Imperial experts above the champion realm could inject their origin power into physical bullets and exchange them for contributions. Divine champions and heavenly monarchs would have to submit a fixed quota of origin bullets each year, which the Empire would store as strategic reserves.

The withdrawal and usage of such bullets, especially those produced by heavenly monarchs, involved an extremely rigorous process. Every intake and withdrawal had to be recorded in detail.

Zhao Jundu was given permission to view these records, but they would not be left in his hands. The Imperial military only gave him an hour, after which the escort unit would bring the documents back.

When Zhao Jundu opened the records, the four officers took up positions in each corner of the room, watching his every move.

As someone who had experienced many things, the fourth young master was calm and collected. He flipped through the pages at a steady pace until he was at the very last leaf. The alarm rang as he finished reading the last page. It was exactly one hour—not a minute more, not a minute less.

“Sire, we should be reporting back now.”

Zhao Jundu nodded. He watched as the four officers stowed the records away, reformed the seal on the container, and left.

There was nothing suspicious in the records. Every intake and withdrawal of heavenly monarch bullets was fully registered, and none of them had been missing.

Just as Song Zining had expected, Zhao Jundu might be able to see the records at his authority level, but it was certain that he wouldn’t find anything. It wasn’t too hard to figure out that someone of that caliber—one who could put a bullet produced by Prince Greensun into Zhao Jundu’s gun without anyone knowing—would be extremely powerful. Changing the records wouldn’t be a problem for them.

Zhao Jundu summoned his aides. “Prepare a report and send it to the military using the highest-grade enclosure. Say that a bullet containing Prince Greensun’s origin power has appeared on the battlefield. Advise them to perform an in-depth investigation into the likely theft of strategic resources.”

The follower was shocked. “Sire, that’s not appropriate, is it? Your shot was a great achievement and contribution!”

“Do it.”

“Yes, Sire.” The follower left in a hurry, not daring to persuade Zhao Jundu any further.

Considering Zhao Jundu’s status, this report had to be processed via the swiftest channels, and there had to be an outcome. Someone had to take responsibility for this.

The one to take responsibility couldn’t be Zhao Jundu. Someone would have to step up and take this blame, and it couldn’t be someone of lowly status.

The follower simply didn’t understand why Zhao Jundu would dispatch such a report, but a military order had to be obeyed. He had to do it even if he couldn’t figure things out.

…

The Evernight camp had also been busy for three days. Various units rushed over to join the main army and bolster their fighting power. Then again, the humans had also completed and strengthened their fortress cluster, so it was easy to see that the upcoming battle wasn’t going to be easy.

There was an independent courtyard at the center of the base. The buildings in it were built in a distinct vampire style, and the guards were all vampires. There wasn’t a single person from the other three races.

This was Nighteye’s residence, and also the command center. After taking the shot that day, Nighteye had shut herself off in the building and never appeared.

Now that the malicious intent of the new world had disappeared, the time to fight was once again drawing near. The restless experts from the other three races were beginning to seek news about Nighteye’s condition.

That shot was akin to an actual attack from Prince Greensun, and it had also hit her vitals. It was already a miracle that Nighteye hadn’t fallen on the spot.

An airship flew in from the distant horizon at shocking speed and dived toward the center of the camp. This was a dangerous move even during times of peace.

The officers ignored the incident entirely when they noticed the Azure King’s insignia and the faintly discernible great dark monarch aura.

Three dukes and six marquises walked out of the airship, more or less the entire reserve force from the vampire mainlands. Such a lineup meant that they were escorting something important.

The duke leading this party held the Evernight Council’s highest command token, so there was no obstruction along the way. He arrived at the small building where Nighteye was staying and stopped outside the door. “Edelman of the Morway family is here to see Her Highness Nighteye by order of the Queen of the Night, the Azure King, and the Evernight Council. The Queen wishes me to give you an important item.”

“Come in.”

Edelman and two other dukes walked into the building, while the marquises remained outside to stand guard. Their attitudes were extremely respectful.

Edelman went up to the second floor, where the reception area was. Nighteye was seated on the throne at the end of the hall, looking down upon the guests.

Edelman took a step forward and went down on one knee, respectfully presenting a box with both hands. “This is what the Queen of the Night wishes to give you, with the Azure King’s blessings.”

The box was made of black jade, a material so dark that it seemed bottomless. There were actually little stars flickering in the depths of the night sky, almost as though there was an entire world hiding within it.

Nighteye didn’t take the item immediately. “What else did she say?”

“Her Majesty said nothing. The Azure King said you’ll understand once you open it.”

“Leave it and go.”

“Yes… Your Majesty.” Edelman changed his address.

Nighteye did nothing to refuse this. She waited until everyone was gone before glancing at the black jade box on the table.

A swift bird flew over and opened the container. A beam of dark golden light gushed into the air, rising all the way up until it was blocked by the ceiling.

Countless stars and continents were floating about in the luminous pillar. It was like a miniature model of a world.

The floating continents weren’t illusory. The great continents under vampire rule were among them as well, and there were minute changes to their aura. At Nighteye’s level, she could naturally tell that these changes reflected the actual world.

This was a projection of the vampire realm produced by the Queen of the Night’s aura. This also went to show that the Queen’s consciousness could already cover every corner of her domain.

This was the true power of the Queen of the Night, known as the second drop from the River of Blood, one who had reigned on the Sacred Mountain since time immemorial.

Nighteye’s gaze landed on the two topmost continents. These two landmasses were covered in shadows and only its outline could be made out.

They were clearly not continents occupied by vampires, nor did they belong to the other races. Only one-third the size of other continents, the two landmasses could be seen slowly revolving around one another.

Nighteye opened her narrowed eyes. “You’ve been to such heights?”

A gentle voice echoed. “I’ve been there, but many places could not be explored.”

A beam of light split off from the radiant pillar and formed a projection of the Queen of the Night. Nighteye watched her attentively and she gazed back at Nighteye.

Finally, the Queen spoke first, “This is our first meeting, right?”

Nighteye said, “In this life, yes.”

The Queen of the Night said, “The number of times is no longer important because you’re about to return to the past very soon.”

A certain glow flickered in Nighteye’s pupils. “Was this your design?”

“No, this is the human race’s scheme. You know very well that their craftiness is beyond our imagination.”

“What was the great prophet doing?”

“The great prophet has always been trying to crack the secret hidden by the human race. He can’t control a heavenly monarch’s movements even if he were free.”

Nighteye said with a hint of mockery, “He has been at it for hundreds of years, still no progress?”

“To be precise, it has been two hundred and forty-three years including the previous great prophet. I believe they’ve found some clues?”

“Chronicle of Glory?”

“Correct.”

“What else?”

“The name is all we know for now.”

“Even I know this name. This is the so-called clue?”

The Queen of the Night was fairly calm. “No one can remain indifferent in the face of great power and millennia of extra life-span. That’s why those willing to become prophets are all mediocre people with no hope of becoming a great dark monarch. There were some exceptions, but they couldn’t really change the situation. Humans, on the other hand, are an extremely unique species. They suddenly rose to power a thousand years ago and are still giving us surprises today. They are inherently suitable for divination, and the price they have to pay is far smaller than ours. Many experts are willing to forfeit a hundred years of lifespan to give their race an advantage. Lin Xitang, for instance.”

Nighteye remained silent for she had no retort against the Queen’s words.

“I sent this thing only now because I was waiting for you to save yourself, but now, it seems you have failed. Accept this gift and return to the past, say goodbye to this life.”

“How did the humans know Zhang Boqian’s origin power can restrain me?”

“Zhang Boqian’s origin power is the bane of all holy-blooded races. The weakness could’ve been avoided if you had ascended to the duke-rank, but you suppressed your power to avoid responsibilities, this is your own choice.”

“A duty you people pressed onto me. It was never my responsibility, to begin with.”

“Even if it was forced, you never fulfilled it.”

At this point, the Queen of the Night sighed. “This is the greatest difference between us and the humans. The stronger we become individually, the more we focus on the self. The humans, on the other hand, have no lack of geniuses in every generation willing to sacrifice themselves for the race. We used to mock the sacrifices made by a short-lived race, but it seems we are the ones who deserve to be mocked.

“With you around, the vampire race will never change. It makes no difference whether myself, the Azure King, Medanzo, or Habsburg are around or not. We’ve lost many second-generation primogenitors throughout the millennia, even the thirteenth clan, yet we remain strong all the same. Now, the River of Blood is showing signs of awakening, so I don’t see anything to worry about.”