National Guardian's Gone and We're Done

When Jerry perished, no flames appeared on his body.

Instead, he was burned to ash by some mysterious power.

Even Chu He was too late to stop it.

The special energy fluctuation emanating from Jerry had erupted to its peak the very moment he tried to reveal the secret.

’Divine punishment.’ As the words formed in his mind, he found the idea absurd.

’Do Deities really exist in this world?’

He had asked himself this more than once, but no one could give him a convincing answer.

The information Jerry was about to reveal must have touched upon the Vampire’s core secrets.

It might have even involved the Ancestor he mentioned earlier.

According to Jerry, he was a Count.

Above Counts are Dukes, and above Dukes are twelve Princes.

’So, above the Princes... could it be the Ancestor?’

If that was the case, just for trying to speak the Ancestor’s name, Jerry was instantly annihilated.

The goat-headed Evil Spirit, Bafumie, had once said that Vampires were truly at the Divine Level.

’Could he have been referring to this Vampire’s Ancestor?’

’Looks like I’ll have to add some more fuel to the fire when it comes to probing the Lighthouse Empire.’

Chu He’s gaze fell upon Xiao Cangqing, who was still unconscious on the ground. Then, his figure slowly faded away.

...

Xiao Cangqing didn’t know how long he had been unconscious.

But he knew that his strange condition meant Chu He must have been here.

When he opened his eyes again, the same sky stretched out above him, and his surroundings were eerily quiet.

Xiao Cangqing snapped to his senses, kipping up from the ground and scanning his surroundings in all directions.

After confirming there was no danger nearby, he pulled his phone from his pocket.

He discovered he had been unconscious here for three full days and had numerous missed calls.

He hadn’t been woken by the ringing because he had habitually put his phone on silent.

The phone only had two percent battery left and could die at any moment.

After switching on power-saving mode, Xiao Cangqing called back one of the numbers—it was from Gao Yimin.

"You finally picked up!"

Gao Yimin answered almost instantly. "Otherwise," she said, "I would’ve thought the news reports were fake."

"News? What news?"

Xiao Cangqing’s heart sank. That familiar, ominous feeling washed over him again.

Before Gao Yimin could answer,

Xiao Cangqing used what little battery he had left to open a web browser.

Sure enough, the top trending story was about him.

"New World Organization Leader Reveals Lighthouse Empire Is a Puppet State Controlled by Vampires.

The true masters behind the Lighthouse Empire are the Vampire Clan.

A few days ago, the Lighthouse Empire dispatched a Count Level Vampire named Jerry to the Great Jing Empire to eliminate the New World Organization and Xiao Cangqing.

The arrogant Vampire came to the New World Organization’s territory alone but was annihilated by Xiao Cangqing, leaving behind nothing but a pile of ash."

Below the text was an accompanying photo.

The setting in the photo was identical to his current location, and on the ground was a small pile of ash.

Xiao Cangqing immediately looked over and saw that there was, indeed, a pile of ash right there.

The report also stated,

that before his death, under intense interrogation by Xiao Cangqing, Jerry had revealed some information about the Vampire Clan.

Jerry himself was a Count within the Vampire Clan.

Above the Counts are Dukes and twelve Princes.

And above the twelve Princes is the supreme ruler of the Vampire Clan, known as the Ancestor.

"Hey! Xiao Cangqing, are you listening to me?

To think the Lighthouse Empire hid the truth about the Vampires for so long.

Who would’ve thought you’d expose it all so easily? Now, empires all over the world are in an uproar.

Many empires were already unhappy with the Lighthouse Empire to begin with.

Now, they’ve begun a media war against the Lighthouse Empire,

denouncing them for choosing to ally with Evil Spirits, despite being Blue Star’s foremost superpower.

They’re also being condemned for allowing the Vampire Clan to control every aspect of their nation.

That day, I thought you were just ditching me and Dai Ju to save your own skin.

Turns out I misunderstood you!" Gao Yimin said from the other end of the line.

"Other empires are launching a media war against the Lighthouse Empire over the Vampire issue, and the Lighthouse Empire hasn’t responded at all?" Xiao Cangqing asked, puzzled.

"Ever since you and the New World Organization released the report about their secret, the Lighthouse Empire has chosen to remain silent.

They’ve stayed completely mum in the face of the media onslaught from other empires."

Gao Yimin said matter-of-factly, "There’s no need to even guess what that means.

You know how domineering the Lighthouse Empire is. If they were really being framed, they would have immediately launched a terrifyingly brutal retaliation... one that would strike fear into people and nations alike.

A lot of people in our Great Jing Empire are clamoring online to make you the new ruler,

and they’re hoping you’ll step it up and kick Ji Shengyue off the throne."

"Make me the new ruler of the Great Jing Empire?"

Needless to say, Xiao Cangqing knew that the report, released in his and the New World Organization’s name, was definitely Chu He’s handiwork.

’That means the contents of the report must be true.’

When he fought Jerry that day, Xiao Cangqing had already sensed that his opponent wasn’t human.

If he was a Vampire, then Jerry’s strange condition made perfect sense.

According to the report, Jerry was a Count Level member of the Vampire Clan.

Above the Counts, there were Dukes, twelve Princes, and the legendary Ancestor.

Xiao Cangqing was no match for a single Count.

If other Counts, Dukes, or even Princes came after him, he would stand no chance of survival.

Chu He might show up to save him, sure.

But that would just be relying on outside help. Right now, Xiao Cangqing felt utterly insecure.

And that wasn’t even mentioning the Ancestor, who loomed over all the members of the Vampire Clan like a colossal mountain.

...

「Black Continent Grassland.」

Having returned from his encounter with Jerry, the Vampire Count, Chu He found himself growing increasingly curious about the orphanage mentioned in the intelligence provided by the woman in leather.

According to the intelligence on the note,

there was a passage describing research into the origin of Evil Spirits being conducted at the orphanage.

"It is humanity’s nightmare, and also humanity’s hope."

The closer Chu He got to the orphanage’s exact location, the more he noticed the air growing colder.

There was even a great deal of dark cyan frost covering the ground.

Chu He halted and looked up. A single cloud hung in the sky, having floated there for some time.

With every step he took, the cloud moved forward as well.