Lord of Cinder in American Comics

But even as Davelyn and Ash remained in the ward, waiting for Jimmy Don to bring in the new tuxedo, they couldn't glean any crucial information.

Since he couldn't figure it out, he could only take it one step at a time. After changing his clothes, Davelin dialed his subordinate's number, preparing to forcibly detain the drinking water producer Dietrich Banning, to see if he could get any useful information out of him.

Meanwhile, Ash continued to clear out the vampires, shrinking their living space and forcing them to converge towards the center. Then, the two sides worked together to wipe out these restless guys in one fell swoop.

After agreeing on their goals and responsibilities, they parted ways at the hospital entrance.

When Ash returned to the front lines, she found that the cleanup work was more than halfway done. Most of the vampire gathering places on the note Martha had given her had been cleared out by the Bureau of Control.

But in these cleared vampire settlements, there wasn't a single human blood pack. This completely defied vampire common sense, causing Whistler to furrow his brow.

The mission proceeded with both smooth sailing and setbacks. The operation to clear out the vampires and kill them was incredibly successful, with most of the remaining vampires being cannon fodder with little combat experience. The setbacks were due to the fact that no effective survivors had been captured so far, and no valuable information had been obtained.

This operation continued until dusk without making any progress.

After the last vampire stronghold was cleared out, Ash scratched his head in frustration.

Things have completely changed now. The vampires that were eliminated have not reacted at all, and even their mouthpiece, the Hag Clan, has not expressed any opinion on this action of eliminating their leader.

Even online, apart from some videos of the control bureau's operations taken by onlookers outside the blockade, no positive or negative news has circulated.

The atmosphere was terribly oppressive. Ash could only order the soldiers to rest on the spot and resupply their ammunition, and had no intention of letting the Bureau of Control personnel leave the central area of ​​NY and return to Long Island.

Furthermore, there are currently no clues about Blade's whereabouts. Whistler has already tortured several vampires to death in order to find out where his disciple is.

Everyone was blindfolded and unable to hear any news.

Just then, Ash's phone rang; it was writer Kassel.

“Caselle, I’m busy. Our entertainment night is tomorrow night. Don’t worry, I won’t miss it. I can even bring that sucker Stark and make him lose everything at the poker table…”

Ash sounded a little impatient. Luckily, Stark wasn't around, otherwise he would have given Ash a couple of punches.

"No... Ash, that's not it. I have important information that might be useful to you."

Kassel's intelligence? From various dramas in his previous life, Kassel could indeed see and glean different information, bringing Beckett different ways of solving cases.

Now that Cassell says he has important intelligence, Ash has become interested.

“I’m on patrol with Beckett today. You know, today is her patrol day at the police station. The detectives on leave are taking over from the patrol officers so they don’t forget their previous work at the grassroots level…”

"Kassel! This is the important information you were talking about?!"

"No, no, of course not. There's a neighborhood where Beckett hasn't received a single call all day, not even from the entire police station. That neighborhood used to be a high-crime area..."

Ash suddenly understood. Without guidance from others, it would be difficult for anyone to get out of the situation where they were in the dark.

The vampires occupied a block, gathering most of their manpower to seal off the area. They left only two or three minor characters in the previous scattered gathering places, preventing the cleanup crew from obtaining relevant information while also ensuring that the cleanup crew could not simply abandon these gathering places for safety reasons.

Furthermore, due to the unique nature of vampires, anyone whose blood is sucked by a vampire will become their lackey. Although the vampire's abilities decrease as they descend in rank, once they become one of their own, who cares about such trivial matters? At worst, the lower-ranking vampires will have to work a little harder to get a few more bites of food, since these lackeys are eager to improve their lives anyway.

"Casel, you've really been a huge help!"

Having figured out the reason, Ash reordered the troops to begin advancing toward the location provided by Kassel.

Upon entering the community, the vampire immediately taught Ash a lesson.

IED, or Improvised Explosive Device, is essentially a roadside bomb. It's a simple-to-make, highly powerful explosive device, often used in asymmetric warfare.

This guerrilla tactic was used on Ash, whose lead Stryker wheeled armored vehicle was hit head-on by a roadside bomb.

The 19-ton combat vehicle was flipped over from the side, lying upside down on the roadside.

The intense smoke and dust covered the entire road, and the heat and smoke from the explosion also hindered the observation of infrared equipment and heat sources.

Even the simplest explosion can halt the advance of an entire convoy. Fortunately, only the lead vehicle was affected by the blast; if the middle of the convoy had been attacked, the entire convoy would have been caught in a situation where it couldn't defend itself from both ends.

On the communications channel, the soldiers in the lead vehicle were still reporting their situation, while the AMPV tracked armored personnel carrier following closely behind the lead vehicle began to tentatively drop 30mm ammunition into the smoke using its R800S remote weapon station.

Under Ash's orders, all the warriors treated this place as a combat zone, a combat zone with no civilians allowed.

Since it's a battle, the firepower must be fierce, so that the enemy can't even raise their heads. Bombardment is the right way. Nobody wants to engage in a tactical flanking maneuver with those fast-moving vampires.

The sound of roadside bombs roused the entire city of New York from its slumber. The firelight in the night, accompanied by the roar of 30mm automatic cannons, woke up those who had gone to bed early.

A few blocks away, Dafferin's operation was also nearing its end; they were now stationed at the private residence of drinking water producer Dietrich Banning, searching for his whereabouts.

"Lasseter, blow this place up! Didn't you hear? Ash's side has already started using 105mm long-range howitzers!"

Everyone present silently quickened their pace, except for Jimmy Tang, who was seeing this scene for the first time and seemed a little lost.

"Found it, it's here!"

One of the agents conducting the search found a hidden combination lock next to the pool. The others then brought a decoder, inserted it, and waited for the results.

Amidst the distant sound of cannon fire, the pool was slowly opened from the bottom, and a staircase descended into the darkness.

Davelin scoffed and said, "Trying to play games with me? Where's the fire truck? It's your turn to step in!"

A fire truck requisitioned from Ash, fully loaded with garlic extract, pulled up beside the pool.

The fire hose was thrown down the stairs directly into the darkness, and from the darkness, it seemed as if someone was making a questioning sound.

"Disinfect these ungrateful bastards!"

Chapter 182: The Little Hunter's Class Begins

The sound of shelling woke up New York tonight.

But thanks to the vampires' excellent secrecy, Ash hasn't received any inquiries so far. Not even S.H.I.E.L.D. in New York has come to investigate.

Although S.H.I.E.L.D. is currently in a self-censorship phase, it would be unreasonable to have no news at all.

Just as Ash was wondering whether she should remind them again, the vampires appeared in the middle of the road.

The smoke and dust from the roadside bombs and artillery fire finally dissipated, and squads of vampires, crisscrossed in the middle of the road, began their defensive counterattack, relying on cars deliberately parked together.

However, the weapons in the hands of these vampires could only make clanging sounds when they hit the armored vehicle, and they couldn't even scratch the paint.

"The combat skills of these vampires are not even comparable to those orcs from last time!"

Stark, sitting inside the armored vehicle, heard the sounds of small-caliber automatic weapons firing outside and let out a sneer.

However, as soon as he finished speaking, two large hands covered his mouth.

One hand was held by Ashe, who was sitting next to him, and the other by Roland, the gunslinger opposite Stark. Ashe wrapped one arm around Stark's neck, holding his entire body in place.

"Ugh...why...what...I...said..."

A mumbled voice escaped from between their fingers, and Stark's face nearly turned blue from holding it in.

“Stark, I told you, if you dare to buff the enemy on the battlefield again, I'll throw you off this cliff!”

Ash was genuinely afraid of Stark's seemingly blessed mouth.

Last time Stark said that whatever the opponent lacked, the Orcs could provide. Now Stark has started his jinxed predictions again.

Just before Stark was about to swoop down, Ashe and Roland let go of each other's hands.

Stark, panting heavily, gave Roland and Ash a friendly gesture to express his gratitude.

"Is it really necessary? I'm stating the facts. The attacks we've suffered so far are nothing compared to what we've experienced..."

Ash raised her voice, interrupting Stark.

“Stark, remember last time you said the enemy lacked anti-air weapons, they immediately launched bone spears; after you mentioned firepower density, they immediately increased it…”

"That was an accident, an accident, you understand! You can't say that I caused such a low-probability event. It's like the vampires' resistance ability hasn't changed at all! They don't have heavy weapons, so how are they supposed to attack? With their fangs?"

“R~P~G~”

The observer at the window shouted out the threat posed to the convoy at the top of his lungs.

At the intersection a hundred meters ahead, a vampire carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher crouched on the ground and aimed at the convoy.

Before the other vampires behind him could leave, he pulled the trigger.

The booster flames from the grenade sent the vampire flying into the distance as if it had been hit by a car, while the fragmentation grenade instantly reached the convoy.

Two explosions, occurring within milliseconds, were detonated by the active protection system on the armored vehicle, which triggered the rocket-propelled grenade.

Everyone inside the vehicle could feel the vibrations and hear the continuous sound of debris hitting the vehicle.

At this moment, everyone looked at Stark with strange expressions; he really was a five-star jinx.

Stark, who wanted to argue further, swallowed his words back.

Following the RPG attack, the vampires changed their strategy and began a phased defensive evacuation.

While firing at the convoy to obstruct its line of sight, they retreated, leaving behind some explosives on the ground.

This simple method directly slowed down the convoy's progress.

In urban combat, vehicles, as mobile vehicles and firepower platforms, are most vulnerable to being restricted in their movement. If they are fixed in one place, they become sitting ducks.

The convoy cannot proceed until the scattered explosives on the road are cleared.

Ash looked at Stark and said, "Inventor, it's up to you now. Take off, provide the vision, and find where they are."

"Roland and Logan, you two team up and act freely, eliminating any enemies you can see."

"Swag, find a place to provide precision fire support."

At a command, the back of Ash's command vehicle opened, and Stark stepped out and flew into the sky. The rest of them followed the reckless Logan and rushed into the building guarded by vampires next door.

In the convoy behind, following Ash's orders, a defensive counterattack began. All combat personnel organized their defenses on the spot, eliminating any enemy who dared to approach at this time.

Geralt, seemingly oblivious to the vampires not far away, leaned against the carriage, contentedly drinking the water of life.

Clint's behavior, so different from everyone else's, made him tug at Geralt's arm uncomfortably, signaling him to be mindful of the atmosphere.

"You need to learn to enjoy your leisure time during battle, Clint. These enemies aren't a big deal."

Geralt spoke freely and comfortably, as if he were in his own living room, with the armored vehicle he was leaning against as his own sofa, enjoying his time of rest.

This state of mind helped calm down the tense feelings of the trainees who were traveling with them.

Grant Ward was the most cautious of all the trainees. He was lying prone under the armored vehicle, carefully aiming his gun at any possible enemy positions.

Suddenly, Geralt threw the bottle in his hand. The bottle flew across the street and shattered in an open window of a building across the street, splashing wine and wetting the window.

Grant caught Geralt's movement and fired a precise burst; the bullet struck the wall, sparking and igniting the liquor.

This clear order to attack caused the tense trainees to begin firing at the burning window. The window shattered under the barrage of bullets, and the smoke from the flying bricks obscured the flames of the burning liquor.

Geralt patted the armored vehicle and said to Grant underneath, "Pretty quick reaction, huh? Interested in joining the Hunters?"