movements were swift; within two minutes, they reached a spot resembling a bridge arch.
At first glance, it seemed like a sewer discharging waste into the river, with heaps of garbage at the exit, unbearably foul even in winter.
Yet, upon closer inspection, it's evident these foul-smelling piles were merely stashed from street trash bins, containing discarded broken clothes, bottles and cans, and plenty of kitchen waste.
While a real sewer outlet must have human excrement, here there was none.
"Here it is, a fake sewer; let's go inside."
Su Ming was first to leap over the garbage pile, his cloak carrying him into the darkness.
"""