With Xiaocao around, he didn't need to worry about safety. But what if they retaliated against his parents and grandparents, or against Minhong? That would be troublesome. Even with Yi Dao, a peak Earth-level expert, in charge of security, if there were a large number of these incredibly fast vampires, a slight oversight by Yi Dao and the others could lead to irreparable consequences.
Therefore, Lin Yao had already decided on Earl Witte's ultimate fate, and there was absolutely no room for negotiation on this matter.
"Are you telling the truth?!"
After enduring many days of torment, Count Witte couldn't understand Lin Yao, who had never really cared about him, so he chose to believe Lin Yao's words.
Lin Yao neither pressed Witte for secrets like government officials would, nor did he show any sign of using Witte as a bargaining chip to exchange for benefits with the British government and the vampires. It was as if Witte was a dispensable figure, his only value being as a guinea pig in experiments.
This entirely new identity and status left Witt feeling lost, so when Lin Yao said that he would be given freedom if he cooperated well, Witt had no choice but to believe him, and he was willing to believe it.
"You want to stay here forever? I'm not going to support you." Lin Yao gave Witt a strange look. "If you don't cooperate, I'll definitely make you suffer. The result will be the same, but the process will be different."
"I'll cooperate, I'll cooperate."
Earl Witte quickly replied, standing straight in front of Lin Yao, regaining his elegant and noble demeanor. Although his body looked tattered and covered with wounds that did not bleed, this temperament was still very evident, which made Lin Yao secretly marvel.
"Your name, rank, strength, the structure and distribution of power of the vampire clan, how you usually cultivate, the recovery period and impact of injuries..." Lin Yao rattled off all his questions like a machine gun, "I need to know all of these."
Earl Witte was taken aback, thinking that anyone with a background would know these things, and that this information about the vampires was not a secret. Yet this powerful young man was asking him questions, which meant he must know nothing.
Earl Witte was secretly pleased, and became even more convinced of Lin Yao's claim that he would be granted freedom afterward, so he cooperated even more.
As Count Witt recounted his story, the structure and some secrets of the vampire clan were slowly revealed to Lin Yao, leaving Lin Yao and Xiao Cao astonished.
The structure of the vampire clan begins with the lowest-ranking vampire descendants who have just been embraced, and ascends to barons, earls, marquises, dukes, and so on, up to the highest-ranking princes, and even the legendary imperial vampires.
The difference in strength is also quite significant. The un-evolved descendants and barons are afraid of sunlight, but their abilities are slightly stronger than ordinary people. The baron's abilities are roughly equivalent to a special forces soldier of Ge Yong's caliber, but his formidable speed and the ability to transform into a bat make him a difficult opponent for vampire barons, at least in terms of escape.
At the Count level, vampires can be exposed to sunlight to a certain extent, but the exposure time cannot be too long, as sunlight also has a certain harmful effect on them.
Witt has been a count for over a hundred years, making him one of the top counts. He has also mastered two other "magic arts" besides transformation: "Dark Poison" and "Blood Claws." He uses the toxins in his body to release a poisonous mist that corrodes and poisons enemies. He also uses blood energy to attach to his long nails, making them as sharp as diamonds, capable of easily piercing five-millimeter-thick steel plates.
After being promoted to Marquis, in addition to a significant increase in physical strength and speed, they can also learn two other "magic spells": "Seduction" and "Blood Blade". The former is similar to mental manipulation, with a success rate depending on the enemy's level and willpower. The latter is the vampire's first ranged attack spell, allowing Marquis vampires to unleash ranged attacks similar to energy blades.
The Duke possesses the most effective "teleportation" technique for escaping and killing. Of course, the distance of this teleportation is limited, ranging from two meters to more than ten meters, but it is a heaven-defying means that can turn the tide of battle. Combined with the Duke's ferociously strong body and close combat strength, this magic is almost always effective once it is used, either killing the enemy or easily escaping.
The Duke Blood Clan is already comparable to a Heavenly-level master in China. Of course, this corresponds to the ordinary Heavenly-level, because there are no specific levels above the Heavenly-level in China, and the abilities vary greatly.
Vampire princes are already legendary beings, said to possess wide-ranging magic and other abilities, and their teleportation distances are also much greater. Unlike dukes and vampires, they are not subject to the same restrictions and constraints when using teleportation in battle.
A vampire prince can easily handle the attacks of a hundred vampire dukes, provided that the vampire dukes have the courage to attack the prince. This is how the strength is divided.
As for the Imperial Blood Clan, that's just a legend. Even Count Witt had no concept of an Imperial-level ancestor; he only knew that they were strong, very strong.
“Yaoyao, Witt released blood energy to heal his body’s injuries. The toxins in his blood have not completely dissipated; they have just been weakened by the extraction of blood energy. He can recover through cultivation in the future.”
Xiaocao's words echoed in Lin Yao's mind as he busied himself torturing Witt with tools like triangular knives and scrapers.
"So that's how it is. No wonder the vampires would rather fight and get injured than easily embrace their offspring. It seems that the blood toxins consumed during the first embrace are irreversible, so they reduce the cost of the first embrace for the sake of their own strength."
Lin Yao stopped what he was doing and calmed down to discuss with Xiao Cao. He also wanted to rest. Always using knives and forks to torture people was extremely torturous for his nerves. He wondered if he would develop a perverted mentality over time.
"Fortunately, that's how it is. Otherwise, the whole world would probably be full of vampires, and we humans wouldn't have any room to survive. Even the lowest-level vampire can surpass a warrior of Banan's level. Moreover, unless it's a direct confrontation, a hundred Banans definitely can't beat ten of the lowest-level vampires because their attacks are everywhere. They can even sneak into people's rooms at night to kill them."
“Yes,” Little Grass chimed in. “Fortunately, it takes a hundred years for an earl to produce a single drop of irreversible blood essence. This blood essence can only be used for the Embrace. The result of the Embrace is that the offspring directly reach the level of a baron. A marquis needs three hundred years to produce a single drop of blood essence, and a duke needs five hundred years. This situation is what restricts the rapid expansion of the vampire population.”
"Yes, thank goodness." Lin Yao was also a little scared. After learning about the characteristics of the vampires, he realized that this universe really does have rules. With the ability to defy the heavens, there must be constraints and limitations.
"Fortunately, the vampires don't value their offspring much, and their relationships and feelings are just average. Otherwise, if all the vampires disregarded the loss of their own strength and focused on developing their offspring, the whole world would be theirs. Because one person cultivating for a thousand years is not as valuable as a thousand people cultivating for ten years."
"Fortunately, although these vampires are no longer human, they haven't lost their human selfishness, otherwise no one would be able to fight them."
Lin Yao sighed for a moment, then turned to business, "Little Grass, have you discovered anything? I just find it strange that I haven't found the secret of how Witt releases blood energy from the toxins yet."
"I didn't notice either."
Xiaocao's words disappointed Lin Yao. "These toxins are like oil tankers. They can store blood energy. Once they're released, they just wait for Wit to cultivate and replenish his blood energy. They will never decrease unless Wit recklessly and forcefully generates blood energy beyond his capacity. Only then will some of the toxins disappear forever. It's like making an oil tanker explode, quickly releasing explosive force, and then the whole vehicle is destroyed along with it."
"Little Grass, could you bring some toxins over so you can study them properly?" Lin Yao proposed his idea: if the toxins left Witte's body, their properties might change. If they could be controlled, it would be a big step closer to his goal.
"It's no use. Once these toxins are pulled out of Witte's body, they will explode automatically."
Xiao Cao refuted Lin Yao's idea, "By the way, these toxins exist individually, just like bacteria. They are about the size of... well, about the size of Yao Yao's tadpoles. They are aggregates of toxic gas, and the toxin clusters do not merge or interfere with each other; they are very independent."
Lin Yao fell silent, thinking to himself that if Xiao Cao wanted to compare sizes, she could have just said that the toxin cluster was 3 to 4 picometers in diameter. Why did she have to use the smallest cell in her body as a comparison?
"No **! No human rights!" Lin Yao sighed, no longer interested in discussing the secrets of the old bat Witt, but also unable to find a good way to protect his **.
"Yaoyao, why aren't you saying anything?" Xiaocao asked curiously.
“I’m tired. I’ll meditate and practice my skills. You try to see what method can quickly strike the bats and completely destroy those toxin clusters. Also, try to see how to induce the formation of these toxin clusters. These are things you’re best at.”
Lin Yao reluctantly found Xiao Cao a job, then ignored Count Witt, who was sitting elegantly in a chair, and sat cross-legged on the ground to begin meditating and practicing his skills.
Vibrations and crackling sounds constantly transmitted from the tendrils of small grasses prevented Lin Yao from entering a meditative state.
Xiaocao strictly followed Lin Yao's advice, constantly using various trace amounts of medicinal and poisonous gas to probe Earl Witte's left arm. There, Earl Witte had gathered a trace amount of his essence blood, but because the medicinal and poisonous gas was fighting against the toxins in the bat's body, it was constantly producing destructive effects.
Although the effect was very slight, the tentacles directly connected to Lin Yao's body amplified it infinitely, making it impossible for Lin Yao to meditate and enter a state of deep concentration.
"Never mind, I'm familiar with the hand seals, so I'll refine some 'Bigu Pills'."
Lin Yao sighed, left the large basement, went upstairs and carried several large bags of flour from the storage room. Xiao Cao also helped carry more than twenty bags. However, Xiao Cao placed the flour at the entrance of the basement. Lin Yao had to carry it into the basement himself, otherwise Count Witte would have to experience Lin Yao's ability to control objects in mid-air.
Earl Witte's eyes darted around, his expression completely devoid of elegance and nobility.
Lin Yao left the basement, leaving him alone in the more than 200-square-meter space, where he began to have other thoughts.