After Mo Yu suggested joining them, Elise reacted just as she had before, shyly agreeing, followed by Alice's mental breakdown.
Among three companions, one must be the loser.
Alice guarded fiercely, refusing to give the two of them any chance to get close, her attitude downright hostile, using every method to cut off their conversations.
Mo Yu played third wheel, deliberately teasing Alice.
Elise checked her phone every so often, and as time passed, the frequency increased, her mind growing more distracted.
Mo Yu knew she was waiting for word from her subordinates.
When the three of them got off the Ferris wheel and Elise checked her phone again, her expression slipped for an instant, a flash of gloom that quickly vanished as she said in a low voice:
"I'm going to the restroom."
"Wait for me, hon."
Alice followed Elise away.
Mo Yu called out, "I'll wait here for you two," then sat down to rest on a nearby bench.
Five minutes later, his phone rang.
It was the maid's reserved line. Once he answered, the maid's tense, serious voice came through:
"Where are you?"
"I'm with the Young Miss."
"Something's happened. The Young Miss has given the order — we're entering emergency status, everyone is to withdraw immediately. Drive back the way you came."
"Ok~"
Mo Yu agreed. He left without saying goodbye to Elise, heading straight to the item storage area on the outskirts of the amusement park to wait.
Once Mirror Image appeared, he immediately dismissed it and retrieved Repentance.
He drove back to the manor the way he came.
He had just parked the car when the maid appeared.
Mo Yu pretended to know nothing and asked what was going on.
The maid explained, "The Young Miss's plan failed. The target she had you capture was an important figure in the Moon Tear Organization. The Original Plan was to divert trouble eastward, using the hands of the Moon Tear Organization and the two great Demon Hunter families of Black City to wipe out the other vampire families."
"Something went wrong during the escort. The convoy was ambushed — Number 9, Number 12, and the accompanying staff were all killed in action. Mary was rescued by the attackers, and all subsequent plans have been halted."
Mo Yu said indignantly, "Who attacked them? How dare they ruin the Young Miss's plan — unforgivable!"
He secretly glanced at the Panel.
The Monster Compendium's rewards wouldn't settle until after 8 p.m.
【Elite Vampire kills: 14（Settles in 3 hours 21 minutes）】
【Knight-level Vampire kills: 2（Settles in 3 hours 51 minutes）】
The maid shook her head. "I don't know. There wasn't time to investigate — the Security Team and the Moon Tear Organization arrived too quickly. We only got a brief look at the scene."
Mo Yu asked, "Did you find anything?"
The maid said, "There were at least ten attackers. The scene was clean, no extra traces left behind — a well-trained combat team, like military personnel."
Mo Yu clenched his fist. "Whoever they are, they'll pay for this."
The maid sighed. "Let's lay low for now. This operation has drawn the Moon Tear Organization's attention, and the two local Great Families won't let it go either. The Young Miss has given the order — everyone is to scatter and hide until the storm passes."
Mo Yu nodded in agreement.
The maid said, "Go to the villa and get your things. You'll be staying at the manor for now — no going out without orders."
Mo Yu set off, and when he returned to the villa, he found Elise and the maid there.
Elise was playing the piano.
The maid was pouring her tea.
Mo Yu wondered how the two of them had gotten back so quickly, when the blood-red text appeared.
【These are two Thousand-Faced Monsters, very weak. Killing recommended.】
They were stand-ins.
Mo Yu suddenly understood.
He recalled the monster that had tested Alpha — this must be the same thing.
He observed them secretly.
Without the Panel, he really wouldn't have been able to tell the real from the fake — the Thousand-Faced Monster's shapeshifting ability was truly formidable, though this one's actual strength was quite weak.
Elise really was cautious — using a stand-in to slip away like this. Today's incident must have frightened her badly.
Mo Yu went through the back door to the basement, arriving at his own room. The moment he stepped in, Alpha crawled out from under the bed and scanned his facial data.
"Station Chief, please…"
Mo Yu struck first, kicking Alpha over, then reached down and set him upright, passing all three checks smoothly.
The first thing Alpha said upon rising was: "Current Derivative Timeline Perturbation Value: 6%. Please keep up the good work."
"Huh? It jumped that much?"
Mo Yu was startled.
It seemed today's incident had affected Elise far more than he'd thought.
He crouched down and took out the Cross to show Alpha. "Do you recognize this thing?"
"Information missing. Unable to identify," Alpha replied.
Mo Yu nodded — he'd expected as much. The history of the Infiltration Period was all unofficial record, so there was little chance any data on this kind of equipment existed.
He pressed further, "Alpha, does the historical database have any record of a human hero who sold his butt to get started?"
Alpha's breathing light blinked for a moment before he answered, "There is 1."
Mo Yu: "!"
There really was one!
He grew doubtful of the historical data Alpha provided — from now on, no matter which timeline he went to, he'd better gather intelligence himself.
Mo Yu decided he'd spend his free time digging up records to feed into Alpha, revising the historical archives.
"Hide this thing well."
At Mo Yu's gesture, Alpha's Dog Head opened up, and the Cross was tucked away in an internal compartment.
Man and dog returned to the manor together.
They saw no vampires along the way — the entire manor was cold and deserted.
Under the setting sun, the manor was coated in a hazy orange glow, while the shadowed areas were pitch black, too dark to make out anything within. Occasionally a bird would sweep past, its harsh caw unsettling to hear.
Mo Yu returned to his room.
As he sat by the window admiring the sunset, he received a text from the maid.
"The Young Miss is back. She's furious. Come to the council chamber."
Mo Yu replied with a "1" and set off. Not being very familiar with the manor, he planned to ask a vampire for directions along the way, but the moment he stepped out, he saw three bats crouched on the corridor railing.
These bats were about the size of house cats, ugly in appearance, with large, jet-black eyes staring straight at him.
"Squeak squeak squeak!"
The three bats squeaked twice, flapped their wings, and flew off, disappearing around the stairwell corner.
When Mo Yu reached the stairs, he saw the three bats perched in different spots, leading downward along the staircase — clearly guiding the way.
As he walked forward, the bats flew ahead, always pointing toward the direction he needed to go.
Mo Yu followed, entering the manor's main building, moving deeper along the long corridor.
Once he passed through an antique, dark wooden door, it felt as though he'd stepped back into medieval Europe — the surroundings suddenly turned old-fashioned, with no sign of modernization, even the lighting fixtures replaced entirely by red candles.
A breeze drifted through, and the candlelight flickered.
Mo Yu walked forward across the deep red carpet, finally entering a great hall.
Some forty or fifty vampires knelt on the floor here, facing forward, heads bowed, utterly still. Before them, on a raised platform, stood an ornate, deep red chair.
The hall was ringed with red candles, hundreds of flickering flames of varying heights weaving together to fill the entire space with light.
Now this was the kind of presence befitting a Vampire Emperor.
Mo Yu stroked his chin, taking it all in.
Behind the seat was a wall, and the maid stood off to the side of it, waving him over.
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