A Demonic Bloodline?
I stood in the center of my master bedroom, swirling the amber liquid in my crystal glass. I didn't panic. I didn't drop my drink. I just let out a dark, cynical chuckle that echoed off the high ceiling.
The author of The Ultimate Medical Immortal was truly a hack. When the protagonist loses his primary cheat code, the Heavenly Dao just forcibly rips open a secondary, hidden bloodline to keep him alive. Plot armor was a beautiful, ridiculous thing.
But a demonic awakening meant Lin Tian was no longer just an arrogant guy with good medical skills. He was a monster who fed on blood and Qi to survive.
I took a slow sip of the bourbon, letting the burn settle in my chest.
System, I asked mentally. Give me the exact specs on this 'Demonic Bloodline'. What am I dealing with?
[Ding!] [Analyzing Protagonist's new state...] [The 'Blood Fiend' Lineage: Grants immense physical strength, rapid cellular regeneration, and the ability to absorb the vitality of others to heal himself. However, it completely destroys his rational mind, reducing him to a creature of pure instinct and vengeance.]
I smirked. So the Heavenly Dao had traded his brain for brawn. Perfect. A thinking protagonist is dangerous. A rabid dog is just a target practice.
Before I could formulate my next move, my phone buzzed on the nightstand.
I glanced at the screen. It was an unknown number, but my newly enhanced senses picked up the faint, frantic rhythm of police sirens bleeding through the speaker before I even answered.
I swiped right and brought it to my ear.
"Mr. Chu." It was Captain Xia Luo. Her voice, usually so sharp and commanding, was breathless and tight with adrenaline. In the background, I could hear shouting and the chaotic crackle of police radios.
"Captain Xia," I said smoothly, leaning against my mahogany desk. "I told you to fix your holster strap, not let your suspect slaughter your precinct."
"How do you know about that?!" she snapped, momentarily distracted by my impossible intel. She took a shaky breath. "Never mind. Listen to me. Do not leave your estate. Increase your security detail right now."
"Why? Because the waiter you had in handcuffs suddenly broke through solid steel?"
"Chu Feng, this isn't a joke!" Xia Luo yelled over the noise. "He didn't just break the cuffs. He tore the cell door off its hinges. He... his eyes were completely black. He took five hollow-point rounds to the chest from my officers and didn't even flinch. He ripped three of my men apart with his bare hands and jumped out a third-story window."
I could hear the genuine horror in her voice. She was a hardened cop, but she had just witnessed the supernatural for the first time. The urban reality she knew had just been shattered by the web novel reality I was manipulating.
"Are you injured, Xia Luo?" I asked. My voice wasn't panicked; it was a low, steady anchor in her sea of chaos.
There was a brief pause on the line. The fact that the billionaire heir was asking about her safety while a superhuman murderer was on the loose clearly threw her off guard.
"I'm... no, I'm fine. I was in the evidence room when he breached," she said, her breathing slowing down just a fraction. "But he took a police cruiser. He's heading south. Towards the port district. We are mobilizing SWAT, but Chu Feng... I don't think normal bullets work on him."
"They don't," I confirmed flatly. "Pull your men back, Captain."
"What?! I can't just let a mass murderer—"
"Pull them back!" my voice cracked like a whip, laced with the oppressive weight of my Master-Level Martial Arts. "He absorbs vitality. If you send a SWAT team in there, you are just sending him heavily-armed blood bags to heal his wounds. Stand down, secure a perimeter at the docks, and wait for me."
"Wait for you?!" Xia Luo gasped. "Chu Feng, are you insane? You can't fight that thing!"
[Ding! Captain Xia Luo is deeply concerned for your safety!] [Affection +10! Current Affection: 45 (Deeply Favorable/Protective).]
"Stay put, Xia Luo. That's an order," I said, immediately hanging up the phone.
I didn't have time to coddle her. Lin Tian was wounded and desperate. He was heading to the port district for a reason.
I tapped another number on my phone—the sleek black card I had pocketed earlier that night. It rang exactly half a time before a raspy voice answered.
"Mr. Chu," Old Master Ye Tianxing said respectfully. "I was told you might call."
"Old Ye. The trash I saved you from just mutated, killed three cops, and is heading to the southern port district," I said rapidly, walking into my massive walk-in closet and pulling out a sleek, black tactical trench coat. "What do you have down there?"
There was a heavy silence on the line as the underworld boss processed the information. Then, he cursed violently.
"The Underground Coliseum," Ye Tianxing growled. "It's fight night, Mr. Chu. I have three hundred of my best syndicate enforcers and underground fighters crammed into an abandoned warehouse down there. Blood, adrenaline, zero police presence."
My eyes narrowed. The Heavenly Dao wasn't just hiding Lin Tian; it was delivering him to an all-you-can-eat buffet of high-level martial artists to consume and level up. If Lin Tian slaughtered that arena, his Demonic Bloodline would reach the second stage, and he would be practically unkillable.
"Evacuate the VIPs. Lock the steel shutters to the main arena. Do not let your men engage him," I commanded, slipping my arms into the coat and grabbing a pair of reinforced driving gloves.
"My men are heavily armed, Mr. Chu. We can gun him down."
"Your bullets are useless. He's a Blood Fiend now," I stated, walking back out into the hallway. "If your fighters touch him, he will drain their Qi and use it to break your neck. Lock the doors. I am five minutes away."
"Understood, Mr. Chu. The Syndicate answers to you tonight," Ye Tianxing said, recognizing the absolute authority in my tone.
I hung up and opened my mental interface as I strode down the sweeping glass staircase of the West Wing.
System. Open the store. I need a weapon capable of executing a Demonic Bloodline user, and I need it now.
[Ding!] [Filtering System Store for 'Anti-Demonic' and 'Lethal'...] [Item Found: 'Nine-Heavens Lightning Forged Karambit' - Cost: 1,500 Villain Points.] [Effect: Forged from meteoric iron and infused with Heavenly Tribulation Lightning. Completely nullifies demonic regeneration and burns corrupted Qi on contact.]
I had exactly 1,800 Villain Points left from completely dismantling his marriage plot and crippling him earlier.
Buy it.
[Ding! 1,500 Points deducted. Item transferred to Host's inventory.]
I felt a heavy, perfectly balanced cold weight materialize in the inner pocket of my coat.
As I reached the grand foyer, Maria the head maid was standing there, looking terrified by my sudden, intense aura.
"Tell Old Chen to bring the armored SUV to the front. Now," I barked.
As I marched toward the front doors, a soft voice called out from the second-floor balcony.
"Chu Feng?"
I paused and looked up. Su Qingran was standing there in a silk nightgown, her silver hair cascading over her shoulders. The dark circles under her eyes were completely gone, replaced by a vibrant, healthy flush thanks to my medical massage.
She looked down at me, taking in the tactical coat and the dark, predatory look in my eyes. It was a look that screamed violence.
"Where are you going?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly. Not out of fear of me, but fear for me.
"I have to clean up a mess your grandfather brought into this city," I said, opening the heavy front door. "Lock your bedroom door, Qingran. Don't wait up."
I stepped out into the freezing night air, the engine of the armored SUV already roaring to life in the driveway.
Lin Tian wanted to play the monster? Fine.
I was going to show him exactly why I was the Villain.