Vampires were subordinate offshoots of the ancient bloodlines, possessing a portion of bloodline traits and gifts.
Most notably, the stronger a vampire was, the more closely they resembled true bloodborn.
True bloodborn were not the noble, elegant, handsome gentlemen people imagined who merely had pale complexions; they were a genuine warrior race.
Fangs, razor claws, bat wings, bone spurs—these were standard weaponry for bloodborn.
Fearless of sunlight, highly skilled in night battles, practicing blood magic, able to transform into bats—this was the true face of the bloodborn.
Such creatures were high-tier units even in Hell.
As for vampires, rumor had it that during the ancient war of gods, after the bloodborn suffered massive casualties, they used their own bloodlines as a template to create cannon-fodder servant species through blood magic.
However, as long as a vampire lived long enough, they could eventually awaken some bloodborn abilities from their lineage.
For instance, the seal in Selene’s mind.
That was a form of magic in itself.
When Selene broke the seal and recovered her memories, Duke Viktor of the Golden Court Clan, far away in an ancient castle in the northeastern mountains of Hungary, had already sensed it.
In fact, many of the financial syndicates backing Blue Umbrella had provided Viktor with internal intelligence.
Though Christine could control Blue Umbrella, she could not micro-manage every single internal employee.
So when night fell over Paris, the Death Dealers led by Kraven drove several heavy black SUVs directly into Blue Umbrella without ever crossing paths with Christine.
To be precise, into the B3 underground parking lot of Blue Umbrella.
These Death Dealers were all elite warriors adept at combat.
After disembarking, they didn’t even need to speak.
Using precise, coordinated tactical hand signals, they completed all their deployments.
Each of these Death Dealers even possessed high-level clearance access cards.
Unobstructed the entire way, they moved like true ghosts, swift as the wind, arriving at the perimeter of the luxury apartment suite on B7.
At the same time, as these Death Dealers quietly surrounded the connected luxury apartments, inside the suite, Selene—who had been lazily listening to music—instantly tensed up like a bristling alley cat.
Without needing to hear or see, centuries of continuous frontline combat had long forged her razor-sharp sense of danger and combat intuition.
However, upon sensing the threat, Selene didn’t rashly charge out.
After donning her combat gear with lightning speed, she quickly crossed through the internal connecting passage between the two apartments and entered Mark’s suite.
“Mark, Christine might have sold us out.”
“I can feel a massive threat coming…
Shit, what are you doing?”
Entering Mark’s apartment, Selene was on high alert, but she hadn’t anticipated seeing Mark just stepping out of the bathroom.
Selene quickly turned her head away, feeling her eyes had been contaminated.
Bah, she hadn’t seen a thing!
While Selene’s mind was in turmoil, Mark leisurely wrapped a bath towel around his waist and casually popped open a can of Coca-Cola.
Yes, Coca-Cola.
Mark enjoyed fine food, but he didn’t like drinking alcohol.
It reminded him of painful memories from his previous life working in sales.
Fortunately, in this life, no one could force him to drink.
Mark casually dropped two ice cubes into his glass of Cola before speaking.
“Ms.
Selene, I’m drinking Cola.
Would you like a glass?”
Selene turned her head slightly.
Seeing that Mark now had some gear on, she glared at him angrily.
Mark looked bewildered.
“So…
you can’t drink Cola, and that’s my fault?”
Selene didn’t want to waste another word on Mark.
Scanning her surroundings, she pulled a custom modified rapid-fire pistol from behind her back and tossed it to him.
Mark caught the pistol smoothly, raising an eyebrow at Selene with a slight question in his eyes.
Selene rolled her eyes.
“The enemy will be here any second.”
“If you’re still a man, pull your courage out—you’ll need it real soon.”
“And I suggest you put on some pants so you don’t get your nuts blown off.”
A double entendre.
Selene was indeed an elite Death Dealer who fought on the frontlines; her style of speaking was wild enough.
Mark thought about it and admitted she had a point.
Even though he had prepared well in advance and could guarantee capturing those vampires unscathed, exposing himself would look bad.
Mark placed the firearm he was playing with onto the open kitchen counter and began putting on clothes.
“Selene, relax, I…”
“Shut up!
The enemy is close.
I can feel them.
“Don’t be so nervous.
Trust me, nothing’s going to happen.”
“…”
Facing Mark’s relaxed—or rather, lazy—demeanor, Selene gave up trying to correct him.
She began using the sofa, refrigerator, and other furniture to construct cover and improvised barricades.
Seeing his living room quickly turned into a mess, Mark was speechless.
Well, people only believed what they saw.
Even if Mark told Selene that he had deployed over a hundred Blood Concealment Demon Eyes throughout all of Blue Umbrella, allowing him to monitor every inch of space in the company at any moment, she probably wouldn’t believe him anyway.
And that was indeed the reality.
With Mark’s extremely cautious nature, living in an environment he hadn’t fully mastered, if he lacked the capability, that would be one thing.
Since he had the ability, how could he not put the entire company under surveillance?
The Blood Concealment Demon Eye was a temporary artifact forged from refined blood spiritual light, acting more like a spell.
It possessed functions like invisibility, levitation, wall-phasing, and observation.
Very practical.
Its only drawback was that each batch lasted only thirty-six double-hours.
While refining the Dao Soldiers and Blood God Banner in his spare time, Mark had refined over a thousand Blood Concealment Demon Eyes and stored them all inside the Blood God Banner.
When Michelle notified Mark that the Golden Court Clan vampires were coming, Mark had released over a hundred Blood Concealment Demon Eyes from the lab, covering almost all of Blue Umbrella and the underground Hive, sufficient to monitor every single corner.
In fact, Mark had detected the Death Dealers’ arrival even earlier than Selene.
He even had time to take a shower while waiting.
Looking at the extremely tense Selene, who was primed for battle at any moment, Mark shook his head helplessly.
With a flow of True Qi, he silently appeared behind Selene, smoothly drawing her into his arms.
Selene froze first, instinctively preparing to counterattack, then paused, struggling slightly.
Right then, Mark leaned aggressively toward her ear and said, “Selene, there’s really no need to be so nervous.
You see?
If I wanted to, you wouldn’t even have a chance to resist.”
Selene relaxed slightly, ignoring the intimacy as she turned her head to look at Mark.
*BOOM!*
Before Selene could speak, a loud crash shook the door.
Along with the loud bang, Kraven led his team in barging into the room—only to witness the shockingly intimate position Mark and Selene were in.
“NO~~!”