Beneath the shadows of Eternal Night City, the Penned District served as a shared paradise for the human blood livestock.
Of course, it was also a cage in which their brief lives were precisely measured.
The corners of Utia’s mouth curved upward as she spoke slowly.
“Here, turning eighteen brings no joy of adulthood. Instead, it marks a cruel dividing line—a scale known as the ‘Trial.’”
“Trial?” Shiluo repeated in a low voice, her brows slightly furrowed.
“That’s right.” Utia chuckled lightly. She held the syringe and paced casually under Shiluo’s wary, hostile gaze, speaking as if they were simply having a casual conversation.
“Our vampire race’s picky taste buds and deep-seated prejudices hold that only the blood of youth is sufficiently sweet, pure, and delicious. Once a person crosses the threshold of eighteen, their blood is believed to have been tainted by impurities and loses its value as a beverage.
“Therefore—” She stopped walking and looked at Shiluo again. “Every blood livestock who is about to turn eighteen will be taken from their familiar cage and sent to an unknown place. That is the ‘Trial.’”
Shiluo fell silent.
She had never heard of… such a rule existing in the Penned District. In their understanding, most of these blood livestock were drained of their blood to be turned into blood food, or simply thrown outside the city to feed the blood-sucking beasts. Those inferior blood livestock would eventually be disposed of. They knew that all Penned Districts followed the law of natural selection—survival of the fittest.
This “Trial”… was the first time she had heard of it.
“Shall I continue?”
Shiluo hesitated for a long moment.
This information was extremely important to humanity. In their long struggle against the vampires, they had always been puzzled as to why these vampires seemed to keep appearing endlessly from all directions.
Their arrogance ran bone-deep, and they rarely accepted partners of the opposite sex, so the vampires’ reproduction rate was likely extremely low. Perhaps hundreds of vampires would struggle to form even a single pair.
At first, humans believed that although individual vampires were incredibly powerful, if they slowly whittled down their numbers over a long period, they could eventually drive these bloodthirsty demons out of the world.
But gradually, they came to see a bizarre phenomenon… these vampires could not be killed off.
Their “breeding” speed even surpassed that of humans!
This left the surviving humans both confused and in despair, because their rapid reproduction was one of the few tangible advantages humanity held in their fight against the vampires.
If they could figure out how the vampires were “reproducing,” it might be critical to turning the tide of the situation in the future.
Utia seemed to notice the wavering in her heart. Her blood-red eyes gleamed with calculation.
“I know you desperately want to hear the rest, but I’ve already shared some of it. For what comes next… you’ll need to provide information of equal value before I continue.”
She paused, then added,
“Just to be clear, I only want to hear the information I want to know…”
Cold sweat covered Shiluo’s palms. She could feel Utia’s seemingly relaxed gaze firmly locked onto the subtle changes in her expression.
She knew she was wavering—and indeed she was.
She didn’t want to reveal any intelligence about this mission, as they had been strictly ordered to keep it confidential before setting out. But she also didn’t want to miss this opportunity. Perhaps… perhaps the truth behind the vampires’ reproduction was even more important than this mission?
Two voices clashed violently in her mind, nearly tearing her sanity apart. One was the discipline of a warrior and her responsibility toward the mission and her comrades. The other was her duty as a member of the human race and the heavy sense of mission she felt toward her people’s future.
Her fists clenched tighter and tighter. Finally, she let out a long sigh, as if she had made her final choice.
“You must first promise me that everything you say is true, and that you will not reveal my whereabouts,” Shiluo demanded in a low voice.
“We vampires disdain lying,” Utia replied indifferently.
Receiving this affirmation, Shiluo felt slightly more at ease. After a moment of careful consideration, she slowly revealed what she could.
“Six.” A cold code slipped from her lips. “That is the codename for our operation this time. Before we set out, each squad was issued one of those syringes. They said it was a detector—a compass for locating the mission target. As long as we got close enough to the target, the indicator light on it would turn green.
“The higher-ups said that what we need to find is a living Container—one that holds the shared hope of all humanity. Once we find it, we must bring it back at all costs. No matter how many people or executors have to be sacrificed, it will be worth it.”
“So, what exactly makes this Container so special that you’re willing to go to such lengths?” Utia asked.
Shiluo’s expression grew complicated. She paused for a moment before continuing.
“We… don’t know.”
They only told us that the Container was extremely important, and that was all. In fact, we only learned the mission objective and requirements an hour before we departed.
“…How very cautious.”
Utia had already known who the “Container” these humans were searching for was… Without a doubt, it was Sylvie.
Even without the indicator light on the syringe, she could roughly guess that these humans’ target was her girl.
The reason was simple. Utia already understood Sylvie’s forcibly erased past. She knew her true identity, and she understood Sylvie’s history even better than Alice did.
“I’ve said my part… Now it’s your turn.”
Shiluo became vigilant once more.
“Tell me, what exactly is this ‘Trial’ you mentioned earlier?” she pressed.
Utia let out a soft laugh.
“No blood livestock knows the exact details of the Trial. Even ordinary vampires rarely have the chance to come into contact with it.”
She spoke with deliberate mystery.
“Some say it is a rigorous physical and mental examination to assess whether the blood livestock possess any special value beyond their blood.
“For example, rare bloodline talents, powerful spiritual potential, or simply… being beautiful or unique enough to please a certain noble, allowing them to be taken as private pets or servants.
“Or even—”
She deliberately paused, savoring Shiluo’s tense and solemn expression.
“—the slim, almost legendary chance of receiving the ‘First Embrace.’”
She continued at an unhurried pace, her tone carrying a trace of cruel indifference.
“Those who fail the Trial… their fates have become legends within the Penned District.
“Some are sent to the blood processing plants deep beneath Eternal Night City, where their flesh and souls are completely extracted and refined into food for the vampires.
“Others have their memories erased and, through forbidden magic, are transformed into ‘puppets’—beings without self, without pain, who exist only to carry out orders.
“They are sent back to the Penned District to become cold eyes watching over their companions, or thrown onto the frontlines against humans as expendable cannon fodder—forced to slaughter their former kin.
“And all of this…” Utia said, “our great Queen calls it the ‘Blood Livestock’s Coming-of-Age Ceremony.’”