Narrow road

  Mishelle's shoulder was perched a black bat that seemed to have no bones, smiling and following Feli out. Sally looked at the bat on Mishelle's shoulder with some curiosity, asking her: "Miss Mishelle, this bat seems strange, are you sure it doesn't have germs or isn't dangerous?" Sally's intuition, honed from her training in the South American jungle, made her feel that there was something off about this listless bat, its eyes seemed to be filled with wisdom.

  Mishelle picked up the bat's leg, swung it around a few times, and put it on her own shoulder, giggling: "Don't worry, I found it on the rooftop last night, it's very well-behaved. I heard other girls like to keep pets, so I'm keeping this bat as one... Look, isn't it pretty? Be good, don't move around, or I'll throw you under the car wheel."

  That poor bat, just about to change its pose on Michelle's shoulder, was scolded and shuddered all over, obediently lying down. A pair of red eyes looked at Michelle's face with a begging expression, only asking her to show mercy and spare itself. It was a vampire viscount, the leader of 100 high-level vampires, yet it was being tormented by a little girl who was only one-third its age... Oh God, its dignity, honor, and pride were all destroyed... But who let this little girl's father be the prince of the Philippe family? It couldn't afford to offend them...

  Fiona smiled as she watched Michele tease the poor vampire, shaking her head and saying: "Alright, alright, stop arguing, Cain. Go call a car and take us to the most bustling and high-end shopping district in New York... Don't look so gloomy, every time I ask you to help me carry things, you're always so reluctant... Hmm, don't think you can get away with not bringing me anything from Milan back to London, I'll be keeping track of that."

  Cain's mouth was agape, and he stuttered, unable to speak.

  Two golden bats flew swiftly over their heads, they were the high-ranking experts sent by the Philippe family to protect Michele, two nobles with marquis titles in the vampire's own world, the most loyal servants of the Philippe family.

  Cain felt something was off, his military instincts made him raise his head, and his sharp eyes stared intently at the two strange golden bats hovering above his head, a faint killing intent swept over.

  Two high-ranking vampires were shocked, "How could there be such a person beside Michelle?" The two of them squeaked for a few moments, then flashed and disappeared. Cain furrowed his brow, instinctively touching the handgun at his waist, "Shouldn't be a problem, right? Just two little bats, if they follow again, I'll take care of them."

  Fatadio had already called on the road and invited Ali to send a good head, who was a burly man similar to Cain, with three subordinates, driving a loud off-road jeep, arrived at the gate of Old John's building before Yi Chen and others.

  Fattahdio laughed and jumped out of the car, hugging the big man and saying loudly: "Eryosha, you've come so quickly."

  Yi Chen smiled and walked up, shaking hands with the obviously military-born guy. The guy's eyes were fixed on Phil and Goll, his mouth wide open in a not-so-friendly manner as he warmly hugged them. Yi Chen secretly found it amusing, just hoping that Phil wouldn't make things too difficult for this big fellow.

  Eryosha didn't expect that before he even got close to Phil, he was already given a severe headache by Jester. Jester sneaked up on him like a ghost and lightly tapped his armpit with his right hand, causing Eryosha's entire body to go numb and shiver all over. At least he now knew these guys weren't ordinary people either, and the boss must have brought in some big shots for help.

  Yi Chen smiled and said: "Ailuosha is a passionate person, unfortunately Mr. Jester doesn't care about the passion between men."

  Fatadi sneered: "I understand, I understand. Colonel Eryosha used to be the commander of a special forces unit under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, made some mistakes and was going to face a military tribunal, but the boss saved him, so he brought a group of people with him to follow the boss... It's just what happened in these two years..."

  Yi Chen and they were just about to enter the building when the sound of screeching tires came from behind.

  A fleet of seven black Lincoln limousines came rolling in, each one disgorging three to five tall men dressed in black suits and sporting neat ties. Their menacing gazes swept the surroundings before fixing intently on Yi Chen and his companions.

  Alyosha and his three subordinates reached into their own bosoms, Phil and Goll quietly grasped the handles of the guns under their armpits, while Jester swayed back and forth, deliberately pretending to be distracted as he slowly walked away. Yichun shouted: "Jester, come back."

  Jester pouted, shrugged his shoulders and slowly leaned against Alyosha's off-road vehicle.

  The Lincoln car in the middle had its door open, and a stout man with long sideburns, wearing a flashy shirt, wide casual pants, and a pair of leather loafers slowly got out, proudly and majestically.

  "Damn it, Yi, our luck is really good, let's take him down."

  Alyosha pulled out his pistol and was about to rush over, but Yichen grabbed Alyosha's shoulder with one hand. Alyosha's eyebrows furrowed, and Yichen's hand was like a tiger's claw, his sturdy body was grasped by him, and he couldn't move at all. Alyosha turned around in shock and looked at Yichen, who said calmly: "It's not Bill's fault, but this is America, if it were London, I would have killed him already."

  Bill got off the car, looked up at the sky and cursed: "Damn weather, I want you to rain when you're sunny, and I want you to be sunny when you're raining, why are you doing this on purpose? Damn old heaven... Oh, God..." He saw Yidun and that impressive Fatiao at a glance.

  Bill waved his hand, carefully bringing the people closer, smiling and slightly bowing, with one buttock raised, saying: "Ah ha, look, look, oh God, you are so kind, they actually came to New York, ah ha, you sent them right into my hands... Oh, this Russian millionaire, oh God, do you remember? You made me lose face in China, at least 17 newspapers reported that a damned American with a bare butt jumped off the 'Duke of Windsor'... You are truly great, you made my face lose all its light. Hmm?"

  Fatahio rubbed his hands together, laughing nervously: "Haha, Mr. Bill, I should have shot you dead that day, what a pity, damn it, I only made you strip and jump into the sea, I should have given you a bullet, you dog-niang-raised bastard."

  Everyone around Bill put their hands into their pockets, Yichun pulled Aleisha behind him and walked forward himself, smiling strangely: "Oh, Mr. Bill, are you planning to kill us here?"

  Bill sneered: "Damn it, of course... This is my turf, I'll take you down, who can you complain to? Damn it, I'll just find a few people to take the fall or no one will dare sue me, of course I'll take you down. Damn it, it's you, you were betting on the 'Windsor Duke', deliberately provoking me? Ah ha, this red-haired kid is here too? Damn it, I'm going to kill you."

  Yi Chen smiled: "This isn't your territory, is it?"

  Bill's eyes rolled around a few times, his face changed slightly: "Damn it, what are you doing on John Lao Gui's turf? Do you have business with him? Damn it, do you have something...".

  Bill wasn't a fool either, he growled in a low voice: "Are the John family colluding with you? Do they want to take over our territory? Damn it, I'll make you pay for this. Get rid of them first and then find someone to take down the John family. Take action."

  Yi Chen's body swiftly pounced forward, and with a swift hook, he grabbed Bill's neck. With the tip of his foot, he had already pulled Bill back more than five meters. Smiling, he faced the thirty or so big men in front of him who had drawn out their handguns and mini submachine guns, saying: "Come on, fire away, your boss is in my hands."

  Fatadio had already pulled out his own pistol and pressed it against Bill's temple, sneering: "Oh, Mr. Bill, my hand is shaking, shaking, shaking... You scared me to death, what if my hand accidentally pulls the trigger? God, you're so pitiful, look at my gun, a powerful dum-dum bullet, can blow your head into a rotten egg."

  Bill's legs trembled, he wasn't a man who took death lightly, or else he wouldn't have been forced by Fatadio to strip naked on the 'Duke of Windsor' and jump into the sea water off the dock.

  More than thirty of Bill's men were stunned, Yichen's movements were too fast, they didn't even react, the boss had already been caught, could they still shoot? Alyosha and a few others had already pulled out their Uzi submachine guns, aiming at this side, Phil's two brothers had slowly moved to the flank, as for Jester, he had long since slipped away to his own rear. Now it became the minority surrounding the majority.

  A dozen or so men in black rushed out of John's building, watching the situation nervously.

  Less than ten seconds later, old John himself hurried out, dryly laughing and saying: "Ah, we're all friends, no need to resort to violence, right? Everyone, calm down, in case you start exchanging fire here, the police will come and nobody can escape, it's not a good thing for your families... Oh, listen to me, boys, put away your guns, damn it, someone has already seen what's going on over here, they've started making phone calls."

  Miraculously, all the guns in everyone's hands disappeared. Aleksey and his men had given old John a face under Fattahdio's gesture; Bill's subordinates were helpless, their boss was detained, and they still held guns, wouldn't it be forcing the boss to die?

  Yi Chen smiled and let go of Bill, who glared at John with anger: "Old ghost, you're quite all right. Just the other night, you were saying that you guys are our family's best friends, but now, you've actually colluded with our enemies."

  Fatah Diou glanced over with a questioning gaze, and Yi Chen lightly shook his head in jest. "To take down Bill in the heart of Manhattan and start a huge melee - are you afraid that the CIA and FBI won't take care of you? Things will unfold slowly, no need to rush. Even if Bill's side has their guard up, as long as Jester's subordinates make a move, everything will be settled."

  Bill retreated a few steps cautiously, looking at John's pale face and pointing to say: "You just wait and see... Let you off today, there will be opportunities next time."

  "Bill, listen, I didn't know these two before, and I have some business to attend to with them..."

  Bill had already rushed onto the car, a group of subordinates shouted and got on the vehicle that came to pick them up, and quickly drove away.

  "Old John's face looked ugly as he ordered: 'Summon all the hands to go home, strengthen the defenses nearby, and take out the firearms. Bill and his men won't give up easily, that son of a bitch will definitely seize the opportunity to devour us.'"

  Yi Chen looked at him in surprise: "This is New York, they won't be so arrogant as to openly fire guns, will they? Is your home in the suburbs?"

  John shook his head: "In the downtown area, it's Bill and his family who don't care about anything. As long as someone takes the blame... I have to gather some men, or they'll really devour our family whole. Fatadio, you're too careless, letting them run into each other like that."

  Fatah Dei shrugged helplessly and said: "It seems that we can only launch ahead of schedule, Yi..."

  Yi Chen nodded and said to Old John, "Alright, you gather your men. We'll go back and discuss it. You take care of your own territory. When we make our move, your people can take the opportunity to eliminate Bill's forces. Got it?"

  Old John nodded solemnly and ordered his subordinates to bring over several cars, then hastily left.

  Fatah ordered: "Alyosha, go gather your subordinates and prepare to attack the core of Bill's family directly according to the information provided by the boss. Damn it, can't 230 special forces take down a group of black society thugs?"

  Yi Chen was taken aback: "Fata Dio, who are they all?"

  Fatiao said in a low voice: "There is also a part of them who are on active duty, the boss calls them out to make some extra money, and they are happy to do so."

  Yi Chen was taken aback, his own "Black Magic" company, at least those soldiers had left the army by various means before joining, like Ali's approach, it was indeed a big shot in local administration, a figure who could cover the sky with one hand.

  Alyosha took the people and drove away. Before leaving, Fattah ordered him that after the people were ready, he would take them to his hotel. Fattah didn't want Bill and others to kill him at the hotel. Yichun didn't bring many people over, and Fattah himself only brought three or five assistants. If Bill sent someone to the hotel, they might really be swallowed up.

  Yi Chen smiled bitterly. He couldn't tell Fatadio that he could easily take down Bill and the others by himself, after all. He had no choice but to let this somewhat timid kid arrange everything.

  Cain had just followed Feli and the others to a store entrance when his phone rang. Cain quickly picked up the phone, asking "Hello?"

  "Alright, Cain, call Faye and the others back. We ran into Bill's people today, so it's time to get down to business. Do you want to keep shopping with Faye or grab a gun and attack Bill's headquarters?"

  Cain opened his phone and said to Feli: "Feli, the boss asked us to go back. The boss and Bill bumped into each other and are about to take action, I think we'd better not continue shopping."

  Mishelle immediately turned her head and questioned Cain, "Is it that you don't want to follow us and want to go fight instead? Hmm... Yeah, fighting is more interesting than strolling around. Sister Philia, let's hurry back quickly or we won't get to see the excitement." Mishelle didn't care what others thought, she picked up that poor bat and threw it into the air. This vampire noble hurriedly flew up, understanding in his heart that this little demon was telling him to gather people and prepare for a massacre. Just right, he had been holding back his anger recently, and now he could finally vent it on those bastards.

  Cain hailed a taxi and the four of them rushed back to their hotel.

  At the hotel entrance, Cain had just gotten out of the car and was about to open the door for Feli when Alyosha stepped down from a taxi with twenty subordinates, coincidentally catching sight of Cain. Alyosha was taken aback for a moment before breaking into an eerie grin, sauntering over to Cain's side with his entourage, saying in a low voice: "Colonel Cain, where are your subordinates? Where is that so-called invincible 'Black Magic' unit of yours? Oh... I heard you guys capsized. Is that... uh?"

  Cain slowly turned his head, slightly narrowing his eyes, sizing up Eriol, and said in a low voice: "Colonel Eriol, it's been a long time."

  Alyosha gently stroked his chest, letting out a strange laugh and saying: "Ah ha, it's really been a long time since we last met. Do you still remember that secret exchange conference seven years ago? During the competition, in front of the top masters from seven countries, you almost dug my heart out with a dagger, huh? Remember?"

  Cain furrowed his brow: "Eryu, I only drew a cross on your chest, didn't I? It wasn't that deep, was it?"

  "Alyosha gritted his teeth and said viciously: 'Yes, but my face is completely lost. Damn it, Cain, do you know? Your freak unit suddenly participated in this normal exchange meeting, did your military department want to show off?' "

  Fiona got off the car lightly, gave Aleisha a sideways glance and said angrily: "Kain, don't mind this person, let's go up."

  Mihailov followed Sally out of the car, almost jumping out, and with a malicious glance at Alyosha's throat, said: "Yes, Sister Filippovna, we only deal with people, I don't want to get so close to a dog."

  Alyosha's face suddenly turned bright red, and he glared at Misha fiercely, shouting: "What did you say?"

  Mishelle raised an eyebrow and said crisply, "A dog that can't even win a fight, taking advantage of the crowd to bully others."

  Alyosha slowly turned his face to Cain, saying in a low voice: "Ahah, Colonel, did you hear? This little girl, what is she to you? She insulted me, huh? She insulted me... What do you think should be done?"

  "Get out of here, or I'll kill you."

  Eryolashov was taken aback, pushing away two hotel security guards with one hand, and exaggeratedly laughing at his subordinates: "Brothers, listen to this, our Colonel Kayn wants to take me down, can you watch your poor colonel being taken down by him?"

  Twenty burly men burst into loud guffaws, eyeing Cain with ill intent as their strange gazes shifted to Fili and the other two women.

  Eryndor burst out laughing and made a threatening gesture to the hotel security guards, saying in a low voice: "Kain, let's find a place to settle our old scores, huh? How about it?"

  A lazy, drawling voice came from the direction of the hotel lobby: "Not good, our boss won't be happy about this, Alyosha? Oh, Colonel Alyosha, you'd better not mess with Cain, or else our boss will skin you alive."

  Alyosha's anger surged up, he turned back fiercely and loudly asked: "Your boss is... eh, is it you?"

  Jester licked his lips lightly, strolled over slowly and lazily, and gave Cain a high-five. He twisted his head to say to Aileo, "Maybe I should warn you, your little life was picked up by us. Our boss hates it the most when someone provokes our people. If you really want to try with Cain, maybe we can arrange a fair fight for you. If you don't agree, then forget it. But I remind you, Mr. Ali values his friendship with our boss very much... Cain, let's go, the boss never waits for anyone."

  Alyosha stared at Cain and the others as they walked into the hotel, especially the little black-haired girl who turned around and made a threatening gesture towards him. Alyosha snorted in anger: "Damn it, you're lucky... Mr. Fattardi will be furious."

  A black bat was stealthily poking its head out from the chandelier in the hotel lobby, its sinister and murderous eyes fixed intently on Alyosha's neck. The creed of the Dark Council was that anyone who posed a threat must be eliminated, anyone who offended them must be eliminated, and anyone who offended their leader must be eliminated... If it weren't daytime now and there weren't so many people around, this vampire would have pounced already.

  Yi Chen heard Jester's report and frowned, asking Cain: "What's going on?"

  Cain shrugged: "We wanted to compete with special forces from other countries, so we replaced each other and participated in that exchange conference. Eryosha forced me to try a dagger fight with him, I left him with a little scar."

  Ezio glanced at a corner of the living room, where Aleksei was consulting with Fatatio. With a gloomy expression, he said: "Kain, you've run into an enemy... Tonight we're going to launch a surprise attack on Bill and his men, but unfortunately, this has happened. Jester, tonight follow Kain out and coordinate with Aleksei's actions. If there's an opportunity, take out Aleksei by any means necessary, got it? I don't want to be shot in the back."

  Cain was stunned for a moment, while Jester nodded slightly and looked at Eryndor with ill intentions.

  Yi Chen smiled bitterly. Today was really an unlucky day. First, he bumped into Bill, and then Cain also ran into his arch-nemesis. What was going on here?