If Vivian is right, then Lily is indeed safe. Of course, personal freedom is not guaranteed.
Werewolves are a solitary race. Most do not reunite with their packs after adulthood, which led to their rapid decline and widespread dispersion after the end of the mythological era on this planet. However, the Eben family is a unique exception among werewolves: a group of werewolves with a strong sense of family, maintaining close ties even after the end of the mythological era and the rise of the human church and demon hunters. Today, they are the only remaining major family in the werewolf community.
The organizational structure of the Eben family's upper echelons remains unknown, and Vivian's knowledge of them is limited to their external activities. This family has always been committed to reuniting those who have been repeatedly dispersed. Their original base was in Europe and Latin America, and they remained in this area until a hundred years ago. "They're a very strange bunch, a bit smarter than the average werewolf, but only slightly," Vivian commented casually while introducing the Eben family. "They understand that unity is strength, but they're foolish enough to try to rebuild the mythological era with the limited resources they have. Tsk tsk, even Fenrir was slaughtered by witchers, and they still don't know how to restrain themselves."
"What will happen if they take Lily away?" This is Kevin's most pressing question. "They'll force them to join," Vivian said, curling her lips. "That's the intelligence of werewolves. They're never polite, even to their own people. The Eben family has probably already identified all the scattered werewolves as targets for their conquest. With their sheer numbers, they'll inevitably resort to coercion. That idiot Big Dog won't be a problem for now, as she's still considered one of their own in the eyes of those two werewolves. But once the two sides come to a showdown, a fight is inevitable. With that idiot's barely mature skills... he'll probably be beaten so badly he won't even recognize his mother."
Kevin's neck was covered in cold sweat at this, and he quickly lowered his head to continue searching the city map for clues.
Vivian, based on her experience, determined that the werewolf who could use the black mist had used the Eben family's innate power to abduct Lily. Since the black mist didn't travel very far, Lily should still be within the city limits, and Kevin's search would be limited to that area. He turned on the data terminal and had it project a city map. Then, using the keyword "lucky," he searched for over a hundred targets. Of these, more than a dozen were related to warehouses, factories, and other large facilities.
What an unfortunate, common name... Now Kevin could only be thankful Lily wasn't imprisoned at Guangming XX Factory, where that name would be even more commonplace...
"Don't you have a signal tracking function?" Kevin checked each suspected location one by one, tapping the data terminal in frustration. "When Lily called just now, couldn't you have just tracked the signal?"
The data terminal replied confidently, "This machine was asleep. You didn't remember, so how can you blame anyone else? This machine is a tool, you're the user. You don't even turn it on, and you're complaining about the alarm not going off. How dare you?"
Kevin was speechless and could only return to his work. He considered sending a distress message to Raven 12345, after all, this was a work emergency, but the thought flashed through his mind before he tossed it aside: This was his responsibility, and he had to shoulder it. After all, he was Lily's guardian now, and asking for help from his superiors for help in such an emergency would be embarrassing.
"In this city, including the surrounding districts and counties, there's an electrical appliance factory, two logistics companies, two warehouses, and six or seven other units with the word 'Haoyun' in their names. That place Lily mentioned looks like an abandoned warehouse, but it could also be a factory-built warehouse, or simply a vacant factory... Well, the electrical appliance factory can be ruled out; it's still operating, not abandoned. Similarly, if we rule out the logistics company, we still have three targets."
All three targets had been abandoned for years, and couldn't be found online. Fortunately, the data terminal was able to collect their information from hidden corners. All three locations met the criteria for "resembling abandoned warehouses," so further investigation was impossible.
"Let's go check them all out," Vivian glanced at the map, noting that they were quite far apart. One was in the city's more remote old town, one in the northern suburbs, and one was dozens of kilometers away in another town. They were all the kind of abandoned plots of land, forgotten by development plans and left untouched for years. "It really fits the movie formula. Hiding people in places like this is really hard to find."
"This is quite far away," Kevin said, looking at the map with a worried look. "I really should have bought a car first... I work for God, and I don't even need my own transportation."
"I'll send bats over there," Vivian waved, summoning three little bats. Then, glancing at the sun outside, her expression gloomy. "Tsk, scorching sun! The weather forecast is completely off. The bats will probably get half-scorched if they fly over there. That idiot owes me a big favor." Three little bats circled and fluttered around Vivian, then flew toward the window with an almost heroic gesture, ready to greet the bright sunshine outside. Kevin suddenly remembered something when he heard Vivian's words. He quickly shouted, "Wait, I have an idea!" Then he ran to Lily's room and brought out a bottle of sunscreen. "That girl bought a bottle of this on a whim a few days ago, but she never used it. It's perfect for your bats." Kevin cheerfully unscrewed the cap of the sunscreen and waved, inviting Vivian's bat to land on the table. The vampire girl was stunned. "You're quite a thinker... Ouch, so cool!"
The bat and Vivian shared a sense of connection. As Kevin applied the sunscreen to the bat, Vivian instantly sensed it. Her soft, sweet, and charming cry made Kevin's hand tremble, and he nearly dropped the bottle on the table. "Don't react so violently..."
"I've never used anything so expensive in my life," Vivian lamented. "The first time I've applied sunscreen is on my own bat... Hey, put on less. Too much and it won't fly!"
A moment later, Kevin finished his work. Three bats, covered in sunscreen, excitedly flew out the window, swooping off in three directions. Their speed far surpassed that of a normal bat, the slowest of which was estimated to be 100 miles per hour. Kevin watched the three rapidly disappearing black dots and sighed to himself, "My thinking is truly broad."
Vivian didn't reply. She was already immersed in the shared senses of the three bats, concentrating on sensing everything within their range. The city rapidly expanded in her mind like a three-dimensional model. Soon, the first bat reached its nearest destination: the warehouse of a waste logistics company within the city.
There was no one inside or outside the warehouse, ruling out the first location.
The remaining two bats flew off to a satellite town several dozen kilometers away and the northern suburbs on the other side of the city, respectively. "Huh..." Vivian suddenly snapped out of her trance and let out a soft cry of surprise. Kevin immediately leaned over. "Found it?"
"One of the bats died," Vivian said, puzzled. "I didn't even realize what happened. One of the bats suddenly went silent. It was the one heading to the northern suburbs. It disappeared as it passed through the city center."
"Could it be a werewolf?"
"No, werewolves can't fly, so they usually can't deal with my bats," Vivian frowned. "Maybe it hit a transformer and got electrocuted. Accidents like that happen when you're flying too fast... The troublesome things humans have created in the past two years are really annoying. I've run into them several times myself. By the way, do you have any sunscreen? I'll put some in."
Kevin handed the sunscreen over. "Do it yourself. I'll apply oil to a bat. It's weird to see your expression change."
Vivian rolled her eyes at Kevin and began applying sunscreen to the bat. The fourth "scout" soon set off.
"Sure enough, it's in the northern suburbs!" Vivian had finally found the clue. "The scent of that big dog!"