Chapter 107: The Pillar Man Is My Bread
"It's a vampire!!!"
"What's going on?!"
"Open fire!"
"That man… Could he be a Pillar Man?! He actually turned someone into a vampire!"
The German soldiers were thrown into chaos. They had dealt with vampires before, but here, they were completely unprepared.
"No… Even if he were a Pillar Man, he would still need a Stone Mask to turn a human into a vampire…"
Speedwagon trembled, his face drenched in sweat as he spoke.
At that moment, he was still fixated on Santana. Meanwhile, Chang Wei, who completely ignored them, filled Speedwagon with terror.
Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, Stroheim's eyes widened. One of the turned soldiers sank his teeth into a fellow soldier's neck, frenziedly draining his blood. Others rushed in to separate them, only to have their limbs twisted and broken with ease. Gunfire erupted, tearing the vampire apart, sending flesh and blood flying, but even in such a state, he clung to his victim, refusing to let go.
The next moment, the vampire completely drained the soldier dry, rapidly regenerating his body before lunging at another German soldier.
"Damn it!"
Stroheim gritted his teeth and instinctively reached for the self-destruction switch. He wasn't sure what was happening outside, but now, someone capable of creating vampires had breached the facility. No matter how much he refused to believe it, he had to assume the worst.
Then, they saw Chang Wei wave his hand—
The massive bulletproof glass shattered instantly.
Santana immediately leaped forward, entering the room.
"Shit!!!"
"Santana! Santana has broken in!!!"
"That guy—the one creating vampires—he's after Santana! As expected, he's a Pillar Man too!"
Stroheim was utterly shocked, and Speedwagon was no better. The two were filled with horror.
Moreover, since Chang Wei had reached them in an instant, it was likely that Jojo hadn't even arrived yet. As for why Santana had awakened early, Chang Wei speculated that his massacre of the German soldiers had stirred him from his slumber.
Santana landed right in front of Chang Wei.
"Shu…Stro…Stroheim."
Hearing Santana say his name made Stroheim even more astonished.
"He actually spoke my name?! Impossible! He shouldn't be able to hear us from inside there!"
But Santana ignored everyone else and walked straight toward the vampire.
Having just awakened from his deep slumber, he needed to replenish his life energy. And right now, the most energy-rich source present was the vampire.
"I don't have time for your little show."
Chang Wei grabbed Santana by the throat and lifted him into the air.
Santana's pupils contracted. The others were just as dumbfounded.
"Are they… fighting each other?"
Stroheim was stunned.
"No…"
Speedwagon's eyes widened.
Santana had never expected someone to grab him without suffering any consequences. His entire body constantly secreted a highly potent digestive fluid capable of dissolving almost any organism, essentially an ability to assimilate and absorb others.
Yet somehow, this man remained completely unaffected.
"I'll just eat you first."
Chang Wei's hand suddenly sank into Santana's neck. In the next instant, his head and body separated.
"AAAAAHHHH!!!"
Santana let out a piercing scream—
He felt it. The terror of being hunted down and devoured!
The parts of him touched by Chang Wei had already lost all sensation!
"Santana is afraid!!!"
Stroheim immediately realized this.
"What the hell?! Why is he screaming like livestock being slaughtered?! It's like the desperate cries of a wildebeest caught by a lion!!!"
"M-Masaka! Masaka!"
Speedwagon followed up with his usual dramatic narration.
"Santana… encountered a predator?! Is this man a monster that preys on Pillar Men?! Just as vampires are like bread for Pillar Men, could it be that Pillar Men are his bread?!"
…Seriously?
Chang Wei hadn't expected these two to keep narrating even in this situation, their speech somehow keeping pace with his every action. Not only that, but they had already analyzed so much in mere seconds.
Shouldn't normal people be running for their lives at this point? Besides these two and a single vampire, everyone else was already dead! Why weren't they escaping?
Meanwhile, Santana abandoned his body, his severed head lunging toward the vampire—
Then, he burrowed into it.
"Oh? So you sensed danger and fled?"
Chang Wei finished absorbing the remains and watched as the vampire was swiftly taken over by Santana. Immediately, Santana tried to escape through the nearby ventilation duct.
But the next moment—he froze.
He couldn't move.
"What happened? Why isn't he moving?"
Stroheim and the others saw Santana attempt to flee, only to suddenly become motionless.
"Is he playing dead to fool that guy?"
"No! It's just like how sheep freeze in fear! This is an instinctive paralysis caused by the presence of a superior predator! This man is truly the predator of the Pillar Men! Otherwise, he wouldn't have triggered Santana's genetic survival instincts!"
Speedwagon's eyes widened as he explained.
Chang Wei leisurely walked up to Santana, placed a hand on his head—
And devoured him completely.
"As expected… These cells are even more advanced than mine in some ways. They even possess a rudimentary form of consciousness…"
Chang Wei observed the changes in his body with mild surprise. It was similar to how each part of the Shinra Bansho had its specialized cells—teeth had teeth cells, eyes had eye cells, all forming a vast collective. However, Pillar Men cells were not fixed in function; they could adapt and replace each other.
"Still… Once reduced to one cubic centimeter in size, they lose their vitality. Not quite omnipotent yet, just close."
Chang Wei shook his head.
Of course, some argued that only Santana would die if cut apart like that, whereas Kars and the other Moonlight Brothers wouldn't suffer the same fate. But really, the only difference between Santana and Kars' group was that Santana didn't possess the Ripple Gene.
Although Kars called him a watchdog and an immature child, the gap between them couldn't be that vast.
Santana had never even encountered the Ripple before, nor had he ever fought a Ripple user, so his resistance to it was weak.
Then, Chang Wei turned his gaze to Stroheim.
"I should kill you now."
Though he respected Stroheim's human spirit, that didn't mean he intended to spare him.
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