Watching the vampire shipworkers stir restlessly, James, standing behind Charles, quickly grew in size. He hoisted a steel beam as thick as a bowl onto his shoulder, instantly quieting the commotion.

  Charles turned to the blind man beside him. “When will those two dukes arrive?”

  “They usually stay at the central tomb of the island. It might take them half a day to get here.”

  “Good.”

  Charles pointed to the Unicorn Whale and addressed the vampire factory manager. “You have three hours to install the turbine for me. Otherwise, Durand will be your fate.”

  A bearded vampire stepped forward, agitated. “That’s impossible! Do you know how complicated it is to replace a turbine?”

  “Chief Engineer.”

  As soon as Charles issued the command, the steel beam behind him swung down, smashing into the bearded vampire.

  His contorted body attempted to heal, but the steel beam struck again and again, turning him into a bloody pulp.

  Blood splattered onto the remaining vampires, fear etched on each of their faces.

  “Do you think I’m easy to talk to? You bloodsucking monsters? Now go change that turbine!” Charles's voice suppressed his fury.

  The factory manager's lips trembled as he wiped the flesh from his face, turning to lead the other vampires toward the Unicorn Whale.

  “Chief Engineer, you know the turbine well. Keep an eye on them; be wary of any tricks.”

  “Understood, Captain.” The chief engineer followed the manager.

  This kind of task should have been handled by the chief engineer, but he was currently too dim-witted to manage it. Meanwhile, James stood frozen in place, intimidating all the vampires.

  “Creak~” The metal door of the shipyard opened slightly, and Deep cautiously peered outside.

  After a brief observation, he turned back to Charles, who was sitting on a crate. “Captain, it seems the people outside have noticed us. A lot of them are looking this way.”

  “Odrick, will they rush in?” Charles asked, wiping the black blade.

  The blind man shook his head. “No, they won’t dare touch the duke’s prey. Besides, you’re not just ordinary humans; they’re a disorganized mob and may not dare to act without a leader.”

  Charles felt a sense of understanding. It seemed that his earlier intimidation still held sway. Even if the vampires outside knew they were trying to escape, without a leader, they wouldn’t dare to act rashly.

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  “How strong are the dukes?” Charles inquired about the approaching enemies.

  “The strength of bloodsuckers is determined by their age. The older they are, the more experience and power they possess. To become a duke, one must be at least five hundred years old. They are fundamentally different from us; if they wish, they can easily kill thousands of ordinary bloodsuckers.”

  Five hundred years? Charles was taken aback. With such age, did they have knowledge of the Light Continent?

  Upon hearing Charles's speculation, Odrick shook his head. “You can only ask the Mistress about that. All the bloodsuckers on this island were created by her, and she is the only one who has been to that cursed place. It’s said that light is everywhere there, and just a touch would turn one to ash. I really don’t know how the Mistress survived.”

  “Then why did your Mistress come to this place?”

  “Ah, I’ve heard about that. There’s a legend that a being told the Mistress of a place where the sun never harms bloodsuckers, and where humans are plentiful.”

  Charles was momentarily stunned. He hadn’t considered that the vampires had come for this reason.

  The blind Odrick, unable to see Charles’s expression, continued. “But that being deceived the Mistress. This place not only has humans but also various beings far stronger than us bloodsuckers. Even among bloodsuckers, surviving in such a place is extremely difficult, and the Mistress resents him for it.”

  Upon hearing about beings much stronger than the Mistress, Charles instinctively thought of that enormous hand that had risen from the sea, one that evoked no resistance whatsoever.

  “How much do you know about the Mistress’s previous world? Which country did she come from? How many suns are in the sky?” Charles fired off several questions, hoping to deduce the current surface era and environment from the details.

  Odrick wore a bitter smile. “Mr. Charles, I’m only 124 years old and still quite young. As for my status among the bloodsuckers, you’ve seen it yourself; I have no way of knowing those things.”

  Charles let out a light sigh, feeling a bit melancholic as he walked toward the Unicorn Whale. This answer was expected.

  To find out the truth, he would have to confront the Mistress directly, but even that seemed impossible—unless he was tired of living.

  Lily, who had been listening intently, approached Odrick with curiosity. “So your Mistress came to this island to escape danger? How pitiful.”

  “No, we came to escape humans. The strength of humans is growing, and the conflicts between bloodsuckers and humans are escalating. The Mistress foresaw the impending war and left with her offspring. In fact, we have a symbiotic relationship with humans; if you die, we won’t have food and will also perish.”

  “What about your food? Do you eat rats?”

  “In the northern part of Dark Crystal Island, we keep a group of humans who provide a certain amount of blood each week, but it’s really too expensive… Usually, we can only endure the disgust and eat some human food.”

  Time ticked by, and the number of bloodsuckers loitering outside the shipyard increased.

  At this point, they no longer hid, baring their fangs and revealing their bloodthirsty gazes.

  Although they didn’t rush in, the sight of the encircling vampires still weighed heavily on Charles.

  “How much longer? If you don’t want to die, hurry up!” Charles’s roar echoed through the shipyard.

  “Almost done! We’re just riveting!” The factory manager, sweating profusely, urged his subordinates frantically.

  Just then, the sound of flapping wings outside reached everyone's ears.

  Charles rushed to a window and looked outside, spotting a large swarm of black bats flying toward them. The vampires outside cheered at the sight of the bats in the air.

  The bats swiftly descended, transforming into a man and woman draped in red-lined black cloaks.

  “Damn!” An irritated Charles didn’t need anyone to explain to guess the identities of these two.

  “Didn’t they say it would take half a day? Why are they here in just two hours?”