Below the sinkhole is an area about the size of a football field. Su Ming calculated the speed and time of his descent and concluded that the tower was approximately 800 meters tall.
At this moment, the screeching alarms were echoing at the bottom of the sinkhole. Some pale-faced individuals were busy with various instruments and equipment, seemingly checking what was wrong with the tower.
"Leave it to you." Su Ming turned his head and instructed the Evil Spirit Knight beside him.
The Evil Spirit's flame-filled eyes glanced at him, the skeleton head nodding slightly as he released the reins of his horse and drew a lever-action rifle from the saddle bag.
As the Hellfire spread, the weapon became large and menacing. The intricate patterns sketched a violent aesthetic, with the gun's caliber expanding as if inflated.
Half a second later, he held a grenade launcher with a series of skeleton heads on its muzzle.
"Giddy up!"
He abruptly squeezed the horse's belly, and the flaming steed instantly accelerated, the glow in the cave plunging downwards swiftly.
The Vampires naturally noticed the light source, but it was too late. The huge bullet wrapped in Hellfire exploded suddenly among the crowd.
Any touch of flame would rapidly spread over their bodies, turning the Blood Race into human torches.
With the sound of gunfire, Su Ming landed at the base of the tower, which is the control panel used to monitor the livestock situation on the entire tower.
From the display screen, the tower looked like a long bunch of inverted grapes, with all the 'grapes' positions marked with red dots, indicating death.
Casually killing a few troublesome Blood Race members with the Godslayer, Su Ming scoured the surroundings, but just as Satanah said, the Vampires had nothing.
Aside from a few bottles that looked like red wine but were actually treasures of virgin blood, there was only a small amount of US Dollars.
These low-level Vampires had no wealth; if you want to fetch some fortune, you must take down a Vampire over a hundred years old.
The Ghost knows whether the Blood Race scientists were not here or were already killed in the chaos, but the upper entrance of the tower, which seems like a false sewer, is actually just a place for repairs and filling; the lower exit is the real pathway.
Walking along the largest pipeline, Su Ming discovered a huge Blood Pool, filled with a black sticky paste—signs that the blood is about to dry.
Beside the Blood Pool, there was a modern bottling line, where Vampires would use this underground factory to fill blood into prepared wine bottles and then distribute them somewhere.
The pungent smell of blood made Su Ming's desire to slaughter rise like a tide, but he held back the primal urge and continued to investigate.
He found that before bottling, an anticoagulant is injected into the Blood Pool, namely Vampire saliva. Do consumers really have no complaints about this wine?
Su Ming shook his head and walked along the production line, eventually seeing piles of wooden boxes stacked like mountains, thrown in a massive cavern that resembled a warehouse. From the other side of the cavern, faint sounds of flowing water could be heard, possibly an underground river.
He pried open a box and peeled back the covering straw. The bottle packaging made Su Ming dissatisfied; these Vampires actually faked Skywalker's wine.
He unscrewed a bottle cap and sniffed it. Besides the scent of blood, the Vampires had added some flavoring agents, making the blood smell sweet.
Just then, the Evil Spirit Knight approached him: "Judgment concluded."
"Shut off the fire, wait a moment." Su Ming nodded, tossed aside the wine bottle, and found a box to sit on: "The warehouse is about to be full; if someone is coming to collect, they should be here soon."
Palham extinguished the flames on his body, breathing heavily a few times and gradually calming down.
"Is that an underground river over there?" The Knight nodded towards the darkness in the distance.
"Yes, the underground temperature is higher, so it won't freeze in winter, ensuring smooth transportation all year round." Su Ming handed him a cigarette, signaling him to take a break: "Through the underground river network, they might crawl out from any manhole cover in the city or suburbs."
"It could also lead to another pier, converting to underground transportation." He accepted the cigarette, tapping it on his knee to firm it up.
"Yes, there are many possibilities, so we need to wait for the Blood Race collectors; don't rush to kill them. Anyway, with Hel here, just don't burn the bodies. She should be able to read memories from the brain."
Su Ming leaned back, hidden in darkness, finding the environment here much more calming.
"Sounds a bit gross."
"It's okay, she's the Nether God; I don't bother to delve into what her abilities are like."
The two gathered together smoking and waiting, while outside was silent. A moment later, accompanied by footsteps, two women also found them.
"Finished acting?" Su Ming glanced at them, continuing to smoke with his head down.
"We were wrong, don't be angry." Satanah immediately cuddled up, her blood-red lips brushing against Su Ming's ear, whispering: "At worst, I'll let you first... then... how about that?"
Watching her biting one side of her lower lip, her big eyes looking at him, showing a shy yet alluring demeanor, while slowly unzipping her coat...
Su Ming didn't bother to answer; he turned his gaze to Hel.
"See when the people for pickup will arrive, I left a few relatively intact corpses."
Hel sat down on a wooden box nearby, stretching out her long legs. She waved her hand, and soon a corpse with a hole in its chest wobbled to kneel before her, she placed her legs on its shoulders.
"Midgard has twenty-four hours in a day, what time is 1:30?" After a silent exchange, Hel asked Su Ming for the time.
"It should be East Coast time, so we have about ten minutes left." Su Ming raised his hand to check his watch, finding it more convenient than the armor he used to wear, which required him to remove the hand armor. Now, it directly exposed the watch face: "Listen to the sound of the underground river over there and try to capture them alive."
"Understood, I'll do it." Hel turned the corpse she was propping herself on to black ash, stood up, and strode into the darkness.
................
"Are you sure he's still alive?"
Ten minutes quickly passed, and during this time, Su Ming and the others heard the sound of a steamboat, followed by screams that didn't last long. Then, Hel returned to the group, pulling a huge black spiral.
Like a roast chicken, this spiral pierced from a vampire's lower back, exited through its mouth, and all its limbs were gone, leaving a wide red carpet of blackish-red blood.
Upon hearing Satanah's inquiry, Hel remained very calm: "If I don't want it to die, it would be hard for it to do so."
Su Ming bent down for a closer look; this vampire's consciousness was already blurred, making it the perfect time for interrogation. Hel seemed to know what she was doing.
"Leave the interrogation to you as well, find out where these wine shipments are headed and who is in charge."
Before Hel could reply, Satanah added: "Ask if any vampires have a soul, please."
Hel raised one hand, which gathered a mass of black smoke. She tore open the vampire's nose and poured the smoke inside.
Soon, the bleeding from its limbs completely stopped, and the bloodthirsty gleam in the vampire's eyes was replaced by a ghostly green flame. Hel clutched its head, communicating silently, a method that was more efficient and reliable.
"I've asked, but I doubt it has anything to do with Dracula. The elder of this clan is Duke Joe Van, who recently started proclaiming himself King Vani. These blood wines will be transshipped several times to a fortress, which is King Vani's base."
"Location." Su Ming stood up.
"It only knows it's roughly in Virginia, Richmond." Hel mentioned a name that was a bit of a tongue-twister for her and had no idea where it specifically was: "By the way, vampires don't really understand the concept of souls."
Su Ming glanced at Palham, flicked away his cigarette butt, extinguishing it; the black and yellow mask covered his face: "Ready to meet President Jefferson?"
Palham shook his head with a bitter smile; Richmond was once the Southern Army's capital during the Civil War, and Jefferson was the first and only president of the Southern Federation.
Richmond originally referred to Richmond County in the United Kingdom, but during the colonial era, many North American cities were named after British places, just like New York, essentially a new Yorkegiving Richmond a straightforward copy. There are a total of 27 towns named Richmond in the United States, which is quite chaotic.
"Jefferson still has statues and monuments, but those who died in the Civil War? Unknown to anyone." Palham also discarded his cigarette and mounted his warhorse, flames instantly engulfed him.
Su Ming instructed Satanah to prepare the Teleportation Gate, while he watched the Evil Spirit Knight: "Finding a castle in the United States isn't easy, but there are quite a few Southern Army forts left around Richmond. Think about it, which is the most likely place."
"It's not just Southern Army forts but also forts from the colonial and the independence war periods." The voice of the flaming skeleton became demon-like, but this didn't affect his thinking: "If the Blood Race chose the oldest castle, it's Harrison Fortress; if they chose the most luxurious, it's Vian Castle."
Su Ming turned his gaze to the two women: "What do you think?"
"The oldest." Hel gave this answer; she believed that if vampires wanted to claim kingship, they must show that their bloodline is ancient and pure, making a historic castle more appropriate.
Although a few hundred years of history isn't impressive to her, you can't expect too much from humans.
Satanah, however, disagreed. While casting her spell, she turned her head and said: "The most luxurious."
The vampires' false nobility, their gaudy decadence, would surely lead them to choose the most ornate and well-decorated castle to satisfy their vanity.
If a castle doesn't even have space for hosting balls, vampires definitely wouldn't live there, placing military fortresses lower in priority.
While both are Lords of Hell, their views were completely opposite.
The most logical solution would be to attack during the day. Unless it's Dracula, no vampire could stand against them by day. They could simply demolish the place, drag coffins from the basement, and expose them to sunlight—all sorted.
Unfortunately, time was of the essence; not only did they have to stop the Blood Race's plan, but also that of the Inhumans, and they couldn't wait for sunrise.
"Lead the way, Knight." Su Ming pointed at the flame-casting teleportation gate: "Let's go check it out."