Volume One

Chapter 001

Even under the brilliant sunlight, the backs of skyscrapers are still in shadow, and behind every person there is a darker shadow; in this world, darkness and light are equally eternal—without light, there would be no such thing as darkness.

Anthony stood in his office on the thirty-third floor of the building, gazing through the wide, floor-to-ceiling glass window at the masses below. This was a dark green glass window, with the bright sunlight blocked outside, leaving the entire office in dimness.

The people on the ground, in his eyes, were all food—like cabbages and carrots, tomatoes and potatoes—but not beef or pork; they were all vegetarian. Anthony, who appeared to be just past middle age, was gentle and elegant, but no one knew that he was a member of the blood clan, a vampire who fed on blood.

Ordinary blood clan members are vegetarians; they are devout followers of darkness. Although they drink fresh blood, in their eyes, this food is all vegetarian. Since there are vegetarians, there are also carnivores. Carnivores have their own special food!

A knock sounded at the door. The only one who could knock on this door was his beautiful secretary, Katherine. Sure enough, the door opened, and Katherine's golden hair appeared: "Boss, there's a gentleman who insists on seeing you." Anthony found it odd. As the CEO of such a multinational company, Anthony was extremely busy and generally did not see visitors without an appointment. Katherine, as his secretary, was well aware of this, yet she came in to report this time, which made Anthony a bit puzzled.

"Alright, let him in." Katherine left, and soon the door was pushed open and an East Asian man walked in. He wore a gray-black woolen overcoat, a silk black-edged shirt, simple black trousers, and a pair of black leather shoes with decorative patterns.

Anthony tensed up. It was rare to see a fellow East Asian. He couldn't quite explain why, but he immediately recognized that the man before him was a blood clan member—just as thieves recognize each other at a glance, so do blood clan members.

The presence of this East Asian fellow made Anthony nervous. He told himself: Could it really be such a coincidence? I was just thinking about carnivores, and now one shows up? There are only three carnivores in the Camarilla, and it's said that the most powerful one is an East Asian blood clan member!

Anthony felt a bit of regret. One of his lovers had just given birth to his child. Yavely was so enchanting, always able to give him the most satisfying pleasure, so when she made this request, Anthony simply couldn't refuse, even though he knew such behavior was not permitted by the Camarilla.

But he had been lucky so far. He had kept it a secret; no one knew about this mistress. Surely today wouldn't be... Anthony didn't dare to think further.

Or perhaps this was just a passing blood clan member, coming for the customary audience. After all, he was the prince of this city. While comforting himself, Anthony reached out his hand to the East Asian fellow: "Hello, I am Prince Anthony!"

The East Asian man shook his hand lightly. Anthony smiled, making small talk: "Katherine has seen plenty of handsome men, and she's met other blood clan members coming for an audience. For her to come up and report like this, you must have quite the charm." The charm of a blood clan member is proportional to their power—the stronger they are, the more irresistible they are to the opposite sex.

Anthony hoped for a positive response. The blood clan have clear rules of etiquette: when traveling, a blood clan member must pay respects to the prince of the territory, as a sign of respect. Anthony hoped this East Asian fellow was here for just that, and waited for him to introduce himself.

But things rarely go as people imagine, whether in the world of light or darkness. The East Asian man slowly walked toward him, his words as slow as his steps, speaking in halting English: "I'm not here to pay respects. My name is John Bennett·Lien·Gang!"

Anthony shuddered: Gang! This is the title given by the Camarilla to carnivores. Only the three carnivores are qualified to add this suffix to their names!

Just like among humans, carnivores are often stronger than vegetarians, due to the structure of their diet. Likewise, among the blood clan, carnivores possess power far beyond that of ordinary vampires. They are chosen by the dark lord, granted the right to eat flesh in the name of darkness, and given great power to enforce the laws of the dark world and maintain its order—they are the Camarilla's instruments of violence!

"Prince Anthony, you have violated the third sub-clause of the third law 'Progeny' of the Camarilla's Six Laws: You must not produce offspring with humans. Do you plead guilty?"