The First Vampire - Chapter 596

Chapter 596: 594 Remodeling_1
 

The sky gradually darkened.

The defeated Troll Army had formally surrendered to the Blood Knight Army. Of course, many trolls, unwilling to surrender, were risking their lives to flee north.

However, Colin had already dispatched dozens of hundred-men teams to chase down the fleeing trolls and eliminate the Troll Army south of Wind Roar Fortress.

The rest of the Blood Knight Army set up camp near the ravaged battlefield, cleaning up the aftermath of the battle.

Detachments of surrendered trolls were continuously placed on the outskirts of the camp.

“Your Highness, will the Blood Knight Army spare us prisoners?” Ubam, curled up in the snow, whispered to Prince Abbas beside him.

“I don’t know…” Prince Abbas replied, his face desolate, seemingly with little hope for the Blood Knight Army’s mercy.

After all, in previous defeats, both Marquis Garcia and his successor, Count Angler, had traditions of killing captives.

This time might not be any different.

Accepting surrender now only aimed to dismantle the Trolls’ will to resist, thus reducing the difficulty of winning. Once the overall situation was settled, what probably awaited these troll prisoners was cold, brutal death.

“Your Highness, rather than being killed by the Blood Knight Army, we should…” Ubam lowered his voice even more, “escape under the cover of night!”

Prince Abbas glanced at Ubam emotionlessly and said coldly, “If you’re so prepared to risk it, then why didn’t you fight to the death in the combat earlier?”

Ubam’s face flashed with embarrassment as he stammered, “Your Highness, you know full well that we stood no chance… the gap between the two sides was just too great. But now, under the cover of darkness, if we can incite the other captives to break out with us, we can definitely cause significant chaos. Plus, I happen to know a secret hideout nearby, during the chaos we could…”

Ubam suddenly silenced as a group of the Blood Knight Army soldiers happened to pass by.

“Abbas Volkin?”

“That’s me.”

“Come with us, the Count wants to see you.”

Prince Abbas hesitated before sighing and obediently stood up. He followed the soldiers out of the captive camp.

Watching Prince Abbas’s departing figure, Ubam furrowed his brow. Soon, however, he quietly started murmuring to another Troll military officer.

…

Prince Abbas walked into the tent to find Colin engrossed in a letter, frowning as if the content was causing him considerable consternation.

On the desk before him were two square wooden boxes. A faint smell of blood wafted from them.

Prince Abbas had a good idea of what was in the boxes.

“Good evening, Count Angler,” Prince Abbas respectfully greeted, in the most casual tone he could muster.

Only when Colin heard the voice did he put down the letter. He scanned Prince Abbas up and down, then with a faint smile, asked:

“Prince Abbas, I hear you have quite a few human lovers, huh?”

A suspicion began to form in Prince Abbas’s mind about the purpose of Colin’s invitation to talk. He quickly replied with a laugh,

“Indeed, Count, I’ve admired the culture and arts of the Glorious Empire since I was a child. So whenever human caravans visit the royal city, I always invite them to my manor to be my guests. Over time, I’ve formed close relationships with a few human women.”

Colin stood up, walked over to the desk, and tapped lightly on the top of one of the wooden boxes. He said,

“Being a prince of the Troll Empire, having human lovers must have given you quite some trouble, hasn’t it?”

Prince Abbas gave an awkward smile and nodded, saying, “Indeed. And to tell you the truth, if not for this, Okamoto Volkin would not be in line to become the Troll Emperor.”

Colin chuckled and tapped on another wooden box, joking:

“If that’s the case, then in this box would be your skull.”

Prince Abbas was stunned for a moment, then quickly responded with deep meaning: “Count, you misunderstand me. If I were the Troll Emperor, I would never do as Okamoto has done – repeatedly disrupting relationships with the North Territory and even plotting your assassination!”

A radiant smile spread across Colin’s face before he asked, “So, how do you think North Territory and the Troll Empire should interact?”

Prince Abbas, without any hesitation, declared, “Peaceful coexistence and friendly relations, of course!”

“Peaceful? Friendly?” Colin’s tone suddenly cooled down: “But, Prince Abbas, you Trolls are always trying to retake the North Territory from the hands of humans. How can I possibly believe in the promise of peace you’ve just given?”

Prince Abbas took a deep breath.

He knew that the real test of the night had just arrived.

The survival of the Troll Empire rested on whether he could demonstrate the sincerity Colin wanted.

By convincing the Northerners that the Troll Empire was no longer a threat, they could avert disaster; otherwise…

“Count, actions speak louder than words, and so I am willing to prove the Troll Empire’s commitment to peace with concrete actions!” Prince Abbas solemnly declared, “If I am able to smoothly take the imperial throne, then I can promise you that during my time, the standing army of the Troll Empire will never exceed 30,000!”

Upon hearing this, Colin’s facial expression did not change much, clearly dissatisfied with this condition.

Prince Abbas had no choice but to press on reluctantly: “Moreover, the Troll Empire will completely abolish the border tax on Northern merchants!”

Colin still wasn’t moved.

“The Troll Empire will also tribute three million gold coins to the North Territory annually!”

Still, Colin said nothing.

“As well as another 100,000 Troll slaves, yearly!”

Prince Abbas was on the verge of clenching his teeth to pieces, yet he still couldn’t sway this proud and avaricious human in front of him.

He finally sighed dejectedly: “Count, this is the greatest sincerity the Troll Empire can offer. Otherwise, you can only destroy the Troll Empire.

But I hope you understand that, with your current strength, destroying the Troll Empire is not difficult; however, the North Territory would not benefit from it anymore.”

A scornful laugh escaped Colin: “How would there be no benefits? The absence of the Troll Empire would be the greatest benefit to the North Territory.”

Prince Abbas immediately countered: “Count, but you can’t possibly exterminate all the Trolls. Eventually, Trolls will reestablish a new empire and at that point, the North Territory will still have to face the threat from the north.

So why create such a fuss?

Transforming the current Troll Empire into a kingdom friendly to the North Territory not only saves trouble, but also yields more benefit, doesn’t it?”

“You’re right,” Colin finally nodded.

But Prince Abbas’ joy was short-lived when he heard Colin continue: “However, I have a different idea on how to transform the current Troll Empire.”

Prince Abbas took another deep breath and asked respectfully, “May I inquire about how you would like to transform the Troll Empire?”

Colin made a toothy grin:

“I intend to turn it into a Half-Troll Kingdom.”