Driving a Wedge

"You're indeed not ordinary, Your Excellency," Abraham Setrakian said in a much more polite tone than before as he looked at Chen Gou.

In this world, great strength was the best business card. The strong would naturally be treated with the respect they deserved.

"Now isn't the time to talk about all this. The battle isn't over yet!"

Chen Gou strode over to the window ledge and looked into the churchyard through the moonlight, only to see a thin man in a suit looking up to meet his eyes.

"It's him!" Abraham, who also came to the window, squeezed these words out of his teeth.

It was Thomas Eichorst!

When he was young, he had served as an officer in the German Nazi army, gone to Romania, and later overseen a certain concentration camp, where he had been converted into a vampire by the Master.

Abraham had been a prisoner in that camp, and the feud between the two sides had been going on for nearly 100 years now.

After Thomas had been converted by the Master, he had followed him as a manager.

The fact that the Master could be transported from Berlin to New York could be attributed to Augustin's plan. He was second to the Master among the vampires.

The ultraviolet rays that Chen Gou had set up in the study had been prepared for him!

Unfortunately, Augustin was even more cautious and cunning than he had thought. He had actually sent Feelers to explore the road first.

"We… will meet again." Augustin smiled slightly at Chen Gou.

He was wearing a wig neatly on his head and he had some makeup on his face. He looked like a gentleman, and his Strigoi features couldn't be seen.

"I don't think that's necessary. You're better off staying here!"

Abraham climbed on the window ledge and got ready to jump down to chase after him.

No reason or rational explanation was needed. This was an entrenched enmity deep in his blood.

Augustin curled his lips again and suddenly opened it. His crocodile-like lips parted, and a cruel, ruthless air rushed over from a distance.

Whoosh!

A moment later, he did not spew a tongue out of his mouth but an invisible sound wave!

It was an ultrasound that the human ear couldn't catch at all. Less than a second later, Chen Gou and Abraham's heads were buzzing.

As if they were experiencing a Band-Tightening Spell1, an indescribable pain was born, causing them to nearly lose their consciousness.

It was a magic sound skill!

One of the Master's abilities was the ability to control Strigoi via sound waves and directly attack humans at the same time.

However, this was a unique ability to the Master in the original story.

In the current reality, even Augustin could unleash it.

The sound wave attacks appeared and disappeared quickly.

A second later, Chen Gou and Abraham recovered, but there was no sign of Augustin downstairs.

They looked into the distance and found Augustin on the street dozens of meters away. At the same moment, Augustin was turning his head toward them in contempt.

He had escaped.

Or rather, he had left of his own accord out of fear.

Abraham said with a sigh, "He's more cunning than the most cunning wolf in the dark forest. I've been hostile to him for decades, but I've never found a chance to kill him."

Chen Gou, who was pondering this, said calmly, "With someone's help, we will be able to destroy him with the simplest of methods."

"Who are you talking about?"

"Eldritch Palmer!"

The name, which represented a business legend of Manhattan's Wall Street, was also the name of an old friend of Abraham's.

They had met decades ago and had even searched for the Fallen Light together.

Palmer had been in poor health since a young age. Through decades of hard work, he had created a 10-billion-dollar Stoneheart business empire.

However, no amount of money could get him back on his feet due to his paralyzed legs, nor could money buy him life.

He was running out of time, so he had chosen to work with Augustin to bring the Master over from Berlin, hoping to receive eternal life through the Master's power.

Without his help, Augustin could not have succeeded in unsealing the Master.

"He is already on the Master's side. He will never help us," Abraham said as he shook his head.

"He will."

A plan against Augustin gradually formed in Chen Gou's mind.

If he could kill the Master's most loyal subordinate, Quinlan would learn his name, right?

…

Two days later, in the underground parking lot of the Stoneheart Group headquarters in Manhattan…

Chen Gou and Abraham stepped out of a Ford Mustang in the morning, entered an elevator, and pressed the button for the last floor straight away.

The black steel and glass facade of the building was situated in the heart of Wall Street, and the topmost floor was Palmer's private residence.

Naturally, the two of them couldn't make it straight to the top floor. The elevator stopped automatically on the third-highest floor, and two armed black security guards invited them out.

"Do you have an appointment, gentlemen?"

Abraham answered, "Inform your boss that his old friend, Abraham Setrakian, wants to see him."

"Okay, please hold on."

Upon seeing that he didn't seem to be joking, one of the black security guards decided to use the intercom to inform the security manager first.

"Bring him up here."

Soon, a reply came over the intercom.

One of the security guards stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the highest floor again. The elevator started.

Once the elevator doors opened, the first person to appear before them was a pretty white woman with beautiful hair trailing over her shoulders.

In her elegant, slim-fitting formal outfit, her body exuded intellectual beauty.

After some thought, Chen Gou realized that she should be Palmer's personal secretary and lover.

"Abraham, we haven't seen each other in a long time. I didn't think you would come to see me."

Eldritch Palmer looked very old, as he had wrinkles all over his face and gray hair.

Unlike Abraham, his hair was combed neatly and his suit was immaculate.

It was as if he was a dying man who was unwilling to leave this world and was trying to live each day to the fullest.

"I'm not here to see you. This is about him," Abraham said as he pointed sideways at Chen Gou.

"Then may I ask why you are here, sir?" Palmer asked as he sat in his chair. He had not gotten up from his seat.

In fact, he was too weak to get up. The Master had given him a drop of white blood that had briefly restored his energy, but his health had deteriorated over time again.

"I'm here to save you!"

Chen Gou extended his palm toward him and a potion in a small glass test tube appeared out of thin air.

"This potion is the essence extracted from a bloodworm. It can't make you live forever, but it can ensure that you will be healthy and vibrant for the rest of your life.

"What's more, you won't need to be reprimanded by the Master or listen to Thomas' threats… I'll give you the formula. You'll then be in charge of your own destiny!"

Palmer glanced at Abraham and his eyes suddenly became fiery, revealing insuppressible desire and ambition.

He knew that Abraham, who was a few dozen years older than him, was able to maintain his vigorous energy because he had a mysterious potion formula that harvested power from bloodworms.

Every word of Chen Gou pierced Palmer's soft spot.

He had been wishfully thinking about working with vampires from the beginning.

The Master had never intended to grant him eternal life and would only give him a drop of the time-restricted white blood.

Neither the Master nor Thomas had ever treated him as a partner.

Instead, they treated him as a kept dog!

They blackmailed him with white blood and forced him to carry out all their orders without giving him anything in return.

"I'm sure you won't give me the formula for nothing. What do you want me to do?" Palmer asked in a lower voice.

He was tempted, as he desperately wanted health and life.

Besides, how could a proud man like him be willing to be the Master's dog and be bossed around by Thomas?

"I want you to help me kill Augustin!"

"This condition is too dangerous!" Palmer's expression turned grave. Not wanting to be the Master's subject and wanting to clash with the vampires were two different things.

Chen Gou saw his hesitation and even guessed that he might be planning in his mind to hand him and Abraham over to the Master.

However, he didn't care at all and thus said with a smile calmly, "Mr. Palmer, I don't think you have any choice but to cooperate with us now. You can turn on the TV and listen to New York's Secretary of Homeland Security thank you."

Palmer quickly asked his secretary, Coco, to turn on the TV and saw that the news was broadcasting the speech of the female Secretary of Homeland Security.

"Thank you, Mr. Palmer, for giving the church the ancient silver book 'Fallen Light', thanks to which we have found a way to completely destroy the Master. We will win this war in a month at most!"

"Isn't this a really underhanded tactic?" Palmer's expression turned ugly. He could imagine the Master's and Augustin's response after seeing this piece of news.

"This is war!"

Chen Gou said, "Either you will die or I will die in this war. You should have known from the moment we set foot in this building, that if Augustin doesn't die, we'll take you to hell with us."