Chapter 185-1: Post-Battle Gains, Hunting the Dark Pact (Part 1)
As the first rays of sunlight rose into the sky, on the third floor of City Hall, Li De suddenly opened his eyes behind the office desk.
He turned his head to look at the burly figure still unconscious on the floor.
He could sense a powerful aura awakening.
Thump thump~
Thump thump~
Injected with the bloodline of the Vampires, Grote's heart now pumped with the vigor of a water pump, each beat slow but immensely powerful.
Within Grote's body, blood thick as mercury was being circulated throughout his veins by the strength of his heart, and with every heartbeat, his power grew a little stronger.
The Vampire heart was now more like an energy source rather than a weakness—even if pierced, it would not be fatal.
Li De, along with the few Second-generation Bloodline Descendants in the room, fixed their intense gazes on Grote, whose aura was undergoing a complete metamorphosis, their eyes full of anticipation.
Grote's strength was obvious to all: he alone could suppress Emi and Kosso, preventing hundreds of vampires from gathering in the sky.
In the end, if Li De hadn't decisively used the brutal tactic of a one-for-one exchange, they might have had to pay an even greater price to defeat him.
He was a warrior so powerful that even his enemies felt a sense of reverence toward him—a pure warrior.
Scattered beside Grote were nine empty semi-transparent glass bottles, the lingering magical fluctuations at the mouths of the bottles revealing what they had just contained. Mana-Infused Blood.
Each bottle could hold three liters of liquid, and the mere consumption of these nine bottles made Li De's heart ache terribly.
After several major battles, and despite Li De's willingness to spend resources without regard to cost, roughly one-fifth of the Blood Pool's Mana-Infused Blood had been consumed.
It didn't seem like much, but this Blood Pool had accumulated over a century.
It was a non-renewable resource in the short term.
Every bit used was gone for good.
However, Li De had no time to think about that now, his gaze remained tightly fixed on the increasingly powerful Grote.
The Northern warrior was like a dragon hatchling breaking out of its shell, brimming with an aura that made hearts tremble.
Swish~
Lying on the gray velvet carpet, Grote suddenly opened his eyes, their sharpness like a falcon ready to pounce on prey. With a strong push, he sat upright.
Seeing the surrounding vampires startled him, and he was about to act, but the moment his peripheral vision caught sight of Li De, he froze.
Familiarity, dependence, trust—the powerful Vampire bloodline suppressed Grote's original hostility like a floodbank breaking.
At the same time, a stream of information emerged from his bloodline, and after receiving it, his gaze gradually softened.
Moments later, the burly warrior stood up. That head, which had always been held high even in the face of death, now lowered respectfully before Li De. He crossed a fist over his chest and bowed.
"Good morning, Your Majesty the Progenitor."
A flash of satisfaction crossed Li De's eyes, and he spoke solemnly, "Grote, as the Progenitor of the Vampires, I hereby grant you a new surname—Kachar."
Hearing these words, Grote's heart trembled. A mysterious power surged from his bloodline, as if his soul had been elevated at that moment, and some inherent incompleteness in his bloodline was made whole by Li De's words.
Once again, he crossed a fist over his chest and bowed his head.
"Grote Kachar, at your command."
Thus, this mighty Northern warrior officially became a member of one of Glory's Superior Races—the Vampires.
Dawn City's high-end combat strength had gained another formidable member.
At the same time, a system notification rang in Li De's ear.
"Ding~ Grote Kachar successfully transformed into a vampire. Vampire power increased, reward: 2000 character experience points."
Two thousand experience points—quite a good reward, much better than the paltry 1000 points he had earned after that battle outside Green City.
Yes, after defeating the three powerful beings above Level 15—Grote, Stanley, and Cologne—Li De had only gained 1000 experience points, such a small amount he hadn't even bothered mentioning it.
With great anticipation, Li De opened Grote's new stats.
He was eager to see what kind of existence would emerge from the fusion of a Northern warrior and a Vampire.
A Northern Vampire? He was truly looking forward to it.
Grote Kachar
Title: Son of the North (Cold Resistance +50%, Body Recovery Speed +30%, Strength +30%)
Age: 67
Level: 16
Class: Northern Warrior
Bloodline: Fearless Bloodline (a new bloodline formed from the fusion of the Northern Warrior bloodline and the Vampire bloodline)
Fearless Bloodline Effects:
During bloodline activation, immune to pain and mind-control spells.
Physical recovery speed and life regeneration increased by 500%.
Magic resistance increased by 200%.
Strength increased by 60%.
Increases body recovery speed by 1000% at night; able to channel bloodline power to heal physical injuries.
Duration: 30 minutes.
Gains the Transcendent Trait: Fearlessness during bloodline activation.
Description: Son of the North, once hailed as the most likely genius warrior to break through to Legend. The Northern people had lifespans reaching 150 years, and after breaking through Level 15, it extended to 200 years. Thus, the 67-year-old Grote was still in the prime of life.
Incredible.
After reading through Grote's stats, Li De's face broke into a wide grin of sheer delight.
Absolutely monstrous.
Originally, Grote was already able to suppress Emi and Kosso. Now, with the fusion of his Northern bloodline and the Vampire bloodline into a new bloodline—Fearless Blood—his strength had directly risen by two levels.
Although even after the fusion, the Fearless Blood wasn't as powerful as Betty's royal bloodline,
Li De clearly understood that someone like Betty, much like Isha who possessed a Golden Bloodline, was extremely rare and precious. Therefore, he never harbored unrealistic expectations.
Compared to that, what Grote brought him was already more than enough surprise.
It could be said that Li De now held an absolute trump card—no, counting Betty, he already had a pair of aces in hand.
Plus Emi and Kosso, who had just awakened his Ancient Giant bloodline and evolved into a Bronze Cyclops, and within a month, the coming embrace of the Level 15 Dark High Priest Stanley.
Although the war had cost him dearly, the gains he reaped were tenfold, even a hundredfold.
Right now, he had three Level 16s and one Level 15. Dawn City already possessed four top-tier combat forces.
Even if he faced the Dark Pact head-on now, he would no longer feel the slightest fear.
While Dawn City's strength had soared, the Dark Pact's forces had drastically declined.
In just one day, they had lost three of their top combatants, leaving only four:
Roy, the Abyssal Serpent Demon with eight arms. Witherbone, the Necromancer who commanded a Bone Dragon. Nelson, the mysterious figure who had yet to reveal his true face. Viscount Berna, who was near Transcendence.
Meanwhile, Li De commanded: Emi, Level 15 Shadow High Priest. Kosso, Level 16 Bronze Cyclops. Grote, Level 16 Son of the North. And Betty, the Level 16 Northern Royal who could instantly kill a Level 19 Magma Demon and crush a divines authority.
Blades drawn, only through battle would it be decided who would emerge victorious.