DLWAV CH127

And just like that, Deputy Director Li and his team swaggered away, cradling the imperial jade seal like a priceless treasure.

Sun Jianhong and his men finally snapped out of their daze. Exchanging eager glances, they rolled up their sleeves and hotfooted it right behind them. After all, who would want to miss the glorious moment of China washing away its past humiliations and thoroughly obliterating those arrogant vampires?

…Well, truth be told, who would ever pass up a front-row seat to world-class drama?

Only, just as he was stepping out the door, Sun Jianhong’s footsteps faltered.

Did I forget something important? He racked his brain, turning the thought over and over, but he just couldn’t put his finger on what it was.

Seeing that Deputy Director Li and the others were already fading into the distance, he threw caution to the wind, abandoning his train of thought to sprint after them.

Meanwhile, lurking silently in the corner of the room since the very beginning, Sun Xiuji stood frozen: “…”

He had completely steeled his psychological defenses, fully prepared to face a barrage of lectures and finger-pointing from Sun Jianhong. Yet, his father had just… walked out without a second glance?

What else was he supposed to do?

Flushing a bright scarlet right up to his ears, he flung his arms around Ao Ruizhe again and mumbled, “I… I didn’t get a very clear look just now. Do you want to go wash up again?”

Ao Ruizhe chuckled softly: “…”

When meat willingly delivers itself to the door, not even a stray dog would turn it down.

“Sure,” he murmured.

Looping his arm around Sun Xiuji, he guided him straight toward his bedroom.

While Sun Xiuji was thoroughly occupied with “watching” Ao Ruizhe take a shower, across the ocean, Zhongzhi Ge and his ragtag team finally managed to flee back to Castle Brujah.

Zhongzhi Ge covered his tracks by claiming he had only led a faction to China to extract his beloved fiancée.

Prince Brujah didn’t suspect a thing. However, upon learning that even after they had issued a strict ultimatum, China still dared to resist—and had brutally slaughtered three of his Vampiric Barons—fury consumed him. He slammed his scepter onto the stone floor, instantly splintering the ground into over a dozen hairline fractures. One jagged crack ripped through the stone, tearing forward a dozen meters until it halted right beneath Zhongzhi Ge’s knees.

A malicious, crimson glow flared wildly in the Prince’s eyes. His voice, raspy yet piercing, echoed through the hall: “Is China dare to mock me?!”

Zhongzhi Ge seized the moment, adding fuel to the fire: “Your Highness, this goes far beyond a mere mockery. They have absolute contempt for your existence! Right now, who knows how many eyes are watching and laughing at you from the shadows? Your Highness, I strongly urge an immediate invasion. We must paint the Chinese government and the Special Agency in blood! Let the world witness the horrific price of offending you and the Brujah Clan. Let them tremble so fiercely that they never dare cross us again—”

Prince Brujah’s pupils instantly contracted into razor-thin slits.

“The dignity of the Kindred shall not be defiled!”

His deafening shriek rattled the very foundations of Castle Brujah, startling flocks of birds in the forests miles away.

Immediately following his command, a localized eclipse of countless bats erupted from the castle spires, soaring past the scattered birds and charting a direct course toward Asia—straight toward China.

At this point, the world’s geopolitical radar was already locked onto Castle Brujah. The moment the horde mobilized, intelligence networks globally lit up with the realization: The Kindred are launching a full-scale invasion against China.

Within minutes, government bodies across the globe went into overdrive.

Country H:

“What is going on? Didn’t those bloodsuckers promise a two-day grace period for China to surrender? It hasn’t even been a single day! Why are they invading already?!”

Country R:

“We found the catalyst! This afternoon, Zhongzhi Ge went rogue and took a faction to China to extract his fiancée. They ran smack into the Chinese Special Agency on the way. A skirmish broke out, and his group was completely routed—three Barons were confirmed KIA by the Chinese.”

Country D:

“To dare to throw down the gauntlet at a time like this… Does China actually possess a secret countermeasure to repel a supernatural invasion?”

“It’s highly probable.”

Country Y:

“Fascinating. Let’s hope the Chinese Special Agency and the vampires completely bleed each other dry in this war. When the dust settles, our Holy Church can step into the vacuum and reign as the undisputed, uncrowned kings of this world.”

Country M:

“With any luck, the vampires will completely annihilate China’s paranormal forces, and then proceed to fight the Church to a mutual destruction. When that happens, our nation will reign supreme as the global superpower, even in the mystic arts.”

Unfortunately for them, there would be no “afterward.”

The Chinese government played its cards far more extravagantly than the young man beside Deputy Director Li had even hinted at this afternoon.

The second satellite surveillance flagged the mass exodus from Castle Brujah, the Chinese government immediately launched a global, high-definition livestream—even went so far as to seamlessly weave in commercial advertisements during the pre-show countdown.

The moment the vampire vanguard breached the borders, the government threw up a massive, state-sponsored betting pool, opening registration and wagering channels to citizens of every single country on earth.

The prompt of the bet was stark: Who will emerge victorious in this war?

Predictably, the allure of easy money drew over 900 million gamblers to bet on a decisive vampire victory. Ninety-nine percent of them were foreign netizens.

However, a few tens of millions of foreign users still chose to place their chips on China. This wasn’t necessarily born out of profound faith in China’s military prowess, but rather because the state was acting entirely too casual. Furthermore, China had backed the betting pool using trillions of dollars from its foreign exchange reserves. Even if the nation fell, the international banking systems would still have to pay out the winnings. Despite critics claiming that China was merely trying to pull off one last desperate financial heist before its demise, many chose to throw in a bit of pocket change just in case a miracle occurred.

On screen, Prince Brujah began to deliver a grandiloquent, blood-chilling monologue.

The Chinese Premier merely maintained a perfectly groomed, dignified smile.

Behind the scenes, Deputy Director Li gestured to the camera crew: “Make sure you get a crystal-clear close-up of the Prince’s face.”

Right behind them, the military band struck up a lively chord, as the choir launched into a soaring rendition of “Beijing Welcomes You.” It felt less like a tense standoff on the brink of annihilation and more like a lavish welcoming gala for a long-awaited foreign dignitary.

Zhongzhi Ge then stepped forward, adopting a hypocritically sorrowful facade to deliver a formal demand for surrender.

The Premier’s dignified smile remained entirely unbothered.

Deputy Director Li stepped up, unlatching a polished wooden box cradled by a nearby officer.

The band played on: “…We welcome you, to share the breath of life…”

Seeing that his psychological warfare was failing, Zhongzhi Ge bared his fangs and began barking fierce threats.

The Premier’s smile didn’t falter for a fraction of a second.

Deputy Director Li smoothly reached into the wooden box and withdrew a square, pristine jade seal.

The choir hit the chorus: “…Beijing welcomes you, as long as you have breath, you can find a miracle here…”

At this point, the billions of netizens packed into the livestream were utterly dumbfounded.

Prince Brujah, completely insulted by the circus display, let his fury boil over. Yet, looking at China’s chilling composure, a sudden, primal dread twinged in his chest.

He refused to delay any longer, roaring the command: “Kill them all! Leave none alive!”

Before his voice could even fade, a sky-blotting swarm of vampires erupted from his rear flank, diving like a plague of locusts toward the Premier and his cabinet.

The comment section went absolutely ballistic:

【It’s starting! It’s finally starting!】

【God bless China, please hold the line!】

【I need to see what kind of insane trump card China is hiding to act this arrogant at death’s door.】

【Please tell me China can at least hold out for a couple of hours. I literally took a paid day off from work just to watch this war!】

At that exact microsecond, Deputy Director Li hoisted the imperial jade seal high into the air.

In the next breath, a cascading sequence of ancient, luminescent magic arrays erupted beneath his boots. The arrays flashed with blinding arrays of pure white light, channeling directly into the jade seal in his hand.

The moment the white light vanished, a pillar of devastating, apocalyptic gold energy erupted from the seal. It ripped through the atmosphere with thunderous, blinding speed, tearing a direct path straight into the heart of the vampire army.

The diving vampires didn’t even have time to register a trajectory change. The instant their bodies brushed against the golden radiance, they were instantly turned to ash, vanishing into thin air without leaving a trace of blood.

The smug sneer on Prince Brujah’s face froze instantly.

The reflection of that golden torrent grew exponentially wider in his dilated pupils. Before his nervous system could even process a reaction—

BOOM!

His body disintegrated mid-air, bursting into a brilliant, blinding shockwave that illuminated the entire night sky like an extravagant firework display.

The world fell into a dead, suffocating silence.

Everyone was completely paralyzed. They collectively wondered if they had slipped into a mass hallucination.

Otherwise, how on earth did they just witness the legendary, invincible Prince Brujah get utterly one-shotted by a human? The man didn’t even get to utter a final word before the sheer kinetic force of the explosion scattered his ashes across the atmosphere.

The silence was finally broken by the sound of rhythmic clapping.

The Premier smiled warmly at the camera, projecting his voice: “Our sincere thanks to Prince Brujah for providing such a magnificent magic performance to kick off the evening. It appears His Highness was exceptionally pleased with China’s welcoming ceremony.”

The surviving vampires in the field: “…”

The Chinese netizens in the chat: “…”

The foreign netizens in the chat: “…”

The world leaders and high-ranking officials monitoring the feed: “…”

I mean, sure… but if this was a welcoming ceremony, why did your military band abruptly kill the feed of ‘Beijing Welcomes You’ and seamlessly transition into ‘Requiem’?! And why is the choir singing it in fluent English?!

But none of these existential crises mattered to China. The only thing that mattered was cold, hard math.

The Premier turned slightly, addressing his personal secretary: “Is the final tally in? How much did we clear?”

The secretary’s face was practically flushed with adrenaline as he held up a tablet: “It’s fully calculated, sir! From the betting pool alone, our net profit stands at exactly seventy-three billion dollars!”

The Premier nodded with elegant satisfaction: “Excellent. Then our initial investment was well worth it.”

The surviving vampires: “…”

The global audience: “…”

The foreign heads of state: “…”

When you say ‘massive initial investment,’ do you mean the cost of forcing your national military band to memorize ‘Requiem’ on short notice, or do you mean the administrative costs of setting up an international gambling ring for a war?!

What followed was entirely academic.

The Premier didn’t waste another second, casually raising his hand.

In the next instant, Deputy Director Li and his enforcement officers lunged forward, executing a flawless pincer movement against the disoriented vampire host.

• At the 10-minute mark: Over half of the vampire army was confirmed permanently neutralized.
• At the 15-minute mark: The remaining survivors broke ranks, scattering into a panicked, frantic retreat.
• At the 20-minute mark: The number of living vampires left on the battlefield could be counted on one hand.
• At the 25-minute mark: The Special Agency officially brought out the brooms to sweep and secure the site.

The war that had threatened to overturn the global balance of power and plunge humanity into darkness… was over? The entire sequence from start to finish hadn’t even taken a full half-hour?!

The tyrannical, ancient race of bloodsuckers had literally been wiped off the face of the earth like a common pest infestation?!

The global heads of state went hysterical, screaming into their secure lines: “Investigate this immediately! I don’t care what it takes, find out exactly how China managed to execute Prince Brujah in a millisecond!”

Meanwhile, the internet completely collapsed under the weight of the traffic:

【This is literally ridiculous! Beyond absurd!】

【Can I just say… I was literally in the middle of typing out a long paragraph of prayers and blessings for China when the war just… ended?】

【Can I get my offerings back from the shrine of Guan Yu? I literally spent my entire month’s allowance buying premium incense and meat for his altar yesterday!!】

【I’M RICH! DO YOU HEAR ME, I AM FILTHY RICH!! I thought China was done for, but seeing so many foreign accounts aggressively betting on China’s downfall made me so mad that I threw my entire apartment down-payment savings into a bet for China. Now China won at a 1-to-3 payout! My winnings plus my initial capital are officially enough to buy a luxury apartment in full cash, with enough left over for high-end interior styling!!!】

【Same here! Though I only bet a modest two thousand yuan, I officially don’t have to ask my parents for a single cent of living expenses for the rest of the year!】

【@ZhongzhiGe, listen to me, thank you. Because of you, my winter has turned into spring.】

【BHAHAHAHAHA!】

【Wait, China didn’t just make seventy-three billion from the betting pool. Don’t forget that Zhongzhi Ge’s personal assets alone are valued at well over one hundred billion. Now that he’s a captured traitor, all of that belongs to the state!】

【And the best part? This is only the beginning! The fun isn’t over yet!】