"You mean... vampires can also fight amongst themselves?"
Gray understood what Bennett meant, but he still couldn't believe it.
"What's so strange about that? Not to mention the constant friction between kingdoms and empires a hundred years ago, even now, isn't there some friction between the Eternal Domain and the Graycast Corridor?"
"This..."
Gray was momentarily speechless, while Bennett continued:
"Vampires are a race, but they are comprised of seven lineages, and have never been a monolithic entity..."
"... This part wasn't in the textbook I studied."
"That's normal; not everyone knows these kinds of secrets."
Bennett seemed to find a slight sense of superiority in this younger man. The bumpy wilderness made him cough incessantly, but he still spoke slowly:
The ranking of the seven progenitors does not represent their strength, but only their order of birth.
"Each Grand Duke possesses unique powers, and these special powers radiate through the bloodline to every Blood Corpse in the lineage... Just like Grand Duke Antos, he can manipulate the Bone and Blood of all Blood Corpse in the same lineage, so the abilities of us earls and marquises of the Antos Lineage bear some Shadow to this power."
"I know that."
"Oh."
Bennett sneered:
"What if I said that a grand duke's power is ' to Seizure '? What comes to mind?"
Gray swallowed hard, digesting the information before asking:
"So this is why the vampires are fighting amongst themselves?"
"It's just one example. After all, every Grand Duke possesses immense power, but I've heard that the way that lineage of vampires activates their powers is the real source of trouble."
What is it?
"It's simple, just eat."
A chilling word escaped Bennett's throat as he said with a wry smile:
"I don't know if that resurrected marquis comes from that lineage, but if he does, I will face an even worse fate than I am now."
Gray was puzzled upon hearing this:
"You always say you want to die, but when you actually have the chance to die, you don't want to?"
Bennett shook his head:
"It is said that once a soul is devoured by Blood Corpse of that lineage, it will be forever Domination by that corpse."
"Your torture of me may continue for decades, but at this rate I will eventually die from physical exhaustion. But if I were to be devoured by a marquis... I might suffer for thousands upon thousands of years..."
"I see."
This was the first time Gray had heard Bennett say so much. He thought for a moment but didn't know what to say, so he could only offer words of comfort:
I will try my best to make you die after you've been drained of every last bit of value.
Bennett: "..."
Gray quickly returned to the castle and reported to Ed that a marquis was recovering.
Ed was actually mentally prepared for this kind of thing.
Having been in this World of Disorder for so long, the only lesson he has learned is that you can't rely on experience in this world; anything can happen at any moment.
Even if the Grand Duke were to resurrect the next second, Ed wouldn't be surprised at all; at most, he would just pack his bags and find Haji Dragon to be his bodyguard.
With the partially detailed map laid out before him, Ed began to inquire about the approximate location of the seal from the marquis.
This location is actually very easy to determine. When Bennett was affected, he was able to sense the source of the power. He only needed to draw a ray at the location where he first felt the influence, and then draw another ray at the location where he could feel the influence again. The intersection of the two lines is the Marquis's approximate coordinates.
Ed, who had obtained the intelligence, was frowning in thought when he suddenly caught a glimpse of Gray's worried expression out of the corner of his eye.
He guessed what the other person was worried about, so he smiled and comforted them:
"Don't worry, even a Middle Tier Grand Knight has been captured, so what's so scary about a Middle Tier Marquis? As long as the plan goes smoothly, you'll still be able to return to the Graycast Corridor once the harvest is ready."
Gray realized his expression had betrayed him, and a hint of guilt returned to his face.
"It's not that I don't believe in your abilities, it's just that I'm worried..."
"I understand, but it's okay. Just do your job well. Don't wait until the roads are clear before the Antasia is repaired."
After being teased a couple of times, Gray immediately straightened up and said seriously:
Please rest assured that all work is progressing normally.
"Alright, then you don't need to worry about this. Just help [ Do Some Farm Work ] develop a harmless disposal plan for the Blood Corpse."
The plan to harmlessly dispose of Blood Corpse is something Ed has been working on recently. Blood Corpse, as a cheap form of labor in another world, have many advantages, such as eating little, working a lot, and not knowing how to get tired.
However, the weaknesses of Blood Corpse are also obvious, the two most fatal being their infectivity and autophagy.
The Blood Corpse ' teeth, fingernails, and toenails all carry Corpse Poison that can assimilate humans. In addition, when they are starving, the Blood Corpse will also break out into internal strife and start biting each other.
Therefore, if these two problems cannot be properly addressed, it will be difficult to mass-produce machines powered by Blood Corpse.
The Graycast Corridor is largely immune to the bites of Blood Corpse because most of its inhabitants have undergone mechanization, but the natives of the Tree Worship Church are completely different. Therefore, Gray was ordered to establish relevant regulations, which is one of his current tasks.
Nodding to Ed, Gray pushed Bennett out of the study.
Ed sat alone behind a table piled high with papers, staring blankly at the map in front of him.
It is an obvious fact that the Second Holy See is about to enter Two-Front Battle mode.
On one side is the vampire marquis who is recovering, and on the other side is Antiya Lisi, the archbishop of Fir City, who may discover the problem at any moment.
As the founder of the Second Holy See, Ed suddenly had the illusion of walking a tightrope over an abyss...
The number of players under his command has exceeded three thousand, and because the area around White Wax Town and the Ancient Castle is too crowded, they have spontaneously begun to spread towards Weeping Willow Town and Ginkgo Town in search of a new "main city".
Having gained enough room to maneuver, Ed knew that the number of players would soon surge, and his own strength would soon reach the so-called Low Tier Upper Grade.
With these two factors in mind, it seems that victory is not impossible in a head-on confrontation with a Middle Tier vampire marquis.
However, if that marquis can gather tens of thousands of Blood Corpse to launch an attack, my side will likely suffer heavy losses as well...
Whether the future of the Second Holy See, this emerging power, will be heaven or hell, rests entirely on Ed's decision.
However, looking at the intersection on the map that represented the location of the Marquis's seal, Ed suddenly realized another problem—
Why must it be oneself who fights against the Blood Corpse?
" Willow, are you free now? Come to the study for a moment."