Oho. Ohohohoho.

So, in other words, sucking blood doesn't give me Exp, but sucking things dry does-?

Well well well. It seems I have a new objective for my dear underlings. But first, I need to assess our losses. This battle, as... exhilarating as it was, lost me all of my bodyguards, along with a fair few regular mosquitos. Now, all-hearing system, hear my plea! Show me all my underlings, and do so now!

All mosquitos under control

Mosquitos

489

Bloodsuckers 24

Hm, the normal mosquito losses aren't nearly as devastating as I had previously assumed. Hardly a bad thing, but the loss in Bloodsuckers is quite bad. Then again, looking around me, it seems most of my underlings, if not all, have full bellies after such a terrific meal. In other words, I have a perfect gourmet table of blood right in front of me!

After ordering them all into a line and transferring their blood into myself, I quickly recreate the 6 Bloodsuckers lost, along with the 11 normal mosquitos. Hm, there's still quite a lot of blood left. I could transfer it all into stats, but... making a whole lot more mosquitos isn't quite as appealing, either. As enjoyable as it is having hundreds of underlings at your beck and call, I hardly have time to take all the blood from them.

The problem from my last evolution has appeared once more. Much like having all your assets in stocks, it is hard to transfer the blood from the mosquitos to myself in an efficient, quick way. That leaves me with stats to increase.

After this experience, I realize that, for the moment, it would indeed be best to invest in Flight. Once I have enough Flight to be able to evade pretty much anything, I can get to the other stats. Succ will stay at 11, but Defence and Noise are both suitable for increasing.

...Or, I could increase my level...

Ah, how foolish of me, thinking I could only invest in one! I'll let the mosquitos be, but I'll simply invest as much in levels and Flight as I possibly can! How delightfully devilish!

Ah, but before you escape back into the night, my dear subjects... if you ever come across any small animal, group up into at least five or six squadrons before attacking. Good luck, and happy hunting grounds!

Once more, I shall spare you the grind, as it is nothing worth seeing.

A few hours pass, and the sun rises meekly over the city.

Behold, the effort of my hard work!

David Branner Bloodsucker Level 23/25 Power Health 25/25 Blood 100/100

Status

Flight 54 Succ 15 Defence 35 Noise 35

Skills

Mitosis (2 or 5 Blood/Use) Evolution Bloodwork

Ah, as you notice, I increased all of the stats to get them to some nearby 5, since it looks better. A villain is nothing without style, and style lies in both chaos as well as order!

My level has also increased quite well, but not as fast as I might have hoped. Once I got to the 20 mark, even 50 Blood wasn't enough to raise it, not to speak of the small animals my dear underlings have killed.

Oh, and something worth noting would be an unexpected but highly welcome consequence to the whole mass-killing of small animals. See, any human viewing the small carnage taking place in the nearby park would be visibly distraught. How do I know this? Well, not only do my underlings tell me these sorts of things in a non-verbal way, but I was so curious and excited to see it that I personally followed them to watch an early-morning jogger or late-night drunk see the mutilated corpse of a squirrel and lose their shit, if only slightly.

How delightful! I am never more happy than when I know that the evil I committed has caused marked distress to the public!

But, as fun as this was, I have not earned a level in quite a while. I'm starting to wonder if I should send my entire swarm at some human and hope they can take them out. It would be worth a shot, but I don't think I want to be exposed just yet. At the moment, a good slap could easily kill me. So, I'll try to stay under the radar for the moment.

Ah, pardon me, bloodsucker 22 is asking for some attention, I'll return to you in just a moment.

-Right, now I have 100 Blood, put 10 into another point in Flight and the rest into the Exp. No, wait, a mosquito was just killed, put only 88 in Exp, and use the two to recreate the mosquito.

You have gained Level

Well well well, here we are! Level 24! Okay, simply because I am so excited to evolve once more, I'll just put all the future Blood I get into Exp. Hehehehe. Call me a fool if you wish, but I am as human as any!

An hour or so of grinding, and, finally...

You have gained Level

AHA!! Yes, yeeeesssss...!!

Very very good! Now, come to-,

No-,!

Evil lord in darkness below, how stupid of me! I am surrounded by humans! The square, the one with the lotus fountain, has now become a buzzing hub of activity. People walking here and people walking there. I glance at a television screen plastered on a nearby building. The time is 7:14. No wonder people are out and about, it's morning rush! And I almost tried to call my entire swarm here-!

As I mull my stupidity, still looking at the television screen, something actually comes on. It shows a professional-looking news reporter, standing in front of a completely demolished building. The edges of the wrecked building seem almost melted and black, despite it being made of steel.

"I'm Gustavo Almadovar with News at Seven, standing outside of what many believe to be the destruction caused by a so-called 'supervillain' who appeared yesterday afternoon. In what appeared to be great confusion, the man, known locally as 'Pizza Bob' sprayed acid onto the building, his hands morphing into what eye-witnesses say to have been 'orbs of green acid'. The man has yet to be apprehended, but people are starting to consider this the first of many-"

I stop looking at the screen. It isn't important, what everybody else is doing. All that matters is that I grow stronger, more powerful, and more devastating. Whatever comes after, that is important.

They believe some acid-spitting pizzaman is worthy of the title super-villain, and yet, they know nothing of I, laying low, the greatest villain ever known, waiting for my time to rise!

Saying so, I fly into the air, and head for the nearby park. In the middle of the park, there is a large tree, the top of which few can see. This is the tree I land upon, forcing my way into a small, innocuous hole as I rally my troops.

The time for evolution is nigh! Come, my darlings, and we shall all become one! As I gave you life, I shall now take it!

Within seconds, squadrons of mosquitos star circling the tree in thick, black clusters. Once everybody has joined in, I can feel the air shifting.

Conditions have been met. will commence

Good.

In my hole, I burrow myself, letting the pain take me once more. I welcome it.

Darkness takes me, and the fever dream starts ones more. Bones cracking and mending and breaking and healing. Blood boiling and freezing all at once.

I force myself to experience every single moment of it. It will strengthen me.

And now, I need strength more than ever.

has finnished.

Grow yet stronger.

And I will.