The grand circular council hall was suffocatingly solemn.
At the center stood a massive C-shaped antique table. Twelve elders sat around it—each on towering three-meter-high vintage throne chairs.
Including the one seated upon the elevated dais—
Eve.
Blazing lights poured down from the dome ceiling, casting harsh shadows that deepened the gravity of the chamber.
Some elders looked ashen.Some remained composed.Some closed their eyes in silent meditation.
Eve alone sat cold and proud, gaze elevated above them all.
"Your Majesty Eve," one elder finally spoke, voice heavy, "regarding the kidnapping of an elder—what explanation do you offer?"
His name was Chen Xiangdong.
White hair. Long beard. Formal robes.
He had participated in the hunt for Adam.
"You should be the ones explaining," Eve replied lazily, eyes half-lidded, "why you hunted Adam."
"You consented before the operation," another elder beside Chen interjected.
"Did I?"
Eve let out a cold laugh.
The council already knew she had awakened.
Two thousand years of slumber—broken.
To still speak to her like she were absent… was nothing but deliberate provocation.
"Your Majesty," another elder spoke from Chen's diagonal seat.
Huang Jingfeng.
Younger than Chen, though streaks of white already lined his dark hair.
"You must consider historical context. After your first hibernation, two thousand years passed. Much has happened beyond any individual's control."
"Elder Chen's actions did not receive unanimous approval—but they did not harm the First City's interests."
"In that situation, your decision to abduct an elder was… excessive."
Eve turned her head slowly.
Her brows knit.
Her eyes burned.
"So what should I have done? Ignore it?"
"Perhaps you can forget Adam's grace toward your ancestors—"
"I cannot."
Her voice sharpened like a blade.
"He also released that Second-Generation vampire!" another elder roared.
Eve rose.
Slowly.
Regally.
"Then this meeting is pointless."
"If this is a constitutional monarchy," she said coldly, "then I will exercise my constitutional authority."
She looked down upon them.
"Adam is now under royal protection."
"If you object—file legal charges against me."
Silence detonated across the chamber.
Chen Xiangdong stared, stunned. He could not reconcile this iron-willed queen with the dormant relic he once expected.
Huang Jingfeng's facial muscles twitched.
"Your Majesty… it hasn't come to that. There's no need to escalate."
Though Eve held no executive power, she had remained the spiritual sovereign of the First City for two millennia.
If she openly clashed with the elders, she might not win—
But she could plunge the city into chaos.
And that… none of them wanted.
"I will not repeat myself," Eve said.
"Accept it—or don't."
"I have awakened. I am resuming regency."
"Either we determine superiority… or we redistribute power."
"You may choose."
She flung the documents in her hand onto the floor.
Then she descended the steps—
Under the elders' gaze—
And walked straight out of the chamber.
Without looking back.
The doors closed.
Only then did an elder slam the table.
"That woman! What kind of negotiation is that?!"
Huang Jingfeng remained expressionless.
"She never came to negotiate."
"She came to deliver an ultimatum."
Chen Xiangdong closed his folder slowly.
"And what do you propose?" he asked bitterly. "Do we submit?"
Where there was politics—there was conflict.
Even within Eden.
Chen and Huang represented rival factions that normally fought viciously.
Yet now—they were forced into alignment.
"Have you no shame?" Huang said coldly, eyes lowered. "You caused this disaster—and dragged us in. And now you ask what we plan to do?"
Chen fell silent.
He hadn't imagined Eve would awaken.
Had he known… he would never have brought her into the operation.
Now—
Imprisoning Eve risked public revolt.Refusing her risked civil war.Yielding power was unthinkable.
The elders were trapped.
Perhaps even now, Eden's younger militant faction was waiting for Eve's signal… to strip the council's legitimacy.
"Perhaps," a previously silent elder spoke.
Wang Chenxing. A newly promoted member of Huang's faction.
"We could kidnap Eve—and send her out of Eden."
The chamber erupted.
"Absurd!""That would cause riots!"
Wang Chenxing smirked.
"What if the Young Faction did it?"
"For example… they demand power redistribution—then abduct Eve to threaten us?"
The hall fell deathly quiet.
Several elders inhaled sharply.
South Coast — Corsica
Yu Jia was in high spirits after securing Adam's trust.
He filled an entire leather pouch with processed blood and handed it over eagerly.
Adam took it—and immediately turned to leave.
"Where are you going?" Yu Jia asked.
"To save someone."
Or more precisely—
To save a vampire.
"Rescue? I'm good at saving people. Can I come?" Yu Jia beamed. After a century of loneliness, he clung to companionship.
Adam glanced at him.
Unreliable… but useful.
He nodded.
Outside, Adam spread his wings and ascended.
Then noticed Yu Jia still on the ground—waving frantically.
"Uh… I can't fly. Can you carry me?" he whispered, glancing nervously at his lit clinic window.
Adam sighed.
Finally met a vampire worse at blood arts than himself.
He grabbed Yu Jia like a kitten and shot south toward the coast.
"You came from that direction, right?" Yu Jia chattered mid-flight. "You have companions there?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Nothing… I'm just happy there's more of us. But… I hope nothing's wrong."
Adam ignored him and accelerated.
Soon—
They reached the southern shoreline.
Dozens of torches burned along the coast.
They landed atop a cliff and observed.
Boats lined the shore.
Dozens of armed men dragged them onto the sand. Farther out, a large sailing ship flew a shark banner.
"Who are they?" Adam asked.
"Pirates," Yu Jia whispered. "Most of my injured patients… are because of them."
"What are they doing now?"
"Raiding, probably. They attacked the neighboring town last time and were repelled. Looks like it's our turn."
He sighed regretfully.
"Good thing I noticed early… or I'd be in trouble too."
Kind—but cowardly.
"Not going to save them?" Adam asked coldly. "You're their doctor."
"Please. I'm Fifteenth-Gen. I'm barely stronger than humans," Yu Jia said seriously. "Besides, survival comes first. Saving people is my hobby. My real profession is 'fugitive vampire.'"
Adam almost laughed.
That logic sounded familiar.
Still… caution had merit.
He lay still beside Yu Jia.
Below, pirates finished dragging boats ashore and began moving west.
Then one stopped.
"Boss. There's a cave over there."
Adam's heart clenched.
His fist tightened.
"Forget the cave. Move!" the leader barked.
"No—I scouted this coast days ago. There wasn't a cave."
"A new cave?"
They approached.
Adam slowly crouched lower, muscles coiling.
Inside that cave—
Was Yinling.
"Boss! There's blood on the rocks! And more here! Could be a monster inside!"
"Idiot," the boss cursed. "You are the monster."
He hurled a torch into the cave.
Adam moved instantly.
Before the light revealed anything—
He leapt off the cliff.
Behind him, Yu Jia shouted:
"Don't go! They're—"
Too late.
Adam crashed down onto one pirate, crushing him beneath the impact.
He rose and stomped the man's chest—
Soft?
No time to think.
He pivoted and drove an uppercut into another pirate's jaw, launching him into the air.
The man's hat flew off.
No scream.
Other pirates noticed—charging with wild shouts.
Adam flexed his fist.
"…Hard."
That punch felt like striking stone.
Then he froze.
The pirate he'd launched—
Stood back up.
Moonlight revealed its face.
A shark's head.