Monster Girl Development Master

Page 47

……

After some time, Johnson entered the drawing room of Leon Manor. There were already quite a few people there, and Earl Cross, unlike at the last banquet, hadn't arrived late; instead, he was already seated in the main seat, chatting with those around him. Johnson recognized several people, such as William Leon Colby, the Minister of Military Affairs of the Earl of Leon's court, from the Shadow Raven Knights, and Bernard Burke, the Minister of Justice, among others.

It seems the old man is in a hurry; he's even pulled his little group out to discuss things. I wonder if it's because too many of his children or blood relatives have died.

Zhuang Sen shook his head, and after the welcoming waiter finished loudly announcing the names, he put on a polite, fake smile, stepped past the crowd that had made way for him, and walked up to Count Cross: "I am honored by your summons, Count Cross. Is there anything I can do for you...?"

Zhuang Sen's voice paused in surprise, for he finally saw the terrifying, mutated black raven above Count Cross's head, and as he made up for the pause, a screen of light unfolded before him.

Close Leon

Shadow Harpy: Bloodline Abnormality

The two simple lines struck Zhuang Sen's mind like a thunderbolt, making his scalp tingle. At this moment, the scattered clues finally came together, revealing the truth—the one who killed the sons of Leon and drew the sacrificial array was none other than Count Cross! The father of the sons of Leon!

No wonder those sons of Leon fell for it, some even dying with smiles on their faces. After all, how could Count Cross normally harm his own children? No wonder, no matter how hard Zhuang Sen investigated, he couldn't find a single clue! Although he was willing to spend money and had some clever ideas, it would be a miracle if he could find out anything when facing Cross Leon, the kingdom's Minister of Intelligence! And no wonder, why did every manor have a similar secret room? As a count, Cross could certainly arrange things arbitrarily among the manors under his jurisdiction. Perhaps even the succession trial itself was set up to facilitate his actions!

Zhuang Sen's expression remained unchanged, but his heart was churning with turmoil. He was even prepared to take action. Fortunately, he had already awakened three times, so dealing with a mutated Shadow Harpy should be no problem, right?

No one paid much attention to Zhuang Sen's mistake. Most people thought it was because Zhuang Sen was too unfamiliar with Earl Cross and was a little nervous. Earl Cross, on the other hand, thought it was due to his powerful fourth-level bloodline aura. Of course, the main reason was that Zhuang Sen only paused for a moment and managed his expression very well.

In short, Count Cross casually asked, "Johnson, my son, tell me how you discovered those secret rooms?"

Chapter 108: Truth and Decision

Faced with Count Cross's question, Zhuang Sen, having already controlled his emotions, did nothing superfluous. He simply calmly recounted the prepared explanation, placing all the blame on himself. "Don't ask why. It's because of my special bloodline and special abilities."

Count Cross naturally didn't believe it, but seeing that Zhuang Sen didn't mention his past experience, he didn't press the matter further, nor did he have any intention of making Zhuang Sen a scapegoat, because that was simply unreasonable. With Zhuang Sen's prestige and strength, he had no need to harm the other sons of Leon, especially since everyone knew that he was using Ange Leon to subdue the other sons of Leon.

Simply put, Zhuang Sen is already the undisputed next Earl of Leon. No one else has the ability to compete, so there's no need to harm them, especially those who haven't even awakened their bloodline. They don't deserve to be targeted at all.

Since Zhuang Sen couldn't be implicated and the Bloodline Order still had room for cooperation, Count Kross chose the third-ranked scapegoat—a spy from the White City Alliance!

Don't ask why the merchants of White City would target his children, or how they managed to do it right under the nose of him, the royal intelligence minister. The answer is that the evil merchants of White City deceived the kind Earl and attempted to invade the great Falling Star Kingdom!

Of course, it would be too fake to bring it up now. We need to spend some time fabricating evidence and bringing in a few people from White City. Fortunately, the White City Alliance is a commercial nation with branches in all its major cities, including Starry Night City, the capital of the Earl's territory.

As for which ones, that depends on which one is the most sensible.

Count Cross pondered and began to make polite remarks, but Zhuang Sen had no interest in listening any longer. He stared at the deformed raven on Count Cross's head, with three heads and six claws, and blood constantly seeping from its black feathers, and pondered how to deal with this old man.

It certainly couldn't be done on the spot. Killing Jem Lyon, his adopted brother, could be considered a noble tradition. Which noble patriarch hasn't killed his siblings? But openly killing one's father is a bit too extreme, even in this world—even killing him secretly would be better!

Even if they could find an opportunity to lure Old Deng out to kill him, they might not be able to keep him alive. He seems to have become Shadow Harpy now. Although his bloodline is mutated, his escape ability is definitely not weak. They don't know if he has retained the strength from his third awakening... He probably has, otherwise Old Deng would not dare to show himself so confidently. In other words, he can win, but he can't be sure he can kill him. If he escapes, they will have to prepare to face the entire army of Leon's territory for siege, and maybe even other territories.

This is such a hassle. Can't they just honestly collect gold coins? Damn old man.

Zhuang Sen maintained a humble and polite smile until the meeting, which was essentially a performance by everyone, came to an end.

……

Back in the carriage, Zhuang Sen looked at Lady Liya and said, "Mother, I think I know who the murderer is."

Lady Leah, who had been staring at Dantalian, paused for a moment upon hearing Zhuang Sen's words before realizing what he meant. Overjoyed yet bewildered, she grabbed Zhuang Sen's hand: "Zhuang Sen, are you sure? Who is it?"

As she spoke, she began to announce her name, prompting Zhuang Sen to interrupt her with a name: "Kross."

Lady Leah froze, and instinctively said, "That's impossible... What reason would he have to attack Zhuang Sen?"

Indeed, on the surface, Count Cross had no need to harm Johnson, just like the other sons of Leon.

The carriage left the manor and gradually accelerated down the main road. The rolling wheels couldn't mask the panic in Lady Lydia's heart. Although she subconsciously denied Zhuang Sen, she had already believed him in her heart. Zhuang Sen had no reason to lie to her like this. After all, their deal stipulated that Zhuang Sen would help her kill the murderer. Normally, if he wanted to deceive her, he would choose an easy target, not a powerful earl to make things difficult for himself.

but why?

The carriage sped along, bumping along a bit. Zhuang Sen leaned against Dantalian and pulled Ange into his arms: "I just got close to Count Cross and discovered that his bloodline has changed. He's become a Shadow Harpy like Ange, but a mutated version."

Ange's eyes widened suddenly at the mention of the monster girl: "Your father is also a monster girl?"

Zhuang Sen was momentarily swayed by those words, then almost vomited, and forcefully smacked An Jie's butt: "Don't say such disgusting things. Didn't I already say he's mutated? Only women can have monster girl bloodlines—except me!"

Anjie wiggled her buttocks with a strange expression and didn't interrupt any further.

Zhuang Sen continued, "You all remember how those sons of Leon died, right? Although there were no visible wounds, they were all drained of blood. Don't you think this is related to the changes in Count Cross's bloodline?"

Although Johnson hadn't dissected the corpses, with Mira, a vampire, present, it was immediately obvious whether there was blood in the bodies. Furthermore, the original Johnson Leon provided strong evidence. This also explains why the killer didn't even spare Leon's son, whose bloodline hadn't awakened—because what he needed was the bloodline, regardless of whether it was awakened or not.

"Just for this?" Lady Lia's voice choked slightly, and upon realizing it, she turned her head away.

“You should know the importance of bloodline better than I do, Lady Liya.” Zhuang Sen held down the restless Ange. “The difference between a level four bloodline and a level three bloodline is several times the territory, or even the ability to establish one’s own duchy, not to mention the difference in lifespan and strength.”

Given such immense temptation, the fact that he only secretly killed his own children instead of beginning the "territorial transformation" already demonstrates Count Cross's composure and restraint. Of course, it's also possible that he was simply trying to make things easier for others.

However, Zhuang Sen couldn't guess the specifics, since all he needed to do to change and upgrade his bloodline was to work hard to develop monster girls.

Lady Lia's eyes reddened slightly, and she bit her lip, suppressing a sob. She desperately wanted Zhuang Sen to kill Count Cross right now—but reason told her that doing so would only harm Zhuang Sen, the one who had always trusted and helped her.

That's right, Zhuang Sen has already awakened three times, but he only has a level three bloodline. How could he possibly defeat Count Kross, who already has a level four bloodline? Even if he could win, the life-or-death struggle between the three awakenings would not be without any impact. And once others are alerted, how could Zhuang Sen, who murdered his "father," become the next count?

What should she do...?

The usually decisive Lady Leah hesitated once again because of Johnson, becoming timid, though she was unwilling to admit it.

Zhuang Sen, however, hadn't received a reply from Lady Liya, so he had to stop teasing Ange: "Lady Liya, do you have any ideas on how to get Count Cross out alone? Once I've completed the third awakening for Dantalian and Nia, maybe I can get Bishop Rosa to join us. The four of us together should be able to quickly smash his head in. Then we can have Lydia manipulate his corpse to show up, and then make him disappear to another territory. That should solve the problem."

Lady Liya, who was struggling with her thoughts, looked up in surprise at Zhuang Sen, who was analyzing the situation with a serious expression. Her full lips moved slightly, her emotions fluctuating between gratitude and astonishment, and she didn't know which to say.

In the end, he could only manage to stammer out, "What do you want me to do?"

“Let me think…” Zhuang Sen hugged Ange and counted on his fingers, “Dantrian and Nia’s potion will take at least three days, and then we need to give them a day to pass on their skills and familiarize themselves with the new abilities. In addition, we need to persuade Bishop Rosa… at least five days from now?”

The author says:

Author's Note: This volume is coming to an end, please vote with your monthly tickets!

Chapter 109: The Vampire and Anawaen (4119 words)

Back at Glorious Manor, Lydia, who had been driving, escorted the troubled Lady Leah back to her room. Johnson didn't disturb her; what she needed now was peace and quiet, to quietly mourn her deceased son. As for Earl Cross, putting aside the fact that the two had no feelings for each other and their marriage was purely political, given Lady Leah's feelings for her son, even if Earl Cross were her true love, he would probably still be dead.

Because that's what Zhuang Sen thought, he never expected that Lady Lia would worry about him or even consider not seeking revenge against Earl Cross. This was mainly because Lady Lia's maternal love had left a deep impression on Zhuang Sen.

……

Entering his room, Zhuang Sen glanced around and, unsurprisingly, saw that only Mira was there. He patted his little sister, who was still clinging to him, and said, "Angie, go and call Nia and Hana into the room."

"Yes, brother!"

Anjie gave a sweet reply, took the opportunity to kiss Zhuang Sen on the cheek, and then threw a provocative look at Mira, who was pretending to read a book but actually watching them the whole time.

Mira scoffed, giving him a look as if he were an idiot, then slowly put down her book, walked over to Zhuang Sen, expertly hugged him, and kissed him—as if she knew everything! She only dared to kiss his cheek! What a shameful idiot.

Anjie, who had already reached the door, almost turned back, but Zhuang Sen pulled Mila off him and pressed her into a chair, which stopped her.

"Alright, you two, we have important business to attend to later tonight."

Ange pouted and left to find Hana and Nia.

Zhuang Sen sat down, sipped the black tea that Dantalian had brewed, and began copying down the three awakening potion recipes of Dantalian and Nia—he wasn't the only one who benefited from last night's madness.

Holy Lamia's Third Awakening Elixir, auxiliary ingredients: three White Star Serpent Gallbladders, five Holy Night Flowers, 600 grams of Holy Attribute Ore Powder...

The Dwarf Girl's Third Awakening Elixir, auxiliary ingredients: 500 grams of adamantite, 500 grams of mithril, 500 grams of oriental copper, nine 15-year-old fiery flowers...

Mira looked at Zhuang Sen's two full pages of writing and asked with some confusion, "Why are there only supplementary materials?"

Zhuang Sen looked up at the sky helplessly: "Because we can't buy the main materials."

"Can't buy it?" Mira frowned. "What kind of material is it? It's not available in Starry Night City. Is it a specialty material from another country? What's it called? Maybe I know how to get it."

A genius scholar from a noble family speaks with confidence.

But Zhuang Sen wasn't particularly excited; instead, he seemed somewhat helpless: "Well, you do know how to get this, because you've already tasted it."

"I've tried it...?"

Mira hesitated for a moment, then her gaze unconsciously drifted towards Zhuang Sen's direction. But she immediately realized she'd been led astray and looked at Zhuang Sen's neck. It must be Zhuang Sen's blood, after all, she had awakened using Zhuang Sen's blood, which meant it indeed possessed special power.

"You've misread it." Zhuang Sen closed the two pages and straightened them. "You want my essence."

Mira paused for a moment, then asked, "Why didn't you use it during your third awakening?"

Zhuang Sen shrugged: "Maybe the formulas for men and women are just different, anyway, there's nothing I can do about it."

Mira was conflicted; she wanted to laugh but felt it wasn't appropriate, so her lips awkwardly formed a wavy shape. She struggled to find a topic: "So... is the quantity enough?"

Mira felt a little strange as soon as the words left her mouth, but Zhuang Sen just said quietly, "It's alright, but you definitely won't have anything to eat for a while, and the time allocating for brewing potions is also a problem..."

As Zhuang Sen spoke, he also found it difficult to keep a straight face. He could only brew one potion at a time, and the other one was mostly for Lady Liya's help. But this ingredient... well, it was fortunate that it wasn't required to be used immediately after extraction, so he could probably fool her... I guess.

……

In the silence, the door was pushed open, and Ange, Nia, and Hana walked in, happily greeting Zhuang Sen:

"Dear~"

"Zhuang... dear, darling."

Zhuang Sen caught Nia as she lunged at him, then waved to the timid Hana, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her: "Still so nervous? Did you not have enough fun yesterday?"

Hannah's face flushed red instantly, and her eyes almost started to dart around.

Seeing this, Zhuang Sen couldn't continue teasing her, so he changed the subject and introduced the three who hadn't yet received the inheritance to the workings of the inheritance, explaining how it worked, which was completely different from the situation with Nia and the other two.

So, who wants to go first?

Mira, Hana, and Ange looked at each other, and then Mira raised her hand: "I'll go first. Maybe I can get some information, after all, I'm from the Ancient Scroll Clan."

"Row."

Zhuang Sen patted Nia's little bottom, and the dwarf mother knowingly made way for Mira: "Mira, it wouldn't be bad for your darling to enjoy it a little, would it?"

Mira hugged Zhuang Sen tighter, licked his neck, and smiled, "If it's just like you, Miss Nia, I'll try my best to satisfy you, darling."

Zhuang Sen confirmed the inheritance with a dark expression.

The familiar black screen returned, followed by a luxurious and mysterious crimson palace. Exquisite paintings adorned the ancient, cold-toned stone walls. Crimson banners and carpets were arranged in a way that Zhuang Sen couldn't quite put his finger on, but which was very pleasing to the eye. Thirteen long tables were arranged in the palace, surrounded by high-backed chairs with crimson cushions. Each chair was occupied by a woman with skin as white as snow and lips as red as blood.

Behind the thirteen long tables was a golden throne, also covered with scarlet cushions. Seated on it sat an elegant woman dressed in an elaborate and gorgeous scarlet robe with gold trim. Her skin was whiter than the purest snow, and her lips were redder than the deepest blood. She was like the queen of the night, more beautiful than the silver moon, and more radiant than the stars.

Zhuang Sen, situated in the void, looked on with slight regret. It seemed the vampire lineage was the same as Lamia's. But then again, if it were like the dwarves, his blood wouldn't be enough to satisfy this endless horde of vampires. Not drinking blood? Not drinking blood would be even more terrifying, brother.

On the other side, although Mira was disappointed that Zhuang Sen was not by her side, she did not waste any time and immediately stepped forward. In that instant, the originally dull vampires became lively, and in front of them, on the long table that was originally empty, Zhuang Sen appeared one by one.

Some women gracefully embraced Zhuang Sen, gently biting his neck; others used delicate knives to slit his wrists and put the blood into wine glasses; still others roughly pounced on him, biting his lips hard and sucking them open.

Although Mira was very envious, after these two days of experience, she managed to restrain herself well—a bunch of country bumpkins who had never seen the world, blood is not as good as semen, what a disgrace.

With a strange sense of superiority, Mira strode forward and quickly passed the first row of seats at the long table.

Suddenly, Zhuang Sen felt himself float up and land in a slightly cool embrace. He looked up and saw the Queen of the Night's stunningly beautiful face, a perfect blend of elegance, nobility, and allure.

Mira paused, glaring at the vampire with displeasure. Although Zhuang Sen was everywhere, Mira managed to pinpoint his real location. However, her annoyance was fleeting; after all, it was just a matter of drinking a little of Zhuang Sen's blood, and it was merely an illusion—

Zhuang Sen felt a sudden chill down below, followed by a coldness and an erection—the Queen of the Night had pulled down his pants and was starting to eat with a less-than-elegant expression.

There are cows!

Mira clenched her fists and spread her wings, flying directly towards the Night Queen's position. But as soon as she took off, several scrolls suddenly appeared, dragging her back to the ground and blocking her way. In a moment of clarity, both she and Zhuang Sen understood that if Mira wanted to advance, she had to solve the problems on the scrolls.

And the banquet will not stop during this process.

"What a joke, you bastard!" Mira slapped open the scroll and strode forward. The scroll did not attack her again, but Mira soon stopped herself because she found that no matter how far she went, the scenery on all sides remained the same, and the distance did not shorten by an inch.

So she could only obediently catch the scroll that flew towards her and begin reading the questions… Hmm, very well, she had absolutely no idea how to answer them. She hadn't studied anything about vampires, so how could she possibly know the specialties, history, and locations of the thirteen clans!

Then several more scrolls flew over, no longer displaying questions, but rather lengthy and complex texts—in-depth yet far from simple knowledge—leaving Mira speechless. Even in an open-book exam where you have to copy answers, there still has to be a procedure, right?

Helpless, she began to read the text, which she didn't recognize at all but could understand. After three minutes, she completely abandoned her earlier hope—what open-book exam? The contents of this book seemed to date back to the beginning of time. How long would it take her to find the answers? Moreover, Mira found that reading this knowledge was draining her energy. After only a few minutes, she even felt a little dizzy.

Clearly, if she can't stand it anymore, then this inheritance will probably come to an end.

She had to be selective in her choices… Mira, with a long-lost spirit of tackling academic problems, began to attack the strange scroll in front of her—that was how it was supposed to be, but she would always look up from time to time, looking at the throne at the deepest part, at Zhuang Sen who was being constantly sucked up by Zhuang Sen.

Damn it, I can't learn this at all!

After what seemed like the umpteenth time this roar had been unleashed, the crimson hall shattered with a deafening crash. Johnson and Mira returned to Johnson's room, Nia's smile still lingering on her face.

"What's the catch?"

Feeling quite pleased with himself, Zhuang Sen rubbed Mira's huffy face and said, "There's no need to get angry with a bunch of ancient people, is there?"

"What angers me is this kind of outdated, conservative stuff. Textbooks need to be updated in a timely manner, not just kept piling up like building blocks!"

Mira whimpered, gently biting Zhuang Sen's neck. As the delicious blood entered her mouth, her anger quickly subsided: "But the gains were actually not bad. I gained quite a bit of knowledge about bloodlines. Perhaps I can find a way to lighten your burden, Zhuang Sen..."