What It's Like Being a Vampire

Chapter 653: 653

Tang Baona, Xiao Pingguo, and Yang Zhen Er clustered tightly together. Under the flickering beam of their flashlight, all their eyes were focused on what’s above the stone coffin.

In truth, Xiao Pingguo wasn’t that scared. She had already been on several missions and seen all sorts of mutants and witnessed various eerie scenes. She wasn’t exactly a hardened veteran, but she had definitely broadened her horizons. In addition to her normal visual abilities, she had multiple sensory modes to perceive her surroundings. She wasn’t afraid of the dark at all. Even without the light from Nana’s flashlight, she could clearly “see” her surroundings. Thus, the fear factor from this dark, strange underground space was basically non-existent for her.

However, Xiao Pingguo still huddled closely behind Sister Nana with Yang Zhen Er. She enjoyed the feeling of being frightened together, their hearts pounding in unison, so they pressed closer together.

Though Xiao Pingguo was hunched over, clutching at Sister Nana’s arm as if to say “how scary, how scary,” her face was full of smiles, showcasing a “how delightful, how delightful” expression.

After the lid of the largest sarcophagus opened, a mass bounced out, unrecognizable, as if it had been forced into the container and shaped by its confines.

“What the hell is that…”

Seeing such a thing, Tang Baona instinctively stepped back a few paces, Yang Zhen Er and Xiao Pingguo clung to her arm and retreated with her.

“Alice, didn’t you say in the mission briefing that the target is an old European Vampire? What is this blob?” Yang Zhen Er couldn’t help but yell out loud.

However, Alice didn’t give any response, the lump of flesh bounced twice, then crawled to the edge of the stone coffin, and began to transform.

In the midst of crisp cracking sounds, a long, flat head emerged from the lump, followed by arms and legs, stretching out.

In just a short while, the lump had morphed into a human form. However, the thing had long limbs, shriveled skin, only the stomach was swollen. Its stick-like arms and legs held onto the edge of the sarcophagus, a pair of eyes bulging out, pitch black without a hint of white, making the whole entity resemble a giant white-banded high-legged spider, a truly repugnant sight.

However, Tang Baona and the others breathed a sigh of relief because the “lump of flesh” had transformed into a human. This brought them back to the “mission guidelines” laid out by Alice, now they could continue as planned.

The “vampire”, born out of the lump of flesh, was around five and a half feet tall even when crawling. If it stood as a typical human, it would be a giant over 16 feet tall. No wonder it had to be squished into that sarcophagus. Despite the size of the coffin, it still seemed too small for it.

The face of the “vampire” only had two bulging black eyes, its nose was two holes, and there was no visible mouth. Eyebrows, hair, and the like were all missing.

It began to crawl toward Tang Baona and the others with its limbs on the ground, two black eyes reflecting a strange, shimmering light under the illumination of the flashlight.

“According to what Alice wrote in the mission briefing, it’s just completed a staged transformation, right?” Xiao Pingguo whispered, “It seems it’s ingested several ‘mutants’ at the same time, maybe that’s why it’s ‘indigesting’ and looks like this?”

Yang Zhen Er muttered: “Maybe its aesthetic sense got twisted after the mutation, and it deliberately transformed into this?”

While Tang Baona was protecting the other two and backing away slowly, she said: “Its eyes seem to be trying to hypnotize us, be careful.”

“It’s no use, hypnotizing us is like a layman trying to show off his swordsmanship in front of Guan Gong, or his carpentry skills in front of Luban, or trying to raise rabbits in front of Xiang Kun; it’s like serving us a meal!” Yang Zhen’er smugly stated.

Xiao Pingguo was unconsciously rubbing Tang Baona’s arm, itching to ask, “Sister Nana, shall we start?”

“Just hold on a little longer, let’s see what other tricks it has… um… what other formidable abilities.” Tang Baona replied.

She knew that the “old vampire” they were facing this time was more of a sparring target that Old Xia and Alice had set up for them. Otherwise, if it was simply to deal with this “old vampire,” Alice would have arranged for them to come while it was still in the process of transforming and in a dormant state, not after it had awakened— according to the “mission details”, it was clear that Alice had calculated the time well.

In this case, it means that Alice is absolutely confident about helping them, so they can let go and act freely. By observing the abilities of this “old vampire”, she might be able to get some inspiration, and acquire some even more powerful “melodies”.

On the other hand, it is also a way of building up courage. Even though she knows that Alice is protecting them and that they can beat the “old vampire”, she’s still a bit scared and wants to run away. She must face her fears and control her emotions before using her melody ability.

As soon as Tang Baona finished speaking, the “vampire” suddenly “stood” up, inflating its body several times larger in an instant. A giant mouth appeared amid the bulging belly, full of human teeth, but several times larger than normal human teeth and seemingly twisted, as if multiple people’s teeth were pieced together, looking very bizarre.

As the mouth opened, the previous laughing and crying sound echoed in the hall. In the next moment, the torches on the protruding platforms around the hall ignited with a whoosh, the flames, as if attracted by something, kept climbing up, thin and eerie.

The “old vampire” made a series of strange sounds toward them, then began to repeat it. As it recited, the flames on the surrounding torches seemed to respond, shaking and elongating. The strange chanting echoed in the hall, creating layers of echoes, as if the flames were making the sound too.

“Sister Nana, what is it saying?” Xiao Pingguo quietly asked.

“It seems to be the Latin for flames. It probably doesn’t have the ability to control fire. Those torches must have been brought down by it before and it’s done something to them. Its ability is in its voice, its voice has a hypnotic power. Those flames are meant to distract us and help it hypnotize us.” Tang Baona said, trying to analyze while forcing herself to stay calm.

“It really wants to hypnotize us, huh?” Xiao Pingguo murmured.

“Nana, if we back up any further, we’ll be at the door. Should we make a move?” Yang Zhen’er had been clutching her “super coin” in her hand for a while now, always ready to take action.

Seeing the “old vampire” approaching with rapid strides, Tang Baona finally yelled, “Xiao Pingguo! Zhen’er! Begin!”

Then Tang Baona immediately closed her eyes, tossed her “super coin” into the air, and the melody she had been envisaging suddenly echoed in the hall.

A pipa tune filled with killing intent abruptly sounded, frightening the hulking “old vampire” who stumbled backward, looking around in fear.

At the same time, Xiao Pingguo let go of Tang Baona’s arm, and threw her own “super coin” in front of her.

The inconspicuous coin landed in front of the “old vampire.” A beam of light four or five meters in diameter appeared out of thin air from the top of the hall, like a spear of light, piercing through the underground structure from above.

The “old vampire” got scared again, retreating back, while the giant mouth on its belly roared like a wild beast, deafening.

But its voice was immediately drowned out by the thunderous drumming that followed, then the flute, the erhu, and the guqin, all drawing the rhythm faster, the momentum higher, and the murderous aura stronger.

The entire hall was like a natural reverb buff, allowing the swirling music to fill the entire space, completely submerging and overriding the shriek of the “old vampire”.

The gigantic beam of light completely overpowered the torchlight from the surrounding walls, the slithery, strange flames, trembling like the flame of a miniature candle.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

In this music that seemed to be performed by a golden armored battalion, a gigantic figure slowly descended through the beam of light.

At that moment, Yang Zhen’er, who had been silently reciting the task details in her mind, also took action, throwing the “super coin” she had long been gripping in her hand.

The stone roof of the hall disappeared instantly, transforming into a gloomy sky swirling with thick clouds and electric sparks.

The beam of light piercing through the cloud layer suddenly expanded by a fold, scattering streaks of radiant light.

The figure descending from the “heavens” also underwent a change, adorning an exquisitely elegant armor and holding in hand a majestic square sky halberd entwined with electric arcs.

That figure had yellow skin, was exceedingly short and fat, wearing goggles, with its head directly attached to its body—it was simply an enlarged minion!

However, this gigantic minion was now dressed in a Chinese-style armor, holding the square sky halberd, with electricity coursing through his body, the aura he exuded was extremely imposing.

As soon as it landed, the minion version of Lu Bu swung the Square Sky Halberd towards the “old vampire”, all while emitting gleeful, strange laughter.

…

The “old vampire” named Gerald was the last remnant of the secret organization “Red Rose” to which Count Joel and John belonged.

After John Cavendish and Count Joel had travelled to China without any news, the handful of aging “vampires” left in the “Red Rose” organization did not want to sit and wait for death. They began to vie against each other for survival, trying to consume each other to gain the opportunity to break through their limits.

After the “Antarctic Crisis”, the world changed dramatically. These old fellows, who had been lurking in the shadows for nearly a hundred years, began to sense some opportunities. They wanted to come forward, to cooperate with Western agencies and organizations secretly researching and investigating “mutants”, in an attempt to restore their power and glory from centuries ago.

Nevertheless, they were soon confronted with a harsh reality. They were transformed from hunters into hunted, the subjects of research, forced to go into hiding. Even obtaining a normal blood source became difficult. Hence, the ancient “vampires” including “Red Rose” and others from various regions began a brutal internal struggle, consuming each other.

Gerald was the last “winner”.

When Tang Baona and the others arrived, he had just finished simultaneously consuming the last two “vampires” using an ancient secret technique, completing what he considered to be a transformation with great significance.

He was not aware that it was Alice and Old Xia who had arranged this outcome for these “old vampires” and the “Bloodline Vampires”, to gather in one place, forcing them to be unable to hunt ordinary humans, to fail in obtaining a normal blood source, and compelled them to annihilate and cannibalize each other.

Alice controlled all electronic devices and information data as freely as her own arm, thanks to the numerous “sub-plants” of Xiao Luobo that were spread all over the corners of the world and the “Super-connected Objects” and “Emotion Infused Objects”. She cleverly created a situation where they were besieged on all sides, forced to shrink continuously, forced to cannibalize each other.

This path seemed to be formed by various coincidences and accidents, as well as different choices made by different people, but in reality, this path was drawn for them by Alice and Old Xia from the very beginning.

The freshly awoken Gerald, although his body had undergone a massive mutation after the transformation leaving him barely resembling a human, felt a strength he had never before experienced.

This strength did not only originate from his massive body, but also from the dominion of his senses and consciousness. He knew that his hypnosis abilities, his mind control abilities over other humans and creatures had greatly strengthened.

He had a feeling that all creatures in the world could be controlled through his consciousness, all creatures could become his puppets.

Therefore, when he woke up and surprisingly found three humans in this secret place, after the initial surprise, his first reaction was not to rely on his massive body to crush and kill the adversaries, but to try and control them with his mental abilities.

In his view, humans who could enter here at this time should have some connection to “mutants”, they could be influential, there might be many people outside, and controlling them to gather information was the best choice.

At the same time, he could also test his mental control ability to manipulate all beings as “marionettes”.

What was unexpected was that no matter how many times he enhanced his hypnotic and mental control abilities, the three humans in front of him seemed immune, completely unmoved and unaffected.

Just as he was about to lose patience and wanted to use his formidable physical body to tear the three people to pieces and drink their blood, an astonishing melody he had never heard before resonated throughout the hall. The sudden beam of light tore apart space, followed by the arrival of the short and fat “giant” wearing the eastern armor and brandishing a bizarre weapon in the beam of light.

For an instant, he felt as if he hadn’t awakened and everything was a dream, that he wasn’t a “vampire”, but was just the honest coachman he once was.

Gerald was forced to confront the almost equally-sized “short fat giant” with no place to run. He had to meet it head on, planning to endure a blow, and then use the large mouth on his stomach to bite and immobilize it, subsequently using other attributes of his body.

However, contrary to his expectation, as his arm made contact with the eerie weapon, instead of being hacked and stuck into the weapon as he had imagined, his arm was instantly dismembered into thousands of pieces just like it was being rapidly cut by numerous steel wires.

The weapon continued to advance without any obstruction, all the areas it made contact with were fractured and dispersed. He felt like a giant tomato being flattened by a heavy truck, frail and juicy.

In his daze, Gerald suddenly felt as if the “ferocious” music echoing from somewhere unknown, the clanking, fast-paced melody, were eerily in sync with the way his body was breaking apart.

His body seemed to be cut and shattered by this music, this melody.

Could music also kill?