After spending eight years in the Underworld universe, Chen Mo finally left.
Behind him, he left a powerful empire ruling all of Europe, as well as a new race of vampires who no longer feared sunlight, no longer depended on blood, and possessed true immortality.
In truth, this world also possessed a very powerful ability unique to vampires—the ability to extract memories from the blood they drank. But Chen Mo chose to abandon this seemingly extraordinary skill.
This ability was tied to the vampires' feeding instincts. If Chen Mo wished to gain the power to read memories from blood, he would have to turn himself into a vampire as well. Although the "Perfect Blood" caused no side effects, he still had no desire to alter his own species or appearance just for the sake of memory extraction.
According to experiments on Andrew and the others, even after being transformed by the Perfect Blood—removing weaknesses such as fear of sunlight and dependence on consuming blood—many vampire traits still remained: blue eyes, long sharp fangs, and echolocation.
Chen Mo had no intention of changing his body and race for a single ability he didn't truly need.
The Perfect Blood freed vampires from relying on blood for survival, but it did not remove their innate ability to extract memories from it. Based on Chen Mo's experiments and deductions, this power functioned through a special method of blood absorption unique to vampires. Their bodies could draw out the encoded memory information hidden within blood and recreate it within their minds.
The Perfect Blood acted as an evolutionary step. It eliminated their dependence on blood and restored their senses of smell and taste to human levels, but it did not remove their ability to absorb and process blood itself.
This was also why Andrew and the others, after drinking a drop of the Perfect Blood and eliminating their weaknesses, no longer liked the taste of blood, yet could still strengthen themselves by consuming the Perfect Blood directly—they didn't need to inject it into their veins the way Chen Mo did.
There was another massive limitation to this memory-extraction ability: the blood had to be extremely fresh. Once removed from the body, or once the victim died, the memory information within the blood dissipated rapidly—in just a matter of seconds. This meant the ability could only be used by biting directly into a living person.
If there was even the slightest delay, the information within the blood would scatter, leaving memories fragmented, distorted, or completely lost. And Chen Mo had no intention of becoming some kind of monster crouched over people's bodies drinking their blood.
Besides, the ability was not that tempting to him. With his heightened senses, he could infer a great deal from a person's heartbeat, expression, micro-movements, and his extensive knowledge of psychology.
Even for more complicated information, he could easily obtain it through interrogation—without the need for torture. He could accurately distinguish truth from lies. With repetition and elimination, very little could remain hidden from him. It was a bit more troublesome, but far more practical.
Thus, this seemingly powerful ability—yet one that required sacrifice and offered him little benefit—was something Chen Mo abandoned without hesitation.
Another noteworthy development: after recovering from her grief, the new Empress Selina promptly descended into full "chaotic-ruler mode." Convinced that no one could discipline her now that Chen Mo was gone, she dragged her personal guard, little William, everywhere to play, dumping all imperial duties onto Andrew and the others. She even skipped the few cultural classes Chen Mo had arranged for her.
Andrew and Amelia had always spoiled little Selina. Aside from Chen Mo, no one ever dared discipline her. And now, as the Empress herself, they were even less capable of restraining the little tyrant.
As things grew worse, Selina began spending her days riding horses, practicing swordsmanship, swinging blades—completely on the path toward becoming a tiny war goddess. Yet no one could do anything about their young empress.
Fortunately, Chen Mo knew this little girl better than anyone else. He had predicted this scenario long in advance. When Andrew opened the book Chen Mo left behind, "A Complete Guide to Raising an Empress," they finally found their solution.
When Andrew returned from the Imperial Academy with Burt, it didn't take long before the long-lost sounds of sharp smacks and loud sobbing echoed throughout Blackstone Castle. From that day on, Selina finally stopped acting recklessly and, outside of playtime, began learning how to be a proper empress.
But her longing for Chen Mo only deepened. Lord Chen Mo would never be this fierce. He certainly wouldn't hit her this hard. He always comforted her afterward, never leaving her alone to cry. She missed his warm embrace terribly.
Poor little Selina… beaten harshly by her blacksmith father, her tiny backside bruised so badly she couldn't ride a horse for days.
After Chen Mo unified Europe and built his empire, Selina's father, Burt, and her grandfather, Old Kane, continued managing the workshop—which now had a new name: the Imperial Royal Academy.
Old Kane, once a simple craftsman, had become the Academy's Director and a vampire councilman. His once-weak body was now strong and vigorous, blessed with an eternal lifespan.
The most unbelievable thing of all: his ten-year-old granddaughter had become the Empress of an empire—rising from a craftsman's daughter to the most noble ruler of a vast kingdom.
All of it was a gift from Chen Mo.
Filled with endless gratitude, he devoted himself to fulfilling his duty—leading the Royal Academy forward, studying the knowledge Chen Mo left behind, and innovating upon it throughout his long, unending life.
When he learned Selina had abandoned her studies to play all day, defying Chen Mo's instructions, Old Kane sent Selina's father straight to the castle. Furious, he gave only one order:
"Hit her. Hard."
That single beating from her father dragged the little tyrant-empress back onto the right path. Under Selina's rule, the empire Chen Mo built would continue to grow. What the world would look like by the time Chen Mo returned—only time would tell.
Meanwhile, Chen Mo, surrounded by a flash of white, returned to the deserted island he had left so long ago—though only a moment had passed in the real world.
The familiar trees, the sound of waves washing over the sand and crashing against the rocks, the scent of soil and grass mixed with the salty sea breeze… everything greeted him again.
Chen Mo slowly closed his eyes as the divine, overwhelming aura he carried in the Underworld began to fade.
In that world, he was a lord, a king, the emperor of an entire continent—worshipped as a god.
But in the real world, he was a fugitive, a survivor stranded on a deserted island. Thankfully, he possessed great power and the ability to travel between worlds.
He did not let his achievements in movie worlds blind him. He did not believe he could act freely in reality without consequence.
He knew exactly where his strength stood in this world.
Even his mighty temple knights—who conquered all of Europe—would be no match for a modern mechanized army. Even if normal bullets couldn't kill them, snipers, artillery, tanks, explosives, missiles, flamethrowers… humanity had countless ways to reduce a medieval army to ashes.
So Chen Mo did not let his success in fictional worlds inflate his ego. He did not mistake himself for an actual god capable of challenging an entire planet.
This was his home—where he was born, raised, and lived. There were no monsters here, no supernatural threats. But his family and fellow humans were here. This was where he truly belonged.
The worlds he traveled to were places to grow stronger. No matter how many years he spent there, he would always return to reality in the end.
In fictional worlds, he could act freely. If he made mistakes, he could simply leave. But the real world was different.
He could not jump from one fictional world to the next directly.
After leaving a movie world, he could only return to reality—and only after spending one month here could he travel again.
If he ruined the real world and was forced to hide in movie worlds, he would never be able to travel again.
And since his family lived in the real world, he could never abandon them to hide elsewhere forever.
Still, despite its importance, the real world wasn't too dangerous.
Modern nations possessed immense military power—more than enough to threaten him. But as long as Chen Mo did not provoke anyone and kept his abilities hidden, no one would bother him.
The world was relatively peaceful. No widespread wars, no werewolves, no vampires, no threats capable of endangering him.
Although becoming a fugitive had left some loose ends, Chen Mo's appearance and aura had changed drastically. As long as he didn't show his face to people who knew him, no one would associate the new him with the old Chen Mo.
Even if he walked directly in front of the investigators searching for him, they would only think he looked somewhat familiar—not that he was the same person.
Once he left the deserted island, he could start anew.