Adam clapped his hands once and rose from the reef.
"Hunting Phase Two… begins."
"Now?" Yinling asked.
Adam pointed toward the camp.
Inside, the fishmen had already hacked down the zombies around the bonfire. Groups were splitting off, entering cabins one by one to continue the sweep.
"Operating alone now… That makes things easy."
Vampires didn't possess a giant's brute strength.Nor the elves' lightning speed.
But they had something else.
Heightened senses.
A "gift" from God—meant to let them feel pain more vividly.
Instead, it granted them superior sight… and hearing.
Which meant—
A vampire hidden in darkness… was a born hunter.
Yinling had been a shut-in vampire for five hundred years, but even she knew this truth well.
Humans had completely collapsed.
Fishmen were sweeping the camp house by house, cleaning up the battlefield.
The entire pirate base had turned into a slaughter arena.
And to vampires—
That was a hunting ground prepared just for them.
Under flickering moonlight drifting through broken clouds, the two figures slipped silently into the camp's interior.
Yinling handled reconnaissance and lookout.
Adam handled the killing.
A perfect two-person night-raid formation.
In a dim corridor, a fishman gripped a heavy cleaver.
Screams echoed everywhere.
He ran toward any sound of terror—because screams usually meant zombies.
Rounding a narrow passage, he kicked a door open.
Moonlight flooded the room.
Several fishman corpses lay scattered across the floor.
At the center—
A bald man held a human pirate aloft by the throat with one hand.
The scream had come from him.
The fishman froze, stunned by the scene.
He instinctively stepped back—
And suddenly—
A kick slammed into his back.
Yinling, newly shifted into human form, sent him flying into the room—
Straight onto Adam's extended claws.
He died before he could even scream.
"Fishmen aren't that impressive," Yinling chuckled.
Adam rolled his eyes.
"Try saying that underwater."
Down there, vampire sight and hearing would be heavily suppressed.
Fishmen, on the other hand, ruled the sea.
Even ignoring strength differences, vampires would be at a fatal disadvantage.
Fishmen coming onto land?
That just meant they were stupid.
Adam tightened his grip on the human pirate's throat.
"Keep screaming."
The pirate obeyed in terror—another shrill, desperate scream tore out of him.
Yinling slipped outside, closing the door, shifting back into a bat to continue scouting.
Better to wait than search.
After all…
They had bait.
Big bait—but bait nonetheless.
At this rate, the camp would be cleared soon.
Then they could head for Athens.
Adam was feeling rather pleased with himself.
Footsteps suddenly approached.
Urgent.
Fast.
"Adam—three fishmen. The shark one's with them," Yinling's ultrasonic voice rang out.
"Got it."
Adam crushed the human's shinbone with one squeeze—
Then leapt out the window and vanished.
He was confident he could beat the sharkman.
But exposing his identity wasn't worth the risk.
His flesh wings spread wide.
He shot into the sky, landing on the rooftop.
Bat-form Yinling followed, hanging upside down from his wing.
"Stopping already? We could catch more bait," she said.
Despite her obedient-girl appearance, Yinling felt no fear of slaughter.
No vampire did.
Their very existence was built on it.
"No need," Adam said.
"Five or six fishmen left inside. We wait on the roof. Anyone who runs—we kill."
Inside the room, the newly arrived fishmen stared at the corpses in shock.
"What now… boss?" the octopus-man asked nervously.
The sharkman's gills flared.
His massive nostrils expanded violently.
Each inhale produced a heavy whistling drag—
As if filtering every particle in the air.
Blood.
Rot.
Salt.
And…
Something else.
Something cold.
Something predatory.
"Leave," he said at last, voice low.
"This place is wrong. We've found too many bodies. Unknown enemy. We regroup underwater."
Even he felt unease now.
First the sudden zombie outbreak.
Then invisible enemies.
Now slaughtered subordinates.
Mythic races didn't believe in ghosts—
But something was hunting here.
"But… our treasure?" the tuna-man asked.
They could dive.
But the loot?
Gold and jewels were fine.
But there were also documents. Wood relics. Silk artifacts.
Leaving treasure behind?
That wasn't pirate logic.
"Then we move it to the ships?" he suggested.
"Idiot! Can you even sail?" the octopus-man snapped.
"You're fishmen—stop gambling and learn something useful!"
"I swim where I want! Why learn ships?" the tuna-man argued.
"Can you swim with treasure?"
Fishmen were lazy by nature.
Which was why many became pirates.
Piracy required ships.
Ships required humans to operate.
Which meant—
Fishman pirate crews depended on human sailors.
Now the humans were dead.
So the ships were useless.
"…What if we call him?" the tuna-man asked quietly.
The sharkman ignored him.
"Retrieve the treasure first. Then shoreline regroup."
Call him?
That was basically the same as throwing treasure into the sea.
On the roof, Adam heard everything.
"Him? Who's that…"
He narrowed his eyes.
"Doesn't matter. Follow them. Saves us searching for loot."
If humans were dead…
Ships couldn't sail.
Kill the sharkman later.
Sink the ships.
Take the treasure.
Mission complete.
Simple.
Soon, six fishmen rushed from the building toward another stone structure deeper in camp.
Only after they all entered did Adam rise.
"Move."
He and Yinling spread their wings and flew.
The stone house was low and windowless.
Fire basins burned at the entrance.
It looked more like a tomb than a storehouse.
"Guess we're forcing entry," Adam said, folding his wings.
"No back exit anyway."
He walked straight through the front door.
To him—
These fishmen weren't much of a threat.
After winding torch-lit corridors, he reached a chamber blazing with firelight.
Gold.
Silver.
Jewels everywhere.
Fishmen were frantically packing treasure.
"Need a hand?" Adam asked lightly, stepping inside.
Bald head gleaming.
Muscles dense and terrifying.
A gentle smile on his face.
Blood still clung to his fingertips.
Every fishman froze.
They instantly understood—
This was the enemy.
"You!" the sharkman shrieked.
His heart pounded wildly.
Sweat rolled down his smooth forehead.
He raised a hand, stopping subordinates from charging.
That day's encounter with Adam still haunted him.
After a long silence, he spoke.
"Vampire… Why target us? Fishmen and vampires have no feud."
Adam's eyes narrowed slightly.
"How do you know I'm a vampire?"
"Overwhelming strength. Human appearance. Pale skin…"
"You're high-blood."
The sharkman tightened his grip on his cleaver.
That conclusion had cost him two hundred gold coins.
Adam let out a cold chuckle.
"You deduced that yourself?"
No answer.
The sharkman simply shifted into combat stance.
"What do you want?"
So he hadn't figured it out alone.
Someone told him.
Who?
His so-called "old man"? Another pirate faction?
Had news of Adam already spread?
Careless.
Too careless.
Adam's thoughts darkened.
"Who told you?" he asked coldly.
He picked up a gold coin—
Crushed it into a lump with one hand.
A silent threat.
If one person knew…
That person had to die.
Fast.
Before the secret spread further.
Suddenly—
The sharkman laughed.
So did the others.
"You want to meet him?" he sneered.
"You'll regret it."
He pulled a bottle from his waist.
Popped the cork.
"Come out… Demon Old Man!"
Thick smoke burst from the bottle—
Billowing violently into the chamber.
Adam's pupils shrank.
"…A bottled djinn?"
No…
Don't tell me—