After closing the battle report, Qian Ye first dispatched five thousand newly trained werewolves to the allied forces. Then, he summoned the grand priest of the werewolves and asked, “You say I am the Dark Son, but why do the werewolves of Galewind Territory refuse to submit to me, and their will to fight seems especially resolute?”
The grand priest of the werewolves remained calm and bowed, “My lord, there can be many Dark Sons. In the eyes of the werewolves of Galewind Territory, Duke Galewind is the true Dark Son. The duke himself does not deny this, and even secretly spreads such rumors.”
“Then, does the Dark Son truly exist?”
“Of course, you are one.”
Qian Ye neither affirmed nor denied, “You just said that there can be many Dark Sons.”
The grand priest said, “The legend of the Dark Son has been circulating for hundreds of years. No one knows when or how it appeared. Yet, curiously, many werewolves have memories of the Dark Son when they awaken their intelligence. This belief has deeply rooted in the hearts of every werewolf, and they firmly believe it. Perhaps because of this, every werewolf duke on this continent would claim to be the Dark Son, openly or covertly, to strengthen their rule. But in reality, they are not, and we all know this, as do they.”
“Did Duke Bone once also claim to be the Dark Son?”
“Of course, my lord.”
“Then why do you think I am the Dark Son?”
“Because of the feeling, the shudder, the fear. When you stand here, I feel as if the very source of darkness is before me. In fact, the higher the nobility, the more profound the feeling. That’s why the werewolves of Emerald Sea submitted to you, even though you are not a werewolf and possess the bloodline of the vampires, which our ancestors detest most.”
Qian Ye seemed to ponder, “Can you sense the purity of the dark force?”
“I cannot, but with the eyes of my ancestors, I can.”
A small golden flame flickered at the tip of Qian Ye’s finger, and he asked, “What about this?”
The grand priest replied, “It is a very pure power of blood, but it is still quite far from the source of darkness. It is not your true form of power.”
As the grand priest spoke, Qian Ye observed him carefully. When looking at the blood flame, the grand priest’s eyes glowed with a faint blue light, as if he had another set of eyes. This was likely the so-called eyes of his ancestors.
Regardless, the grand priest’s conclusion was quite accurate. The blood aura Qian Ye released was a mimic, replicating the blood aura he first received from Nighteye, which indeed differed from his true ancient vampire bloodline. However, this difference could only be discerned by a true expert. The grand priest, with only the cultivation of a Count of Gade, could see the distinction so clearly—it was almost a miracle. It seemed the eyes of the ancestors were truly useful.
“How can I make the werewolves of Galewind Territory submit to me?” Qian Ye asked.
“It is both simple and difficult. You only need to kill Duke Galewind and display your true power. Then, their grand priest will submit to you and acknowledge you as the true Dark Son.”
Qian Ye gave the grand priest a deep look and said, “It seems that all of you priests follow the same script.”
The grand priest’s expression did not change, and his heart did not skip a beat. “Of course not. He is forced, while I am led by faith.”
“What makes them different?”
“His ancestors are blind.”
This reason left Qian Ye speechless. After a moment of thought, he said, “Is there any way to make Duke Galewind submit to me?”
“Can you defeat him?”
“Not yet.”
“When can you?”
Qian Ye paused and said, “At most, half a year.”
Now, with Zhang Boqian’s improved Tai Xuan Military Art, Qian Ye’s cultivation speed had advanced rapidly. After becoming a divine general, the foundation of the dawn force was sufficient to support the advancement of the blood aura to the rank of duke. If they were at the same level, Qian Ye was almost eighty percent certain he could defeat Duke Galewind.
The grand priest did not seem surprised and said, “Then wait until you defeat him.”
Qian Ye considered this and agreed. Currently, he could break through to the rank of vice-duke at any time. With the power of the Hall of Heroes and Carol, defeating Duke Galewind would be easy, but capturing or killing him would be immensely difficult, let alone conquering him.
Qian Ye temporarily set this matter aside and summoned Xu Jingxuan to inquire about the progress of the base construction in the New World.
“At least ten more days, my lord.”
The progress was slightly below expectations, but building a large base within a few dozen days in the New World required enormous manpower and resources. Without the hundreds of heavy trucks and machinery supported by the family, and the tens of thousands of strong werewolves, such a fortification would be impossible.
“Then I’ll give you another ten days.”
Xu Jingxuan accepted the order and cautiously asked, “My lord, shouldn’t we be cautious in the New World? Why are you so urgent?”
Qian Ye frowned and said slowly, “I have a feeling that our enemies are far ahead of us. If we don’t hurry, we might be expelled from the New World.”
The intuition of a top-tier expert was not groundless. Xu Jingxuan nodded, “Understood. My lord, there is one more thing, please make a decision.” He took out a piece of paper and handed it to Qian Ye.
Qian Ye took it and saw a list, categorized by race and position, divided into strange categories: Zheng Kingdom, Galewind Werewolves, Tribal Werewolves, and Imperial Clans.
Without waiting for Qian Ye to ask, Xu Jingxuan said, “These people have been secretly sending messages. I have categorized them based on the direction of their messages. What should we do with them?”
Qian Ye understood; these were the so-called moles. His power had grown too quickly, without time for thorough vetting, allowing many with ulterior motives to infiltrate. The list probably included only a small portion, with many more spies hidden in the shadows.
Qian Ye picked up a pen and crossed out the Galewind Werewolves, saying, “Capture and execute all of them. As for these…”
He circled the Tribal Werewolves and said, “First, capture them and assign them to hard labor. There’s no need to kill them.”
The tribal werewolves came from Emerald Sea and originally did not want to submit to Qian Ye. For these werewolves, Qian Ye felt there was still a chance to win them over, so he did not plan to kill them arbitrarily.
For Zheng Kingdom and the Imperial Clans, Qian Ye crossed out Zheng Kingdom and checked the Imperial Clans.
Xu Jingxuan understood that the spies from Zheng Kingdom must all be executed, but he was puzzled by the check mark for the Imperial Clans. Seeing Qian Ye’s expression, he smiled, “Those from the Empire, let them do as they please. Let them send whatever they want, without special precautions. They can know what they need to know.”
Xu Jingxuan was shocked, “Wouldn’t that expose everything about your presence in the New World?”
“That’s the point, to let them know.”
“Then…” Although Xu Jingxuan didn’t understand, seeing that Qian Ye did not wish to elaborate, he accepted the order and left.
Qian Ye ordered his equipment and supplies to be brought, and once again entered the New World to explore further. Before the New World base was completed, he needed to determine the direction of his next exploration.
In the twilight continent, above the ancient castle of Dis, a shadow loomed as a massive transport fleet almost blocked out the sun. The landing field outside the castle, expanded several times, still could not accommodate such a giant fleet, so they had to land and unload in batches.
The first batch of floating ships landed, and armed warriors emerged from the cabins, carrying large tactical bags. They quickly lined up and were guided to designated areas to set up camp.
The so-called campsite was just an open area, but the vampire warriors were well-prepared and swiftly erected tents. As soon as the camp was set up, several military vehicles drove in, and a viscount stepped out of the first one.
He confirmed the unit number and the number of troops with the commander of the newly arrived force and then gave orders. The soldiers from the cargo trucks turned out to be doctors, who unloaded crates of injections. The new troops lined up and each one came forward to receive an injection.
Soon, hundreds of vampire warriors were injected, and the viscount looked satisfied. “Observe them carefully. If there are no abnormal reactions, they can enter the New World tomorrow night. Well, if there’s nothing else, I’ll leave. I still have ten other camps to visit today.”
The commander, seeing the viscount about to leave, hurriedly asked, “My lord, how is the situation in the New World?”
“So far, it’s going smoothly, but I heard…”
“Heard what?”
The viscount glanced at the castle and suddenly shuddered, “Never mind, that’s not something you need to know. I’m off!”
With that, he left without waiting for the commander to retain him, heading to the adjacent camp.
In a conference room within the castle, several elder vampires sat down, and an old marquis with snow-white hair entered, hanging a map on the wall. The symbols on the map were strange, not matching any known continent. The coordinate system was not vertical but curved slightly.
The old marquis looked at the empty chair in the center and said, “Is the Princess not coming?”
“As usual, she probably won’t come. Let’s start.”
The old marquis sighed, “Without the Princess, our progress may lag behind the other races.”
“A decision made by the Princess is not for us to question. Let’s begin,” a duke said.
The old marquis drew a winding line on the map and said, “This is our progress in the New World over the past three days.”
“The progress of King of Darkness is acceptable.”
“The Crown of Fire is progressing nicely.”
“King of Azure seems to be lagging a bit.”
“We are the slowest.” This statement caused a silence in the room.
After a moment, another duke asked, “How is the progress of the other three races?”
The old marquis drew three more lines on the map. The starting points of the expansions were different, but the directions roughly pointed to the center of the map. The different colored lines represented different races: black for the demonspawn, blue for the werewolves, and dark gray for the spider demons.
Seeing these three lines, the vampire dukes all stood up, shocked, “The demonspawn are progressing so fast?!”
The old marquis said, “This is the data they provided, and we don’t know if it’s true.”
“In such matters, the data given is always behind the actual. How could it be ahead? We must talk to the Princess again. To catch up, the Princess must go into battle.”
“But who will speak to the Princess?”
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