Let's be honest.
Russell felt these vampires were quite professional. At least they made sure to please the "meal" before eating.
But he just wanted to enjoy the drinks. He didn't dare to actually eat anything.
Food poisoning from vampire drinks wasn't on his bucket list.
Tony Stark, on the other hand, was different. Not only did he flirt with everyone, he was practically devouring the supermodel sitting beside him.
Russell sighed.
He really was the little prince of nightclubs.
It was like he'd never tasted proper food before. He wasn't picky at all.
Russell, however, remained unmoved. The vampires around him were starting to lose patience.
They couldn't get the main course, and now even the soup was off limits.
Especially after finally catching a target that wasn't greasy and actually looked appetizing—it was like putting a fresh fish in front of a starving cat.
Russell even noticed a big blonde vampire looking at him like she wanted to breastfeed him.
But… he wasn't a baby.
And he wasn't about to get eaten.
After more than an hour, both Russell and Tony were visibly drunk, their faces flushed.
Suddenly, the bar's music stopped.
The hot atmosphere turned ice cold in an instant, sending chills down everyone's spine.
One of the vampires, who had tried sneaking a bite from Russell earlier, immediately retracted her hand when she met his cold stare.
Behind the bar, the bartender loosened the bow tie on his collar and snapped impatiently:
"What? You think you're qualified to touch that prey?"
"Two of you, carry them away. The rest, go out for the night hunt. If you fail to meet the quota, I'll dry you out by morning."
He licked his lips expectantly.
Catching Stark—second-in-command of Stark Industries and one of the top ten richest men in the United States—was a jackpot.
If they succeeded in turning him into a vampire, all the organization's financial losses on Wall Street would be covered.
The only surprise was that Tony had actually brought along a handsome guy.
Fair skin, fragrant scent… definitely the type high-class ladies liked after a "zero-zero" play.
If he was lucky, the boss might even give him a few drops of pure blood for evolution.
Soon, a black van left from the back of the bar.
Half an hour later, the vehicle pulled up outside a villa in Manhattan.
Two women easily carried the unconscious Russell and Tony inside and into the basement.
Clearly renovated, the place wasn't just airtight—it was decked out with props straight from some rich woman's private "fun house."
At first glance, it looked more like a film studio than a basement.
The two vampires expertly tied Russell and Tony up and hung them from the ceiling.
After licking their lips one last time, they reluctantly left.
Silence filled the basement.
A few seconds later, after hearing the door close, Russell opened his eyes and said dryly:
"So this is the nightclub you promised me?"
"Where are the girls from all over the world? Why did they all turn out to be vampires?"
"If you ask me, we should've gone straight to the Ancient One. At least she's reliable."
Tony opened his eyes, grinned, and replied:
"You're too demanding. What's the fun in normal women? And don't you feel the thrill of breaking taboos? Cross-species romance and all that."
Russell rolled his eyes.
"You're unbelievable."
"At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if you hooked up with a werewolf."
Tony immediately got defensive:
"Hey! Don't slander me!"
"If anyone's into werewolves, it's Thor! Don't pin that on me!"
Seeing Russell's skeptical expression, Tony's voice faltered and eventually dropped to a mumble:
"Well… technically… female werewolves are kinda exciting…"
"…Right, time to come clean."
"I admit, all of this was pre-planned before the timeline stabilized."
"Honestly, I didn't care much about these vampires in New York. Their victims were all scumbags anyway—what's the big deal? And don't look at me like that. I'm not one of them."
"Besides, if I wiped them all out, Blade would have nothing to do."
"But lately… these guys have crossed the line. They've turned four billionaires into vampires."
Russell raised an eyebrow.
"These immortals… ran out of money?"
"Why not just sell a few antiques?"
Tony snorted.
"They sold those ages ago. I even bought a couple myself."
He explained:
"A month ago, these illiterate vampires found out China's stock market was booming. Thought they could make easy money. They jumped right in."
"Three days later? Market crashed."
"They lost everything. Down to their last layer of skin."
"They panicked and took their remaining funds to Wall Street. Went all-in, leveraged."
"Guess what?"
"Boom. Margin called the next day. Completely bankrupt."
"With no money left, they had no choice but to… get creative."
Russell was stunned.
Only the A-share market could kill vampires faster than sunlight.
But to be fair, these vampires were dumb enough to deserve it.
A burst of green light shimmered as Russell landed lightly on the floor.
He glanced at Tony, still hanging, and asked:
"You have… some kind of fetish?"
Tony motioned with his chin, signaling Russell to hang back:
"We're not done yet. Just play along."
Russell resisted the urge to roll his eyes and conjured a green illusion to take his place.
Tony looked envious.
"Asgardian illusion magic. Teach me sometime."
Russell sat down, leaned against an invisible sofa, and said lazily:
"Sure. If you're okay with Odin coming to kill you, I'll teach you."
Tony laughed awkwardly.
"Pass."
"The Odin in my timeline has a short fuse. He could kill his own brother, remember? I'm not exactly on his Christmas card list."
Odin has a brother? Russell was briefly surprised.
But after thinking about all the alternate timelines, where even Loki could be Odin's father, he didn't dwell on it.
As for Odin's temper? Well… that would depend on how lucky this timeline's Odin was.
At that moment, the sound of the basement door opening echoed through the room.
Tony rolled his eyes and immediately pretended to faint again.
Russell sighed inwardly.
This guy looked even less reliable than the Ancient One from his previous world.
Then he vanished from sight.
In a swirl of pink mist, three elegantly dressed vampire women glided into the basement.
Upon seeing Tony hanging there, they exchanged excited glances, their eyes sparkling with hunger and delight.
One of the women—with brown eyes and naturally long hair—said excitedly:
"I've got money again! This time, I'll definitely win back everything I lost!"
The other two nodded eagerly, clearly having the same idea.
Invisible nearby, Russell shook his head.
These weren't three vampires. These were three stupid pigs with gambling addictions.
At that moment, the youngest-looking woman suddenly brightened. She quickly approached the illusion, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
She licked her lips and said:
"This time, the prey is mine... No, it's a waste to eat him all at once! I'll keep him in captivity."
The other two noticed Russell too. Though clearly tempted, they didn't dare argue.
Among the three, the youngest one was the strongest.
At that moment, Tony—who'd been pretending to sleep—suddenly slurred drunkenly:
"Three lovely ladies, I'm actually quite handsome. None of you picked me?"
He grinned confidently… and very greasily.
The girl's eyelids twitched. She immediately turned to one of the other two and said:
"Liya, you transform him this time."
The woman called Liya took a step back and said awkwardly:
"Sorry, sis, my period's been irregular lately. Let Lily do it. She's not picky."
The smell of alcohol and cigarettes on this man's blood disgusted her. She felt like she'd throw up if she took a bite.
Hearing this, Lily's face went pale.
Since when do vampires have periods?! This shameless b**ch!
Lily quickly said:
"Sorry, sister, I've been avoiding blood lately—trying vegetarian."
"So you'd better handle the conversion."
Neither of them wanted to step forward.
Russell almost burst out laughing.
No wonder these three idiots had lost all their money! One fool and two cowards. How were they even alive?
Tony couldn't stand it either.
Come on! Don't humiliate me like this! He could accept losing a magic battle, but getting rejected for his looks?
Especially with Russell watching? Absolutely not.
"Stupid bats! You don't know what real manliness is!!"
He roared. The three vampires looked at him, shocked.
Then, white flames suddenly burst from his hands and shot out like rain.
Russell recognized it at a glance.
Faldin's Fire—summoning-type secret magic.
"You're… a magician?!" the girl shouted, cutting her palm.
In a flash, a mist of blood sprayed out, forming a scarlet spell shield.
Faldin's Fire hit it, immediately corroding it with a sizzling hiss. The shield shrank visibly under the attack!
The other two vampires—who'd been hiding—finally attacked!
Their once-beautiful faces turned deathly pale, dark veins spreading around their eyes. Fangs bared, they lunged at Tony Stark, who'd stumbled backward to the floor.
"Get lost, you ugly b*****s!"
Tony snarled as fiery whips materialized in both hands.
With a spin, he lashed out, instantly decapitating the two vampires and burning their bodies to ash.
The girl's pupils shrank.
She ignored gravity, clinging upside-down to the ceiling, sharp black claws extending from her fingers. Pointing at the human she'd wanted to keep as a pet, she hissed viciously:
"Let me go, or I'll kill this human!"
But before she could react, she saw Tony grinning… and pointing at the floor to her left.
A faint light emerged.
Russell appeared, raising his hand in greeting.
"Hi."
The girl's eyes widened in horror as she saw her "hostage" dissolve into green light and vanish.
"F**k!"
She shouted in shock.
"Not quite," Russell replied, pointing behind her.
Her shadow, illuminated by his magic, suddenly came alive—twisting, growing, and wrapping around her like chains.
She fell to the floor with a heavy thud, trying to morph into a swarm of bats and escape.
But she was horrified to realize… her blood magic wasn't working!
Russell looked over at Tony, sighing:
"Three low-tier vamps like these… and you dragged me here for backup? Got too much free time?"
The last remaining vampire felt deeply insulted.
She was a high-ranking vampire! Even if dozens of Blade Warriors attacked her, she could kill them all!
But now, just one look from this man had completely sealed her powers.
She wanted to cry but had no tears.
It wasn't that she was weak.
It was that these two were monsters.
Tony laughed.
"Yeah, it's probably overkill to have two Sorcerer Supremes hunt vampires... but hey, I didn't want you feeling lonely."
The girl nearly fainted on the spot.
S-Sorcerer Supreme?
TWO of them?!
She suddenly felt that death earlier would've been less painful.
Russell glanced at the shivering vampire and asked:
"Should I kill her?"
The girl immediately screamed, sobbing:
"No! Please don't kill me! Lord Sorcerer Supreme!!"
"I can be useful! I know a big secret!"
Tony winked at Russell.
"See? Told you we'd get something out of this."
"Maybe that time anchor point you're waiting for will trigger tomorrow~"
Russell was slightly surprised.
A vampire holding a 'big secret'? Unlikely.
But he looked down at her, faint flames flickering in his eyes, and said coldly:
"Tell me. If your secret is worth your life, I'll let you live."
The vampire wanted to bargain.
But when she met Russell's eyes, her breath caught in her throat.
Her entire world darkened.
Only those blazing eyes remained, staring straight into her soul. She felt like her very existence was about to melt.
"I'll tell you! I'll tell you now!!"
She broke down completely.
"Not long ago, after losing all my money, I went to Los Angeles."
"There's a vampire there—the strongest in the world. We wanted to seek refuge with him."
"But when we got there... he was asleep! He'd fallen into hibernation, leaving only a few cursed half-vampires to guard his castle. He sold all his other assets—converted everything into antiques and gold!"
Tony summoned a flaming sword, aiming it at her heart.
"You're telling me… he went into hibernation because he saw a financial crisis coming?"
"Damn it! I waited for this? That's it?!"
"Forget it. I'll just kill you."
The vampire shrieked:
"No! I'm not done yet!"
"We had no money left, so we let Lily seduce one of his half-vampire slaves!"
"But all the treasures were buried in his grave. Lily got nothing... except a prophecy."
She gulped, trembling.
"The prophecy said... 'The Lord of the Nine Realms will soon return... bringing endless fear to all life.'"
Tony and Russell exchanged glances.
This… might not be a bluff.
It was enough to make the world's strongest vampire fall into hiding.
"Want to try using the Time Stone?" Russell asked.
Tony shook his head immediately.
"No. Our timeline doesn't work like TVA's sacred timeline."
"Time here is flowing—not a closed loop. If I tried to peek ahead, I'd drown in the timestream."
The vampire barely dared to breathe.
If this secret is dangerous, are they going to kill me to silence me?!
She trembled violently.
Dracula, why the hell did you drag me into this mess?!
Tony kicked her lightly, scolding:
"Stop pretending to be dead. Take us to Los Angeles. After that, you're free to go."
Russell raised an eyebrow.
"Us? That's a funny word."
"I came here before dinner and now I'm stuck helping you."
Tony blushed.
"We're both Sorcerer Supremes. Helping each other is expected."
"Besides, what if the time anchor point triggers? You'll thank me."
Russell sighed.
"Maybe we should just kill this vampire. Who knows, the stock market might rebound."
The girl on the ground was absolutely terrified now.
Tony groaned.
"Fine. I'll teach you a few unique magic spells later."
Russell immediately smiled, patting Tony's shoulder.
"Now that's polite of you. We're colleagues after all."
"So… when are we leaving?"
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