Lord Leo opened his eyes. Two attendants silently retrieved a water fsk, pced three pieces of blood bait into it, shook it vigorously, and poured the mixture into a tin cup before handing it to their master.

  After drinking the blood-infused water, Lord Leo felt slightly revitalized. He muttered a brief intation under his breath, and more than a dozen palm-sized bats flew out of his body, s into the sky.

  For the past ten days, he had been perf this secret art daily to scout distant areas. Among the thirty-seven vampire s, each had its own unique secret arts. As one of the three royal s, the Shanlens-Arthur Family specialized in the core secret art known as Blood Verbal Spellcasting, a teique widely mastered within their family. This blood bat teique could be used to attaemies, transform into tless bats to evade capture, or, most importantly, duct reaissance.

  Lord Leo didn’t fully trust Charlot Meburg.

  More than a dozen bats took to the skies for two or three hours, but only two returhey re-entered Lord Leo’s body, causing the vampire lord to suddenly perk up. He murmured, “As expected, Ferdinand will be passing through nearby.”

  “Kainan wasn’t lying. He remains reliable.”

  Charlot’s statement that Archduke Ferdinand would pass through Machubi hadn’t been mere idle talk. While helping Miss Menielman anize her files, Charlot had e across a dot about a retly detained South Seraph restorationist. The prisoner, captured for plotting an uprising, had revealed Ferdinand’s route to Strasb.

  When Charlot ter prepared to head to Machubi, he had casually mentioned Ferdinand’s impending passage. Uedly, this tidbit earned him deeper trust from Lord Leo.

  As Lord Leo deployed his blood bats to survey the surrounding area, Charlot prudently avoided interfering. Instead, he tio study the Vampiric Scroll〢〨.

  When the blood bats returned, Charlot immediately put the scroll away and approached respectfully. “Shall I send someoo scout further?” he asked.

  Lord Leo shook his head. “The South Seraph restorationists have already set up their ambush. If your men approach, they’ll only alert the enemy.”

  “It’ll suffice for just the two of us to go.”

  Initially relieved to hear that he didn’t o send anyone, Charlot was caught off guard when Lord Leo indicated that he should apany him. Surprised, Charlot stammered, “Me?”

  Lord Leo smiled faintly. “The South Seraph restorationists yone of signifit ability. Their assassination attempt may not succeed. Our task is merely to provide a finishing shot if needed.”

  “How’s your marksmanship?”

  Charlot hesitated before replying, “It’s det. I extinguish a dle at twenty paces.”

  Lord Leo reached into his colr and pulled out a massive firearm.

  Measuring 1.5 pimi ih—approximately 1.8 meters in Old ti metriits—the rifle’s barrel was slightly narrower than an arm but intimidatingly thick for a firearm. More than y pert of its pos gleamed with metallic sheen, exuding a raw, rugged, solid design. Not only was it built for shooting, but its weight and sturdiness made it formidable as a melee on.

  The Old ti had yet to develop the sniper rifle category, though rifles were already in use.

  The design of this rifle was entirely distinct from typical vampire onry, clearly inating from one of the Fars Empire’s advanced alchemical workshops. Moreover, it ecialized model.

  Lord Leo chuckled. “Lucky you! This is a signature product from Firequell, one of the six major alchemical workshops in the Fars Empire—the Anti-Space Le Rifle!”

  “Spatial equipment is about ste, but anti-space is about cealment. You hide it inside any muem, making it extremely veo carry.”

  “This rifle es with a spatial magazine. When you retrieve it from the cealed item, its anti-space property verts to the spatial magazine fun. However, since spad anti-space properties are inpatible, hiding the rifle will revert the magazio its anti-spa, expelling the ammunition. So, you’ll o carry the bullets separately.”

  “In addition to this, it vert bat energy, blood energy, magical power, and other extraordinary abilities into bullets. However, lower-tier Transdents ’t fire many shots, so it’s only for emergencies.”

  “Its effective range is 3,700 pimi!”

  “Of course, only araordinary marksman shoot accurately at such distances.”

  “This time, I’ve brought two Anti-Space Le Rifles. This one is yours.”

  “Wheime es, you take a few shots. After all, opportuo openly fire upon an archduke—without risk of fag the gallows—don’t e often.”

  Charlot swallowed hard. Initially, he had assumed that Lord Leo carried spatial equipment. How else could an ordinary piece of clothing ceal such a massive rifle? Upon hearing the term "anti-space," his astonishment grew. Anti-space extraordinary items were peculiar wonders uo this world.

  Magical equipment with anti-space properties could be cealed within any object, temporarily transf ordinary items into specialized ste tools. This feature was astonishingly innovative.

  Magical equipment on the Old ti wasn’t limited to cold ons; firearms were rarer and even more expensive.

  This Anti-Space Le Rifle was not only magical equipment but also imbued with the anti-space property. Its price would undoubtedly rival Louis Simy’s Shanlens’ Spear.

  From Lord Leo’s to seemed this rifle wouldn’t be recimed!

  What an ued windfall!

  However, as a transmigrator, Charlot quickly calmed down. He realized, "If Ferdinand is assassinated with an Anti-Space Le Rifle, suspi will naturally fall on whoever possesses such a on. This is a setup for me to take the bme!"

  “Vampires really are despicable!”

  “No, they aren’t even human!”

  Feigning ignorance, Charlot pstered on aed expression and accepted the rifle eagerly. He tapped it against his ever-present alchemical staff, and, true to its reputation, the Anti-Space Le Rifle merged seamlessly with the staff, adding only a slight increase i.

  Lord Leo handed him a pack of bullets, saying, “These are specially crafted anti-magic armor-pierg rounds. Eae take down a titan ogre. Ferdinand may be a high-tier Transdent, but he won’t survive a single shot.”

  Charlot took the pack, ope, and ied the bullets. The anti-magic armor-pierg rounds were seven ht times rger than regur bullets. There were only twenty in the pack, but their weight made them impractical to carry around.

  He gestured to a nearby adventurer. “You have ay backpack, don’t you?”

  The adventurer produced a leather shoulder bag, removed its tents, and offered it. “I switched to a new pack but couldn’t bear to throw this o. It’s a bit worn, but still sturdy.”

  Charlot pced the bullets inside and said, “Lord, let’s set out.”

  Lord Leo smiled faintly and strode out of the Machubi fortress. He moved as if guided by an invisible force, his pace quiing until he broke into a run.