Descent Upon the Duke’s Castle

"Secretly capturing Vampires? It must be to increase the Reaper’s strength. That worked out well—I had a legitimate reason to act."

Wang Bert’s eyes flickered as he said to James, "I understand. James, from now on, I’ll have Mercury send people to hunt down those Blood Clan members. To protect them, the demon gods will definitely keep sending reinforcements. When that happens, track those reinforcements, uncover the forces behind them, and when it’s time to close the net, wipe them all out in one sweep."

James nodded. "Blood God, I’ll investigate everything thoroughly."

"Very good."

Wang Bert nodded and ended the call. Then he called Mercury and explained his plan.

"So that was it. No wonder James didn’t notify me in advance about the Demon Amulet."

Mercury suddenly understood. She said, "Blood God, I know what to do. Next, I’ll pretend to hunt them down so they can find Dracula."

"Not pretend. You must send people to hunt them with everything you have. Only then can we force out the demon gods’ forces."

Wang Bert said, "You don’t need to worry. The demon gods aren’t that weak. They’ll definitely be able to protect those Blood Clan members. Uh, to keep our losses from getting too high, put up bounties on the black market and have mercenaries help. They want money, not their lives."

Mercury nodded. "Understood."

"Besides hunting those fugitives, you and Blade must spread the new order across Europe as quickly as possible."

Wang Bert instructed, "This is very important. Once it’s done, Europe will fall within our sphere of influence."

"I understand."

Mercury said, "With those surrendered Blood Clan members cooperating, it will be finished soon."

"Very good."

Remembering something, Wang Bert said, "Right, have the Ten Guardians wait for me in Romania. I’m going there to deal with Grand Duke Damaskinos."

He was summoning the Ten Guardians not to fight, but to put on a show. As the dignified Blood God, how embarrassing would it be to go alone? Though he alone was enough to massacre the duke’s castle.

Mercury said, "Blood God, Blade and I can handle this for you."

"I’m going over to stretch my legs."

Wang Bert said, "Besides, I’m very interested in Grand Duke Damaskinos’s genetic research. No need to say more. Just do as instructed."

"Yes, Blood God."

Mercury nodded. Thinking of something, she said, "By the way, Blood God, excluding the losses, this time we can earn at least…"

"Tell me after the figures are calculated. To me now, money is just a number."

Wang Bert said indifferently. Ever since becoming the richest man on Earth, he had stopped caring so much about money. He could not spend it all in his lifetime anyway.

Making money now was merely a habit.

"Alright."

Mercury did not say anything more and ended the holographic projection. She had plenty to do.

Late at night, Romania, Grand Duke Damaskinos’s castle. Nissa stood atop the battlements, gazing at the bright moon, unable to stop herself from sighing.

Nissa knew the Blood God was powerful, but she had never expected even his subordinates to be so strong. Before them, Europe’s Blood Clan was as weak as children.

Nissa did not care about Europe’s Blood Clan, but when the nest was overturned, could any egg remain intact? If Europe’s Blood Clan fell, could Grand Duke Damaskinos truly stay untouched?

At that moment, a guard hurried over and reported to Nissa, "Princess, a private plane has landed nearby. According to our comparison, it seems to be the Blood God’s private plane."

"What? The Blood God’s private plane? Has the Blood God himself arrived, or have his subordinates come to cause trouble?"

Nissa was greatly alarmed. She hurriedly said, "Everyone, heighten your alert. I’ll notify Father immediately."

"There’s no need. I’m here. Whether you raise your guard or not, it makes no difference."

Just then, a voice suddenly sounded from outside the castle. Nissa turned and saw a sinister-looking young man slowly approaching from afar with ten burly men whose auras were fierce and imposing.

Though that young man looked no different from an ordinary human on the surface, as he advanced, Nissa felt him growing larger and larger, nearly as tall as heaven and earth, making it difficult for her to breathe.

If even Nissa felt that way, the other Vampires were even worse off. They collapsed directly to the ground, unable to move.

With a wave of Wang Bert’s hand, the castle gates exploded with a bang. Then, with a beckoning motion, he pulled Nissa down to his side.

Nissa was horrified beyond measure. The Blood God’s strength far exceeded her imagination. Even if every Vampire in the castle joined forces, they probably would not be enough for one hand of his.

Nissa barely managed to stand and asked bitterly, "Blood God, we never offended you. Why are you trying to wipe us out?"

"The one I want to kill is only Grand Duke Damaskinos. As for you, I won’t kill you."

Wang Bert smiled. Come to think of it, Nissa truly deserved to be the female lead of Blade II. She was gorgeous.

However, Blade would not have that luck in this world. After all, the female lead from the first movie had not died yet.

Wang Bert silently mocked, Come to think of it, does Blade have some kind of wife-killing trait? The female leads died in both movies.

Nissa gritted her teeth. "I will not betray my father."

"No, you will."

Wang Bert smiled faintly and walked into the castle with his arm around Nissa. Everywhere they passed, all the guards knelt on the ground as if welcoming their god.

This was not some spell. These Vampires simply could not withstand Wang Bert’s aura. To them, Wang Bert was a higher-order life form.

"The Blood God is growing more and more powerful."

The ten guards were filled with amazement. The current Blood God truly seemed a little like a god.

At the main hall, Grand Duke Damaskinos hurried out with a group of experts. When he saw Wang Bert holding Nissa, his expression changed drastically. He shouted, "Blood God, what do you mean by this? I’ve already yielded so much, and you still want to wipe us out?"

"Not bad. You know I care about my reputation, so you want to use morality to pressure me."

Wang Bert smiled and said, "Since you want a reason, I’ll give you one. Come out."

At Wang Bert’s command, a chinese Vampire behind Grand Duke Damaskinos stepped forward and bowed to Wang Bert. "Blood God."

Grand Duke Damaskinos’s expression changed as he shouted, "Cold Ice, you’re the Blood God’s spy?"

Cold Ice did not deny it. He smiled and said, "That’s right. By order of the Blood God and my cousin Xue Ren, I infiltrated your ranks, Grand Duke."

Cold Ice was Xue Ren’s cousin. More than a year ago, Wang Bert had arranged for him to join Grand Duke Damaskinos’s forces and monitor him.

Since Wang Bert knew the plot of Blade II, how could he possibly ignore Grand Duke Damaskinos?

"Cold Ice was actually the Blood God’s subordinate?"

Nissa, leaning against Wang Bert’s chest, looked shocked. It seemed the Blood God had set his sights on her father long ago.

"Traitor."

Grand Duke Damaskinos looked extremely grim. He gave a signal behind him, and several experts charged toward Cold Ice at once.

"Kill them."

Wang Bert waved his hand. Three members of the Ten Guardians rushed out and, in just a few moves, slaughtered all of Grand Duke Damaskinos’s so-called experts.

Wang Bert said calmly, "Grand Duke Damaskinos, you secretly sent people to capture Vampires. I discovered it by chance, so I came to demand an explanation. Are you satisfied with that reason?"

Nissa shouted, "How could my father secretly capture Vampires? Blood God, you’re slandering him."

"I never slander anyone. Be good and keep watching. It won’t be long before you learn that your father is completely different from what you imagined."

Wang Bert smiled faintly. Knowing he was no match for the Blood God, Grand Duke Damaskinos turned and fled toward the rear.

"This isn’t over yet, Grand Duke. Where are you going?"

Wang Bert reached through the air with one hand and dragged Grand Duke Damaskinos back directly. Then, a fingernail on his finger turned into a streak of blood-red light and flew into Grand Duke Damaskinos’s body. Grand Duke Damaskinos immediately felt more than half his strength vanish.

Grand Duke Damaskinos gritted his teeth and knelt on one knee before Wang Bert. "Blood God, I can submit to you."

Nissa shouted in shock, "Father!"

"No rush."

Wang Bert smiled and asked Cold Ice, "Cold Ice, where is the laboratory?"

"It’s underground, but I’ve never gone inside. The old man guarded it tightly. I only know the approximate location."

Grand Duke Damaskinos’s expression changed drastically. The Blood God actually knew about the laboratory? How was that possible? He had not even told his own daughter!

Nissa asked in confusion, "What laboratory?"

Wang Bert smiled. "You’ll know when we get there. Cold Ice, lead the way. You two, bring Grand Duke Damaskinos."

"This way, Blood God."

Cold Ice immediately stepped forward to lead them. Before long, the group arrived at the entrance to the underground laboratory. Wang Bert said to Grand Duke Damaskinos, "I don’t need to open the door myself, do I?"

Nissa could not help asking, "Father, what exactly is this place?"

Grand Duke Damaskinos ignored Nissa. After hesitating for a moment, he pressed his palm against the door. With a clatter, the door opened, revealing an advanced genetic research laboratory before everyone.

"Grand Duke!"

The laboratory’s director was about to greet the grand duke when he saw Wang Bert and the others. He froze. What was going on? Wang Bert smiled and said, "Don’t worry. You’re talented, so I’ll keep you. The others in your laboratory will be treated the same."

The director breathed a sigh of relief and immediately said, "I would be honored to work for you, esteemed Blood God."

Grand Duke Damaskinos stared at the director coldly. The director looked awkward and did not dare meet his eyes.

Wang Bert asked, "What is this laboratory researching?"

The director hesitated before answering, "The Perfect Blood Clan. A Perfect Blood Clan that does not fear sunlight, garlic, or silver."

"Perfect Blood Clan?"

Wang Bert said, "Grand Duke Damaskinos, you have quite the ideas."

"Of course I do. Blood God, your path of living peacefully with humans is wrong."

Grand Duke Damaskinos said, "Once humans gain enough power, they will definitely find a way to destroy us. We must strike first and turn them all into food."

Wang Bert asked with interest, "How? You know how powerful humans are."

"As long as the Perfect Blood Clan research succeeds, none of that will be a problem."

Grand Duke Damaskinos said, "The upper ranks of humanity are incomparably greedy. They will surely be happy to become immortal Perfect Blood Clan members without weaknesses. With their help, turning humanity into food would be simplicity itself.

"Blood God, this is the proper path for the Blood Clan."

"So that’s what you think."

Wang Bert laughed in disbelief. Grand Duke Damaskinos’s thinking was somewhat similar to his own, but their goals were completely opposite. He shook his head and said, "How boring."

Having his lifelong belief so scorned, Grand Duke Damaskinos flew into a rage. He shouted, "Blood God, what did you say? I’m saving the Blood Clan! If we don’t take this path, the Blood Clan will definitely be destroyed by humans."

"Many villains have wanted to destroy humanity, but none have ever succeeded. If you do this, the only result will be humanity destroying you."

Wang Bert said, "The future of the Blood Clan is under my control. Not only will it not be destroyed, it will grow stronger and stronger."

"Blood God, you’re wrong. I’m the one who’s right!"

Grand Duke Damaskinos roared. The next moment, the laboratory doors slammed shut with a bang.

Immediately afterward, the screens on the laboratory walls displayed footage from the Secret Laboratory—a middle-aged man who somewhat resembled Grand Duke Damaskinos, equally bald and without eyebrows, sat on the floor with a vacant expression, covered in blood as he gnawed on Vampires.

Seeing the middle-aged man gnawing on Vampires, every Vampire present except Wang Bert felt a chill in their hearts, as if they had encountered a natural predator.

The director hurriedly shouted, "Blood God, this is a failed experiment. We call him the Reaper. He can devour and infect Vampires."

"Devour and infect Vampires?"

Everyone was stunned. Grand Duke Damaskinos shouted, "That’s right. He is the nemesis of all Vampires. If he devours enough Vampires, even you, Blood God, will not be his match."

At this point, Grand Duke Damaskinos felt a surge of hatred in his heart. Unfortunately, the Blood God had come too soon.

Wang Bert asked, "If? In other words, he isn’t my opponent right now. Then what is all this supposed to accomplish?"

"He truly isn’t your opponent right now."

Grand Duke Damaskinos did not deny it. He said, "But his body is full of viruses. As long as he explodes, the viruses will spread throughout the entire laboratory. Blood God, even you will not end well if the viruses erode you."

The people in the laboratory all changed expression, but Cold Ice and the Ten Guardians wore mocking smiles. Cold Ice even sneered, "That’s it?"

With the Blood God’s strength, how could he be threatened by something like this? He was the invincible Blood God of the mortal world! Wang Bert looked at the Reaper on the monitor with interest and asked, "Will he obey you so obediently?"

"Of course. I installed an electronic chip in his head."

Grand Duke Damaskinos said, "Whatever I tell him to do, he does. Otherwise, why would I keep him?"

"So this is my fault."

Wang Bert was speechless. Ever since he had used the Electronic Biological Brain to control the War Abomination, everyone else had been frantically copying the idea. The military had copied it, Lizard Doctor had copied it too—that was why Black Spider obeyed Pierce’s commands—and now it was Grand Duke Damaskinos’s turn.

At that moment, Grand Duke Damaskinos added, "Don’t think you can stop this by killing me. Even if I die, I can still control the Reaper and make him explode."