The iron-clad Gao Fei charged forward, waving two great sabers, while the Clown stood waiting at the doorway.
A horizontal slash swept past, but the Clown ducked low and slipped beneath it. Another slash came diagonally, and the Clown pressed down on the blade and flipped over it.
Seeing that even like this he still couldn't land a hit, Gao Fei grew furious. He swung the twin sabers like a pair of fans, sweeping out eight strokes in a star-like pattern, but the Clown dodged every single one. When Gao Fei's strength began to falter, the Clown even punched the back of his blades to help him swing faster.
At last, Gao Fei no longer had the strength to lift his sabers. If not for leaning against them, he would have collapsed forward. Now his full suit of armor had become a crushing burden.
The Clown stood leisurely before him and tapped on his armor.
"Not bad strength. We'll talk more later."
The Clown's thoughts came from Regulus Black's consciousness. Though mixed with fragments of Barty Crouch Jr.'s memory, Regulus's awareness was dominant.
Through the fight just now, the Clown fully grasped the state of his body. Unlike the undead, he was a blood corpse, far more agile than the ordinary undead. But such a body was prone to dryness, since it burned its own blood energy.
Among zombies, the strongest were the drought fiends—creatures that carried desolation wherever they went. The Clown's body seemed closer to this type.
As for Gao Fei's strength, the Clown acknowledged it. At first, he intended to kill him with a single punch. But since he needed subordinates, he decided to keep this one as cannon fodder. As for the playing cards, he would never give them to him. If anything, they would be given to his vampire master.
During that barrage of attacks, Gao Fei had hacked the tightly sealed iron gate into pieces, which was exactly why the Clown had lured him to fight here.
With a kick, the already battered iron door shattered into fragments.
"Don't you run! Fight me again! Stop dodging! I swear I'll kill you with a single slash!"
Gao Fei's hoarse voice roared behind him, unwilling to accept defeat. To lose while his opponent didn't even care for his life felt like an insult. He would rather die in battle than live on like this. But he no longer had the strength to shed his armor and chase after the Clown. All he could do was watch him walk away.
"That's the fourth. I wonder what the fifth will be like?"
Muttering to himself, the Clown moved on toward the back. Naturally, the sewage plant had a treatment area: nine square pools arranged together. The wastewater flowed from the first pool into the second, then in an S-shaped path until the ninth. Each pool had additives to refine the water, and by this point, the water was already quite clear.
Above the nine pools was a cross-shaped walkway. A white-haired youth leaned casually against the railing, clearly waiting for the Clown's arrival.
"May I ask what business you have here? Such commotion is hardly a friendly gesture."
The white-haired youth blocked his way. At his hips hung two longswords without sheaths, secured only by clasps. He wore no armor, only a metal belt at his waist—clearly light and agile.
"First, I came to test your strength. Useless ones are not needed. Second, I came to invite your master to join under my command, to prepare for future crises—or perhaps seize opportunities in a more distant future."
The Clown performed an exaggerated bow, then suddenly rushed forward.
The white-haired youth, dual-wielding swords and dressed for agility, was undoubtedly speed-based. The Clown's traits were similar. This fight would be decided by whose movements were faster, whose strikes more ruthless, whose aim more precise.
For a while, fists and blades clashed furiously along the walkway. The Clown was not slower than his opponent, and in strength he even surpassed him. Gradually, he gained the upper hand. The front sections of the walkway were destroyed in their battle, and the two soon fought above the ninth pool.
"Winner winner, chicken dinner!"
The Clown shouted, and as his opponent leapt into the air, he seized the opening and struck a crushing blow to the youth's groin.
A wail rang out as the white-haired youth fell into the pool.
"So you're a girl? Judging by your chest I thought you were just a boy!"
Leaning on the railing, the Clown watched the youth crying in pain. From the feel of the blow, it wasn't like striking male flesh at all, but rather bone—straight into the pelvis.
"I'm a man! If the young lady hadn't saved me from the traffickers, I would have been tortured to death long ago!"
Grimacing in pain, the youth bared his long fangs—he had successfully transformed into a vampire.
Still, in the eyes of a wizard, the strength of this world's vampires was hardly impressive.
"So you were… I see. Fine, you pass. I'll speak with your master next."
The Clown ignored the youth soaking in the pool. It was the last one anyway, and the water was clean—perfect for a bath after a fight. Thinking of bathing, he suddenly realized he reeked of sweat and blood.
Past the pools was the office building: a two-story house built in the style of a Western villa.
Inside, the décor was just as luxurious, a vampire clearly pouring all his wealth into appearances.
"I wonder, what brings you here, sir?"
In the hall sat a noble-looking loli, flanked by two beautiful twin maids and an elderly butler with a deeply aged face.
"Seeking cooperation—or rather, to recruit you under my banner. If that fails, then to eliminate potential threats."
The Clown strolled casually forward and sat opposite her. His naturally sinister clown's face was hardly suited for negotiation.
"Allow me to introduce myself. Though it may sound fake, Nannaly Tisney is indeed my real name. Behind me stand the Helen sisters, Helen Na Becky and Helen Sha Becky. The boy who fought you outside was Roger. And this grandfather here has served as my butler since the day I turned into a vampire. You may call him Mr. Dali."
Clearly, this noble loli vampire Nannaly wished to talk. Ever since the Clown spared Gao Fei, the fourth guard, they knew negotiation was possible and that things hadn't yet reached the point of total eradication.
"Dali? Is that your surname or your given name?"
The coincidence was amusing—Harry Potter's cousin was called Dudley Dursley—so the Clown asked.
"Dali Valco, if you must know."
Expressionless, the butler gave his full name. The Helen sisters burst into suppressed laughter.
The meaning of Valco was well known across the world. No wonder he usually went by just Dali. But in formal introductions, his name was inevitably a punchline—truly unfortunate.
The Clown merely raised his brows, showing no mockery.
"A rather unique surname. Mr. Dali, may I ask what abilities you possess? Would you mind demonstrating?"
The moment he asked, the atmosphere shifted. They had all heard what he'd said to Gao Fei and Roger. Anyone deemed useless by the Clown might be killed outright.
"I see. So you really are here to select subordinates. But I wonder—whom do you represent? The Dark Lord, perhaps…?"
Nannaly Tisney couldn't think of a force more ruthless than the Dark Lord. Judging from how the Clown had fought his way in, he was certainly no being of law or good.
"I have nothing to do with the Dark Lord. Nor do I belong to the Ministry of Magic, or the Order of the Phoenix. I serve only one person. My task now is to gather vampires under my command. Once I've recruited enough, I can return and deliver results."
The Clown spread out a deck of black playing cards on the table, took out the Queen of Spades, and slid it before Nannaly Tisney.
"This is a covenant of alliance. The moment you accept it, the pact will be sealed."
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