Jiang Yao's sleep lasted longer than Jiang Yan had imagined—a full thirteen days. It wasn't until the last day of June that she finally sat up, stretching weakly.
During those thirteen days, Jiang Yan had updated the custor notice outside the shop three tis, then spent most of her ti staying by Jiang Yao's side without leaving for a mont.
The days were peaceful but tedious. After being away from the store for so long, Jiang Yan had almost lost the desire to reopen for business.
Sister Tan had lost contact since that night she ca seeking help. Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao finally reopened their shop and resud business.
As expected, business was more than just a little cold—barely managing to break even, turning their ambitious plans from a month ago into anxious calculations of gains and losses.
Feeling that it was her fault that led to the current situation, Jiang Yao was also in low spirits, smiling much less when facing custors.
The only consolation was that after thirteen days of long sleep, Jiang Yao had actually reached the mid-tier Attendant realm. If she went all out with blood-boiling, even so lower-tier knights might not be able to withstand her.
The two external hormone suppressants had long been used up. Fortunately, nothing worrying had happened during these days, allowing Jiang Yan to recover from her relief.
During the few days after reopening, shop owners on the street would mutter unsettling rumors.
Seven or eight days ago, not only Taihe Residential Complex in their Yushui Street area, but other neighboring complexes had also successively seen incidents of drug overdose addicts biting people. Police had already begun twenty-four-hour patrols.
Three days ago, the adjacent Tongda Street and Fuping Street areas had also seen identical people and incidents. The situation was getting out of control.
Every day, publicity staff from the street office repeatedly promoted awareness on various streets, with many residential property managent companies even launching self-inspection activities.
Jiang Yan knew that while the blood sent out that night seed like a lot, for a pregnant Blood Clan female, it might really only last a week.
Sister Tan must have already collapsed. Perhaps for herself, but more likely for the child in her belly. Having lost her real life for decades, she was now attacking ordinary people regardless of consequences—perhaps neighbors, perhaps passersby.
The out-of-control blood-boiling during blood thirst episodes made every ordinary person Sister Tan contacted a victim of blood infection.
But why hadn't Sister Tan left yet? Was she just waiting for Shadow Arrow Force to co to her door? What was she thinking?
Jiang Yan felt an indescribable sympathy for Sister Tan, or perhaps a sense of desperate foreboding.
After Jiang Yao learned about Sister Tan's situation from Jiang Yan, this girl who was usually sowhat carefree also beca quite depressed.
Perhaps this place that had once made the two girls plan to settle down peacefully was approaching the ti to leave.
...
...
July 2nd, Tuesday, 7 PM.
Inside a secret base at a military airport in the suburbs of C City, Southwest Surveillance District of China's Shadow Arrow Force, over a hundred n and won in black combat uniforms stood fully ard in the conference hall, listening to the final mission briefing before departure.
"...Over the past week, several vampire attacks on ordinary people have occurred daily in the aforentioned urban streets. More than half died from excessive blood loss or immune system collapse, while the rest were without exception infected by blood and caused secondary spreading incidents."
"Through intelligence positioning and on-site analysis, this has been confird as a large-scale blood infection incident caused by a Black Blood Clan knight with out-of-control blood thirst. Due to its rapid spread, serious consequences, and the extrely crazy and cunning opponent, this mission is classified as D level!
"The mission area is urban with nurous buildings and streets, complex terrain, and tens of thousands of permanent residents, so ensuring ordinary citizens' safety is paramount!
"...For this operation, relevant departnts have cooperated in establishing blockade controls, with the target locked in Taihe Residential Complex in Yushui Street and surrounding areas. This operation will deploy two assault squads and two support squads, entering the blockade zone from four directions for live capture. Operation ti is set for 20:00 hours."
The female assistant finished her briefing and stepped aside as a tall young man walked expressionlessly to the front.
Surveying the Xuan Jia Squad mbers present, those unfamiliar yet serious faces left ng Huai montarily dazed.
Before him was the Xuan Jia Squad Assault Company, restored to full strength after over a month of reorganization—a full hundred people. But among them, fewer than thirty had participated in that D City operation at the end of April, with veteran soldiers being even fewer.
The nominally restored-to-full-strength Xuan Jia Squad's newly supplented mbers were almost entirely of common blood types. This ant they had far higher probability of blood infection than rare blood type mbers, and worse adaptability to anti-blood infection immune dications.
Although these young squad mbers were all elite selected directly from regular army units with extrely high military quality, in ng Huai's eyes, the current assault company's combat effectiveness was less than half of what it had been a year ago.
"The opponent is just a lone vampire knight operating in isolation, with no traces of other vampire cooperation. As long as everyone maintains high focus as in usual training, even in a complex urban area, this can be easily handled. Now, move out!"
At ng Huai's command, all personnel stood at attention uniformly with impressive montum.
On the highway leading to J District, dozens of military vehicles roared past, with traffic police controlling roads along the route to ensure unobstructed passage.
All roads leading to the outside world and residential complexes large and small in J District's Yushui Street had been blocked by police hours earlier. Citizens within the blockade line whispered among themselves, also becoming excited and nervous.
Police were finally taking action against the social cancer hidden in the streets. Almost every residential community chat group flashed with cheers of "Go!", "Support!", and "Strike hard!"
...
At the old street entrance, the sudden blockade left it completely empty, catching the newly opened Snacks & Cold Drinks shop off guard.
All tables and chairs had been moved back into the shop. Following reminders from street office staff, Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao obediently stayed inside with the rolling door tightly closed, waiting for notification that the blockade was lifted.
On their phones, various platforms still showed singing and dancing, or gossip flying everywhere. The disturbance in one street of one city was far from enough to attract netwide attention.
Without even needing to activate blood-boiling, Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao could already sense violent yet desperate auras continuously spreading and wandering in the dark sky outside their shop.
One hour, two hours—ti flew by rapidly.
The sounds of semi-automatic shotguns, pistols, and even large-caliber anti-materiel sniper rifles could be faintly heard. A righteous action in the public eye was proceeding in full swing.
Jiang Yan didn't sit in a chair but stood before the rolling door with her head slightly lowered.
"Bro... what's wrong with you? Why didn't Sister Tan leave..."
Jiang Yao seed to sense sothing and slowly walked to Jiang Yan's side, discovering that this Jiang Yan who was always so calm and steady actually had two tear tracks on her cheeks.
Jiang Yan touched the wet places on her face, then slowly closed her eyes. Accompanied by the increasingly clear gunfire outside, tears flowed uncontrollably from the corners of her eyes like silent lyrics being filled in.
Facing Jiang Yao's frightened and nervous questions, Jiang Yan only shook her head desperately without answering.
As if sensing sothing yesterday, both Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao had early injected internal and external hormone suppressants, along with several other dications that could disguise physical examinations—a purchasing decision Jiang Yan had made by temporarily contacting Zhao Peng a few days ago.
A familiar aura was approaching, but weaker.
Like waiting for an opera's curtain call, Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao, who was holding her arm, ignored the street office's warnings and opened the rolling door, then quietly watched the dim street.
A staggering black shadow ran quickly down the old street, finally seeming to rember sothing, turned around, and rushed toward Jiang Yan's shop.
There, the rolling door was wide open.
Finally, the shadow lost strength and stumbled into the Snacks & Cold Drinks shop.
Sister Tan, dressed in all black, had been wounded in the waist, showing the terrible sight of silver ion-burned flesh. Through a torn sleeve, a section of deford and damaged arm was faintly visible.
On her face, neck, arms—all visible exposed skin bore scorched bloody marks. Wild hair, red pupils filled with excitent, despair, and fear, and an entire body emanating chaotic aura that had fallen into low tide.
"Sister Tan!"
Jiang Yao cried out and was about to step forward when Jiang Yan pulled her back. Looking back, she saw that Jiang Yan's now-calm face actually carried traces of coldness.
"Little girl, I... I'm going ho... I miss my mom and dad..."
Sister Tan faced upward, spitting out blackened blood, with a smile of relief actually appearing at the corners of her mouth.
"But you hurt so many innocent people... I'm very curious, why didn't you leave?"
Jiang Yan stared fixedly at Sister Tan on the ground, speaking coldly.
"Hehe, this is my ho... My husband was very good to . I wronged him, so I want to be buried with him... Thank you for seeing off on this final journey... Live well..."
Sister Tan breathed weakly, her hands slowly covering her abdon, gently patting as if comforting the little life inside that wasn't even two months old.
A lone purple butterfly quietly flew into the small shop, fluttering up and down a few tis before landing on Sister Tan's hand, folding its wings and remaining motionless.
Outside, from the distant street ca dense footsteps, surrounding the only shop on the old street that still had its lights on.
Over a dozen fully ard n and won in black combat uniforms poured into the Snacks & Cold Drinks shop.
Fierce semi-automatic shotguns were gripped in the hands of these black-uniford n and won, with many gun barrels still emitting faint wisps of smoke.
"Target captured, experiencing physiological failure."
A half-masked young female military police officer crouched beside Sister Tan, injected an unknown dication into her body, then turned to look at the two sisters standing dazed in the shop.
The crowd parted as another tall young military police officer strode forward, first glancing at the vampire knight on the ground who had fallen into a coma, then sizing up Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao.
Pulling down his mask, the young man revealed his true appearance.
Compared to Jiang Yan's unchanged cool expression, Jiang Yao's pupils suddenly contracted sharply, then she lowered her head with a frightened expression.
"Don't be afraid, it's safe here now."
ng Huai surveyed the shop's interior decoration with a relaxed expression, finally turning his gaze back to Jiang Yan.
The black-haired girl opposite him was also looking at him with those clear yet cold large eyes.
Just quietly looking, without emotion, as if she had no interest, nervousness, or fear regarding his outfit. An indescribable sense of familiarity arose naturally.
"Alright, withdraw!"
ng Huai slowly turned his head away, nodding slightly to the female team mber beside him: "Tao Qiao'er, conduct examinations on these two female comrades."
Tao Qiao'er pulled down her mask and walked toward Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao with a gentle smile, taking a portable thermal imaging recorder and a small box from her waist.
Body surface temperature normal.
"Please put this in your mouth and remove it after thirty seconds. If there has been recent intake of prohibited substances, it will show positive."
Opening the small box, Tao Qiao'er took out two flat plastic-textured small sticks and handed them to the two girls respectively.
Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao looked at each other, silently nodding in compliance.
When ti was up, both test sticks for detecting abnormal Blood Clan internal hormones showed negative—this was the powerful effect of internal hormone suppressants. As long as they weren't in blood thirst state, it was almost indistinguishable from the real thing.
"Everything normal, thank you for your cooperation. If there are any losses in the shop, you can register at the street office, and specialists will co for assessnt and compensation later. Goodbye."
After enviously glancing at Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao's figures, Tao Qiao'er turned and left.
Sister Tan was carried out of the shop, placed in a specially made black long box, then carried into a military vehicle.
Everything returned to calm. At the sa mont, every residential community chat group in Yushui Street erupted in celebration.
Only at the old street entrance did a pair of sisters still stand dazed by the empty street, looking up at the moon in the night sky in silence.
(End of Volu One)
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