Professional

Chapter 184: Professional

"What? You want me to rule Osborn City?!"

Blood Baron’s eyes widened. He had thought he would become a disposable pawn Zhang Ye could throw away at any time, charging into battle for him. He never imagined Zhang Ye would hand an entire city over to him to manage.

"Yes."

Zhang Ye spoke calmly. "I need influence and manpower, and you have experience in this area. I believe you can do it better. Besides, I have more important matters to deal with now and cannot stay here."

Blood Baron had yet to recover from the fact that he had become a city lord overnight. Everything that had happened today felt like a dream. He had originally intended to leave the Headquarters District, yet now, not only had he not left, he had even taken Osborn’s place.

At that thought, Blood Baron suddenly shuddered.

"Wait, th-this doesn’t seem to follow procedure. Red Skull won’t agree to this, and the battle here just had a huge impact. Doctor Doom definitely won’t stand idly by either. Are you trying to send me to my death?"

"You’re afraid?"

Zhang Ye raised an eyebrow, then walked over to Blood Baron. Smiling, he patted him on the shoulder and continued.

"Don’t get worked up, buddy. I still need you as my scout, so you won’t die. You don’t need to worry about Red Skull or Doom at all. Over the years, the unclaimed lands of the wasteland have always belonged to whoever was capable enough to take them. When those gangs divided up territory, did Red Skull ever interfere?"

"But…" Blood Baron was still somewhat worried.

"No buts. Whether it’s a city or land, as long as you still follow Red Skull’s lead, Hydra won’t touch you. As for the battle here, if they want to investigate, let them investigate all they want. You only need to take control of this city in a short time."

Listening to Zhang Ye’s words, Blood Baron’s trembling heart gradually settled.

In the end, Blood Baron had suffered too much over the years. He had been driven away by countless villains, and his kind had been forbidden from entering any city. That had forced Blood Baron to live a wandering life, and deep down, he had developed the habit of staying far away from crowded places.

Now that he was suddenly being pushed into the spotlight, he was at a loss for what to do. He feared Red Skull and Doom would attack him because of his vampire identity.

Seeing what Blood Baron was thinking, Zhang Ye calmly tried to reassure him.

"Think about Connors. That inferior giant lizard took over a huge stretch of land, and no one bothered him. You only have one city. Nothing will happen. Besides, when you were making waves back then, Red Skull was still playing with his balls. Don’t worry."

"Mm, you’re right." Blood Baron nodded heavily. When he raised his head again, his eyes were filled only with burning passion.

It was obvious that Blood Baron’s ambition had been reignited.

"But I still need to remind you of something."

Zhang Ye’s expression turned serious. Seeing this, Blood Baron immediately lowered his head slightly, looking as if he were listening attentively.

"To better rule this place, you turned some humans into vampires. I can understand that. But I hope you target people who can no longer survive, or humans who are willing to become vampires, rather than acting recklessly and stirring up pointless trouble."

"I understand." Blood Baron nodded.

"One more thing." Zhang Ye was pleased by Blood Baron’s attitude and continued.

"You need to keep your progeny under control. I want the city in the future to be one where humans and vampires live together, not one divided cleanly between day and night. Drinking blood is fine. Killing people is not. Understand?"

"I understand. I understand." Zhang Ye’s words were mild, but Blood Baron felt greater pressure with every sentence.

However, he clearly understood Zhang Ye’s meaning. At this point, Blood Baron had begun seriously considering how humans and vampires could coexist peacefully.

After witnessing Zhang Ye’s strength, Blood Baron had no doubt that the wasteland would be swept up in terrifying upheaval in the future. If he wanted a place in the coming "new world," then he had to resolve both the internal and external troubles of the vampire race.

Otherwise, Blood Baron believed Zhang Ye would never allow his people to continue living in this world. By then, even being displaced would probably be nothing more than a luxury.

"Think it over yourself. Consider it an opportunity I’m giving you. Do well, and I’ll let bygones be bygones. Do poorly, and I’ll throw your soul into the Hell Dimension."

Zhang Ye tilted his head slightly, combining grace and intimidation. Then he took out a cheap camera memory card and handed it to Blood Baron.

"Also, there’s one more thing I need you to do. After you take control of the city, I want you to spread this video as quickly as possible. No matter what method you use, I want more and more people to know about this scene."

Blood Baron took the camera and memory card, then casually started the playback. Soon, the footage began to move. A man with an S emblem on his chest appeared on the screen and began an incredibly fierce battle with Absorbing Man and Wild Child.

Besides him, there was a freak dressed like a bat and a valiant-looking woman. The three worked together against Osborn’s Villain Alliance. However, because the camera quality was too poor, their faces could not be seen clearly at all.

"What is this?"

Blood Baron looked utterly bewildered, unable to understand what this was for.

"This is the ‘real’ account of the battle that happened here. Those three call themselves the Justice League. I’ve already dealt with the battlefield outside, so I’m not worried about Red Skull and the others coming to investigate. Your job is to spread the ‘heroic deeds’ of these three."

Blood Baron froze. A few seconds later, his eyes shifted as he understood Zhang Ye’s purpose. Then he smiled and nodded rapidly.

"I understand. Leave it to me."

Then Blood Baron seemed to think of something else and added even more excitedly.

"I can also split the video into several segments for distribution. It would be best to upload them to Hydra’s information network and have them help spread it. As for the videos with more information, I’ll keep those. When Red Skull and Doom send people to investigate, I’ll hand them over."

Hearing Blood Baron’s ability to draw further conclusions and lay out the steps, Zhang Ye could not help but glance at him in slight surprise.

Then Zhang Ye turned to Pietro and Kara behind him and introduced him with a wave of his hand.

"Now that’s what you call professional."

Blood Baron’s matter had been settled for the time being.

Osborn City was temporarily of no use to Zhang Ye.

For safety’s sake, Zhang Ye did not intend to stay here long. Who knew how many people outside were already rushing over? The longer they stayed, the more likely their identities would be exposed.

Thus, after Zhang Ye and the others handled the entire scene and made sure nothing had been missed, Zhang Ye turned his gaze toward Ashley.

"You’re coming with me. We’re going to find your father."

Perhaps she had realized there was always someone stronger, or perhaps she had learned just how terrifying Zhang Ye’s combat ability was. After the battle ended, Ashley had remained silent and obedient, meek as a little lamb.

She did not even dare raise her head to meet Zhang Ye and the others’ eyes. Even when she heard Zhang Ye’s commanding words, she merely nodded obediently without any objection.

After all, earlier, she had refused to acknowledge Barton as her father.