Vampires in the Marvel world—or more accurately, the American media crossover world—were extremely chaotic and diverse.
Some were created by God.
Some were created by magic.
Some were fallen saints.
Some were created through scientific research.
There were even sparkling, glittery vegetarian vampires.
If it were any other vampire clan, Mark couldn’t say he knew much.
But the vampires in *Underworld* left a rather deep impression on him.
Mark remembered very clearly that in *Underworld*, the progenitors of vampires and lycans were full brothers, and their entire bloodline stemmed from a medieval immortal who survived a plague.
They lacked deep heritage and had no connection to dimension lords whatsoever.
At most, they were nouveau riche among the vampire race.
What thirteen clans?
What nonsense.
Putting on airs was one thing, but this was absurd.
Claiming random ancestors left and right.
The light chuckle on Mark’s face and the disdain in his eyes instantly made Selene bristle.
“Damn it, what are you laughing at?”
“And that look in your eyes…
Hmph, I hope you won’t regret this!”
Selene boiled with rage, looking at Mark with a deadly, murderous gaze.
Selene swore she had never looked at her neighbor’s dog with such disrespect.
Facing Selene’s sudden murderous intent…
Mark reined in the contempt in his eyes slightly and said with very little sincerity, “Apologies, lady.
I just remembered a joke.
It wasn’t directed at you.”
Selene sneered, “Do you think I’ll fall for that?”
“You will eventually learn that showing contempt for the Golden Court Clan will be the nightmare of your life.”
Selene’s sense of honor wasn’t an act.
Mark frowned slightly, recalling the plot of *Underworld*.
Ah, right.
This “heroine” seemed to have been kept in the dark the entire time.
Meaning the plot hadn’t started yet?
What was that phrase again?
Ah, right—treating a thief as one’s father.
Truly tragic.
The look Mark directed at Selene grew even stranger, making her feel thoroughly uncomfortable.
“Bastard, what disrespectful thoughts are running through your head?” Selene barked out, her composure slipping as she repeatedly resisted the urge to draw her gun.
Mark shrugged and said, “Lady, I wasn’t thinking anything disrespectful.”
“I just wanted to remind you.”
“The Golden Court Clan is also known as the Golden Sun Clan.”
“Er, as the name implies, every member of the Golden Court Clan possesses pure golden hair like the sun.”
Hearing Mark’s words…
Selene instantly flushed bright red.
This time, it wasn’t out of intent to kill or hatred, but sheer embarrassment and fury.
Especially her short black hair, which swayed with her angry breaths, making it painfully glaring.
What Mark said wasn’t exactly common knowledge in the West, but the characteristics of the Thirteen Kindred Clans were mentioned in many religious texts and fiction.
Where there was smoke, there was fire.
This kind of thing was very likely true.
At the same time, it was precisely because of this that Selene’s previous declaration seemed so ignorant.
Well, maybe not ignorant.
It was just that Selene had been brainwashed so heavily during her vampire adoptive father’s centuries of psychological manipulation that she had never noticed the easily shattered lies surrounding her.
Just as Selene’s mind was reeling…
…Mark had somehow walked up next to her.
Almost pressing against her ear, he whispered softly, “Terrifying, isn’t it?”
“Suddenly realizing the world around you is so fake.”
“Selene Sund Viktor?”
Hearing her full name out of nowhere, Selene tensed up completely.
Then, with an increasingly sharp glare, Selene looked at Mark and said, “Who on earth are you?
How do you know my name?”
Astonishment, vigilance, confusion, and ferocity.
At this moment, Selene closely resembled a wild cat with its fur raised under the moonlight.
Seeing Selene’s extremely guarded stance…
Mark slowly stepped back a bit and said, “The Marcus family was also one of the three founding families of Umbrella Corporation, wasn’t it?”
“Forty years ago, the Progenitor Virus appeared in an international scientific journal for the first time.”
“Some said it was extracted by Umbrella’s three founders from the ancient Ndipaya Empire ruins in West Africa.” This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
“Others said it was extracted from queen ant genes.”
“But who could have guessed that the true origin of the Progenitor Virus was extracted by James Marcus—one of Umbrella’s three founders—from his own blood?”
“The Marcus family originated from a Hungarian soldier in the sixth century.”
“It was a plague that swept through the entire nation.”
“That lucky soldier survived the terrible plague.”
“Moreover, because he was infected with the progenitor virus, he became an immortal.”
“At the same time, that soldier’s two sons: Marcus and William.”
“Tsk tsk.
They didn’t even have a surname of their own.
Yet because of a bat and a wild wolf, they became the progenitors of certain vampires and lycans.”
“An immortal species.”
“Apart from looking a bit like monsters, it’s quite alluring, isn’t it?”
“Take Viktor, a grand nobleman of Hungary at the time, for instance…”
Mark’s voice rose and fell with rhythmic cadence, carrying a sense of mystery as though it were a bewitching devil’s chant.
It stirred Selene’s emotions, fueling a growing sense of unease within her.
“Enough!” Selene barked furiously.
Mark stopped like a true gentleman, looking at Selene with an innocent face.
Selene took several deep breaths before barely managing to calm her mind.
“Mark Ashford, if you think you can fool me with these bizarre lies…”
“I can only tell you that you’re delusional.
I kill hundreds of scammers like you every year.”
Selene’s tone was exceptionally fierce.
Except when she said “hundreds,” her confidence noticeably faltered.
Mark didn’t expose or mock her.
Instead, just as her mind began to settle, he suddenly murmured soft and low: “Then, Selene…
what are you afraid of?”
Mark’s voice was neither hurried nor heavy, devoid of any discernible emotion.
Only the lingering resonance of his words acted like wildfire, effortlessly igniting the anxiety deep within Selene.
The Heavenly Demon Enchanting Voice—manipulating the seven emotions and swaying the six desires—was a specialty of the Demonic Dao.
Even a mere surface level of it, combined with a sufficiently real backstory, was more than enough to manipulate Selene.