That night, silence reigned absolute. Moonlight couldn’t pierce the tightly shut room, and darkness naturally swallowed everything around.
But…
Yuri was sipping tea—not alone.
No lights were on, or rather, it made no difference whether they were lit or not.
As for Zuo Yuan, the only one disturbed, his opinion… clearly didn’t matter.
Deep into the night, after hours of bustle, most aboard the airship had finally drifted into sweet dreams.
Of course, this excluded the crew piloting the vessel and a few night owls who never slept.
Compared to hours ago, it was undeniably quiet now.
“How long must we wait?” The stillness seemed to unsettle Zuo Yuan, and he broke the silence.
Yuri savored the supposedly high-grade black tea before replying slowly, “That question shouldn’t be directed at us.”
Zuo Yuan: “…”
Just as he was about to ask more, the airship… shuddered strangely!
The tremor was faint, and with the late hour, few would notice.
But at that exact moment…
In the room separated by a single wall, Useless—lying motionless in a chair with eyes shut—suddenly snapped them open!
His dark pupils held no trace of sleepiness, only chilling clarity.
He rose silently from the chair, making no sound.
Glancing sideways, he saw the girl on the bed sprawled in an utterly unladylike pose.
Frowning slightly, Useless crept to her bedside, carefully adjusting Bai Ling’s posture and tucking the blanket back around her.
Only after confirming he hadn’t woken her did the black-clad butler step back slowly.
From his pocket, he drew a pair of pure white gloves and meticulously slipped them onto his slender fingers.
Smoothing every wrinkle on the gloves, Useless bent his body into an ancient bow before the sleeping girl.
“The rats can’t resist moving now, but please, my noble princess, enjoy your dreams.”
His voice hadn’t fully faded when his form dissolved like a phantom.
Unbeknownst to Useless, the supposedly sleeping girl opened her eyes the moment he left.
Bai Ling stared blankly at the ceiling for a long while, her gaze holding a complexity that shouldn’t belong to her.
After a long pause, she sighed softly, murmuring, “Sister… will I one day become just another pawn to you too?”
Her voice started bitter but gradually flattened into calm.
Could someone who’d risk their own safety truly still be her sister?
Curled up on the bed, an unprecedented unease nearly drowned her reason.
Meanwhile, in a corridor of the airship…
“Haha, your alcohol tolerance sucks… *hic*… this little and you’re…”
“You’re the one who passed out in the lounge earlier!”
Two middle-aged men, clearly drunk, leaned on each other as they staggered toward their rooms.
“What? Me?”
Stung by his companion’s words, the older man scoffed.
He shoved his friend away, then spread his arms wide while stumbling backward.
“Don’t brag… I could drink more… huh?”
Mid-sentence, he crashed into something solid.
“Uh…”
He froze for half a second, shook his head, and instinctively looked back.
Then…
Crack!
Before his disbelieving eyes, the pitch-black figure bit down mercilessly on his neck!
Pain and blood jolted him fully awake.
But with his throat torn open, blood gushed from his mouth as he choked on guttural whimpers.
His companion stood frozen in shock, unable to react.
Before he could move, the man was slammed to the floor.
In the dim light, the shadow’s true form made his pupils shrink to pinpricks with terror. “M-Monster! Monster!!!”
What he saw was human-like yet utterly inhuman.
No human had shark-like fangs or a jaw that split so wide.
Worse…
It was feeding!
A monster clad in bloodstained armor, moving like a zombie.
Instinct took over—he spun to flee.
But… *squelch!*
“Uh…?”
His body locked up, eyes widening in disbelief.
A silver blade tip dripped warm blood—his blood—from his chest.
As consciousness faded, he glanced back and saw another monstrous face.
Identical creatures now filled the narrow corridor—over a dozen of them.
Their greedy eyes fixed on the corpse below.
Yet…
“Carrion Eaters?”
A clear voice shattered the chaos, drawing every monster’s attention.
At the corridor’s end stood the black-clad butler, brows slightly furrowed.
“How did so many Carrion Eaters appear here?”
Carrion Eaters were low-tier monsters—once-dead beings reanimated by powerful vampires or puppeteers.
Compared to mindless zombies or skeletons, their only advantage was plague-like contagion.
During the Holy War, they’d been mere “human bombs.”
They’d caused trouble but were never a true threat.
After the monsters’ defeat, Carrion Eaters had grown rare.
Seeing this many at once was unprecedented.
What truly puzzled Useless was their origin.
A rough count showed at least twenty.
And their appearance… something felt deeply wrong.
While Useless pondered, the monsters attacked without hesitation.
“ROAR!!!”
A guttural snarl erupted as the first Carrion Eater lunged.
Two more charged beside it.
Useless frowned coldly. “The dead should stay buried, not haunt the night to scare people.”
*Shink!*
Before the trio could close in, silver flashes sliced through the air.
As the light faded, the three collapsed like shattered blocks.
Thick blood scent flooded the space.
“Eliminate them all. Find the source.”
As Useless spoke, dozens of shadows peeled from the air behind him and scattered instantly.
Watching the shredded Carrion Eaters, the man’s brow knotted tightly again.
What… was happening? This exceeded their plans entirely.
At the very least, these monsters weren’t part of it.
