Chapter 712: Chapter 712: More Information
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The dining room of the New York Continental no longer looked the way Henry remembered.
In the past, each table had been arranged separately, with just enough space between them to give every guest a comfortable sense of privacy.
Now, several tables had been pushed together into clusters.
Each group gathered around its own makeshift conference table, clearly separated from the others, while hushed conversations filled the room.
Whether it was because the Baba Yaga’s presence was too intimidating or because the entire hotel was weighed down by a suffocating atmosphere, the seats around John Wick remained conspicuously empty.
No one approached him.
He sat alone, wearily nursing a glass of whiskey.
The people who had returned with him, meanwhile, were gathered around hotel manager Winston Scott, reporting everything they had discovered during their expedition.
Henry didn’t know anyone else in the room, so he walked over to the legendary assassin.
"John, is this seat taken?"
John Wick didn’t answer directly.
Instead, he gently swirled his whiskey, the ice cubes clinking softly against the glass.
That was answer enough.
Taking the seat, Henry asked casually,
"That bad?"
John never lowered his glass.
Pointing toward the group making their report, he said,
"Today, they and I searched different sections of the sewers.
"Neither group found anything.
"But the whole time, I had the distinct feeling someone was watching me.
"No matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find where the gaze was coming from.
"That only convinced me even more...
"The enemy we’re dealing with is extremely cunning."
John Wick excelled as an assault specialist rather than a meticulous tracker.
If someone deliberately concealed themselves and refused to attack, it wasn’t surprising that even he couldn’t locate them.
Once the reports concluded, Winston Scott left the group and joined John at the table.
Someone else would organize the intelligence and disseminate it to everyone present.
The hotel manager didn’t need to personally oversee every detail.
Winston greeted Henry first.
"Mr. Brown.
"I’m glad you came."
Henry shrugged.
"I assumed you’d only call for me if there were too many casualties for your medical staff to handle.
"But judging by what I’ve seen...
"Even if I wanted to perform emergency surgery, there aren’t any patients to save."
"I wish that were the situation."
Winston smiled bitterly.
"At least then things would be much simpler.
"We’d know who the enemy is.
"And we’d have survivors returning alive.
"That alone would prove our enemy can be fought."
"True enough."
Henry couldn’t argue with the logic.
After a brief silence, Winston suddenly asked in an unusually serious tone,
"Mr. Brown...
"Have you heard anything unusual from your contacts in Los Angeles?"
Henry blinked.
"What does New York have to do with Los Angeles?"
"You didn’t know?"
"I’d appreciate it if you told me everything you do know, Mr. Scott."
Without hesitation, Winston began explaining.
"New York isn’t an isolated case.
"In fact...
"The disappearances started in Los Angeles even earlier.
"But you know what that city’s like.
"People disappearing without explanation isn’t exactly unusual.
"After all...
"It has that special medical island.
"And it’s also the vampire headquarters of the West Coast."
He continued,
"Normally, vampires wouldn’t target Continental contractors.
"But who knows?
"The insanity of wealthy people often exceeds ordinary imagination."
"What finally convinced Los Angeles that something was seriously wrong..."
"...was when the vampires themselves came asking for protection."
"Because the exact same thing had started happening to them."
"Only then did people begin reviewing the previous disappearances.
"They realized something didn’t add up.
"Every year, there are always people who leave without reporting it.
"But cases like those usually leave behind some kind of trace.
"If someone truly wants to investigate, they can always find where those people went."
"This situation was different."
"Los Angeles wasn’t as severely affected as New York."
"It was just subtle enough that no one noticed unless someone specifically pointed it out."
He folded his hands together.
"Once both coasts began experiencing similar incidents, the High Table investigated reports from around the world.
"So far...
"The phenomenon appears confined entirely to North America."
"They’ve promised reinforcements."
"But no one knows when they’ll arrive.
"Or who they’ll send."
"So for the time being..."
"We’re on our own."
Winston had revealed quite a bit.
Perhaps this information had already become common knowledge within the underworld.
Or perhaps Henry was receiving extra courtesy because John Wick happened to be sitting beside him.
Either way, Henry’s attention centered on only one detail.
Even the vampires were frightened.
A suspicion had already begun forming in his mind.
If he wanted confirmation...
He needed to ask the vampires’ oldest enemies.
The vampire hunters.
Henry stood.
"Mr. Scott.
"Is there somewhere quiet I can make a phone call?
"I need to confirm something."
He didn’t explain further.
But asking in circumstances like these obviously meant the call was important.
Winston agreed immediately.
Even John Wick straightened slightly, as though a glimmer of hope had finally appeared.
Escorted by one of the hotel’s staff, Henry was led into a small private room.
The walls were lined with padded panels.
Unlike those in psychiatric facilities designed to prevent patients from injuring themselves, these looked more like upscale karaoke-room insulation.
They were intended for soundproofing.
Although the room itself appeared secure against eavesdroppers outside the door, Henry couldn’t be certain someone hadn’t hidden a listening device somewhere inside.
With his super vision still unavailable, his remaining enhanced senses weren’t enough to detect bugs that small.
So he removed a pen-shaped gadget from his pocket.
It was a replica of one of Tony Stark’s anti-surveillance devices, modified further with a localized sound-dampening field.
Anyone outside the field wouldn’t be able to hear conversations taking place within it.
Only after activating the device did Henry pull out his modified Nokia 3310, connect to its secure communication channel, and place the call.
"Hello? Who is this?"
An elderly but remarkably vigorous voice answered.
"Whistler.
"It’s Black Superman."
"Well...
"You calling me first is certainly unusual.
"What do you need?"
"Have the vampires been acting strangely lately?
"I’ve run into something bizarre here in New York."
"You’re in New York?"
"Is that really the important part, old man?"
"...Fair enough."
"I won’t ask."
"As for your question...
"Yes."
"The vampires have been acting strangely."
"You’ll never believe this..."
"They actually approached Blade looking for cooperation."
Henry’s eyes narrowed.
"What happened?"
Although it sounded remarkably similar to a certain movie plot he remembered, Henry needed to confirm what had actually happened in this world rather than relying solely on memories from before his transmigration.
Whistler answered gravely.
"A new breed of vampire has appeared.
"The old vampires only fed on human blood.
"They could turn ordinary humans into vampires.
"But these new ones...
"They don’t just infect humans."
"They can infect the old vampires, too."
"...Fuck."
Henry couldn’t help blurting it out.
"So these monsters that treat humans as livestock...
"Have finally gotten a taste of what it feels like to be prey themselves?"
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