Chapter 10: Hardware and Ghost Hunting
As the massive rolling shutter door slowly rose, sunlight streamed into the warehouse, illuminating everything with a golden glow.
Inside this warehouse belonging to Tang's Trading Company, boxes of Copper Ingots and Iron Ingots were neatly stacked.
"As per your instructions, this warehouse currently stores 500 tons of Copper Ingots, 1000 tons of Iron Ingots, 20 tons of Tin, and 1000 jin of Silver!"
Tang Song walked ahead, inspecting the warehouse. From time to time, he would squat down, lift a box lid, and check the quality of the Copper Ingots and Iron Ingots inside.
A plump white warehouse manager trailed half a step behind, quietly informing Tang Song about the metal inventory in the warehouse.
Lane followed behind Tang Song with several burly Germanic white men, their waists bulging.
"Well done!" After touring the warehouse, Tang Song patted the white manager's shoulder.
The white warehouse manager's body trembled slightly, and beads of sweat rolled down his pale, slick face. His gaze swept over the bulging waistlines of Lane and the others, and more sweat beaded on his face.
God bless him, when he first learned that the Boss of this warehouse was Asian, he had considered stealing the goods inside. It was just that he hadn't found a suitable buyer for a while, which was why he hadn't made a move.
Now, looking at this Asian's demeanor, it was clear he wasn't someone to be trifled with.
"Tomorrow I'll have someone transport this batch of goods away. Make sure the handover is done properly then!" Tang Song gave the white warehouse manager a benevolent look.
The warehouse manager's nervousness, to the point where his heart was pounding, naturally couldn't escape his Divine Sense.
As for the reason, Tang Song didn't want to know, but if there was any funny business with this batch of metal ingots, he wouldn't mind throwing this fat white guy into the furnace along with them.
"Lane, how is the search for the people I asked you to find going?"
In the Mercedes-Benz, Tang Song took two cans of ice-cold beer from the car's mini-fridge and handed one to Lane, who was sitting in the passenger seat.
"Boss, we found two people," Lane turned around, took the ice-cold beer from Tang Song, and replied, "One is a Swordsmith from the East, said to come from a family of Swordsmiths for generations. The other is Da Li Ben, a four-time consecutive champion of the Blade Forging Competition!"
Tang Song drank his ice-cold beer without comment, taking in the information about the Swordsmith and the Blade Forging Competition champion.
"Give them my designs and have them forge two swords within ten days. I want to see the finished swords!"
"Yes, Boss!"
...
Living environments in the Federation are mostly organized by Community, with clear distinctions between the rich and the poor, and between white people and black people.
New York has five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island.
Within these five large boroughs, there are many smaller Communities, and Hell's Kitchen is one of them.
Hell's Kitchen's official name is actually Clinton District, named after the surname of the sixth Governor of New York State, DeWitt Clinton.
This area was once one of New York's most prosperous restaurant districts, but the true origin of Hell's Kitchen has little to do with kitchens or restaurants.
This is New York's most famous slum, with persistently high crime rates. Gang fights are commonplace, a breeding ground for many thugs and gang bosses. The people living in this Community are those at the very bottom of the Federation's society. Many are unemployed and live on welfare.
As the most chaotic district, it is a hub for gangs, drug dealers, and other unstable elements.
No normal person wants to live here, but they have no choice. The pressure of life and the high housing costs elsewhere force people to live here.
The chaotic living environment forces ordinary people living here to learn self-protection. It goes without saying that every household has guns, and many people even band together for mutual protection, forming night Security Patrols, patrolling their own areas with firearms.
Caliber is justice. In this situation, let alone addicts and petty thieves, even some gang members dare not easily trespass into these Communities.
But even under these circumstances, a white Community experienced several horrific family annihilation tragedies in succession.
First, Old Ai Li's family was found brutally murdered in their home. Old Ai Li lay dead in the living room, decapitated, tightly gripping his cherished Winchester double-barreled Hunting Rifle in his dying moments.
Unfortunately, this beloved gun clearly did not protect his life.
His twin daughters were found in the bedroom, their necks bitten into bloody messes, their bodies drained of all blood, turned into two Dried Corpses.
The Community members called the police as quickly as possible and organized retired soldiers in the Community to increase patrols. But it was useless. Murders occurred one after another in several Communities. The victims' families all had young women, and these women were all found with their blood drained, transformed from vibrant lives into Dried Corpses.
Terror spread throughout the Community for a time, even though the police defined the cases as the work of a perverted serial killer.
No one believed it.
This wasn't done by "Humans"—that was the growing consensus among more and more people.
Many people chose to move out of the Community, especially families with young girls.
In a luxurious Manor in Manhattan, it was daytime, but the dark windows completely blocked out the sunlight.
Silver candlesticks filled every corner of the grand hall. Under the crystal chandeliers, the candlelight was dreamlike. Pairs of handsome men and beautiful women with perfect figures danced in the hall.
Pale-faced waiters carrying trays weaved through the dance floor, occasionally offering cups of bright red Blood Wine to the passionately dancing crowd.
In a corner of the dance floor, Selene, dressed in black leather, stood out, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, watching the decadent Kindred in the hall with cold eyes.
She had clearly reported the Werewolf intelligence, but strangely, the Family/Clan members had no reaction. Kraven, the Family/Clan's Regent in New York, had not taken any preventative measures.
Selene couldn't figure out Kraven's intentions.
"Selene," just then, a tall, thin man in a tuxedo approached Selene with a glass of Blood Wine. Selene clearly saw that his pale face was even powdered like a woman's.
She felt a bit disgusted and also didn't understand why Kraven had fallen so quickly. Could power really corrupt the heart so much? One had to know that years ago, Kraven was a Death Dealer capable of slaying a Lycan King.
"Kraven, we need to talk. The Werewolves are definitely planning something big. Their Ultraviolet Bullets are clearly targeting us. We need to take countermeasures!"
"Alright, Selene, these are just scattered Werewolf stragglers. The Werewolves in New York were all cleared out years ago. If you don't want to attend the ball, you can take your team and handle a troublesome matter!"
Kraven impatiently interrupted Selene and casually threw a stack of photos to Selene.
"A bunch of country bumpkins have invaded Manhattan, trying to make this area their hunting ground. Selene, find them and drive them out of New York. Do it cleanly. I don't want to attract those Ascetic Monks from The Church and those damned monster hunters!"
Selene lowered her head and looked at the photos in her hand. The messy scene, the Dried Corpses—clearly, this was the work of their "Kindred".
New York, a burgeoning city that had developed for less than two hundred years. Everything here had already been divided, even the Underworld.
The entire Vampire Clan in New York, strictly speaking, consisted of only two major Families/Clans. One was theirs, whose bloodline originated from the ancient Hungarian noble, Alexander Corvinus.
The other was The Covens from Europe, whose leader was Deacon Frost. An ambitious man, this was the description many big figures in the Underworld gave of Deacon.
New York had always been the hunting ground for the two major bloodline Families/Clans. However, over two hundred years, human technology had become higher and higher, and they, the Vampires who were once high and mighty, had their living space further compressed, shrinking into the darkness.
To avoid being hunted by Humans, the two major Families/Clans controlled the number of bloodline members. Through the temptation of immortality, they attracted a large number of powerful and influential members of the "Ghoul Faction" to provide cover for them.
Even so, these anomalies were increasingly cautious in the face of increasingly powerful Humans. For example, their branch, after two hundred years of development, had its own hospitals in various districts of New York and sufficient blood bank supplies.
Although Deacon's Covens were crude in their methods, they were also extremely careful when hunting. Their hunting targets were mostly outsiders and vagrants.
No matter how many of these people disappeared, it wouldn't attract the attention of Human society.
And this kind of hunting targeting ordinary people, especially so brazenly, was definitely done by those nomadic Families/Clans.
These disgusting guys acted without scruple, hunting indiscriminately, causing panic in Human society and attracting the attention of Human special departments.
They would just pack up and leave, and then this blame would inevitably fall on Local Families/Clans like them.
Selene watched Kraven, who had walked to a corner of the dance floor and was dancing with a beautiful woman, put the photos into her pocket, and left the hall on her own.
On the Rooftop of a Community building, the cold wind was bleak. Below was a scene of silence, with two police cars faintly visible parked at the Community entrance.
At the steel railing on the edge of the Rooftop, Frank sat on the railing, gazing at the closed window through his Infrared Telescope.
A small team of fully armed Special Forces Soldiers stood behind Frank.
(End of Chapter)