Modern Cultivation : The Strongest Couple Bonded by Vampire System-Chapter 659: A Reward

"Hmm... or maybe the soul inside is their real goal?" Alex said.

"Who cares," Mingyue replied. "We’ll find out when the time comes. So what do we do now? Stick with them?"

"First we make sure the surrounding area is clear. After that, we leave."

Alex didn’t want to keep sticking with them. Now that they already knew the real goal, staying here was a waste of time.

They also understood the danger in this system now. That was why they had started using their abilities, but doing it quietly.

Mingyue glanced back at the squad.

"Still, the Empire is so stingy. Distributing resources like that. Aren’t they rich after winning the war?"

"They are," Alex said. "But it’s still limited. I don’t know how it’s for the royal family and the nobles, but this kind of system reduces corruption."

Alex kept walking, looking at he ruined city.

He started thinking about using a similar system on his own people.

The ones that became vampires had to pass his soul test. He had no doubt about their ethics.

But it wasn’t like he could just throw out everyone who failed his test. He would need a government system strong enough to reduce corruption.

This kind of fixed wage and monthly allotment was one good option.

With the size of the Human Empire’s army, micromanaging everyone was impossible. It would turn into a bureaucracy nightmare.

But giving supervisors too much power would just create small tyrants.

A system like this would force discipline. It also made it harder for people to skim from the top, because each soldier had their own supply and payment.

Still, it wasn’t perfect.

In Places like this for example, the system will become a hindrance. Soldiers ran out supplies, and then they died.

’A small improvement could fix this,’ Alex thought. ’A database that flags dangerous zones so they need manual suppervising. That could be a task for the vampires.’

But right now, his vampires were still few.

Faerith and her daughter, than A few hunters who passed his test.

As for Solomon he refused the transformation. He wanted to stay human and lead humanity.

After being invaded by other species, many humans became xenophobic. It would take generations before they forgot what happened.

As Alex and Mingyue patrolled and look around the planet, time passed.

***

At the border of Karthos Reach, two guards sat in a small station, half-asleep.

One of them yawned and sipped his coffee.

The screen flickered.

He frowned and leaned closer. "Hey. Did you see something go by?"

The other guard didn’t even turn his head. "No. You’re imagining things."

He frowned and checked the feed again, slowing it down frame by frame.

Nothing.

He leaned back, annoyed. "Maybe you’re right. This job is really cursed."

He took another sip and laughed at whatever was playing on Universe Tube.

Everyone were working as usual.

Nobody realized a disaster had already stepped into their home.

***

At the mining facility, inside the most privileged office, a terrace extended straight out into open space.

Governor Rannor stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at the refinery lights.

Behind him, a quiet voice spoke.

"You’ve been sloppy."

Rannor didn’t even look back. "He were always going to come. And the dragon prince is your responsiblity."

A woman stepped out of the shadow near the wall.

She looked human.

She ware a black helmet showing only her jet black eyes.

Her body were covered in black armor, but it didn’t hide her perfect curve.

It’s clear she was a beauty.

But the space around her was weird. It keep distorting like the world itself were rejecting her.

Rannor lowered his head. "Lady Olivia. I hope you will keep your promise."

Olivia walked to the glass and stared at the asteroid belt.

"The Dragon Prince moved earlier than expected, and the insects moved too."

"Do you want me to speed up the extraction? We can push the abyssal ingot output higher."

Olivia’s eyes didn’t leave the view. "No. My goal is only the sword caliburn, as for the arachne progenitor... it will be interesting if I could see her return."

Rannor swallowed. "Then what should I do?"

Olivia’s lips curved slightly, it’s a smile, but it make the governor body shiver in fear.

"You’ve done enough, now it’s time for your reward."

Olivia’s finger stabbed into the governor’s neck.

The veins under his skin bulged at once, crawling upward like black roots.

His pupils flooded with darkness, swallowing the whites.

He dropped to one knee, hands grabbing at his throat, face twisting as his breath started to break.

"Lady Olivia... what is the meaning of this?"

Rannor forced the words out. "Are you breaking your promise?"

Olivia didn’t even look at him.

"I never break my promise, You asked for true immortality.

Even with thirty thousand years left, you still feared the end.

This is the only way to give you what you want."

Rannor’s fingers clawed at his neck. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

His skin softened, then sagged.

His face started to lose shape. It sank like wax, and his body followed, collapsing into a pool of thick black liquid.

It all hapened in a second, now only black goo, and a pile of clothing on the floor.

The goo kept moving.

It pulled inward, folding, shaping itself. It rose like a man standing up from inside a shadow. The clothes lifted too, sliding onto the form.

A moment later, Rannor was there again.

He dropped to one knee in front of Olivia.

His face looked the same, but his eyes were empty.

"Master. What are your orders?"

Olivia stared through the glass at the star.

Then her gaze drifted down, toward the mining facility’s depths.

"I hate waiting,. Force the soul insect queen to move now."

Rannor lowered his head. "How?"

"Give her an opportunity. Then make sure she can’t ignore it."

"Yes, Master."

Olivia turned away from the glass and walked back into the room.

She took a seat at the governor chair.

"Now thing gonna be interesting.