Chapter 268: Chapter 195: [Blood Vulture]
Only the Azkatto Family can realize the ideals of the Bloodhawk Duke.
After all... the blood of Azkatto flows through this old man’s veins, and he’s come this far relying on the family’s contributions.
Empire citizens have long lived in oppressive snowstorms, and most people depend on the pharmaceutical products controlled by the Azkatto enterprises, so no one can escape their control.
After the insane Black Emperor was assassinated, the royal power was divided among the bureaucrats, and it’s said that many high-ranking officials and noble families died in the power struggle at that time. As one of the leaders of the rebel forces, the current head of the Azkatto Family firmly secured the most lucrative treasures of the shipping routes and pharmaceutical research.
Venner Azkatto wore a smile, knowing his Bloodhawk uncle wouldn’t refuse the family’s proposal.
Without the family’s support, the only end for Bloodhawk would be gradually marginalized by the other dukes, ultimately exiled to the far northern abyss like the Raven.
The new drug is just the beginning.
A moment later, the emaciated old man squeezed out a stiff reply from his throat: "I understand."
Venner felt a sense of satisfaction, then bowed his head, lowered his voice, and his eyes reddened.
"Lord Bloodhawk, there’s one more thing I’d like to report to you."
He wiped the corner of his eye, knelt on one knee, and began: "Not long ago, the Frost Falcon Duke secretly attacked our loyal soldiers patrolling the sea boundary. The warriors on the Black Dream were mercilessly slaughtered, with nothing left at the scene, and the whole ship sank into the Deep Sea Gray Realm..."
Nothing was left...
The Bloodhawk stood frozen, staring unbelievingly at the young man before him, his expression momentarily dazed.
So it really was you...
"Why?" the old man murmured, suddenly seeming a few years older.
Venner continued to observe the Duke’s expression.
He knew his Bloodhawk uncle always hated the Frost Falcon Duke’s methods and detested pointless sacrifices.
Those envoys from ’beyond’ truly came up with a brilliant idea...
To prevent any leaks, after clearing out the Frost Falcon’s convoy sent to Ark, even those living in the Black Dream submarine were fed to the envoys of Celestial Principle by the Family Head.
The Bloodhawk would surely be enraged because of this.
Only by stirring up a dispute between the two Imperial Dukes could the Azkatto Family benefit. Since ceasing hostilities with the Alliance, the new pharmaceuticals produced by the enterprise had become unsellable.
This cannot continue?
Sure enough, upon hearing the news, the old man in front of him appeared dazed.
He was merely following his father’s orders to plant a seed of doubt in his uncle’s heart, who would have thought it would work so well?
Venner felt invigorated.
"Bloodhawk Uncle, in my opinion, the family’s prosperity cannot be separated from your edicts, but the family led by the Frost Falcon Duke has always been obstructing our path!"
He took the opportunity to express his deep-seated thoughts: "As long as that vicious Frost Falcon Duke disappears from this world, we can elevate you to an even higher position."
In the eyes of the Family Head, the Empire ultimately needs an emperor with ’absolute authority’, and the major noble families don’t need so many dukes restraining each other.
This is the future trend of the Empire. Power will eventually consolidate, and the nobility of the Empire will enter a new era.
Since the envoys from beyond descended upon the family, the father, as the Family Head, often muttered a word that Venner couldn’t forget.
Immortality... immortality...
What a wonderful realm...
Although most nobles had lived over two hundred years using the technology provided by the Prophet, it was still not enough, far from enough.
Venner could no longer suppress his inner desires; the ’young man’s’ expression had become greedy and twisted.
"Bloodhawk Uncle, as long as you ascend the throne, the Frost Falcon Duke will surely pay the price, and the new Empire will embrace another splendour."
He said urgently: "By that time, neither the Mad Emperor of the past nor the Frost Falcon and Raven now would be more than trash of the old era."
The room suddenly fell into a dead silence.
Venner laughed triumphantly, suddenly feeling a chill around him.
With a snap, the treasured necklace Venner used to protect his mind suddenly shattered, and the iron forest outside the window instantly became obscured.
Venner’s footing gave way, and what followed was a fall! A fall! A fall!
His eyes widened in terror, finding himself in an endless crimson river, with the deep, tumultuous blood waves rushing ceaselessly. Venner noticed countless bony hands clinging tightly to his legs.
"Uncle! Ahhhhhhh!!!"
Venner screamed in terror, struggling desperately and emitting heart-wrenching howls as his lower body was forcibly torn apart, and the blood waves carried his remains to a bone-framed shore.
Evil birds circled in the blood-red sky, swooping down upon spotting the figure on the shore, pecking away at Venner’s exposed flesh.
A tall man in a blood robe stood on the shore.
He stood guard before an empty black throne, and with Bloodhawk turning back, he watched the horrid young man indifferently.
He approached step by step, and Venner, with an eye gouged out by the vultures, weakly raised his head, feeling the figure in front of him was as majestic as a mountain.
"And you dare to insult the Black Emperor?"
The Bloodhawk lowered his head and softly inquired, "And you dare to insult the Dukes of the Empire?"
Venner then remembered the withered old man forever imprisoned by ideals in the City Hall of the new city...
—once was the Platinum Navigator who followed the Mad Emperor.
"I... I didn’t mean it..."
The shapeless mass of rotting flesh issued a desperate plea: "I’m sorry... Uncle... I’m sorry... I was too complacent..."
The bird pecking out the eyeball flew onto the man’s shoulder, and Venner snapped back to reality.
He was still standing in the empty office room.
The frail old man sitting in the nutrition pod calmly watched him, the scene that just unfolded seemed like a hallucination...
No... not right!
Venner instinctively touched his left eye, realizing it could no longer see and there was a faint pain from below his waist.
"Anything else?" Bloodhawk asked.
"N-no... nothing... Sir..."
Venner collapsed onto the ground, an overwhelming fear surged in his heart as he turned around and scrambled, crawling out of Bloodhawk’s office and sprinting down the hallway.
The Hunters in the shadows looked on at the noble’s receding figure with neither joy nor sorrow, the other’s elegant and composed demeanor had vanished utterly.
Madman... this old madman...
Just wait, you old thing will someday die...
Venner clutched his eye tightly, gasping heavily. Even though his heart brimmed with hatred, he still didn’t dare show any signs of hatred here.
The female slave before the vehicle habitually knelt to the ground.
With a crack, the young man moved too quickly, accidentally snapping the slave’s spine.
The slave, whose brain had long been destroyed by hallucinogenic drugs, collapsed limply to the ground, eyes vacant but the corner of her mouth curled into a silly smile.
"Master... you..." The other servants immediately panicked.
"Forget about the toys on the ground! Get me out of here now!!"
Venner shouted hysterically at the servants controlling the vehicle: "Quickly!!"
The expensive vehicle took off abruptly, with the young man sitting in the seat, his body trembling uncontrollably. In Venner’s lightless left eye, a silhouette of red blood calmly observed everything beside the noble.
The Bloodhawk listened to Venner’s furious shouts; at that moment, a thought of Seagull’s query popped into his mind.
—Bloodhawk, in your eyes, is Frost Falcon the stumbling block to the Empire’s progress?
