"Oh shit..."
The mont the elder finished speaking, Vladimir lunged at him, trying to strangle the man for spouting such nonsense. But before Mike could even intervene, Dracula easily stopped Vladimir.
"Oh?" Dracula's lips curled into a cold smile. "Go on, tell us more."
Hearing that there was juicy gossip, even Master Fool had co over to listen.
"I... I..." The elder, now the center of attention, trembled all over, feeling incredibly guilty. It wasn't Vladimir he feared-after all, what was there to fear from a re boy toy of the Blood Ancestor? No, what he feared was the Blood Ancestor herself!
"I swear by the Blood Ancestor, you will not be punished," Dracula said, recognizing the elder's hesitation. He pulled out a crest from the River of Blood and wrote a decree on the spot. Stamping it with the blood crest, the decree took effect imdiately.
Mike: ???
*I underestimated Dracula!*
It made sense, though. Dracula had supervised the construction of the Tower of Truth, so it wasn't surprising that he still had tokens of the Blood Ancestor's authority.
More importantly, toward the end of her reign, the Blood Ancestor had been focused on breaking through to beco a Supre Being, leaving most of the blood clan's affairs in Dracula's hands. This was why Dracula had earned the title of the Blood Ancestor's guardian within the blood clan.
With the decree in hand, the elder finally mustered the courage to speak, though still with great reluctance. "The Blood Ancestor once publicly declared that Vladimir was her head concubine. The entire blood clan was to treat him as they would the Blood Ancestor herself..."
The more the elder spoke, the darker Vladimir's face beca.
Before today, what was Vladimir's identity? He was a rebel of the blood clan, a maverick, a powerful figure building a new era for the blood clan, and a strong contender for the next Blood Ancestor!
But after today, all of that was gone.
Now, Vladimir had only one title left-head concubine.
Mike, who had been quietly observing, suddenly asked, "How many concubines did the Blood Ancestor have?"
The elder, hearing the question, turned to look at Mike. Seeing that it was a weak human, not even at Duke-level strength, who dared to speak to him directly, the elder's anger flared!
*I can't ss with Dracula, but I can certainly ss with you!*
Fury surged within him, and he lashed out, "Where did this slave co from? Do you think you have the right to speak here?"
The mont those words left his mouth, both Vladimir and Dracula's faces changed, and even Master Fool's expression beca more animated.
In ancient tis, vampires often kept humans as slaves within their territories. To the elder, all humans were slaves, re cargo, not even worthy of being called blood slaves. Given this background, and seeing Dracula, a powerful figure, the elder naturally assud that Dracula was the master of this private space.
And Mike? A weak, unrefined human who dared to speak in the presence of the great Dracula? Unforgivable!
Thus, the elder had no qualms about hurling insults at Mike.
But before he could finish his tirade, a terrifying River of Blood descended from the sky, pinning him down so tightly that he couldn't utter another word.
*Shing!*
Countless red lines sliced through the elder's body, cutting him into pieces. The fragnts turned into bats, and the elder tried to resurrect himself, but Vladimir didn't give him the chance.
The Blood Sea surged up, swallowing all the bats and trapping them within.
Inside the Blood Sea, the elder was horrified to find his power rapidly draining away! In the blink of an eye, he had fallen from a level 989 powerhouse to below level 600!
The most terrifying part was that the Blood Sea seed to be a natural counter to vampires. Inside it, he felt like he was sinking into quicksand, unable to exert even a fraction of his strength.
"Don't go too far," ca Mike's voice from outside the Blood Sea.
The elder's heart leaped with joy, thinking he had been spared.
But then he heard Mike continue, "Drain his blood essence, send him back to the Mystic Market, and let him live among humans. They have a seven-day return policy."
"Got it!" Vladimir responded enthusiastically, then glanced at the remaining four elders. "Should we return these ones too?"
Mike waved his hand dismissively. He wasn't particularly offended by the elder's outburst. It was Dracula and Vladimir who had blown things out of proportion.
Dracula, however, suspected that Thor might co up with so devious plan for revenge. After this little episode, even the most foolish of the vampire elders had co to a stark realization:
This seemingly weak human was soone even Dracula feared?!
A human, not even level 600, who could make Dracula wary?!
Putting the pieces together, the smarter ones quickly deduced that it had been a hundred years since the Mystic Market was established. Surely, the human race had produced a new potential Supre Being by now.
"Thor!"
Though they had been confined to the Mystic Market, the regular blood draws had given them so contact with the outside world. Naturally, they had heard of the human race's new potential Supre Being, nad Thor.
*Could this be him?*
*He doesn't seem that scary...*
Many of the elders had interacted with human Supre Beings before. They knew that the presence of a Supre Being was overwhelming, a could be felt imdiately.
By comparison, Thor seed almost harmless.
"You fools know nothing," Vladimir thought, sneering internally. *Once you've spent enough ti around Thor, you'll understand. This is the most terrifying potential Supre Being!*
"Back to the original question," Dracula said, steering the conversation back on track. "How many concubines did the Blood Ancestor have?"
The elder, still trapped in the Blood Sea, didn't hesitate this ti. "One!"
"Huh?"
Everyone's gaze shifted to Vladimir, their eyes filled with amusent.
Mike couldn't resist teasing, "So, out of all the worlds, she only had eyes for you?"
Vladimir's face turned a deep shade of red, then pale, and he couldn't find the words to
respond.
"Alright, let Bilbo handle the returns. The rest of you, off to the factory," Dracula clapped his hands and said cheerfully, "Ti is money, my friends!"
Seeing how reasonable potential Supre Being Thor was, the vampire elders breathed a sigh
of relief. Maybe he wouldn't be so hard to deal with after all.
Perhaps the days ahead wouldn't be so difficult.
"You've already cost a lot of money, so..." Mike's tone suddenly shifted, becoming
serious. "Interest rates are going up."
...
"Get moving, ti to work!" Mike led the four remaining elders to the production line that
had already been set up.
Bilbo was there, assigning tasks. "You'll only need to work two shifts a day..."
At this point, the four vampire elders were still relatively calm. Two shifts? Even if it were
three shifts, what was the big deal?
"Each shift is 12 hours."
The elders: ???
One of them couldn't help but ask, "Wait, doesn't that an we'll be working every second of
the day?" Even vampires had their limits. They could get tired and exhausted too.
"What, you have a problem with that?" Mike's gaze swept over them, and the temperature seed to drop a few degrees. The elders imdiately fell silent.
"My boss is very reasonable!" Bilbo chid in. "He spent a lot of Lord rits to buy you, so it's only fair that you work to pay off that debt, right?"
Bilbo's explanation was logical and convincing, leaving the elders with no grounds to argue.
"Of course, 70% of your daily earnings will go toward repaying your debt, with the remaining 30% as your personal inco. After paying 24% in personal inco tax, you'll still have 6%
left!"
By this point, question marks were practically floating above the elders' heads.
This system was full of loopholes!
It was just another way to exploit them!
Bilbo continued, "Ti is money, so you can use your wages to buy rest ti!"
With only 6% of their inco going into their pockets, and rest ti needing to be purchased,
one elder raised a trembling hand and asked, "How much rest ti can we buy with 6% of our
inco?"
Bilbo held up his hand, spreading his fingers.
Five? the elders wondered. Five hours? Five minutes?
Before they could ask for clarification, Bilbo folded his thumb back, leaving four fingers up.
*Four... seconds?!*
"Of course, my boss knows that you've all lived for a long ti and probably have so savings," Bilbo said, cutting to the chase. "If you have anything valuable, you can sell it. The
Mystic Market is always fair and honest in its dealings."
At the ntion of the Mystic Market, the elders couldn't hold back their tears.
Compared to this, the Mystic Market was heaven!
If they could go back, they'd gladly return to the Mystic Market!
...
Leaving aside the tragic fate of the vampire elders, Mike strolled through his private space,
with Dracula and Vladimir trailing behind him.
Mike glanced back at Vladimir, sighed, and hesitated to speak.
"Look at the ss you've made."
Vladimir: ...
Today had been the most humiliating day of his life!
Head concubine of the Blood Ancestor, and her only one at that!
It was utterly disgraceful!
Mike turned his gaze to the **Heaven Pavilion**.
Lilith, the golden pig, had already accepted her fate of being hung in the pavilion. As a master
of slacking off, she had a clear understanding of her role. Since she was going to slack off, she
might as well go all the way!
She had even made herself a hammock, lying in it while snacking, with absolutely no
ambition.
"This Blood Ancestor is quite sothing," Mike mused, turning to look at the two vampires
behind him.
Dracula, the Blood Ancestor's right-hand man, the second most powerful figure in the blood
clan.
Vladimir, the Blood Ancestor's head concubine, the number one concubine.
Lilith, the Blood Ancestor's sister, the number one slacker.
It seed like everyone closely connected to the Blood Ancestor was here!
Mike looked at Vladimir and asked, "Now that you know your hidden identity, have you
rembered anything?"
Vladimir's expression shifted, his emotions fluctuating.
Mike pressed, "Especially about your attack on the Blood Ancestor."
Now that Vladimir's identity as the Blood Ancestor's concubine had been revealed, the
situation had beco even more ambiguous.
"I... I do rember sothing..." Vladimir glanced at Dracula, signaling that he wasn't comfortable speaking in front of an outsider.
Mike imdiately said, "Fool, isolate Dracula."
Before Master Fool could act, Dracula quickly interjected, "I have money!"
"This isn't about money. It's about respect..." Mike began, but before he could finish, Dracula
sent him a private ssage, offering an irresistible price.
Dracula was willing to cover the remaining cost of the vampire elders, but he needed more
ti.
"Deal!"
Master Fool set up a space to ensure that the conversation wouldn't be overheard.
But for Vladimir, the real threat wasn't Dracula overhearing-it was Dracula himself.
Once everything was ready, Master Fool signaled for Vladimir to begin.
"You all know that the last Blood Ancestor's origins were mysterious. No one knew where she
ca from..." Vladimir began.
Dracula nodded. That much was true. Even he didn't know which clan the Blood Ancestor had
co from.
Normally, vampires were extrely particular about bloodline and heritage. But the Blood Ancestor was absurdly powerful, yet she didn't co from any of the Thirteen Clans. She even had a sister.
There were rumors that the Blood Ancestor was the result of an experint by a mysterious vampire powerhouse, who had forcibly transford a powerful being into a vampire. The mortality rate of such experints was terrifyingly high, with only the Blood Ancestor and her twin sister surviving out of tens of thousands of attempts.
In ancient tis, many races had resorted to extre asures to produce a Supre Being.
The White Wolf King had a similar background.
So, the Blood Ancestor's story wasn't all that surprising.
"I was originally a vampire Count, living a quiet life in a countryside castle, minding my own business..." Vladimir's tone shifted as he began to talk about himself. Dracula, growing impatient, urged him, "Get to the point."
"One day, I bought a batch of human slaves-uh, I an, partners..." Vladimir quickly corrected himself, glancing at Thor, who was human. "Partners."
Mike rolled his eyes and cut him off. "Skip all the background. Just summarize the most important part in one sentence!"
This was a real test of Vladimir's storytelling skills.
His face went through several contortions before he finally complied with Thor's request.
"I an... probably... maybe... possibly... if I'm not mistaken..." Vladimir's voice trembled as he struggled to get the words out, nearly on the verge of collapse.
Under the weight of everyone's gaze, he finally revealed the truth as he rembered it.
"I gave the Blood Ancestor her first embrace."
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