"The others haven't arrived yet. Let's discuss matters once everyone is assembled."
Ofemia appeared completely unconcerned, but the attendants behind her had already begun to move. Gradually, the conference room was surrounded.
Perhaps they couldn't defeat Aisaco, but rely blocking him was more than sufficient. As long as they waited for the other high-ranking vampires to arrive, Aisaco would have no chance of escape.
Moreover, Marquis Ofemia herself was here to oversee things.
Loren stroked the crow in his arms. Movila had been constantly monitoring the situation outside. It was just inconvenient for her to speak here, but if sothing truly happened, she had plenty of ways to alert Loren.
During the wait for the others to arrive, the conference room was quiet. Loren simply struck up a conversation with Aisaco.
"Aisaco, what have you been doing all this ti?"
"I've been researching new dicines. I'm not very proficient in other matters, so I left them all for my subordinates to manage."
Aisaco's words carried a hint of self-exoneration. He didn't want to break with the vampires just yet. His true plan hadn't even begun; it was far too early to sever ties.
His explanation was sowhat reasonable, but a fault was still a fault and needed to be rectified. Otherwise, even if Aisaco was truly innocent, the other high-ranking mbers of the Bloodline wouldn't let him off the hook. This wasn't a small sum of money.
After developing the first-generation dicine, people had already seen the potential of this drug. So when Aisaco ntioned researching a second generation, these vampires began desperately pouring money into it, believing it was a surefire, profitable venture. They even envisioned controlling other countries through the dicine.
No one had anticipated this situation. The anger of these vampires at this mont was understandable.
Vampires began arriving one after another. They were quiet, silently listening to the conversation between Loren and Aisaco. Only the seat at the head of the table remained empty.
Loren also saw a familiar face. Marquis Selika walked in. Even while walking, she hadn't forgotten to take her dicine. By the ti she took her seat, one bottle was already finished.
Her eyes were now dazed, and she had swayed even while walking. Not long after sitting down, she opened another bottle.
To Loren's surprise, Selika did not sit in the head seat. Soone else was there.
"Count Aisaco, may I ask if your new dicine has been developed? I've been looking forward to it for so long..."
As the high-ranking vampire most addicted to the dicine, Selika had also invested a great deal of money in the new drug's research. But at this mont, she didn't care about the money's whereabouts at all, only about the dicine.
"This, I have already..."
"Duke Furad, welco."
Before Aisaco could finish, he was interrupted by Ofemia's greeting. The other mbers of the Bloodline simultaneously stood up and bowed. Selika, having taken too much dicine, rose a bit slower and nearly bumped into the table.
Duke Furad rely nodded, then walked past everyone and took the seat at the head of the table.
She matched all of Loren's fantasies about vampires: golden hair, red eyes, a graceful figure, wearing heavy formal attire and high heels, exuding an oppressive aura.
Furad wasn't actually very tall, but after she passed by, the other vampires lowered their heads, making her appear exceptionally tall and slender.
After sitting down, Furad elegantly crossed her legs. A section of her skirt lifted, revealing the pure white ankle beneath. At that mont, she cast a disdainful glance at Loren and spoke.
"Who is he? Why isn't he bowing?"
Like Angels, Princes do not easily interfere in mortal affairs. This is also an agreent between the Church and the vampires. Otherwise, the mortal realm truly has no one who could stop a Prince.
Thus, the highest level among vampires is the Duke, such as this Duke Furad. She indeed had the capital to be proud, but Loren wasn't afraid of her.
"He is the Master ntor of the Church. Even the Pope of the Church of Night and Thunder holds him in great respect..."
Ofemia hurriedly explained, not wanting Furad and Loren to beco hostile.
Seeming to understand Loren's status, Furad paid him no further mind and began discussing the main matter.
"Who will explain the situation?"
As the highest-ranking Duke, Furad acted like a hands-off manager. Such a major event had occurred, and she knew nothing about it.
"I will..."
As the workhorse, Ofemia began explaining the current situation to Furad, including the series of actions taken by the Bloodline Rebels and the mistakes Aisaco had made. Furad listened and started yawning.
Even with her being so nonchalant, no one dared to say anything.
"Aisaco, stand up and explain. If people are unsatisfied, I will kill you right here."
Furad looked lazy, casually leaning back in her chair, one hand propping up her cheek, speaking offhandedly.
Even when it concerned the life of a Count, she handled it so casually.
"It's like this. I focused on research and left matters for my subordinate Viscounts to manage. As Viscounts, they hold relatively high positions. I didn't think they could be Bloodline Rebels.
"But an accident still occurred. Without my knowledge, they directly gave the funds I used for producing and selling the dicine to ordinary people. By the ti I realized, it was already too late..."
Aisaco's words weren't very credible. The hostility from the other vampires towards him grew increasingly intense. Before they could act, Aisaco spoke again.
"Fortunately, I wasn't completely unprepared. The money was all exchanged for gold coins, and ordinary people in Uridia basically cannot possess gold coins. It's easy for us to recover this money.
"Currently, Uridia's banks and markets are under our Bloodline's control. As long as we imdiately order a ban on exchanging currency denominations and then lie in wait, that's enough.
"These people are already on the brink of death. If they have money, they can't possibly not spend it. Plus, they are now completely dependent on my dicine. Once they have money, they can't possibly not buy more. If soone produces gold coins, it ans they received money from the Bloodline Rebels. We can then directly begin a search and give them so punishnt.
"After making an example of a few like this, we can then have people voluntarily hand over the gold coins, with consequences for non-compliance. This way, we can recover the money without much trouble.
"As a precaution, the blockade on gold coins can last a bit longer. The only possible accident then would be internal corruption within the Bloodline..."
The vampires collectively breathed a sigh of relief, and their hostility towards Aisaco lessened considerably. While this wouldn't recover all the money, it was sufficient.
"I have another piece of good news. Just now, Marquis Selika asked about the new dicine. I haven't wasted your funds. The new dicine has already been developed."
Aisaco opened the briefcase he had brought. Inside were neatly arranged syringes filled with transparent liquid. The vampires' crimson eyes imdiately lit up.
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