Chapter 11: Marcus

"I... I am also willing to offer my most loyal faith to the great God of Bloodline Warlocks."

"...I am also willing..."

"..."

With the noblewoman taking the lead in capitulating, most of the remaining vampire nobles bowed their heads, which they considered so noble.

"NO... you traitors, you have betrayed the ancient glory of our vampire kin... Viktor will not let you off..."

"Shit! You devil, don't even think about making me bow. The great vampire race could never submit to a heretic..."

"..."

However, there were still a few old fossils who remained immersed in the past glory of the vampires. Refusing to surrender even in death, they instead hurled insults at Li Yang.

For these individuals, Li Yang naturally showed no mercy. Letting them hold onto their perceived glory, he incinerated them into piles of black ash beneath the flames of the Sun's True Fire.

With this act of killing the chicken to warn the monkeys, the remaining vampire nobles who had surrendered all became meek and submissive. Gone was their former arrogance and haughtiness, and the gazes they directed at Li Yang were filled with dread.

"Now, who is willing to lead me to the resting place of your vampire elders?"

Watching this group of vampire nobles, now as tame as puppies, a trace of satisfaction flashed in Li Yang's eyes. It seemed his tactic of making an example of the dissenters had been quite effective.

He knew that to thoroughly subdue this group of decadent old timers, fear was the best tool. The loyalty of all living creatures originates from fear; only with sufficient fear would they dare not harbor any untoward thoughts.

"Great Majesty, Amelia is willing to lead the way for you."

Standing on the high platform, the noblewoman knew that since she was the first to choose to surrender to Li Yang, there was no turning back. With Viktor's petty nature, he would never let her off.

Although she and Viktor were both among the three great elders of the vampire race, her influence was undoubtedly inferior to Viktor, who controlled the vampire armed forces. As things stood, if she wanted to ensure her own survival, she had no choice but to align herself completely with Li Yang.

"Very good, lead the way!"

Regarding the noblewoman's choice, a hint of appreciation flashed in Li Yang's eyes. He preferred this kind of decisive temperament that didn't drag its feet, and he detested those who couldn't read the situation—those fence-sitters who claimed loyalty but secretly waited on the sidelines.

Guided by the noblewoman, Li Yang's party ventured deeper into the castle until they reached a secret underground chamber at its very heart.

The chamber was spacious and bright, adorned with primitive carvings. Far from being eerie or terrifying, it possessed a sense of mysterious, noble luxury.

"Amelia, right? Go ahead, release Viktor, and then have Marcus transported to the main hall."

"As you command, Great Majesty!"

Hearing this, Amelia walked to the center of the chamber without hesitation and activated the underground mechanism.

Amidst the sound of turning gears, two black metal coffins rose from the ground, engraved with various ferocious and ancient reliefs, exuding a mysterious aura.

"Lucian, take Marcus to the hall and wait for me!"

After turning to give instructions to Lucian beside him, Li Yang looked at Katherine, who had been silent and expressionless the entire time. "I promised you I would leave Viktor to you, but remember, once you have taken your revenge, you must serve me completely."

...

Ever since Li Yang had Cleven reveal the truth about her parents' murder three days ago, Katherine had been plunged into confusion and self-doubt.

An elder who had meticulously cared for her for over six hundred years, a benefactor she regarded as a father, had suddenly become the murderer of her parents. Moreover, she had lived her entire life in the lies he wove. For over six hundred years, she had spent every day hunting down werewolves, so how could she not collapse upon learning that it was all a lie?

As for the possibility that Li Yang was deceiving her, that was impossible. Vampires had always possessed the ability to extract memories from blood. Faced with the iron-clad facts within Cleven's blood, how could she continue to deceive herself?

Later, the Death Dealers had mobilized their entire force to attack the werewolves' lair, only to be suppressed by Li Yang without any effort. Under Li Yang's violent suppression, nearly half of the several hundred Death Dealers had perished.

To save the remaining comrades, she had been forced to lower her proud head and even promise Li Yang that she would surrender completely if he handed Viktor over to her.

Li Yang's feelings toward Katherine were actually quite complex. On one hand, he was influenced by his past life, and on the other, he truly needed capable warriors to expand his team and collect resources.

No matter how powerful he was, he still needed others to handle the trivial tasks of resource gathering. After all, England was vast; if he did it himself, it would not only be a waste of time, but he wouldn't gain much even if he worked himself to death. That was why he had subjugated the vampires to bolster his own forces.

The development of a faction cannot do without talent. Katherine was undoubtedly a prime choice—capable of fighting, resilient, calm, and possessing extremely rich combat experience. She was the perfect candidate for external expansion. Coupled with the impressions from his previous life, she certainly held a bit more weight in Li Yang's heart.

...

"Open it, awaken Marcus!"

In the great hall of the vampire castle, gazing at the black metal coffin, Li Yang nodded to Lucian and gave the order.

"Gurgle... thud, thud, thud..."

As fresh blood was poured in, the mummified corpse within the coffin gradually revived, the violent beating of its heart echoing through the silent hall.

The vampire nobles watched the gradually awakening Marcus with hopeful eyes, though their gazes toward Li Yang were mixed with fear, hatred, anger, malice, and various other emotions.

Li Yang ignored the gazes of the vampire nobles. Using brute force to suppress them and expecting true loyalty was a joke; he was not naive enough to believe these nobles were truly submissive.

However, if they hoped that this vampire elder he was awakening could defeat him and save them, that was undoubtedly laughable.

That said, Li Yang didn't need their loyalty. In his view, loyalty was the cheapest and least reliable thing. Only by being sufficiently powerful could he make them fear and dread him, which was far more reliable than testing the loyalty of human nature.

Moreover, Li Yang had no good impression of these decadent old fossils. If he didn't need to use them to gradually consolidate the forces, wealth, and resources they controlled, he wouldn't have given them a chance to surrender at all. Although he lacked manpower, he didn't want just anyone. These old ghosts, content with pleasure, lacking ambition, and eroded by long-term extravagance, were useless waste to him.

"Woo... ugh... huff..."

"Squeak, squeak, squeak..."

As time passed, the mummified corpse fully revived. Upon opening its eyes and seeing Li Yang, Marcus's pupils constricted violently. His body sprang up like a coiled spring, instantly leaping to the ceiling, staring at Li Yang with a face full of caution.

"No need for such defensive posturing, Marcus. You should be able to feel that I harbor no malice toward you!"

Sensing the inexplicable magnetic field fluctuations in the air, a hint of surprise flashed in Li Yang's eyes.

In his perception, a faint ripple was spreading from Marcus, capturing the biological molecular scents in the air. This was clearly not an ability ordinary vampires possessed. The fluctuation was somewhat like a bat's ultrasound, but its range and intensity were far greater, like a twenty-four-hour detector constantly helping him capture hidden creatures and dangers. It could even, to a certain extent, replace the function of spiritual sense.

To Li Yang, this was simply incredible. While he knew the role of Corvinus's strain, this was clearly not just a simple mutation; it was an evolution. By incorporating bat genes and strengthening biological capabilities on that foundation, perhaps if the energy input were sufficient, this evolution could be even more perfect.

The Corvinus strain itself possessed unique abilities, such as extracting information from blood. This ability wasn't exclusive to the vampire race; even Lucian possessed it, clearly carried over from the immortal bloodline.

If not for the weakness of fearing sunlight, Marcus would undoubtedly be a perfect supernatural creature. Seeing his performance, Li Yang couldn't help but look forward to the Corvinus strain even more.

"Who exactly are you?"

Although he felt no malice from Li Yang, Marcus did not lower his guard. As the progenitor of vampires, his perception of blood far surpassed that of ordinary vampires. From the blood within Li Yang's body, he felt energy fluctuations he had never encountered before. Furthermore, he could clearly sense that the blood flowing within Li Yang was hot enough to burn him. In his view, the danger level of the creature before him even surpassed that of his own father.

He had never encountered a creature that could instill such intense fear since his birth. His body's instincts were urging him to flee at every moment, but through the sensing of his aura, he knew he couldn't escape; he had been locked onto by this creature.

"Who I am is not important to you. What is important is that I think we can cooperate."

As if he didn't see Marcus's wary expression, Li Yang stared into his deep blue eyes and said, word by word.

"What do you want?"

Looking at the sincerity in Li Yang's eyes, Marcus hesitated for a moment before jumping down from the ceiling. He knew he didn't have the qualifications to refuse.

"Let's first talk about what you can gain. I can eliminate your weakness to sunlight, make your immortal race a perfect species, and even help your brother regain his intelligence so he can return to his human self."

"What exactly do you want?"

Was he not tempted by the grand promise Li Yang had laid out? He was more tempted than anyone; this had been his lifelong pursuit. One could tell from his trembling body and violently constricted pupils.

But he couldn't agree rashly. Though his heart was surging with uncontrollable waves, Marcus was, after all, an ancient monster who had lived for thousands of years. He understood better than anyone that "if someone offers a gift for no reason, they are up to no good." The more tempting the conditions Li Yang offered, the greater the price he would surely demand.

"I need Alexander Corvinus, alive. And I want the pure blood source he left behind. That is what I want. As long as you can help me find these two things, I guarantee everything I have promised will become reality."

Looking at Marcus's cautious expression, a hint of appreciation flashed in Li Yang's eyes. It was truly rare to be able to remain calm under the weight of the benefits he had promised.

No one knew better than Li Yang how tempting his offer was to Marcus. Yet, even so, he could suppress the temptation. This showed that his nearly two thousand years of life had not been spent in vain.