Salute To The General

A casket was positioned in the luxurious room.

The casket was opened as the flickering candlelight showered on it, giving the grand room a mysterious and eerie air.

A balding elderly man in a black suit was sitting on a chair while holding a wine glass in his hand. His skin was sagging, and the bags under his eyes were exceptionally swollen. The wine glass was half-filled with red fluid, and there was a faint scent of blood in the air.

Lyanna knocked on the door before leading Max in and uttering softly, "Patriarch Herod, Max is here."

The senile Herod merely sat there without giving any response, as if he didn't hear Lyanna or he was deep in thought.

Lyanna turned around to look at Max, signaling him to speak up.

With that, Max hurried forward and placed his left hand on his chest before bowing slightly and saying, "I'm here upon your summon and am at your service, Patriarch Herod."

Herod came back to his senses and forced his droopy eyes open with difficulty. "Max, your plan failed," he uttered softly.

Although Max's power was in no way comparable to Herod's, he remained calm and collected when facing the Patriarch's questioning. "Yes, something unexpected happened. My plan was sabotaged by Nathan's men and people from the Curia as soon as it began, rendering it unsuccessful. I've been exposed as well, and I lost my position as the admiral of Ariarica. There's no place for me in human society," he responded in a deep voice.

Herod slowly said, "I'm surprised that an elite like Nathan exists among humans. Do you have anything you'd like to say about the failure of your plan this time?"

Max got a little nervous when he heard that.

He was able to advance in ranks and become the fourteenth vampire prince because he confidently promised that he could lead the vampires' uprising, enabling the vampires to overturn humans and become the new rulers of Earth. Herod held Max in high regard because of how ambitious the latter was.

Now that his plan had failed, the Patriarch was interrogating him in person.

If his response failed to satisfy Herod and the mess couldn't be salvaged, Herod would probably abandon him as if he were trash.

Nonetheless, Max wasn't just anybody. He had experienced all sorts of trials and tribulations.

Thus, he wasn't the least bit anxious but instead was exceedingly calm. Moreover, his mind was clearer than usual.

"Patriarch Herod, my previous plan

is to use my identity as a human to transform most country's dignitaries into bondslaves and then let them stir up war between humans. When humankind is caught in the heat of war, we vampires can take the opportunity to expand and defeat them so that we can become the new rulers of Earth. Unfortunately, this plan failed at the very beginning because the people from Curia and Nathan's men interfered. However, I still have another plan."

As expected, Max asserted that he had a backup plan, which immediately attracted Herod's interest.

A glint flashed across Herod's blurry eyes for the first time, and he stared at Max before saying, "Tell me about it."

Max answered, "The ancestral blood

in us can turn a healthy human into a bondslave, which is a common vampire. The reason we vampires can't expand is that there's too little ancestral blood from elite vampires. For every drop of ancestral blood an elite lost, their power will decrease. Moreover, it'll take a long while for them to recover. Therefore, vampires are unable to turn humans into bondslaves on a large scale."

Herod nodded. "You're right. The ancestral blood of each elite vampire is limited. No one wants to waste their precious ancestral blood to develop a few bondslaves." Max replied, "I'm planning to break through this limitation."

Herod asked in amusement, "And how do you plan to do that?"

Narrowing his eyes, Max thundered, "I intend to gather a group of humankind's top scientists and have them study the ancestral blood of vampires to figure out the shortcut to infect humans. Then, we can turn humans into vampires speedily and efficiently."

Lyanna, who was standing at the side, widened her eyes as she stared at Max, looking shocked.

Meanwhile, Herod remained silent and merely fixed his gaze on Max.