"Aaaah~~~"
Little Selene tilted her small head back, eyes shut tightly, mouth wide open, eagerly waiting for Chen Mo to give her a piece of candy.
Unfortunately… she guessed wrong.
A drop of bright red blood fell from Chen Mo's fingertip into Selene's open mouth.
Feeling something enter, she immediately closed her lips and licked her tongue—
but the familiar taste told her this was not candy.
Opening her eyes in confusion, Selene saw Chen Mo withdrawing his hand, a smear of fresh blood still on one fingertip.
Realizing she had been tricked, Selene puffed out her little cheeks angrily and glared at him.
Chen Mo, however, didn't acknowledge her indignation.
He lowered his head, carefully observing her changes.
After drinking the drop of Chen Mo's blood, Selene's pale little face visibly shifted.
Color returned, her skin growing rosy again, restoring the natural look she had when Chen Mo first found her in the workshop.
Clearly, Chen Mo's Perfect Blood had taken effect.
He didn't dare let Selene test sunlight immediately.
Instead, he brought his still-bleeding fingertip toward her mouth.
"Open."
This time, Selene refused to obey the lord.
She pouted and turned her head away.
"One piece of candy."
Her favorite temptation made her lick her lips slightly, but the little girl still snorted stubbornly and refused to look at him.
Chen Mo chuckled.
"Two pieces."
Selene hesitated this time, turning her head back a little, but still wouldn't open her mouth.
"Ten pieces."
Chen Mo's voice carried absolute confidence.
With how well he understood this child, he knew she couldn't resist.
Sure enough—
the moment she heard "ten pieces," Selene swallowed loudly and immediately opened her mouth wide, eyes curving like crescent moons in pure joy.
Ten pieces!
Should she eat one each day?
Or all at once?
Too many!
Too happy!
Off to the side, Amelia couldn't help smiling.
This silly little glutton.
Chen Mo squeezed another drop of blood into her mouth.
This time, Selene wrinkled her nose in disgust and quickly closed her lips.
If not for the promised ten candies, she would have spat it out instantly.
Seeing her furrowed brows, Chen Mo asked with a faint smile:
"What does it taste like?"
Selene replied, face twisted:
"Salty… and fishy. Yucky!"
Then even she looked confused.
The first drop was fragrant—
why was this one suddenly bad?
Satisfied, Chen Mo finally relaxed.
Her reaction proved she had regained normal taste toward blood—
the dependency was gone.
The Perfect Blood was working.
With this confirmation—and the change in her complexion—Chen Mo no longer worried about the sunlight test.
Chen Mo led Selene to the window and gently pulled the curtain aside, letting a thin beam of sunlight in.
Seeing the golden light made Selene vibrate with excitement.
It had been so, so long since she'd seen sunlight.
Adults never let her go outside.
Even the castle never let any beam in.
She had nearly forgotten what sunlight felt like.
She stepped closer, staring at how the warm glow fell onto the floor.
With neither Chen Mo nor Amelia stopping her, Selene slowly extended her hand into the beam.
No burning.
No pain.
Only warmth.
Standing behind her, Chen Mo finally relaxed completely.
His Perfect Blood truly was no different from Alexander Corvinus's.
Selene would never again fear the sun.
"The lord lied! Sunlight doesn't hurt at all!"
Selene flapped her little hand in the light and glared up at Chen Mo.
Chen Mo simply smiled, then threw the curtains fully open.
Sunlight flooded the once-dark study, illuminating everything with clarity and warmth.
Selene shielded her eyes, squinting at the brightness.
After adjusting, she lowered her hands and tiptoed to look outside.
Too short—
she couldn't reach the windowsill no matter how hard she tried.
Her little face reddened with frustration.
Chen Mo chuckled and picked her up.
Seated on his arm, one hand around his neck, Selene eagerly looked through the window.
From the upper floors of Blackstone Castle, she saw the towering walls, the vast plains, the green grass and trees, the endless blue sky, and drifting white clouds.
For a child who had lived years without sunlight, the outside world felt brand new.
"Before, the sun would hurt you.
Now, it never will again.
You can play outside freely."
"And you no longer need to drink blood.
You can eat whatever you want, just like before."
Selene clapped excitedly.
She wriggled, urging Chen Mo to put her down, then sprinted out of the study and dashed for the stairs—
clearly eager to play in the sunlight.
Amelia, worried, bowed to Chen Mo and hurried after the child.
Smiling faintly, Chen Mo returned to the desk.
The remaining bottle of Perfect Blood shimmered crimson in the sunlight.
…
Alexander Corvinus recovered quickly.
Chen Mo had carefully controlled how much blood he drew, ensuring no fatal danger—just temporary weakness.
After Chen Mo finished his own evolution, there was still leftover Perfect Blood.
He used it to enhance the remaining knights and workshop artisans, removing all the original weaknesses of vampires.
After drinking a drop of Chen Mo's Perfect Blood, the knights removed their helmets, cheering as they bathed in sunlight.
Warmth covered them like a blessing.
Silently, they chanted Chen Mo's name.
The craftsmen and their families also walked out of the caves, kneeling toward the castle with heartfelt reverence—
thanking Chen Mo for restoring the light to their lives and giving them strength and immortality.
Truthfully, Alexander Corvinus was fortunate.
If the extracted blood had not been enough for Chen Mo's evolution, Chen Mo would have continued extracting more—
until his own transformation was complete.
Now that Chen Mo had succeeded—
and his entire vampire following was freed from sunlight and blood dependency—
Alexander was finally spared from being used as a "blood cow" ever again.
Having gained Perfect Blood and evolved into an immortal being, Chen Mo had achieved his ultimate goal in this world.
Yet he wasn't in a hurry to leave.
He now possessed eternal life.
Time meant nothing—
one year, ten years, a century… all were just numbers.
Why rush?
Besides, he still had much to do.
At this point, the entire European continent lay under his rule—from the Atlantic coast in the west to the Ural Mountains in the east.
A vast expanse of land had become his territory, and every civilian on it his subjects.
Calling him a "lord" was no longer appropriate.
Three months later, Chen Mo, ruler of Europe, formally ascended the throne at Blackstone Castle—
founding a mighty empire spanning the entire continent.
Andrew, Amelia, Viktor, and Marcus were granted the highest rank of the Temple Knight Order—Golden Knights—and were made dukes, each awarded vast territories.
Of course, these were only their public identities.
In the hidden vampire empire created by Chen Mo, the four of them served as the Four Vampire Elders, governing their species.
Thanks to the Perfect Blood, vampires no longer entered corpse-like hibernation to increase their strength.
Like Alexander Corvinus, their power would grow naturally with time—
slowly but steadily.
Alexander, the first immortal, lived several centuries and reached only six times human strength—barely double the normal vampire.
Enough to dominate them, but not overwhelming.
After the Perfect Blood transformation, having shed their dependence on blood, they could no longer truly be called vampires.
But since they retained bat-like echolocation…
Chen Mo felt calling them Batmen was much more fitting.