Chapter 34: Versatile Uses

Early the next morning, the Golden Wheat Merchant Guild brought out all their carriages—a total of 35.

The mountains of grain were loaded onto the carriages and transported out of the city.

Along the way, countless beggars and refugees watched the grain with longing, their mouths watering.

However, all greed was extinguished upon seeing the Crimson Mage Tower flag on the carriages, enchanted with the second-tier spell—Spiritual Deterrence.

This was the property of a mage lord, and a powerful one at that.

The grain-laden carriages moved slowly, and it would likely take two trips to transport all the grain out of the city.

The previous night, Li De had already sent a message via bat to the ancient castle, instructing Dylon, the second-generation bloodline descendant in charge of the Whispering Bats, to bring all the bats.

These magical beasts, bred by the vampires through special methods, were exclusive to the bloodline and had a wide range of uses.

During wartime, they could be trained as bat riders or used for combat. In peacetime, they served as transport, offering excellent cost-effectiveness.

Unlike the delicate griffins or pegasi bred by humans, using human aerial cavalry like pegasi or griffins to transport grain would surely draw public scorn.

But the Whispering Bats were different. These tough creatures could recover from exhaustion or severe injuries with just a hearty meal.

Li De had high hopes for the Whispering Bats as a military unit. However, raising them required significant resources, and with only 200 vampires in the ancient castle, maintaining over 400 Whispering Bats was already a challenge.

Expanding their numbers would be difficult in the short term.

The grain convoy left Green City and headed straight for the river outside the city—the Buga River.

The Buga River, connecting Green City to over a dozen other major cities in the south, was a crucial transportation route.

There, Li De had prepared transport ships.

During the day, it would be difficult for the Whispering Bats to transport the grain back to the ancient castle without being detected. Their massive size made them visible from over ten miles away.

And in this magical world, transporting grain during the day was not safe.

Thus, a transition was necessary.

River transport provided excellent cover. At night, they could stop anywhere and have the Whispering Bats carry the grain away.

Given the vampires' notorious reputation among humans, Li De couldn't be too careful.

Especially among the mages of Green City, who had profited greatly from selling vampire corpses after the war against the vampires a century ago.

To these mages, vampires represented alchemical materials and glittering gold pucks. Even today, one could find quests on the Adventurers' Guild's mission board seeking or hunting vampires.

No one in the Golden Wheat Merchant Guild dared to question Li De's decisions, and the Crimson Mage Tower was no different.

In both places, he held absolute authority. Even if he ordered the grain to be dumped into the Buga River, they would comply.

It wasn't until dusk that the bustling Golden Wheat Merchant Guild finished loading the stored grain onto the transport ships.

Li De did not participate directly. Although he was concerned about potential mishaps, as a baron of the kingdom and a high-level mage, his noble status made it inappropriate for him to oversee such a mundane task as transporting grain.

Night fell.

As a race favored by the Goddess of Night, vampires were among the most powerful races in the darkness.

Under the cold moonlight, Dylon, responsible for raising the Whispering Bats, rode atop an exceptionally large bat, overlooking the wooden ship on the river below. The ship bore the mark left by the Progenitor.

The pitch-black night posed no obstacle to the vampires' darkvision.

"Take all the grain on the ship back to the ancient castle. Knock out the humans on board and bring them along."

Accompanying Dylon were over 400 Whispering Bats and twenty vampires.

Upon receiving the order, they leaped from the sky, transforming into a swarm of bats that descended upon the grain-laden ship.

The crew on board had no time to react before they were knocked unconscious.

Had it not been for Li De's strict orders not to harm humans indiscriminately, these men would have long been treated as food by the vampires.

With the crew dealt with, the Whispering Bats slowly landed.

The twenty vampires acted as porters.

But as a superior race, the vampires didn't rely on brute strength.

Each cast Mage Hand.

The sacks of wheat on the ship were lifted one by one and secured onto the backs of the Whispering Bats. Once fastened, the bats at the bow of the ship flapped their wings, creating strong gusts that stirred waves on the river's surface.

With each takeoff, the ship sank slightly.

Using spellcasters to transport grain was indeed a luxurious endeavor, but the efficiency far surpassed that of twice the number of laborers.

Under Dylon's supervision, the ship's grain was quickly emptied.

The Whispering Bats, mostly at level 5 or higher, with elites reaching levels 7 or 8, had impressive carrying capacities.

Each bat could carry 1,000 pounds, and even under such heavy loads, their speed decreased by less than 20%.

From nightfall until the task was completed, the 400 Whispering Bats made three trips to clear the ship of its wheat.

Finally, the ship was set ablaze by the twenty vampires, each casting a Fireball, reducing it to ashes that sank into the depths of the Buga River.

The Buga River connected over a dozen cities in the southern region, and its busy routes saw countless shipwrecks each year.

With the ongoing Beastmen invasion, no one would pay attention to such incidents.

As for the unfortunate crew members, Li De had no choice but to send them to the ancient castle to start a new life—a city free from war, with a prosperous life, requiring only a monthly blood donation.

After handling everything, Dylon led the final group of vampires and Whispering Bats back to the ancient castle.

The bats, laden with over a thousand pounds of grain, flew at a moderate altitude, but the cover of night made them invisible to the naked eye.

The darkness not only enhanced the vampires but also provided significant boosts to the Whispering Bats. Even after flying all night and making three trips, the bats showed no signs of fatigue.

Three and a half sun-hours later, as Dylon landed his bat within the ancient castle, the sun had fully risen.

The vampires unloaded the grain in the castle's shadowy corners. All second-generation bloodline descendants, except Fred, who guarded the sacred site, and Odys, who was still investigating human settlements on Li De's orders, had gathered.

The youngest second-generation descendant, Lucy, watched the arriving bats with a complex expression in her emerald eyes.

"Dylon, can the Progenitor's plan succeed?"

To build a city larger than Green City, sustained by over a million humans to support the vampires.

This was the promise Li De had made to all the vampires.

These long-lived beings had gained not only power over the centuries but also wisdom, which had kept them alive.

Although Li De was confident, all the second-generation descendants knew the enormity and uncertainty of this plan.

The hatred between humans and vampires stretched back to ancient times.

The idea of creating a city free from hatred, where vampires and humans coexisted harmoniously, seemed almost unimaginable.