Having the genes of a demon king, I never intended to be a kept man.

Bai Jian nodded and went inside.

Soon, he met Wang En.

"Your Grace, Duke," Bai Jian greeted respectfully.

Duke Wang En seemed to have anticipated his arrival. He glanced at him indifferently, showing no surprise, and even smiled at him before gesturing to the seat in front of him: "Please sit down."

Bai Jian sat down. Duke Wang En asked him, "What brings you here?"

Bai Jian considered his words carefully for a while before saying, "According to the intelligence I have obtained, the Ye family army is divided into twenty routes and will soon gather at Bailinpo before launching a final offensive against Baicheng."

Duke Wang En nodded: "I've also received the intelligence. This may be our last battle." Then he looked at Bai Jian with a heavy but trusting gaze: "Thank you for your hard work."

"..." Bai Jian remained silent for a long time, his mind in turmoil, but he finally asked the question he wanted to ask: "Sir, this morning, I saw the city defense army's conscription officer forcibly bringing in many civilian superhumans and demanding that they put on the city defense army's battle uniforms and fight on the city walls. The conscription officer also said that it was your order?"

“That’s right, this is my order.” Duke Wang En admitted directly: “You should have already seen the strength of the Ye family. If we don’t concentrate all our remaining strength, we have no chance of winning at all.”

Bai Jian's expression was complicated: "But... the people in the Martial Arts Guild and Demon Hunter Guild in White City are all very agitated and unwilling to obey your orders. Even if they temporarily submit to your authority and are forced onto the city walls under the threat of the city defense army, it won't help at all, right? When the Ye family's army attacks, at most there will only be more surrenderers and deserters, and it will actually damage morale..."

Duke Wang En calmly replied, "You don't need to worry about that. I naturally have ways to make them obey."

Hearing Wang En say this, Bai Jian had nothing more to say.

“…Alright.” He took a deep breath and asked a second question: “My lord, there’s one more thing… There are many rumors circulating about you outside… They say you are a traitor, that you betrayed humanity, that you secretly colluded with the dark races, and that you even sold your own kind to the vampires as slaves…”

“I know what you’re thinking.” Duke Wang En nodded and said something that Bai Jian had never expected: “That’s right, the rumors are true, I did all of these things.”

Bai Jian looked astonished.

He did not expect that Duke Wang En would directly admit to what he had done.

Duke Wang En smiled wryly, looked at Bai Jian, and said gently, "Xiao Bai, you are my most trusted subordinate and my most loyal confidant, so I don't want to lie to you."

“I have indeed made a mistake, and it is irreversible. If I admit defeat, everyone around me will die. The Ye family always eliminates any potential threats, and the entire human race will never let me go.”

"Earl Conde, Viscount Linna, and the others have disappeared from this world. The rumors spread by the Ye family are that they have surrendered to the Ye family and fled the mainland. They want to use this to shake the morale of our allied forces and make more people choose to surrender."

"But in reality, the Ye family has already executed their entire clan! You see, these demonized people are so untrustworthy, and this is what happens if you believe them."

"..." Bai Jian's expression was complicated, his heart filled with mixed feelings, and he didn't know what to say.

"I have no way out, and I have no other choice, so I have no choice but to burn my bridges and fight to the death." Duke Wang En sighed heavily and continued slowly, "To be honest, I don't have many people I can trust left. Kant and Linna have both chosen to surrender. The only person I can trust is you."

"The people I hate most in this life are those who betray me, but you are an exception, because I know that you have been working diligently for me all these years without ever taking anything for yourself. So if you want to leave, you can relinquish your position as the supreme commander of the Baicheng City Defense Army right now, and leave Baicheng with your sister. I won't blame you."

"But I suggest that after you leave White City, you must stay away from the Night Family army. If they see you, your fate will definitely be the same as Kangde's."

"I..." Bai Jian opened his mouth, but for a moment found himself unable to speak, as if a fishbone was stuck in his throat.

"You make the decision." Duke Wang En looked at him calmly: "The Ye family army hasn't arrived yet. If you leave Baicheng now, you should still have time. With your strength, escaping shouldn't be a problem. Take your sister and find a secluded mountain with abundant spiritual energy to live in seclusion for two years. Wait until things calm down before coming out. At that time, find an opportunity to leave the mainland, and you might still be able to save your life."

Bai Jian remained silent for a long time before suddenly clenching his fist.

"...My lord, you gave me my life."

After much deliberation, Bai Jian made his choice: "I will serve you to the death!"

After all, Wang En had adopted them when they were young, and to him, Wang En was like a godfather.

Duke Wang En grinned and said, "Good lad, I knew I hadn't misjudged you."

"Then do your best to prepare. Your strength is no less than that of the Ye family. Moreover, now that Ye Xiao is not here, Ye Ge, Ye Yulong and the others are definitely no match for you."

Bai Jian let out a deep breath: "Okay." Then he turned and left.

The old monk walked over at this moment, and the various pendants hanging on his monk's robe made him jingle as he walked.

“This child is truly loyal to you,” the old monk said. “But this is the first time I’ve seen you play the emotional card.”

Duke Wang En said expressionlessly, "To control different people, you naturally need to use different methods." The loving fatherly smile that he had shown when facing Bai Jian was long gone from his face.

Then Duke Wang En asked the old mage, "Are the things ready?"

“Yes,” the old monk said, taking out a small bottle containing dark red blood from the sleeve of his wide robe.

Undoubtedly, it is the blood of darkness!

Wang En took the Dark Blood, his eyes narrowing slightly as he looked at the blackish-red liquid swaying in the bottle in his hand.

Dark Blood has undergone several updates and improvements. Thanks to Bao Bingqing's research, the toxicity to users has been suppressed as much as possible, side effects have been reduced, and users' resistance to demonic energy pollution has been increased.

The Dark Blood in Wang En's hand, however, was the complete opposite. It had increased toxicity, side effects, and addictiveness, while also greatly enhancing its power! It was somewhat similar to the first version of Dark Blood, but even more powerful!

Once you consume this dose of Dark Blood, you will be completely corrupted into a demon! You will be forever dependent on the Dark Blood, becoming a demonic monster who doesn't recognize family and friends, and will only obey his commands!

In fact, this was the effect that Duke Wang En originally wanted to create when he first funded Bao Bingqing and Professor Li's research on the Dark Blood.

However, Bao Bingqing's research direction did not satisfy him. This guy actually reduced the toxicity and power of the Dark Blood. He only wanted to use this thing to save his daughter and let the people in the wilderness live.

Therefore, after Wang En discovered this, he wanted Liang Kuan to eliminate this disobedient wilderness chief.