Chapter 34: The Thugs

Hundreds of candles illuminated the dim hall, their light barely pushing back the darkness as it reflected off the glass walls. In the orange glow, dozens of gentlemen and ladies danced across the floor, spinning to soft music as their gowns fluttered.

In reality, the hall was packed.
In the reflection, the hall was empty.

Clang.

After a slight, discordant sound, the music stopped.
A figure jumped from the second-floor balcony, landing in the center of the dance floor with a thud that sent a minor tremor through the ground. The dancers froze, their eyes fixed on the uninvited guest.

He wore a bizarre clown mask and a tailored, exquisite suit, while two heavy machine guns hung from his hands and double bandoliers were wrapped around his torso.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! Are you ready to meet Satan?"

The clown spoke in a distorted, electronic voice, followed by a grating, cackling laugh. The machine guns began to roar, unleashing a storm of bullets that saturated the room. The sound of screams was soon drowned out by the gunfire.

One minute later, the hall fell silent.

The once-pristine room was now a ruin, scarred by large-caliber rounds. Corpses lay burning on the floor, embers drifting toward the ceiling like falling snow.

Under a shattered table, a vampire curled into a ball, biting his own arm to keep his teeth from chattering. He could only see the intruder’s feet—a pair of black leather boots covered in white ash and stained with the blood of his kin. The suited clown paced back and forth, then finally walked away.

The sound of a closing door echoed.

The vampire let out a sigh of relief and carefully backed away, attempting to escape from the other side. But as he turned, he saw a clown mask looming over the edge of the table, blocking his entire field of vision, staring straight at him.

"F-o-u-n-d y-o-u."

A sharp, deafening blast erupted from under the table.

After turning the final survivor into a sieve, Mo Yu blew the wisps of smoke from his barrels, concluding the hunt. The weapons provided by the trio were excellent. The heavy machine guns were powerful, possessed high-capacity magazines, and had a rapid rate of fire; holding one in each hand, they felt perfect to wield. Within a single week, he had made a name for himself in Black City.

As a ruthless operator who took out hundreds of vampires every day, the title of "Thug" was well-deserved and recognized by most monster hunters.

Normally, for hunters to clear out a nest, they would need a team of dozens, backed by a veteran expert. Tracking, scouting, interrogating captives, clearing out civilians, devising a tactical plan, and finally launching an assault—the whole process took at least four or five days, often risking the chance that the vampires would be tipped off and flee.

Mo Yu averaged three minutes, leaving the place completely slaughtered without a single survivor, all while avoiding civilian casualties and even rescuing captives along the way.

"Moon-Splitter" had already sent an invitation. Once this great purge concluded, he could officially join their organization.

Mo Yu walked out the front gate, where the trio was waiting for him. They were responsible for the cleanup: tallying spoils, maintaining weapons, restocking ammunition, and acting as his chauffeurs. Mo Yu didn't have to worry about these trivialities; the trio was efficient and spared him much trouble.

"That's all for today," Mo Yu said. "We continue tomorrow."

The Shell Secretary immediately replied, "Thank you for your hard work, Boss! One important thing: we just received notice from Moon-Splitter. Their high command wants to invite you to participate in an elite operation tomorrow."

"Oh?" Mo Yu looked intrigued. "Tell me more."

Shell explained, "The location is the First Elite High School. It’s scheduled for 9:00 AM. We’re to gather at the Bolai Restaurant outside the campus to conduct a precision sweep of the school. The main point is to identify monsters without alerting the students. High command believes you possess a special talent for this, which is why they extended the invitation."

"I see. I'll decide whether to go when the time comes." Mo Yu waved goodbye, found an empty spot, and vanished.

In reality, Mo Yu was in his apartment, playing cards with Elise and her maid. All three had strips of paper pasted to their faces.

"Bomb! And a three." Mo Yu tossed down his last cards and picked up a paper strip to stick onto Elise’s small face.

Elise: "I'm done. This is boring."

Mo Yu: "You're bad at it, so practice more."

Elise pouted, "You're getting bolder by the day!" Blood-thorns sprouted from her body, wrapping around Mo Yu and probing into his clothes.

"My mistake, my mistake!" Mo Yu surrendered at light speed, changing the subject: "My Lady, how much longer are we staying here? It’s been a week. Being cooped up at home every day is driving me crazy."

"Wait a little longer." Elise answered, checking her phone. She seemed distracted and kept her plans to herself.

The maid looked at her tablet and suddenly spoke up, "My Lady, Moon-Splitter is moving against the school tomorrow."

Elise replied, "Let them. That side is of no consequence."

The maid added, "According to our informant, Moon-Splitter's high command has invited the 'Thug' to participate. He will likely appear."

"Oh? Let's go take a look. I haven't been out in a long time." Elise became interested.

Mo Yu’s expression stiffened. During this past week, he had spent most of his time with Elise, yet she had shared very little intelligence with him. This was the first time she had mentioned the "Thug," and based on the maid's words, it seemed Elise had been watching him for a while.

Mo Yu put on a naive expression and asked, "Who is this 'Thug'?"

The maid explained, "A freelancer who appeared suddenly after the Great Purge began. His strength is terrifying; he has single-handedly wiped out twenty-four small and medium-sized vampire families."

"Hiss—this person is formidable indeed. What are your thoughts, My Lady?" Mo Yu asked after feigning shock.

Elise said, "We can use him to deal with the Nani and Keduo families."

Mo Yu looked enlightened. "Did you stay in Black City specifically to find an opportunity to take on those two vampire families?"

Elise nodded. "In a way. I need something they possess. Moon-Splitter’s Great Purge exceeds my expectations, but things are moving in the direction I intended. While there have been some surprises, they are of no great concern."

Elise didn't say it explicitly, but Mo Yu understood: she wanted to incite a war between the hunters and the vampires. Though the kidnapping had failed, her goal remained in reach. With Moon-Splitter launching the purge, a direct conflict between the two sides was inevitable.

The "surprise," he realized, must have referred to Alice.

Mo Yu asked, "Could you tell me about them? I'm curious how strong they are, since even you need to 'borrow a knife to kill' rather than confront them head-on."

Elise looked at the maid, who understood and began to explain to Mo Yu.

These two families were the true local powerhouses of Black City, each commanded by a Baron-level vampire. In secret, each had cultivated nearly a hundred Knight-level vampires, enough to rival the local hunter families. Furthermore, they had deep roots and had infiltrated every faction in the city, developing a perfect blood-supply chain. By utilizing legitimate social connections and identities, they could secure vast amounts of blood from blood banks, allowing them to grow rapidly.

Their ambitions were not small; they were the ones who had actively gathered vampires in Texas and were secretly eliminating other monsters.

After hearing the maid’s explanation, Mo Yu looked at Elise. "My Lady, might this 'Thug' be too dangerous?"

Elise said, "He relies primarily on firearms and only targets elite vampires. His personal strength is likely not that high; what makes him strong is his tracking ability. He always manages to pinpoint the vampires' hideouts. We can exploit that. Give him some clues and let him expose what those two families are hiding."