Heroes are as numerous as hairtail fish

"Click."

The reception room door was pushed open, and two tall male apprentices in wizard robes walked in.

Their hair was slightly damp, and judging by the badges on their chests, they were members of the Enforcement Squad.

One of them looked like the leader.

"Ahab Gul, is it? There's something I need to confirm with you."

As he spoke, the leading Enforcement Squad member sat down on the sofa opposite him.

"We went to the docks, but we couldn't find the boat you brought back."

"There were three Bloodkin hiding at the docks, though. We've already brought them back, so we need to confirm something with you."

As he spoke, the Enforcement Squad member reached a hand back and took a bloody bundle from the other man.

"Also, we found something else at the docks. Take a look."

With that, the Enforcement Squad member placed the bundle on the small table and untied it.

Hm? The boat was gone?

Only three left? Which one sailed the boat away?

The smartest one had already been killed by him ahead of time, and these ones all looked like they weren't too bright.

They had also found something. What could it be—

Ahab pulled himself out of the sofa backrest, leaned forward, and looked at the things inside the bundle.

Inside the bundle were four long, sharp teeth.

Besides that, there were also two—

Ears!

They were two ears resembling elf ears, but on closer inspection, the differences were obvious.

They clearly belonged to vampires—in other words, Bloodkin!

And behind the ears, several bloody words had been carved with the tip of a knife.

The words were crooked and twisted. One glance was enough to tell they had been written by some creature that was barely literate.

But the contents could still be vaguely made out:

"Still warm."

"Please enjoy, Senior."

In that instant, Ahab thought of the vampire girl cub Qi Qi, eyes sparkling like stars before he got off the boat, saying:

"Senior can eat warm food!"

...Ahab understood.

In Ancient God Language, this was called "heroes under heaven are as numerous as carp crossing the river."

In the words of this world, it was "the heroes under heaven are as numerous as hairtail fish swimming out from the seabed."

It was Qi Qi. She had escaped!

Three breaths later, Ahab figured out the whole story.

Qi Qi was the smartest one among those little things.

From the instant she saw him, she had already been thinking of a way to escape!

First of all, if she wanted to escape, she definitely had to borrow his strength.

So when they first met on the island, after Qi Qi had probed out his situation, she had taken the initiative to call over the others, and had voluntarily helped introduce him and vouch for him.

At the time, Ahab had even thought this child was quite useful.

Having her introduce him earned the trust of the other little ones far more easily than introducing himself would have!

After that, when he sailed the boat toward the Academy and the other little things began to suspect him, she deliberately supported him and comforted the other Bloodkin.

He had been anxious to read, so he had taught her how to handle the helm.

And before that, Qi Qi had also had experience stoking the mechanical furnace. There was no problem with her piloting the boat herself.

Of course, after escaping, the most important part was hiding her identity!

Qi Qi must have already observed him carefully and reached a conclusion:

Compared to humans, Bloodkin had no other differences aside from their teeth, nails, ears, and wings.

Their wings could be folded away and hidden inside their clothes, and their nails would not be noticeable as long as they were trimmed often.

As for the ears and teeth that were hard to hide...

"So that's why she asked me where the kitchen was."

Ahab tilted his head back and suddenly shared the same realization as the villains in those TV dramas:

If this woman wasn't eliminated, she would become a serious threat in the future!

Qi Qi was Bloodkin. The key to growing stronger did not lie in study.

As long as she grew up smoothly, she would possess the combat power of a First-Circle official wizard.

"Mm, I roughly understand. Bloodkin cub number seven escaped."

The Enforcement Squad member in the lead reached into his sleeve and rummaged around.

"These are nine Magic Stones, your reward for capturing three Bloodkin cubs."

"As for the last one, there's a locator on the ship. We'll go look for the ship first."

"As long as the ship is recovered, a single vampire cub isn't worth putting up a bounty for."

After saying that, the Enforcement Squad member tucked one Magic Stone into his own chest and pushed out eight.

Mm, taking ten percent off the top—truly an unchanging truth across all worlds... Ahab put away the eight Magic Stones.

The night rain outside gradually stopped.

Mm, better early than late in everything. Should he go straight to see Gray and contact the old wizard Merlin?

A First-Rank Apprentice had already completed the initial stage of life sublimation. Sleeping one or two hours a day was enough.

Earlier on the ship, Ahab had already skimmed through the Ancient God section of the Universal Compendium.

He had already decided what he wanted to ask.

He could sleep anytime. He would go now!

Ahab's drive was fully maxed out, and he pushed the door open and left the Administration Hall.

The West District had more basic facilities. New students and the many Third-Rank Apprentices were mainly concentrated there.

The East District was where experimental materials were produced, as well as where missions were accepted and assigned. It was mainly for Second-Rank Apprentices.

First-Rank Apprentices like Gray already had the ability to make greater contributions to the Academy.

They were usually concentrated in the Academy's North District.

There were more private laboratories and more cultivation sites here.

Compared with the East and West Districts, the buildings here were much sturdier.

The main reason was to prevent explosions from affecting too many places.

Following the door numbers, Ahab found Gray's detached laboratory.

Before he had time to knock, the door opened on its own.

Gray's voice, which seemed to have grown a little hoarser, came from inside.

"Ahab Gul, come in."

Strange... Ahab vaguely felt that something was off.

At Gray's level as a First-Rank Apprentice, he could indeed release his spiritual power outward and perceive the situation outside the door.

However, a First-Rank Apprentice's safety level inside the Academy was already very high.

Unless an official wizard made a move, it was already very difficult for First-Rank Apprentices to kill one another.

Was there really any need to constantly sense the state outside the room?

Maintaining an outward release of spiritual power all the time was very tiring.

Or was Gray not relying on spiritual power to perceive things?

Ahab walked into the laboratory and deliberately, with very low emotional intelligence, did not close the door behind him.

Laboratories were usually very soundproof.

"Ahab Gul, what is it?"

Gray stood in front of the experimental table just like that, looking as if he was not doing anything.

"I want to ask you to contact Lord Merlin and redeem the questions he promised me back then."

As he spoke, Ahab covertly moved his gaze up and down.

He noticed that Gray's knees seemed a little dirty.

As if he had just been kneeling.

Gray took out a blue crystal ball and ran his hand over its surface a few times.

Back on the Ferry Ship, he had also relied on this crystal ball to contact the old wizard Merlin.

Before long, a face appeared inside the crystal ball.

A face mottled red and white, shaped like cured meat.

This should be a mutation brought about by Bloodline Transplantation. Even an official wizard could not avoid it... Ahab thought of something.

Previously, when he underwent Bloodline Transplantation, it seemed to have been interfered with by a special power.

The result was that the transplantation succeeded, and he obtained additional bloodline power.

But there was no mutation.

"What do you want to ask?"

"The three questions can be paid off all at once, or in several installments."

Inside the crystal ball, the old wizard Merlin showed no emotion at all.