Is all of this true?
Fake—not a single real fact among them.
But these vampires, cooped up in the ancient castle, had no idea; they never even suspected.
After all, it was their most revered Ancestor who had spoken.
Because Li De had become a noble of Green City and a member of the Mage Association, he often brought back news about the city.
So when he said Green City had discovered the vampires, no one doubted it.
When they heard that Transcendent Mage Locke Hart had also taken notice, the vampires below were instantly terrified.
What sort of being was a Transcendent Mage? In all the lands ruled by Green City—ten million people across the Distant Mountain Range—there was only one.
A century ago Locke Hart had personally joined the vampire purge; his might had let the clan taste true fear.
Li De's gaze stayed calm; seeing the alarmed vampires below, he relaxed a little.
At last he'd scared these out-of-touch shut-ins.
To carry out sweeping reforms, the best way was to unite every clan member.
The vampires were his foundation—Li De would never abandon them.
If he simply forced orders, they would obey because of who he was, but efficiency would be anyone's guess.
Even a small group slacking off could cripple his plans.
Manufacture an outside crisis and everyone's motivation soared.
It was like certain nations during WWII diverting economic woes into foreign wars.
Shift internal conflict outward.
Under threat of life or death, even the wildest reform gains justification.
Crucially, the clan had once suffered terribly at a Transcendent Mage's hands; that dread still ran in their blood.
When the chatter below quieted, Li De spoke slowly.
"I stayed my hand before to test your wisdom—to see if you could find the right path without me."
"But you disappointed me."
At those words the seven Second Generation Blood Descendants hung their heads, chagrined.
They had failed to detect Green City's coming purge—an unforgivable lapse.
"To meet this grave crisis and to strengthen our race, we must reform."
Reform?
The vampires exchanged glances.
Lucy asked curiously, "Father, how shall we reform?"
Li De swept his gaze across the crowd and raised his voice.
"Our Sacred Race must embark on a path of sustainable development."
After all that groundwork, Li De finally voiced what lay in his heart.
"Ancestor Your Majesty, what is 'sustainable development'?"
"What does it mean?"
"Father…?"
The strange term left the vampires bewildered—by the goddess of night, they'd never heard it before.
"What did we do with the humans we captured?"
Audis's steady voice rang out.
"Chief, the seized humans are penned in caves; every month a clan member feeds, and the dead are cast off the cliff."
Audis's meaning was clear: humans were food, slaughtered each feeding.
Li De shook his head—too crude; no wonder humanity loathed the vampires.
And it worried him; even without the crisis he'd invented, the clan would fare badly in time.
Especially once the Players descended—those mischief-makers would farm the vampires for exp without mercy.
"Wrong—this has always been wrong."
Wrong?
How could it be wrong?
"Why? Humans are merely our food."
Lucy's delicate face brimmed with doubt.
Had Father learned something they hadn't? Thank heavens Father was here—another crisis averted.
Li De met her gaze.
Mana surged within him; a powerful aura rose as he spoke solemnly.
"Humans are indeed our food—but if we keep enough of them alive, protect them, they will supply us endlessly, like chickens laying eggs."
"We can do the same."
"Human ingenuity surpasses many races; they can be ruled to create wealth for us, not merely penned as meat."
In this world's context the idea sounded bizarre and heretical.
Vampires had always seen humans as livestock, like chickens or ducks.
Now they were to protect and even govern these "foodstuffs."
The shock to Lucy and the others was immense.
Seeing no outright rejection, Li De relaxed; this world was not Earth with its creed of equality.
Here nobles held Commoners' lives cheaply; class was rigid and inequality extreme.
Getting a superior, gifted, martial race like the vampires to rethink humanity would take more than words.
Humans were the world's mainstream—undeniably so.
No vampire clan, however mighty, could defeat a nation; a single city's troops could wipe out nearly any clan.
In Li De's vision, the vampires must build a city of plentiful humans.
There, vampires would act as guardians.
Vampires could not survive without humans; humans could donate blood at intervals without harm, providing steady sustenance.
Humans would be safe from outside threats, vampires would gain fixed food and a labor force creating wealth.
The idea was idealistic, yet highly feasible.
First, as Vampire Progenitor, Li De commanded absolute, unwavering loyalty; even doubters would merely slack off.
That secured the vampire side.
Second, the setting: a magical world where gods watched from Divine Realms and Dark Gods lurked in the Abyss.
Racial and national conflicts filled the land.
Ordinary Commoners were helpless chicks under the knife.
War never ceased.
Offer Refugees shelter, protect life and property, and ask only harmless blood donations—many would leap at the chance.
Refugees along war-torn borders, ravaged by monsters, would accept without hesitation.
Lastly…