Chapter 50: Changes

Rachel felt as though she had been having a very long dream. In the dream, she had never encountered any vampires, and she was still living a peaceful, ordinary life with her parents on that unpretentious farm in Wisconsin.

Just as she wanted to sit at the dining table once more, waiting for the pie and pepperoni pizza, Rachel suddenly felt everything around her changing. That terrifying figure from her consciousness emerged in her memory once again—the blindingly sharp blade and the crimson armor.

Clutching the amulet given to her by her ancestors tightly, she endured her terror and hid inside a tiny doll protected by mysterious runes.

After a long time, when those disturbances and screams finally ceased, Rachel struggled to tear open the zipper of the doll with her hands.

And then, her dream was abruptly cut short.

"Hiss—"

Waking up from the anesthesia, Rachel coughed up a pool of pale blue mucus from within her body. Looking at her surroundings, she realized she had no idea where she was. This seemed to be a sealed space, devoid of any light. Rachel scanned her surroundings and could make out the environment in the dark; it looked like some long-neglected basement.

A gentle breeze swept past her body, and Rachel quickly felt a chill, as if the basement's ventilation system had turned on periodically. She saw a rotating fan on the ceiling and caught the scent of sea breeze carried within it.

She seemed to be by the seaside.

Subconsciously, she looked down at her own body and found herself lying scantily clad inside the coffin Lynn had prepared for her, as unclothed as the dead resurrected after passing away. With no time to think too much, Rachel quickly inspected her surroundings.

Soon, Rachel found a set of vacuum-packed leather clothing on a worn-out sofa nearby.

"Where are the lights?"

She struggled to climb to her feet, placing her hand on a somewhat aged display rack nearby. With a harsh screeching sound, the entire old stainless steel rack was instantly crushed and snapped under her grip, causing her to lose her balance and crash down onto the floor.

Only then did she realize that her body seemed different from before.

"What is wrong with me?"

Rachel hurried to stand up, but the moment she exerted force with one foot, she shot straight up into the air and smashed headfirst into the ceiling. The old-fashioned electric fan on the ceiling was no match for her rough treatment and instantly shed several screws amid the violent vibration.

Then, the aging electrical wiring could no longer support the heavily rusted fixture, and it dropped straight to the ground, producing another piercing screech.

"This..."

Falling from the ceiling and taking a heavy spill on the floor, Rachel carefully climbed back up, clenched her fist, and glanced at the clothes resting inside the vacuum-sealed bag beside her...

"It would probably be best if I get used to my own body first."

***

At that moment, Lynn was inside his haunted mansion on Ebony Wood Street. The morning sunlight was not dazzling at all, but rather quite soft. Lynn opened the blinds to enjoy the sunlight streaming into the room and asked Maria, who was standing nearby.

"Has the matter been handled properly?"

He was making his own breakfast, while Kara sat on the sofa brewing coffee. Only Maria stood in the living room, holding her briefcase and answering Lynn's question with a smile.

"I have already dropped her off in Jersey City, arranging a basement for her to adapt to her transformation."

"What about other matters?"

"There has been no progress regarding the Blood Covenant Council. Both Mulanxa and The Keeper are unwilling to show themselves; they seem to have been frightened and are now cowering in their respective nests, refusing to come out.

However, I have had other gains, Dr. Cedis."

Hearing Maria's words, Lynn picked up his pancake and sat down on the old sofa.

"What gains?"

"The matter concerning Romulus Pharmaceuticals."

Lynn remembered. As the pharmaceutical enterprise used by Nosferatu to control the Bronx, Lynn had simply left in too much of a hurry at the time and hadn't had the chance to deal with Romulus Pharmaceuticals.

"Romulus Pharmaceuticals controls the entire pharmaceutical and sales industry of the Bronx, and has certain business operations in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

I integrated Nosferatu's direct residual forces in المخت of the Bronx and had my people take over a portion of Romulus Pharmaceuticals' assets, which can open up medical channels for Chronos Hospital."

Following that, Maria bent slightly and said cautiously, "The upper-echelon vampires of Mulanxa have been dealt with privately by me for a short while now. If possible, I would like to..."

Lynn knew very well what Maria wanted to say, but he did not answer her personally. Instead, Kara spoke up, "Well done. I trust you have already taken care of the relevant procedures. Don't tell me you prepared nothing at all."

Maria's capability was indeed commendable. This woman seemed to have seized upon the chaotic situation at Romulus Pharmaceuticals and completed partial control over the company without any orders from Lynn.

"I have already prepared a deed of sale."

"You two go handle this matter. As for The Keeper and Mulanxa, we now need to wait for the ripples from the stone cast into the water; there is no need to waste time waiting."

"I understand, Doctor."

***

After speaking, Kara stood up and left Lynn's residence together with Maria. Just as they finished talking, Jessica walked down the stairs, yawning, and looked at Lynn, then at Kara and Maria who had just left.

"Lynn, is there some big gig lately?"

"There is indeed, but you don't need to do it. I've arranged for an outsourced operative to go."

"Can't I do it? Raiding those vampire nests feels much more suitable for me, and don't you need to collect my data anyway?"

Lynn looked at Jessica and smiled as he said, "How do you know I don't have other arrangements for you?"

"Ah? Do you?"

"I do."

"What are they?"

Without answering immediately, Lynn walked to the kitchen, took a carton of milk from the refrigerator, placed it on the coffee table in front of Jessica, and stared right at her.

"The same task: hunting vampires."

"Huh? But Lynn, didn't you already arrange for that outsourced operative to do it?"

"No, the mission I'm giving you is not over there; it's somewhere else. The Keeper and Mulanxa are in hiding, but another faction of vampires has unexpectedly become quite active.

After the Gamma Monster incident in Brooklyn, the Zoanoids and Chronos Hospital combatants are no longer suitable for dispatching on missions; I need them to remain silent for a period of time.

That is when you need to step in and do these things."

As he spoke, Lynn took out a USB flash drive containing the files of Sword-Claw's cadres, also collected by Maria. These high-ranking vampires were primarily responsible for recruiting new blood into their ranks.

Therefore, their movements were quite easy to track since they operated with very little concealment. By now, they had already attracted a lot of attention; presumably, both The Keeper and Mulanxa had discovered their traces, but were simply too constrained by pressure to engage the vampires head-on.

The chaotic vampire turf war on Staten Island had just concluded, and as dove-like vampires, they naturally did not want to provoke sensitive human nerves again and risk flushing their status in New York down the drain.

"Is it enough just to wipe out these vampires?"

Jessica took the USB flash drive Lynn handed her, drinking her milk as she asked.

"This is a small test for you. It only contains some necessary data; as for how to eliminate those vampires, you'll need to figure it out yourself."

"Can I start operating now?"

"You can take action as soon as you finish breakfast, just don't forget to go to school."

As soon as Lynn finished speaking, Jessica hurriedly finished her milk, bolted up the stairs, seemingly impatient to use her computer to see what heavyweight intelligence Lynn had stored on the USB drive.

***

Rachel finally grew accustomed to her body, managing with great difficulty to avoid crushing those stainless steel racks casually, and then tested her strength using various props in the basement.

It took her a very long time to figure out just how great her current strength actually was. Of course, she hadn't dared touch the neatly packaged clothes during this time, fearing she might ruin them and end up having to wander the streets stark naked to find something to wear.

"This strength is even greater than when I became a vampire. What kind of changes have happened to me... What did that man do to me?"

Rachel desperately wanted to recall what she had experienced in Lynn's basement.

Yet the only result she got was a string of blackouts, completely devoid of any memories, as if her consciousness had been excavated from the middle of the timeline.

"Damn it, I don't have the slightest impression at all."

However, as her emotions fluctuated, an egg she was holding in her hand instantly shattered, splattering egg white and yolk all over her.

Yet Rachel had already grown numb to it. There was indeed a shower room in the basement, but having crushed over a dozen eggs in a row, she planned to thoroughly clean her body only after all this was finished.

Shaking her head and sighing, Rachel reached into the plastic packaging nearby and retrieved another egg.

A few minutes later, another crashing sound echoed.

She had no idea how long she had stayed in this dim, lightless basement before finally making some progress and gradually adapting to her body.

At last, she chose to go to the shower room to clean herself. As the eggshells and mucus clinging to her body were slowly washed away by the cold water spraying from the showerhead into the drain nearby, Rachel finally let out a sigh of relief. At least she wouldn't have to spend too much time here anymore.

She still had to go see Hannibal.

"There isn't even a mirror here; I have no idea if I'm actually clean..."

Stepping out of the bathroom, Rachel looked at the clothes, carefully lifted them, gently tore open the packaging, and put on the complete outfit she had arrived in.

Then she took a deep breath, placed her hand on the doorknob, hesitated slightly for a moment, and finally took one last deep breath as if making up her mind. She turned and pushed the door open, without destroying a single thing.

The moment she stepped out of the basement, she squinted. Half of the evening sun had already sunk into the Hudson River, casting its rays upon her body without the slightest discomfort. Although the evening sun could no longer provide full warmth, it still offered a trace of heat—driving away the cold, damp air near the Hudson River and that hint of moldy odor.

The location she was in was indeed around the Hudson River, and there were a few homeless people crouching beneath a nearby bridge, using an iron barrel to build a fire for warmth.

Rachel finally adapted to the outside light, looked at her still slightly trembling hands, and then hurriedly looked back at the dark basement she had just emerged from.

Behind her seemed to be an abandoned building in Hell's Kitchen. Although no one managed it anymore, all sorts of monsters and demons might well be lurking inside.

The scent of the Hudson River mixed with the sea breeze pulled Rachel back to reality. She hurried away at an incredible speed, moving so fast that before the homeless people could even observe the blonde beauty properly, she was already gone.

"Did our eyes play tricks on us just now?"

"Forget it, don't you know what that place used to be?"

With that, a homeless man shrugged and tucked his hands back into his coat.

"Still, that chick just now was gorgeous, though I wonder what that green gem on her forehead was. Must be the latest trend."

"What do you know about rich people's ideas? Just forget about it..."

Just as Rachel was unable to observe her own face due to the lack of a mirror, the small green crystal on her forehead was slowly being covered by her skin, gradually sinking into her brow until it completely vanished ten seconds later.

There was no longer any trace of anything ever existing on her forehead.

She finally found a moderately reflective glass window to check her face, reaching out to stroke her cheek. Everything seemed identical to the past, without the slightest change.

Except that she was now bathing in sunlight, accompanied by all sorts of familiar yet unfamiliar sensations. The feeling of her nails and fingers brushing against her cheek made her involuntarily wipe away a trace of moisture flowing from the corner of her eye.

"Miss, would you like to step inside and take a look? Are you interested in this garment?"

The clerk's voice interrupted her sentimental thoughts.

"Ah, it's nothing, I'm just looking..."

Hearing Rachel say this, the clerk flashed a professional smile and turned away without looking back to attend to another customer.

"I need to go back and find Hannibal!" Rachel thought to herself.

Relying on her almost completely transformed leg power, Rachel hardly needed to use transportation to return to Jersey City.

She found the place where she and Hannibal had agreed to meet, pushed open the door full of anticipation, and saw a disheveled man watching *Tom and Jerry*.

At that moment, Tom was being played with in the palm of Toodles Galore's paw, while Hannibal stared at Tom with a decadent expression, his hair a complete bird's nest.

He didn't even notice Rachel's return.

"Just leave the pizza at the door..."

There was indeed a pizza by the door, but it had already gone cold. It seemed he had only answered out of reflex, without realizing the pizza had arrived long ago.

"How about we share this pizza together?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Hannibal whipped his head around and spotted Rachel. He bounded off the sofa, rushed over to her, and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"You're back! I was honestly starting to think..."

"Alright, stop thinking and look at me."

With that, Rachel locked eyes with Hannibal. Clearly, neither of them could suppress the emotions swelling within their hearts. A moment later, their lips pressed together.

As for that pizza, it might be eaten later—or perhaps not at all.

However, deep in the middle of that very night, the surrounding neighbors all heard a man's heart-rending screams, along with the wail of an ambulance...

Though the first half of those screams somehow didn't sound much like pain...