In private, Blade asked Mike, "You intentionally provoked the Blood Guard?"
"Mm."
Mike didn't deny it. "Immunity to silver and garlic…Reapers aren't naturally evolved mutants. It's obvious the Vampire Kingdom conducted research to eliminate Vampire weaknesses, but it just got out of hand. The purpose of that Supreme Grand Duke should be to make you and Chad Norma fight to the death, preferably perishing together."
"I know."
Blade was silent for a moment. "But as time goes on, once the number of Reapers increases sharply, humans will eventually be dragged into it too."
Mike glanced at Blade.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I didn't expect you to be so…noble." Mike couldn't think of a suitable word and finally chose one used to describe a superhero.
"It's not easy to control the bloodlust. Once it flares up, it's ten times stronger than drug addiction. There always needs to be something to counteract it, like revenge, like ideals. So…my nobility isn't as noble as you imagine."
Blade was very honest.
Simply put, it's like hypnotizing himself to fight against the bloodlust.
"If it were you, what would you do?" Blade asked.
"Ah, asking me?"
"I'd let the Reapers almost wipe out the Vampires before making my move." Mike explained with a sinister smile, "The reason Vampires live so comfortably is largely due to the compromise of human high-level officials themselves. Between short-term pain and long-term pain, human high-level officials chose the long-term pain that better suited their own class interests, and eventually, both sides reached an agreement. Reapers are like Beasts with a strong appetite; there's no basis for an agreement with them."
"Use the enemy's enemy to eliminate the enemy, and then the enemy's enemy becomes the enemy that must be dealt with with all your might," Mike added.
In Mike's view, there are two ways to eliminate Vampires: one, eliminate Dracula, the current source of Vampires. Two, use biotechnology to make human blood no longer suitable for Vampire consumption, or even turn it into poison, starving Vampires to death.
In the comics, Dracula has an immortality that even the five great gods of the Universe cannot kill. It's difficult for human power to completely kill him! So banishment or sealing is a better method.
In the movie Universe, Dracula isn't that abnormal, but he's still very difficult to kill, at least at the level of "regeneration from a drop of blood."
In contrast, removing humans from the Vampire diet is more reliable, provided the Vampire problem is brought to the forefront and gains the attention of all humanity.
Mike said, "I think we shouldn't follow the Supreme Grand Duke's pace, otherwise we're likely to fall into a passive position."
Blade said, "Do you have any ideas?"
Mike rolled his eyes: "I'm just a mercenary, like an office worker. You're the boss. You can't let the employee do everything, otherwise what's the point of having you as the boss! Oh, right, what are you planning to do with Sykes?"
Blade: "You know his identity?"
Mike: "He's from the Ghoul Clan, he smells like Vampires."
Blade: "Originally, I wanted to use him to dig a big pit for the Vampires, but I haven't found a good opportunity."
Mike: "Then hurry up, otherwise I won't be able to resist cutting him down, he's too disgusting."
Mike had an extremely poor impression of the Ghoul Clan. He could even destroy beautiful flowers, let alone a slovenly youth like Sykes.
Worse than an enemy is an enemy from within, which is a traitor.
On the other side.
Sykes found an opportunity to report to Reinhardt.
"That Mike is really not human, not human…"
Thinking of Mike abusing and killing Reapers, and killing a dozen Vampires like crushing ants, Sykes's heart was still pounding to this day.
So-called traitors are either greedy for life and afraid of death, or opportunistic, and more often both. However, when he found that the powerful backing he sought was not as strong as he imagined, he inevitably panicked.
"Not human? Is he a Vampire too?"
Reinhardt didn't care. His understanding of strength was very narrow; he thought, how strong could one be?
Honestly, after two years of training, he felt he could almost go fifty-fifty with Blade.
So Reinhardt was actually a bit displeased that Makinos had brought Blade in.
Strategy?
In the face of power, it's not needed! After dealing with the Reapers, just deal with Blade, why go through so much trouble.
It can only be said that he had some misunderstanding about power.
Sykes was desperate. He found that the powerful backing was not only not as strong as he imagined, but also a bit foolish.
What else could he do?
Run, of course.
A traitor…if he betrays you today, why would it be strange for him to betray someone else tomorrow?
Meanwhile, Whistler was preparing the Sunlight Bomb. Mike stepped forward and whispered a few words to Whistler.
"Are you sure?" Whistler asked.
"Mm."
"Alright."
Now, Whistler trusted Mike greatly, a trust based on a special understanding—Mike was very strong, and there was no need for schemes to trick him and Blade.
At noon, when the sun was most intense, was the most sluggish time for Vampires and Reapers.
The Blood Guard entered the sewers.
The sewers of New York are famously intricate throughout the World, almost forming an underground World, a den of iniquity.
Starting from the sewer where that Reaper was stuck, they spread out to search.
Reapers exhibited a stricter hierarchy than Vampires. Chad Norma was like a queen bee, and the other Reapers were like worker bees. The advantage was group action, absolute obedience to Chad Norma's commands. The disadvantage was a lack of individual intelligence, acting on instinct.
Vampires and Reapers both have Night Vision, especially the latter, who are almost completely adapted to darkness.
Whistler prepared Night Vision goggles for Mike.
Mike unceremoniously took them, then threw them into his system space. He might use them later, or he could sell them if he really didn't need them. As for the current situation, Observation Haki was simply too useful.
As the "Master," the Reapers quickly sensed the presence of the "guests."
The battle erupted instantly upon contact between the two sides.
After killing a few Reapers, Mike encountered Chuba of the Blood Guard in the sewers.
"I'm going East."
"I'm going West."
Before he finished speaking, Mike's figure crossed paths with Chuba, and Chuba had just turned his gun, not having time to pull the pin on the grenade in his hand.
One-Sword Style: Iai: Lion's Song!
"Idiot!"
Mike sheathed his sword. "Your heart is beating so fast, it's like you're afraid others won't know you're planning a sneak attack."
Chuba died.
"Good swordsmanship!"
Snowman of the Blood Guard applauded.
For this Vampire who looked seventy percent like Universe Dan, Mike took out another sword from his back.
"The more swords you use, the stronger you get?"
"Perhaps."
Mike inserted both swords, still in their sheaths, into his waist on both sides, striking a stance for an Iai slash.
"For certain reasons you couldn't possibly know, I feel that using two swords to distinguish you from ordinary cannon fodder better suits my mood."
"Well, thank you very much then." Snowman also drew his sword.
Two-Sword Style: Iai: Rashomon!
Clang!
The katana in Snowman's hand broke into two pieces. He looked down at the wound on his chest and said, "In the end, I'm just cannon fodder, right? Oh, how many swords can you use at most?"
"Nine."
"Nine?" Snowman couldn't imagine a human using Nine-Sword Style with just two hands.
"Thank you." This time, Snowman's words were sincere.
Then he turned to ash.