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This group of dark creatures possessed physical abilities far beyond ordinary humans. It could be said that without specialized anti-vampire equipment, normal people stood no chance against vampires barehanded.

That was also the main reason these creatures of the night believed themselves superior to humanity.

Jack Reacher either hadn't brought any weapons, or he had already emptied his magazine and discarded his firearm. At present, he could only rely on fists and kicks to fend off the vampires, looking thoroughly beleaguered.

If Kitty had arrived any later, Henry would probably have only been in time to collect the corpse.

Just as one vampire used speed beyond human limits to circle into Jack Reacher's blind spot, preparing to pounce on the tall man—

Kitty, weighing over five hundred pounds herself, combined with the weight of the metal armor, dropped from the sky and landed directly on top of the vampire.

No matter how much stronger than humans he was, the combined weight of the Duck-Leopard Armor and a full-grown tiger was more than an ordinary vampire could withstand.

The sudden appearance of the armored beast stunned everyone present.

That included Jack Reacher—who had been calling for help for quite some time, mentally complaining that someone had promised support in three seconds but nearly ten minutes had passed without even a ghost appearing—

And it included the vampires attacking him as well.

A gigantic metallic animal with obvious mechanical features was the kind of thing people only saw in movies.

In reality, even creatures from the supernatural world like vampires had never expected to encounter such a... monster.

What made it especially terrifying was its sheer size.

Most people could only tell it was some kind of feline. They couldn't identify whether it was a cat, tiger, or leopard just by the yellow coat pattern with black spots.

But with a bulk comparable to a cow, nearly the size of a compact car, and unmistakably predatory traits, the metal beast looked savage beyond words.

No one would mistake it for an adorable kitten.

---

From the little duck mounted on the Duck-Leopard Armor's back, the camera switched to a specialized tactical mode.

Through infrared thermal imaging, Henry confirmed that aside from the unlucky guy lying flat on the ground, everyone else present was a vampire.

A few looked somewhat disheveled, but wounds caused by ordinary people healed quickly for vampires. There were no visible scrapes or bruises left on them, much less knife or gunshot injuries.

Only torn or damaged clothing proved they had suffered any harm at all.

Scenes like this were no longer unfamiliar on the streets of Los Angeles these days.

These dark creatures were only one step away from openly marching through daylight like militant activists, shouting slogans such as:

"Vampire lives matter!"

Openly proving their existence to the world.

Of course, no matter how radical they were, vampires could never protest under broad daylight.

Even the sunscreen that helped them resist sunlight had usage limits.

---

After rapidly assessing the battlefield, Henry projected target markers directly onto Kitty's retina.

Kitty's entire demeanor changed instantly.

For a long time, Henry had never taught Kitty concepts like enemy or prey to be hunted.

Even when feeding her fresh meat, Henry always snapped the animal's neck first, then let Kitty chew whichever parts she wanted.

But marked targets were different.

These were defined as dangerous objects that would initiate attacks.

The training method had been simple:

Set up automatic crossbows or catapults to attack Kitty.

All she had to learn was to retaliate against those targets.

Even so, if marked targets didn't attack first, Kitty wouldn't strike them preemptively.

But once they attacked—

It became Kitty's playtime.

And considering what happened to BB during ordinary play sessions with this tiger, one could imagine the fate awaiting these targets.

Being flattened was commonplace.

Being bitten apart or torn to pieces was also routine.

Henry had no intention of raising a useless beast that wouldn't fight back.

Unless the opponent was Henry himself—or some absurd powerhouse like the Eternal Gilgamesh—Kitty was expected to resist.

---

But faced suddenly with a massive armored monster, the vampires did not rush in recklessly.

Their confidence existed mainly when preying upon humans—the "unevolved inferior species."

Ask them to tear apart a car barehanded, and most would hesitate.

Much less charge a snarling steel beast.

So the battlefield entered an awkward stalemate.

Though all vampires had been marked and had drawn Kitty's attention, as long as they didn't initiate aggression, Kitty wouldn't close in to attack.

For Henry, however, this wasn't a problem at all.

He still retained partial control authority over the Duck-Leopard Armor.

High above in the aircraft, his ten fingers rhythmically tapped his rings together, activating the armor's weapon systems.

If he built high-tech combat gear only for melee fighting, he'd be an idiot.

And since the enemies were vampires—things whose deaths wouldn't be mourned anyway—

Combined with the fact that Jack Reacher was someone Henry intended to protect, Henry had no interest in determining who was morally right or wrong here.

---

The little duck mounted on the armor activated its speakers. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

In a flat, emotionless synthetic voice, it announced:

"Flash grenade. If you don't want to go blind, crouch down, cover your head, and shield your eyes."

Jack Reacher truly deserved his reputation as an active-duty military man.

Though military police, he had not lacked combat training.

The moment he heard the warning, regardless of where the voice came from or who said it, he instinctively followed training and protected himself.

The vampires heard it too.

But lacking disciplined training, they reacted much slower.

Besides, they didn't believe something as trivial as a "flash grenade" could hinder them.

Before any of them could sneer or issue taunts—

The Duck-Leopard Armor's weapon bay opened under Henry's remote control.

A glowing orb pulsing with blue-violet light popped out.

The vampires were all too familiar with this little object.

Recently, they had been traumatized by it.

This was their nightmare:

The anti-vampire superweapon—

Ultraviolet Grenade.

One blast could wipe out groups at once.

Only vampires lucky enough to hide in shadow and avoid the ultraviolet radiation survived long enough to spread the warning.

However, unlike standard grenade-style attacks, the UV grenade launched from the Duck-Leopard Armor did not have a long fuse delay.

The moment it ejected—

It rose to its highest point, barely forty-five centimeters above the launcher.

The whole process likely took less than a second.

Then—

It detonated.

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