Evolution game, nothing more than that!

Anna, who was standing by, was stunned by the scene.

In the past, if a swarm of bat monsters of this size had appeared in the village, at least a dozen people would have been killed or injured, or even more. But this time, apart from a few unlucky people who were hit by the falling bat corpses, almost no one was hurt.

However, neither Van Helsing nor Yi Shen showed any joy at such a "great victory". They didn't even glance at the corpses of the bat monsters, but continued to stare at the clouds above their heads.

Could it be that there are still enemies?

Sure enough, the next moment, a black shadow emerged from the clouds again.

No, that was not a black shadow, but a huge swarm of bats numbering in the millions!

Although these bats were not as huge as the bat monsters just now, each of them was the same size as the bloodthirsty mutant bats that Yi Shen and his friends had encountered on the road before. They were half the size of a human and had a wingspan of more than two meters.

The threat posed by these mutant bats alone or in combination is actually quite limited, at least not as great as those bat monsters before.

But the key is their quantity!

Too many, too many!

Thousands of bats gathered together to form a dark cloud beneath a dark cloud, literally blocking out the sun and making the already gloomy sky suddenly as dark as night.

The villagers who saw this scene were immediately frightened and panicked. They screamed and ran in all directions. For a while, screams, shouts, and the sounds of people falling and colliding were endless, and the scene was in chaos.

Seeing that the situation was about to get completely out of control, Van Helsing made a quick decision, took out a spherical glass bottle from the package, and threw it hard to the ground.

The bottle shattered, and a dazzling light burst out from it in an instant, like a sun falling to the ground, tearing apart the darkness that enveloped the town.

This light was not ordinary light. Yi Shen and Sakurajima Mai both felt a similar holy light as in the previous mission.

Its effect is also very outstanding.

The swarm of bats in the sky screamed and dodged the light. Some that were unable to dodge in time fell down with black smoke coming out of their bodies. Before they hit the ground, they shattered into countless ashes, without even a bone left.

The light lasted for more than ten seconds. When it disappeared, most of the tens of thousands of bats had been evaporated, leaving only a small half, lingering in the sky and refusing to land.

Chapter 86: Dracula's "Greeting"

Seeing that the swarm of bats was still lingering around, Yi Shen took action again.

He raised his hand and threw out a ball of condensed lightning. After quickly rising to the height where the bats were, it exploded and turned into a lightning net. Arcs of electricity ricocheted back and forth among the remaining bats, killing most of them.

The remaining bats finally didn't dare to stay here any longer, so they fled towards the horizon in panic and soon disappeared.

A crisis that could have destroyed an entire village or town just passed like that.

At this time, the eyes of the villagers, including Anna, looking at Yi Shen and others had become very different. From the original simple fear, it turned into a mixture of awe and respect. No one dared to look at them with hostility anymore.

Van Helsing felt the changing gazes around him, but he remained calm.

He turned his head to look at Yi Shen and said with a smile:

"I used to be the one fighting against magic, but now I realize how pleasant it is to have a magician on my side!"

"Strictly speaking, this can't be considered magic. It can only be said to be some kind of supernatural power to control lightning."

Yi Shen shrugged and said so.

Although he was mistaken for a wizard by the villagers, he knew that there was a huge difference between him and spellcasters like magicians and wizards.

Not to mention the singleness of his strength attribute, he also doesn't know any knowledge of mysticism. He controls lightning entirely by instinct and the little physics knowledge in his head. At best, he can only be considered a large-scale magnetic infantry.

He didn't want Van Helsing to misunderstand his abilities, which would lead to misjudgments in subsequent battles.

However, Van Helsing shook his head at his honest statement:

"You're so modest. The wizards and witches I've met only know one or two spells at most, and even the most powerful of them don't have the power to control lightning like you do—that's an authority only gods and angels possess."

After hearing this, Yi Shen had nothing to say and could only say:

"Don't let those priests hear this, or I'll probably be sent to the stake."

"Ha, don't worry. If that were the case, I would have been sent to the stake long ago."

Van Helsing smiled and said.

——After all, he is a demon hunter who uses all kinds of pagan methods in the process of exorcising demons. If you look into it carefully, he is also an out-and-out heretic!

Looking at the few people chatting and laughing, Anna finally recovered from the shock and walked closer:

"Everyone, thank you very much for your help. If you don't mind, please come to the castle and let me show my hospitality."

Van Helsing naturally had no reason to refuse Princess Anna's invitation.

Yi Shen and the others were very clear that their role was to be Van Helsing's assistant, so they naturally took the lead in such matters.

So, the group was taken by Princess Anna to the castle at the highest point of the town.

This is a classic Gothic castle with towering spires, pointed ribbed vaults, narrow windows and poor lighting. Although it is magnificent, it also gives people a feeling of depression and dullness.

"This castle was built by your Valaris family?"

Van Helsing asked this as they walked in the castle.

"No, this was originally Dracula's castle, but it was later captured by my ancestors."

Anna replied, not hiding the fact that she was actually living in the enemy's former lair.

"Wow, your ancestors were able to achieve this, that's really impressive!"

Van Helsing nodded, unable to help but sigh.

After all, from the brief confrontation just now, it can be seen that even if Dracula only sent out a few of his familiars and minions, his power was no longer something that an ordinary human army could resist. The Valaris family not only fought against him for nine generations and more than four hundred years, but even snatched a castle from him, which shows how strong the martial virtue of this knight family was.

Unfortunately, time has passed, four centuries have passed, and the once powerful Valaris family now has only one princess left to maintain this last trace of bloodline.

Led by Anna, everyone came to the castle's reception room.

However, this reception room is more like an arms exhibition hall than a reception room.

Various weapons, armors, and shields are hung on the walls on all four sides, and guns and ammunition are placed on the table. It feels like the owner of this place may pick up his weapons and start a battle at any time.

But considering the situation faced by the Valaris family, this is understandable.

Having been enemies of vampires for generations and having to be constantly on guard against attacks from dark creatures, it would be strange not to do so.

"Please take a seat."

Anna stepped forward, cleared the clutter on the sofa seat aside, and then asked everyone to sit down.

——From this small action, we can see how her family has declined to the point that they don’t even have servants to take charge of cleaning.

That is to say, she still has the title of "Gypsy Princess", and coupled with the prestige brought by generations of ruling this place, she can barely control the people in the territory. Otherwise, given her current alone and powerless situation, she would probably be killed by the mob who coveted the wealth in the castle, if not by the vampires.

After sitting down, Anna said:

"Van Helsing, and this..."

She looked at Yi Shen.

"You can call me Smith."

Yi Shen nodded and gave his "name".

"Okay, Mr. Smith, please allow me to thank you again for your help."

She said:

"Dracula's minions attacked a crowd in broad daylight, and on such a large scale. This has never happened before. If it weren't for you, we would have suffered heavy casualties."

"I've already thanked you once, so there's no need to repeat it."

Van Helsing said this.

Then he hesitated for a moment and said:

"Also, I may have to apologize to you in return. This attack was most likely directed at us. It was more like Dracula's 'greeting' to us, the visitors from the Vatican."

"Why do you say that?"

Anna was a little surprised.

"Hmm... a hunch?"

Van Helsing thought for a moment and gave this subtle answer.

"intuition……"

Anna shook her head, feeling that she couldn't understand.

However, considering Van Helsing's great reputation, and looking at the mighty power he and his companions just displayed, perhaps this is the unique ability of the strong?

Yi Shen, who was standing by, exchanged glances with the two girls, also somewhat surprised.

They thought that the attack just now was similar to the plot in the movie, except that because Dracula only had one wife and not so many blood brides, the attacking vampires were replaced by a large group of bat monsters and mutant bats.

But according to Van Helsing, this was actually Dracula's "greeting" to them, the punitives?

Chapter 87 Aerial Reconnaissance Ready

That night, Van Helsing and Yi Shen and his party stayed in the castle.

It’s not that they don’t want to eliminate Van Helsing immediately, but firstly, they have come a long way and need some rest. Secondly, Dracula’s lair is very secretive and the Valaris family has not yet found the way to its lair, so they can’t go there even if they want to.

Yep, that's the bullshit.

Even though they have been fighting Dracula for hundreds of years, they have never been able to find his lair since the ancestors of the Valaris family drove him out of the castle.

They only knew that Dracula hid in the mountains, and every time he came out to hunt for food, he flew through the sky, crossing the barriers of mountains and forests.

For humans, in the late 19th century when there was no aerial reconnaissance, it was almost impossible to find each other in the vast mountains where there were no roads.

"I checked. The mural mechanism in the movie and the magic mirror leading to Dracula's castle don't exist here!"

In the guest room of the three players, Sakurajima Mai said this.

She was referring to two items that served as important plot props in the movie "Van Helsing."

The former is a moving mural that reveals the secret that only werewolves can fight against vampires; the latter is a magic mirror, which usually exists in the form of a map. When activated, it will turn into a mirror portal leading to the frozen castle where Dracula was exiled.

But just now, Sakurajima Mai walked around the castle and did not find the existence of these two items.

Her Eagle Vision was very good at finding hidden mechanisms, so if she said she didn't find any, then it probably really wasn't there.

"As expected, I also learned from my previous conversation with Princess Anna that the Valaris family in this world is not Dracula's family. This is completely different from the plot of the movie, so naturally there will be no such plot-serving design."

Yi Shen nodded, not too surprised by this.

"So, we can't take a shortcut and go straight to Dracula's lair?"

Yamasaki An asked from the side.

"It probably won't work."

Yi Shen shook his head.

"Well, how about using a werewolf? Although the plot has changed, Anna also said before that her brother fell off a cliff while fighting a werewolf. He might also turn into a werewolf like in the plot. If he attacks Anna, you can use your cell manipulation ability to mark his location. When he returns, we can find Dracula's lair."

Mai Sakurajima came up with another idea.

“That may not be helpful.”

Yi Shen shook his head again:

"Let's not even talk about whether the werewolf will appear again now that the plot has changed. Even if it does appear, how can we guarantee that it will return to Dracula?"

"This……"

Sakurajima Mai was stunned for a moment, and finally had to nod and admit:

"Well, I didn't think it through."

"Hmm...but I see that you don't seem too worried, Yi Jun. Is there any other solution?"

Yamasaki An asked curiously.

"There is indeed one."

Yi Shen nodded, took out a bird atlas from his backpack, and turned to one of the pages.

The two girls came closer and saw that what was printed on the page was a majestic bird of prey.

"Is this... a golden eagle?"

Sakurajima Mai looked at Yi Shen, somewhat puzzled.