Chapter 153 A Major Event in the Outside World

Vivian had been ready to call it a day and head home when she suddenly overheard news that piqued her interest. Curiosity piqued, she fixed her gaze on Kasa Eben. "I haven't been out and about in over a century... what exactly has been happening?"

"The specifics are unclear," Kasa Eben said, his cooperation noticeably improved since both sides were no longer fighting, and Vivian, the overwhelmingly dominant "senior," had voluntarily chosen to stand down. "Things started changing a hundred to two hundred years ago. It began with a group of siren descendants braving the risk of being hunted down by demon hunters to come ashore. They claimed to have received some sort of revelation in the deep sea, and that they needed to gather the power of their race that had been scattered during the twilight of the mythological age—you all know about plate tectonics, right? Due to these geological activities, some siren territories from the end of the mythological age are now actually coastal lands. Siren relics can be found there. Those water-dwelling folks were entering coastal cities in the Americas, Europe, and Asia in large numbers back then, even causing panic among the Church, who thought the Others were launching a counterattack from the sea."

"Sirens... I know them. They seem to be the race least affected by demon hunters, spending their days in the deep sea where the hunters can't reach them," Vivian mused. "Sirens are very isolated, rarely interacting with the outside world. They rarely came ashore en masse even during the mythological age. You could say they're the least aware of changes in the outside world. What happened to those sirens later?"

"Oh, some were sold to American plantations and European black factories, some were killed by demon hunters, some ran into the American Civil War when they landed on the Mississippi River, a small number retreated back to the deep sea, and the rest were basically taken by humans."

Hao Ren: "..."

Vivian paused, then gave a long, drawn-out "Oh": "Oh—that does sound like those out-of-touch fellows."

"Sirens are always like that. They can always return to the water, so they're lazy and easygoing, and basically never succeed at anything, but they also never truly fail," Yuen Eben chimed in. "But the news the sirens brought from the deep sea quickly spread among several major families. Many families began gathering their scattered people or relics all over the world—like you saw, the Eben family even started searching for scattered werewolves in Asia. In some places, there were even direct conflicts between Others and demon hunters, which hasn't happened much in the last thousand years."

"Just because of some vague news they brought from the deep sea, you all went to such great lengths?"

"There must be more than just that bit of information. The family elders aren't stupid; they must know more," Yuen Eben scoffed. "But those things aren't for us younger generations to understand. If you're interested, you can ask your old friends. After all, you're one of the oldest vampires. I should technically call you..." He stopped abruptly. "Never mind. You just decided to let us off the hook, so I won't push my luck."

"Looks like it's time to inquire about some things," Vivian said, thoughtfully lowering her head. "I've been drifting through the years in a daze again, and it turns out the outside world has changed so much... Ha, humanity has regressed too. The whole world is so peaceful."

Listening to Vivian's conversation with the two werewolves, Hao Ren felt a sense of conspiracy wash over him. He quickly scratched the goosebumps on his arm and tried to appear calm. Just then, he saw Lily, who was idly studying her buttons nearby, and remembered that he had something else to ask about. "By the way, you two are genuine werewolves, right? I want to ask you something."

Kasa Eben gave Hao Ren a strange look. He still hadn't figured out where this "ordinary human" with the vampire and some strange abilities came from, but seeing that he could mingle so freely among werewolves and vampires, Kasa decided to treat him as one of the "Others." He guessed Hao Ren was some kind of wizard or middleman.

"Among you werewolves... is there a husky branch?" Hao Ren asked with utmost seriousness. "Just like wolves have evolved into dogs, could werewolves have evolved into huskies and Pekingese?"

As Hao Ren's words fell, the scene went silent.

Yuen Eben stared blankly for a few seconds, then finally exploded. "Better to die than be humiliated! It's one thing to hit us, but now you're saying this, are you making it clear that you're planning to... Countess, don't interfere. I want to duel this man!"

Hao Ren jumped back two meters in an instant, holding the data terminal in a "flying brick from the sky" stance. "Put your claws away! I'm just asking—are there really no husky branches among werewolves?"

Lily, hearing that someone was finally mentioning her, quickly came up with an expectant look on her face. Vivian also looked at the two werewolves with an inquisitive gaze. Kasa and Yuen were a little dazed on the spot; they hadn't expected that this insulting (to wolves) question was serious. Kasa Eben thought for a moment and shook his head firmly. "I've never heard of it. Werewolves are clearly not comparable to wolves. It's one thing for you to ask this question, but Countess... as the oldest vampire, don't you even know this?"

"I don't know," Vivian said, shaking her head. "I don't even know when my title came about."

Kasa Eben recalled the speechless entries in the family records and finally understood more clearly what the "most peculiar vampire countess" was like. He then reiterated that there was absolutely no husky branch in the werewolf community.

Lily immediately drooped and squatted down, using her claws to dig furiously at the ground to vent her frustration. Hao Ren quickly squatted down beside her to comfort her. Kasa Eben curiously glanced at this seemingly mentally abnormal "younger member of the same race": "What's wrong with her?"

Hao Ren looked up and chuckled. "It's nothing, just normal growing pains in the process of building a worldview."

"...Nothing about it is normal," Yuen Eben muttered, pulling Kasa Eben to leave. "Is there anything else? Then we're really leaving, okay? Don't regret it later..."

Vivian waved vigorously for the two werewolves to get lost, but just as the latter had taken a few steps, a strange scent suddenly wafted over from somewhere unknown.

"Click, click," a few soft clicks of mechanisms came from not far away, followed by a flat voice with almost no emotion echoing from the top of the warehouse: "No need to leave, everyone stay."

Hao Ren looked up in astonishment, discovering that a plain-looking middle-aged man was standing on top of the warehouse, looking down at them. The man was about forty years old, with ordinary features and neatly combed hair. He was wearing a well-tailored business suit, and he looked like the most ordinary office worker, the kind of ordinary person who was over forty, had achieved minor success in his career, and had risen to a grassroots management position in a private company—that was Hao Ren's first impression of the middle-aged man.

The only discordant thing about this middle-aged man was the strange iron-gray hand crossbow he was holding. The crossbow had a peculiar style, with intricate structures and complex patterns. The design was incongruous with the suit the man was wearing. The crossbow was currently aimed at Kasa Eben's forehead (because he was the biggest), and the tip of the bolt on the crossbow was shining with an exceptionally bright silver-white light.

Hao Ren finally remembered where he had seen a similar weapon: that half-baked demon hunter named Nangong. The hand crossbow he was equipped with seemed to be this shape!

"Demon Hunter!?" Kasa Eben exclaimed, instinctively taking two steps back. As he shouted, subtle noises also came from the roofs of the surrounding factory buildings. Six or seven expressionless men and women in black trench coats emerged from the nearby roofs and walls.

Except for the middle-aged man who appeared to be the leader, who was wearing casual clothes, all the demon hunters were dressed alike: black trench coats, leather inner layers, a steel belt full of strange tools around their waists, and oddly shaped hand crossbows in their hands. In addition, they were carrying large crossbows, each over a meter long, on their backs. And the most synchronous thing was that they were all expressionless.

They looked at Hao Ren and the others with a "working" attitude, just like hunters looking at their prey.

They were indeed demon hunters, and this time they were the real deal.