Cries, whimpers, and vague curses came from the gray factory building not far away.
That was Duchess Elinore's money-making tool, the day-to-day background noise of the Blood Livestock Factory.
The succubus Mengya turned a deaf ear to this; she was too lazy to even glance over there.
The goblin Stinky Fish beside her didn't even twitch an ear. They had long learned to process this noise as something akin to the sound of the wind.
The two walked along the straight slate path, aiming for the center surrounded by those factories—a towering spire.
After walking barely twenty steps, the clamor behind them abruptly stopped; a soundproofing magic array was set up around every Blood Livestock Factory.
Ahead, the tower drew closer.
It was very tall, appearing exceptionally abrupt in this area dominated by low factory buildings.
But what was truly special wasn't its height, but the mycelium attached to its surface and the few large mushrooms growing on it.
Those who didn't know would think this tower had been abandoned and untended for years.
But in reality, this tower was newly built.
It's just that the one living inside... was a Mushroom Tribe member.
"The color of these mushrooms is getting darker," Mengya said casually, looking up at the giant mushrooms. "They're almost black."
Stinky Fish lazily lifted his eyelids, glanced up, and drooped them back down.
"Mm."
He didn't take a second look; he didn't care at all about the mushrooms' color change.
When the two reached the base of the tower, Mengya's footsteps suddenly paused.
A familiar figure was walking out of the tower door.
Tall, aloof, that face forever hanging the expression she hated the most.
It was her former superior, the Succubus Team Leader of the Intelligence Group, Salina.
During the years Mengya was in the Intelligence Group, this superior had never given her a good look. Promotions never reached her, while the hard errands of being dispatched outside were thrown directly onto her head. Mengya always felt the other party was jealous that her tail shape was prettier than hers, so she deliberately made things difficult.
However, ever since she brought Lord No. 13 back, she no longer had to look at Salina's face.
The Duchess arranged for her and Stinky Fish to take care of No. 13. Although they were doing attendant work, their status was much higher than an ordinary intelligence team leader.
Thinking of this, Mengya didn't dodge or evade, walking straight to Salina and standing still.
She tilted her head slightly, looking at the other party with a half-smile.
Salina obviously didn't expect to meet her in this kind of place, let alone expect Mengya to block her way.
On that usually arrogant face, a moment of shock flashed first, followed by shame and anger surging up almost simultaneously, making her cheeks slightly hot.
She gritted her teeth, wanting to curse something, but ultimately, she lowered her head.
"Manager Mengya."
Her voice was pressed very low, so low it was almost mumbled, but she said it in the end.
Mengya gave a satisfied "Hmph," then waved her hand, letting her leave.
Salina quickly walked past her, almost as if fleeing.
"Childish," Stinky Fish had already walked to the tower door, too lazy to even turn his head.
By the time the two demons arrived at the top of the tower, they wore completely different faces.
Stinky Fish directed other servants to bring lubricating oil, while Mengya personally went to work, maintaining No. 13's mushroom body.
They were now considered to be leeching off No. 13. The more Duchess Elinore valued No. 13, the better their treatment would be. Serving No. 13 was naturally done with utmost dedication.
Unfortunately, what Mengya didn't know was that the technique she provided only scored a barely passing 62 points from No. 13; it ultimately couldn't be compared with the Pink Puchi.
However, No. 13 considered itself not to be the kind of useless Puchi addicted to kneading like No. 4. It had higher pursuits of pleasure.
When no one was paying attention, No. 13's tentacle lightly tapped the ankle of a passing servant.
In an instant, negative emotions like fear, despair, and pain surged into the heart of this half-vampire servant. The lubricating oil can in her hand involuntarily slipped and smashed onto the ground. She hugged her head, squatted on the ground, and began to cry bitterly in an emotional breakdown.
[Negative Energy Collection]
Relying on the several Blood Livestock Factories around this tower, No. 13 stored the massive amount of negative emotions collected into the mushrooms inside the tower.
Occasionally toying with a few guys like this was a small pastime during No. 13's arduous endurance to bait the big prey.
Others looked sideways one after another, and the big prey who had just walked up also saw this scene.
The gentle smile originally on the Duchess's face quickly withdrew. Looking coldly at the subordinate crying with her head in her hands, she waved her hand. Two guards behind her dragged down the attendant who couldn't even say "beg for mercy" clearly.
Having dealt with the subordinate who made her lose face, Elinore then put on a smiling face, came to No. 13, and started talking about the progress of her territory's enterprise.
Recently, for Elinore, it was a mix of joy and sorrow.
Because of the Holy Codex matter, she had just been reprimanded by His Majesty not long ago, and the Emperor forcibly transferred away a batch of what could be considered elite troops under her command to make up for the mistake she made.
This caused the forces in her hands to shrink by nearly half.
Fortunately, her Duchy was located in the hinterland, not having to face pressure from enemy countries. The only threatening coastline, with the help of the Puchis, not only drove away the Chisi that had harassed her for a long time but also restored part of the maritime routes.
As for trade, also thanks to the Puchis, she started selling Delicious Mushrooms!
Among the Empire's higher-ups, although nearly half were vampires, in the middle and lower classes, the proportion of vampires was greatly reduced.
A large part of these non-vampires would pursue the appetite-satisfying desire of Delicious Mushrooms.
But the Empire couldn't possibly import from enemy countries like humans or dwarves. Elinore seized the opportunity, relying on the fungal mats laid out by No. 13 to do the exclusive Delicious Mushroom trade within the Empire.
This made her earn pots full of money, alleviating her financial crisis.
For a time, it was as if she had returned to the time when she controlled more than half of the Empire's blood food trade.
But Elinore wasn't immersed in this brief joy.
Although she was somewhat unsatisfactory in aspects of war and politics, regarding business acumen, calling her the number one person among the Empire's Twelve Pillars was truly no problem.
She knew very well that the Delicious Mushroom trade wouldn't last long.
Look at the human side to know: from originally ordinary mushrooms being able to sell for high prices, to now bags of Delicious Mushrooms barely being worth a little money, the period was only a year or two.
Whether the Empire annexed the dwarven and human territories in the future, or other lords noticed the business opportunity and joined in, Delicious Mushrooms, as something with an extremely low cultivation threshold, this business inevitably couldn't last long.
She had to find a new avenue before then.
Coming this time, she just wanted to see if she could squeeze some more useful things out of her precious No. 13.
Facing Elinore's inquiry, No. 13 tried hard to hide all its malice, pretending to ask back casually: "Then why don't you learn from that Si-something guy and make some Delicious Blood?"
Sure enough, Elinore's scarlet eyes lit up instantly: "Good No. 13, you mean, you know how Sigmund's 'Blood Jade Wine' comes about?"
Seeing No. 13 nod its mushroom cap, Elinore grabbed No. 13's round mushroom body, then immediately realized her loss of composure and retracted her hand.
However, the eagerness in her eyes hadn't diminished at all.
No. 13 wrapped the telepathy stone and pressed it against Elinore's cheek, explaining: "I guess it should rely on the randomly mutated skills after symbiosis with mycelium!"
"Randomly mutated skills after symbiosis?"
"Yeah, symbiotic mycelium has the possibility of obtaining different skills. That Duke Si-something probably also screened out blood donors who obtained the delicious effect."
Elinore showed an expression of sudden realization.
The first thing she thought of was those tribesmen in the Northern Territory who survived the cold wave. It was said they all had traces of mycelial symbiosis, probably because they obtained [Cold Resistance]!
And if she could master the production method of Blood Jade Wine, she could truly regain control of the Empire's blood trade!
This made it impossible for her not to be excited: "Then what are we waiting for? Good No. 13, good boy No. 13, let's start making it quickly!"
No. 13, however, put on a troubled look: "Mutation skills are not certain; it requires a massive amount of trial and error. Also, it's so troublesome."
How could Elinore truly let No. 13 just enjoy and not work? She immediately promised: "No. 13, you help big sister this time, and afterward whatever you want, big sister will agree to! As for the 'materials' needed for trial and error, don't worry. Aren't there plenty around this tower! As long as you can produce delicious blood, even if you torture them all to death, it doesn't matter!"
"Really... agree to anything?"
"Of course!" For the Blood Jade Wine, and also to compete with Sigmund, Elinore agreed without hesitation.
No. 13 extended a tentacle, touching the back of this big prey's hand once again, enduring the trembling of its mushroom body, and said cutely: "Then I will work hard, Big Sister Elinore~"
(End of Chapter)
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