July 19th, Friday.
He had planned to organize a field training exercise for the Assault Company and Support Company, but just before departure, Meng Huai temporarily received orders from his superiors to go to the Shadow Arrow Force Western Surveillance District Command for special questioning.
Entering a certain logistics compound as an ordinary military officer, in an unremarkable building, Meng Huai underwent a series of identity confirmations before being led to a small conference room.
In the conference room stood a lieutenant who looked overly young, his face full of smiles that made one feel comfortable.
After mutual salutes and taking their seats, the young lieutenant introduced himself first: "Major Meng Huai, I'm Han Jieli, currently working at headquarters intelligence bureau. My superiors sent me to investigate the situation regarding Operation X497.4.30. Here are the working documents for this inquiry."
Speaking, Han Jieli placed a printed document on the table and slowly pushed it in front of Meng Huai.
Someone from headquarters intelligence bureau, not the Western Surveillance District Intelligence Department!?
Looking at the seal stamp on the document, Meng Huai's heart sank. He slowly raised his head, staring at the extremely personable young lieutenant before him. After more than ten seconds, he slightly opened his mouth: "Are you from the Han family?"
Han Jieli nodded embarrassedly: "Deputy Commander Han is my third uncle, and Han Jiesheng and Han Xiao are my cousins. I've heard them mention you long ago—the Western Surveillance District's number one ace!"
"Don't flatter me. Let's get to business."
Meng Huai habitually avoided the other's attempt to get close, especially someone doing intelligence work. Their emotions were half-true and half-false—he didn't like it.
"Uh... alright, Major Meng Huai. I've reviewed all the materials regarding Operation X497.4.30, but there's one issue I must verify with you again."
Han Jieli pressed a button on the table, and a large electronic screen on the conference room wall lit up, showing dozens of images arranged in several rows.
Meng Huai knew that each split-screen cell on the screen was footage from a team member's helmet recorder from the operation scene, including his own.
Some images were shaking violently, indicating the person was still moving, while others were permanently tilted at one angle, showing the person had lost combat capability and fallen.
The small playing screens replayed that brutal battle where dozens of comrades had sacrificed their lives, making Meng Huai unable to bear watching.
"Brother Meng, that big meat mass... let's call it that for now. The blood infection that affected Captain Xia Yan and Sergeant Gu Yao—was it caused by damage from the big meat mass?"
Han Jieli's tone was very casual, but the question he posed was like a heavy punch, making Meng Huai instantly feel dizzy.
"No... I can't be completely certain."
After hesitating for a few seconds, Meng Huai shifted his gaze from the electronic screen and unconsciously rubbed his forehead.
"Not completely? Could you express that more clearly?"
Han Jieli frowned slightly, recording in his notebook while quietly reminding him.
"At that time, except for those who escaped, all vampires participating in the siege on site were killed. Whether Xia Yan and Gu Yao had already been blood-infected before destroying the big meat mass cannot be determined. Is that clear enough for you?"
Meng Huai's cold answer made Han Jieli somewhat embarrassed.
After thinking for more than ten seconds, Han Jieli clicked on a certain cell, enlarged it directly, dragged the progress, then fixed it on an image with a severely tilted perspective: Xia Yan staggered up, his body facing the blood pool, holding a grenade in his hand, seemingly still planning to attack.
The image was pulled aside, and he clicked on another cell. After the same operations, the image froze: Xia Yan being supported by Gu Yao.
Again pulling the image aside, he clicked on a third cell. The image was very blurry but the angle was even more tilted: Xia Yan and Gu Yao were each hit by two tentacles stabbing from the blood pool direction.
"These are images arranged according to on-site time. The left one shows Xia Yan was already injured but still preparing to attack. The middle one shows Gu Yao rescuing Xia Yan after destroying the big meat ball—at this point Gu Yao most likely wasn't injured. The right one shows Xia Yan and Gu Yao being simultaneously hit by the big meat ball's tentacles..."
"Brother Meng, based on your personal experience, at the time point shown on the left, had Xia Yan already been blood-infected?"
Han Jieli asked calmly, hoping that through this footage review, Meng Huai could make a more intuitive judgment.
"The left one... if this is already the best filming time and angle, then I can be one hundred percent certain that if Xia Yan could still maintain mobility while injured, it's impossible he had suffered blood infection. After blood infection, physical strength greatly decreases and body control also declines—there are no exceptions to this!"
Meng Huai answered decisively without the slightest hesitation.
As his words fell, a trace of gloom flashed in Han Jieli's eyes, as if some hope had been dashed.
"Sigh, this is also the unanimous view of the intelligence departments. According to Xia Yan's test records at the training center, he possessed extremely strong resistance to blood infection. That is to say, even when injected with anti-blood infection immune medication, even facing a Baron, his resistance probability would be over ninety percent! Moreover, on-site records show that the Tang family's two Barons had already fled."
Han Jieli pulled out another document and handed it to Meng Huai, continuing: "Records show that Xia Yan's blood type was originally ordinary AB type, but when he was twelve, he contracted leukemia and happened to match Gu Yao's bone marrow, which changed his blood type to the same rare type after surgery. Gu Yao's test results for anti-blood infection immune medication adaptation were also the same as Xia Yan's—both excellent."
"Consistent with my conclusion. Is there a problem?"
Meng Huai's mind was chaotic, unable to understand for a moment why headquarters people would care so much about these details.
"Xia Yan and Gu Yao's final attack caused the big meat mass to almost completely carbonize and disintegrate, but afterward we still collected trace tissue samples. After headquarters research and analysis, this big meat mass's tissue cells possess astonishing vitality, and its gene sequence contains effective fragment information from multiple Blood Clan ancestral lineages! Note—effective!"
Han Jieli stood up, showing a bitter smile: "Brother Meng, do you know what this means? If Xia Yan and Gu Yao were blood-infected by the big meat mass, then they... they would become true monsters, most likely super vampires simultaneously possessing multiple Blood Clan ancestral lineage abilities!"
"Speaking of irony, the superiors also very much hope they were blood-infected before that..."
At the end, Han Jieli also sighed heavily.
They would become super vampires? They...
Meng Huai sat dazedly in his seat. Suddenly, his mind again showed the scene from his childhood of his mother being cruelly fed upon by a deformed monster in a pool of blood. Those bloody spikes protruding from the blood-covered floor were so eerie and terrifying.
Vampires shouldn't exist in this world, much less monsters...
Meng Huai stood up, walked to the screen, and looked at the final image in a certain split-screen cell. Xia Yan, his mouth full of blood, was smiling at him and saying something.
"Commander Meng, it's okay, you're not blood-infected..."
"Hold on a bit longer... Support Company people are almost here..."
Slowly closing his eyes, the muscles on Meng Huai's face twitched slightly.
...
...
"...According to the historical context and current statistics of Blood Clan global expansion, China's Blood Clan ancestral lineages are mostly Siberian Blood Clan and Altai-type Blood Clan, with small amounts of British, Iberian, and Rhine Blood Clan distributed in coastal areas. In the southwestern border area, there are also a few Ganges Blood Clan, but mostly as wandering Blood Clan."
"Domestic Siberian Blood Clan entered the Central Plains around the Qin and Han dynasties, accompanying the southward movement of northern ethnic minorities. Altai Blood Clan entered via the Silk Road during the Eastern Han period. It wasn't until the late 18th and early 19th centuries that other Blood Clan ancestral lineages gradually appeared in coastal areas..."
In an elegant small room, Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao sat upright on the sofa like students, while Zhao Peng gestured on a map before them.
Today was actually the Jiang sisters' day off, but according to Wan Yue's initial arrangement, they would receive a month of basic training to thoroughly familiarize themselves with their own characteristics.
So Zhao Peng would provide comprehensive knowledge instruction to these two rookies over the coming period. Today was the first lesson.
However, today's Zhao Peng was a bit strange—he rarely made direct eye contact with the two women, and even looked somewhat uncomfortable on his face, seeming a bit shy.
To Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao's ears, most of what Zhao Peng said today they had actually heard at the Shadow Arrow training center—basic Blood Clan history content.
"We are all Siberian Blood Clan, which means when we advance to Baron, we will gain the unique ability called 'Blood Explosion.' Using our own blood or bodily fluids as catalyst, we can cause explosive damage to the opponent's muscle tissue or organ structures...
"In terms of pure killing power, Siberian Blood Clan's Blood Explosion ranks first among all Blood Clan! The saying 'invincible below Baron, one-for-one exchange above Baron'—the specifics will be explained later."
"But Siberian Blood Clan's shortcomings are also obvious. Compared to other ancestral lineages, we have no special lineage talents, and our blood-boiling threshold and blood-boiling stability are both lower."
"In simple terms, our explosive power is poor, and it's difficult to maintain prolonged blood-boiling combat states. If not careful, it's easy to trigger blood-boiling loss of control. Especially for Blood Servants and lower to mid-tier Attendants—once blood-boiling loses control, many bodily aberrations are almost irreversible!"
"Aberrations vary by individual, but strength greatly increases. However, this strength enhancement is achieved by overdrawing blood energy proteins stored in bone marrow. Once the blood-boiling state ends, temporary strength reduction occurs. Severe overdrawing can even trigger acute blood thirst."
Speaking, Zhao Peng pulled out a small vial from his pocket: "This is a blood-boiling drug mastered by overseas Blood Clan that can improve blood-boiling threshold and stability. But like most Blood Clan medications, blood-boiling drugs are monopolized by those orthodox families and are very difficult to buy domestically... Hehe, let's end here for now. Xiao Yan, Xiao Yao, you can have free time. We'll continue tonight."
Feeling like he'd only said half, Zhao Peng abruptly ended the instruction, then left the room quickly without looking back, greatly different from his usual polite, calm, and composed impression.
"Bro, what's wrong with Brother Zhao today? Don't tell me he's also approaching his menstrual period?"
Jiang Yao touched her slightly warming forehead, blushing as she muttered.
"Nonsense... are you a pervert!"
Jiang Yan covered her face, feeling she simply couldn't sit with Jiang Yao anymore.
Just then, the door opened again, and a youthfully dressed, lively girl walked in. It was Zhou Ping, a colleague Jiang Yan had met these past few days.
Although she looked only seventeen or eighteen, based on her already being a mid-tier Attendant rank, Jiang Yan really didn't dare underestimate Zhou Ping's actual age.
"Hey, Xiao Yan, Xiao Yao, you've made Brother Zhao run away in embarrassment! By rights, you could completely take leave and not come to the club these days."
"Sister Xiao Ping, what exactly are we..."
Jiang Yan struggled for a few seconds, enduring the discomfort and lowering her voice.
"Mm? Your aunt should be coming soon, right? For us female Blood Clan, a few days before our aunt comes, our pheromones become somewhat special, making male Blood Clan unable to handle it. Just look at Brother Zhao. But once your aunt comes, it'll be much better."
"Oh, remember to take the little golden pills Sister Wan gave you when the time comes, to prevent blood thirst period abnormalities when your aunt comes, and it can also accelerate our growth during this period."
Zhou Ping's personality was quite outgoing and generous. Speaking of these matters, her expression didn't change, and she even seemed somewhat mischievous.
...
In the deep corridors of Golden River Club's employee area, Zhao Peng was on the phone with Wan Yue.
"...At noon, I did blood and blood energy protein tests for them. The ancestral lineage is Siberian type."
Zhao Peng calmly reported today's situation.
"Are you certain it's Siberian type?"
On the phone, Wan Yue's tone suddenly became much heavier, seeming to doubt this result.
"Certain, I did two consecutive sets with no error in results!" Zhao Peng nodded without hesitation. "However, when explaining Blood Clan history, they weren't curious at all. They should have known these things already."
"Mm, Huang Gu has already confirmed they were previously Shadow Arrow people, although they haven't personally admitted it... Anything else?"
Wan Yue seemed to be driving—navigation voice could be faintly heard.
"I've already given them the little golden pills. I discovered their internal and external hormone imbalance reactions are much, much stronger than ordinary people. I'm afraid this will attract Black Blood Clan attention."
Zhao Peng took a deep breath, his expression somewhat embarrassed.
"Black Blood Clan have been somewhat active recently. Have someone secretly follow them. If any don't have eyes, hehe, many medications are short on raw materials right now..."
On the phone, Wan Yue's words carried some cold killing intent.
The call ended. Zhao Peng pondered briefly, then walked toward the hall.
...
The evening instruction began to delve into Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao's knowledge blind spots, and only then did the two truly enter learning mode.
Some content that only circulated in official academic circles and had no practical meaning for Shadow Arrow grassroots allowed the two women to understand and experience from their own perspective for the first time.
Blood Clan dependence on fresh blood actually doesn't directly obtain energy or nutrition from blood. After all, blood's energy density is really too low. Without eating, even daily intake of over a thousand milliliters of blood would be far insufficient to support a normal person's consumption, let alone Blood Clan.
For Blood Clan, certain components in blood are more like catalysts or fuel, supporting special metabolism and material-energy conversion within Blood Clan bodies.
The abundant and powerful physical strength and destructive power that Blood Clan display after entering blood-boiling state fundamentally comes from a special blood energy protein stored in various organs and bone marrow. In blood-boiling state, the decomposition of blood energy protein, combined with dramatic changes in other internal hormone levels, provides Blood Clan with unimaginable energy supply and explosive power.
This blood energy protein production is unique to Blood Clan. Not only does it maintain Blood Clan's self-stability, but differences in its quality and quantity also form the foundation of what constitutes Blood Clan realm levels.
To maintain the minimum degree of blood energy protein conversion and self-consumption, external fresh blood must be regularly ingested. Without external blood intake, Blood Clan will consume their own blood through autophagy, severely damaging their organs, nervous system, and bone health—this is called blood thirst.
Blood energy protein production and accumulation also requires large amounts of nutritional substances. Blood Clan digestive efficiency for food is extremely high, also causing Blood Clan appetite to be much higher than normal people.
Jiang Yan had deep experience with this point. Her current three daily meals were almost twice the amount of a normal adult male.
Don't even mention Jiang Yao—every time she ate, she'd stuff her cheeks like a hamster, with no restraint whatsoever.
A very few Blood Clan with rare blood types can make blood energy protein quality and quantity show more efficient, more stable conversion. In the Blood Clan world, they are the highest growth potential category and the highest quality targets for orthodox Blood Clan developing new members.
At least in Zhao Peng's description, Baron was a realm chasm difficult to cross. The difficulty for ordinary blood type Blood Clan to step into Baron realm was extremely high. Ingesting rare blood type blood to increase breakthrough probability became a hard demand for the vast majority of ordinary Blood Clan.
But rare blood, not to mention this underground Blood Clan world, even in normal human society, was an extremely scarce medical strategic resource. This also caused rare blood prices in the underground world to be ridiculously expensive.
After the second half of the 20th century, most countries' secret agencies began strengthening management of rare blood type populations, and Blood Clan development also entered a relatively stagnant state.
Black Blood Clan were a group of beasts who could be called taking the deviant path. Through devouring the blood, organs, and bone marrow of their own kind, Black Blood Clan sought to use a savage but practically useful method to break shackles, accelerate growth, and even cross that Baron chasm.
Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao had frequently encountered Black Blood Clan concepts these days. Tonight's course was their deepest understanding, inevitably associating with more than a month ago, a certain night, a certain aberrant Black Blood Clan Knight who had fallen into blood thirst with nowhere to turn.
When the midnight bell rang, Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao finally returned home with a full sense of accomplishment.