121: The prelude to the great war

The next day.

Just as dawn broke,

Locke Galahad and Serena, after bidding farewell to Amelia and Erica, drove towards the location of Marcus as reported by the bats.

Naturally, Locke did not forget to bring along Alfred, who had already become a loyal servant of Sequence 9.

The black jaguar sped along the asphalt road.

Since it was daytime,

only Locke, a Vampire who was no longer afraid of sunlight, could sit in the driver's seat and drive.

Serena, on the other hand, sat in the back row, which was shielded from light by various curtains, holding Alfred the Owl, who was curled into a ball.

"Dear, how long will it take us to catch up to Marcus?"

While driving, Locke judged based on the messages sent back by the bats and his current speed:

"If we travel day and night, it should take about a day."

Even though nearly a week had passed,

Marcus, after all, relied on his own wings to fly, and he could only travel at night when there was no sunlight.

Therefore, at full speed, it would only take them about a day to reach Marcus's location.

The reason Locke hadn't set out earlier

was that he intended to arrive after Alexander Corvinus was killed by his own son, Marcus.

He was mainly worried that if he went too early, Marcus might not make a move against Alexander,

and then Serena might miss this opportunity to advance.

Another point was that, in his heart, he didn't really want to save Alexander.

Although the man did his best to hide the traces of the battles between Vampires and Lycans to prevent their conflict from affecting humans,

Locke felt such behavior was far too hypocritical; in his eyes, there was no need to save such a person.

"My Lord, how many Sequence 9s are we dealing with this time?"

"Two."

"Only two?" Alfred seemed somewhat incredulous. "With My Lord's strength, dealing with two Sequence 9s should be as easy as pie. Why the need for such caution?"

"You don't understand. In this world, there are no chances for trial and error. Our current strength in this world is like being a fish only slightly larger than ordinary people.

If we aren't careful, who knows when we'll be hooked ashore and devoured completely."

With both hands on the steering wheel, Locke spoke his inner thoughts to Alfred while paying attention to oncoming traffic.

Mainly, he wanted those around him to be like him—full of awe for this world and sufficiently cautious.

"Alfred, although you have now become a Sequence 9, this world is not as simple as you imagine. Remember, you must be cautious."

"I understand, My Lord. I will definitely keep a low profile and survive."

Alfred gave a heavy peck with its Owl head, indicating that it had taken Locke's warning to heart.

Seeing this, Locke said no more and concentrated on driving.

As he stopped talking and focused entirely on driving,

the speed of the black jaguar suddenly surged from 100 mph to its limit of 200 mph. The entire car was like a plane, flying low over the asphalt road.

At 320 kilometers per hour, it had reached the limit of this modified black jaguar.

Although Locke only had proficient driving skills, they were complemented by the comprehensive physical enhancement brought by his Night Demon Sequence,

allowing him to relatively easily control this jaguar, which could spiral out of control with just a light touch.

The black jaguar was like a bolt of lightning on the highway, weaving incessantly through the flow of traffic.

On-duty police in the suburbs of New York City were pointing speed guns at passing vehicles.

Looking at the numbers on the speed gun that never exceeded 70 mph, the rookie cop Lanus looked a bit distressed:

"Sir, it looks like another uneventful day. It's almost the end of the month; when will our performance reach the target?"

However, the average speed of every car was controlled at around 60 mph, with not a single one speeding within the highway's speed standards.

After all, veteran drivers who often took this road knew there was a speed trap here, so everyone was very careful.

The slightly older veteran cop, Albert, leaned against his Ford police cruiser, eating a freshly bought hot dog, and said nonchalantly:

"It's fine. There will always be some reckless fools who dare to speed here. As soon as they appear, we'll just put in all our effort to take them down."

"As the most honorable members of the US Federal Police, we will never let a single speeder go."

Just as he finished speaking and was about to stuff the hot dog into his mouth, a bolt of black lightning flew past him.

The powerful airflow blew the hot dog right out of his hand, landing on the ground with a 'splat'.

Albert was instantly stunned.

Neither of them had reacted at all to what exactly had just sped past.

It wasn't until Lanus saw the numbers on the speed gun soaring wildly that he couldn't help but swallow hard.

Because that number had climbed from 1 mph to 200 mph at an extremely fast rate.

"200 mph! 200 mph! Did a plane just fly past here? My God!"

"What did you say? 200 mph!" Albert didn't even have time to grieve for his hot dog before he immediately rushed over to stare at the speed gun in Lanus's hand.

Looking at the terrifying number, the pupils of both men suddenly contracted.

A moment later, the speed gun printed out a photo it had just captured.

The two huddled together, seeing only a blurred black car shadow in the photo and a very recognizable jaguar emblem.

"Officer Albert, should we get in the car right now and go crack down on the criminal?"

Albert looked at the black ghost in the photo, which resembled a demon, swallowed hard, and then shook his head vigorously.

"Lanus, what criminal!"

"Clearly, our speed gun is malfunctioning. What we need to do now is hurry back and overhaul our equipment."

As he spoke, he pulled out a lighter, set the photo on fire, and then moved the speed gun into the car.

"But... didn't you say, sir, that we won't let any criminal go?"

"I'll repeat it one more time: there is no criminal. Our speed gun is just broken."

"Alright."

With an exaggerated speed of 200 mph, Albert wasn't stupid. Even if he floored it until the police-issued Ford engine exploded,

he wouldn't be able to reach that speed.

How could he possibly dare to drive out and give chase?

Who knew who was sitting in that car? He still wanted to live a long life.

And on this very day,

an urban legend suddenly emerged in New York City: that when you go to the suburban national highway during the day, you might encounter a Jaguar XJ6 that flies over the ground like a black ghost.

Inside the black jaguar,

Locke was driving with his whole heart and soul. The extreme speed made his adrenaline surge wildly.

He completely failed to anticipate that he had almost randomly matched into a five-star boss promotion match.