60: surrender

After speaking, Locke walked expressionlessly toward the crowd.

He gripped the silver dagger in his hand once more.

The Vampires watched him walk toward them step by step, their hearts filled with regret.

The slightly more timid ones, overwhelmed by the terrifying pressure radiating from him, instantly dropped their weapons in fear and knelt down.

With the first, came the second.

The other Vampires, slightly slower to react, hurriedly threw down their weapons, knelt before him, and began kowtowing repeatedly, shouting:

"Rest assured, rest assured, we will absolutely never let this news leak out."

"Please spare our lives. From now on, we will follow your lead. If you tell us to go east, we will never go west."

"We are very tight-lipped. My lord, please spare us; this way, you will have people to do things for you in the future."

The group of Vampires scrambled, each faster than the last, and pleas for mercy rang out one after another.

Everyone was terrified that if they were slow to kneel, they would become the next soul claimed by his hand.

Erica saw the crowd kneeling on the ground, a triumphant smile on her face, and then quietly clenched her fist at Locke with a smile.

Locke, understanding her intent, nodded slightly at her.

Meanwhile, Serena, who was standing to the side, forced herself not to laugh at the scene. As clever as she was, she immediately saw through their intentions.

In fact, the moment Erica suggested this method, Locke had understood her plan and simply went along with it.

Locke naturally had no intention of killing them, as slaying these ordinary Vampires would bring him no benefit whatsoever.

Killing them would not only fail to complete the mission and yield no rewards, but it would also be a complete waste of time.

However, by using Erica's method of intimidation, if he could subdue this group for his own use, it wouldn't be a bad idea.

If that were the case, he could later have these Vampires, whose strength was far superior to ordinary humans and who possessed long lifespans, help him gather intelligence.

Especially for tracking down information on the mastermind behind the scenes.

After all, if he were to investigate the target's information himself, there would be a risk of exposure.

Based on the methods the mastermind had displayed so far, Locke could not determine which sequence of the transcendent rank they belonged to,

but it must be very high, and he was likely nowhere near being a match for them right now.

Having this group of Vampires do the scouting meant that if they died, they died; he wouldn't feel any heartache, just viewing it as putting waste to good use.

This was why he was willing to put on a show to bring this group of not-so-strong Vampires under his command.

Sometimes, one needs some cannon fodder when doing things.

Locke stood before the Vampires with a relaxed expression. After pondering for a long while, he deliberately darkened his face and said:

"Empty words are not proof. How can you expect me to believe you just like this?"

As he spoke, he lightly tapped his palm with the dagger.

The short, rhythmic tapping sound made the hearts of the Vampires kneeling before him speed up involuntarily, causing the frequency of their kowtowing to increase as well.

"My lord, rest assured, we will absolutely not speak of this."

"We don't have the guts to do something like that for a dead Kraven."

"Please believe us; we can swear to the Goddess of the Night."

Regarding this proposal, Locke shook his head with amusement: "Swearing to the Goddess of the Night is too hollow; it has absolutely no binding force."

The Goddess of the Night was the deity jointly worshipped by the Vampire Clan and the Werewolf Clan.

However, Locke did not agree with that sentiment.

The Goddess of the Night might exist, but whether she had any inclination to oversee his oaths was hard to say.

After all, how could a mere human fathom the mind of a deity?

Those who could sit at the same chessboard as a deity must also be deities or some other special entities; in any case, they would certainly not be humans.

Moreover, Locke never believed that gods were kind enough to care for their followers.

If believing in gods were useful, how could the Galahad family, who were devout Christians, have been wiped out so quietly?

A slightly sharper Vampire, seeing that Locke did not nod, tentatively spoke up again:

"Then... perhaps you could think of a method, my lord. As long as you state it, we will definitely agree."

"Yes, yes, yes, my lord. If you feel our suggested methods are unreliable, you can give us one. As long as you spare our lives, that is all that matters."

"Oh... very good. I like this attitude of yours."

Locke smiled at the corner of his mouth and nodded, then paced over to Kraven's corpse, lifted it, and threw it in front of the group:

"I have a method: each of you must stab Kraven's corpse once. Remember, it must be in a vital spot."

"If you can do that, I can spare you and take you in. As for those who cannot... heh, I assume you know the consequences, so I won't say much more."

After saying this, he didn't speak again. He walked over to Serena, took her hand, and began to watch quietly with her.

This method of Locke's was undeniably vicious.

As long as the Vampires in the room stabbed that blade, they were effectively accomplices in killing Kraven and had boarded Locke's ship.

Under such conditions, naturally, no one dared to go and tip off the elders.

The slightly smarter Vampires understood this logic, but they had absolutely no room to choose.

This strike was their pledge of loyalty.

Stab, or die—it was a very simple principle.

At this moment, let alone stabbing Kraven's corpse, they would even be willing to stab the living if required.

As long as they could live, they would do anything right now.

Compared to the fear of death that Locke brought them, Kraven was just too insignificant.

As Locke's voice fell, dozens, perhaps a hundred, Vampires walked forward one by one, pulled out the daggers they carried, and stabbed them fiercely into Kraven's corpse.

One after another, blade after blade.

And because of Locke's requirement, their blades were aimed at the chest, abdomen, and face.

In no time, Kraven's corpse, which had originally still resembled a human form, was almost reduced to a pile of mush.

Serena leaned on Locke's shoulder, tilted her head, and said to him:

"How are you so smart? In this situation, you were able to think of such an efficient method with almost no side effects to control them."

"Serena, let me tell you a principle: to deal with people like them, you only need to grasp their psychology."

Locke looked at the pile of mush not far away and said in a calm tone:

"Since they want to live, give them a chance to survive, and they will be grateful to you afterward."

"Of course, it's also mainly because I don't like killing that much; otherwise, I wouldn't want to go through all this trouble."

The Vampires over there who hadn't stabbed the corpse yet, upon hearing the conversation between Locke and Serena, moved even faster.

About ten minutes later, everyone had left their own wounds on Kraven's corpse.

At this moment, no one dared to mention reporting this matter to Victor anymore.

"My lord, is there anything else you need us to do?"