Chapter 528: Radiation Zone

Lucien’s heart pounded like a war drum—he was out of options, nowhere left to run.

“Hey! You know where we can find a meteorite?” Mia called out, her tone casual but eyes sharp.

“Even if I did, I’d never tell you,” Lucien spat, defiant to the end. “Lord Monroe will punish you all. You’ll be buried on this island forever.”

“God, you talk too much…” Mia muttered, then lunged forward, her katana slicing through the air in a deadly arc.

Lucien tried to dodge, but the Domain of the Dead hit him like a mountain crashing down. The weight of it crushed his body, locking him in place.

He couldn’t move. Couldn’t even blink. All he could do was watch helplessly as the blade’s gleam closed in.

Then the world spun. In the final second before blacking out, he saw his own headless body collapse to the ground.

With Ethan and Mia working in perfect sync, Lucien didn’t stand a chance. He was cut down in a single, brutal instant.

The remaining vampires, already terrified after Ethan’s earlier rampage, completely lost their nerve when they saw Lucien fall. Whatever fight they had left vanished.

They scattered in all directions, desperate to escape.

But the humans surrounding them weren’t about to let them go. Shouts of vengeance rang out as they closed in, hacking the vampires to pieces with wild fury.

Within minutes, it was over.

The town had undergone a full-scale purge. Every last vampire was wiped out—none survived.

People stood panting, blood-smeared and exhausted, but their eyes gleamed with adrenaline and triumph.

“Lucien’s dead! We won!”

“YEAHHHH!”

Cheers erupted all around.

Then, an elderly man stepped forward, bowing deeply before Ethan and the others. “My Lord, please take this town under your rule. We are willing to offer our blood.”

Ethan blinked. “What’s he saying?”

Oliver translated, “Basically, they want you to keep them as livestock.”

Ethan stared at him, dumbfounded. “Seriously? Are they addicted to being farmed or something?”

He shook his head. Their blood meant little to him. He wasn’t here to play vampire lord—he was after the Radiant Crystal. No way he was trading the big prize for scraps.

“Tell him we’re leaving tomorrow.”

“Got it.” Oliver relayed the message.

The old man looked lost, like someone had just pulled the ground out from under him.

“Then… who do we give our blood to now?”

…

Meanwhile, Ethan, Mia, and the rest were already heading toward the castle.

They planned to rest there for the night—and maybe loot the place while they were at it. Who knew what kind of valuables a vampire lord might’ve hoarded?

“I’m great at treasure hunting,” Sean said with a goofy grin. “Bet there’s a ton of good food in there.”

“You and your stomach,” Chris scoffed. “We should be rescuing some damsels in distress. Perfect night for a little… quality time.”

He rubbed his hands together, grinning.

Brandon shot him a look. “Uncle Chris, you better be careful. Vampires are masters of disguise. If any of them are still alive, they might just bite your dick off.”

Chris winced. “Shit… you might be right.”

He’d survived worse, but getting taken out by a sneaky bloodsucker in the bedroom? That’d be a hell of a way to go.

Griffin chuckled. “If that happens, you’ll be Busted Balls #3.”

“Piss off,” Chris muttered, laughing despite himself. Still, he made a mental note—on this island, the prettier they are, the deadlier. No more falling for that trap.

The group stepped into the lavish old castle, wandering through its grand halls while casually looting anything that looked useful.

Mia entered a spacious, luxurious room. The air was thick with a strange scent. The walls were lined with oil paintings—explicit ones—and hung with all sorts of odd items.

Whips. Handcuffs. Ropes. Ball gags.

“Interrogation chamber?” she wondered aloud. “Might be some intel hidden around here. Better search thoroughly…”

A few minutes later, Oliver came running out, arms full of papers, grinning like a kid on Christmas morning.

“Found it! I found it! There’s a map of the island and a bunch of intel on the vampires!”

“What kind of intel?” Ethan and Chris hurried over.

Oliver beamed. “This stuff could really help with our next move. Take a look.”

Chris grumbled, “If I could read it, I wouldn’t need you, would I?”

The documents and maps were mostly in English, but some notes were scribbled in native dialects, Spanish, and Italian. It was a multilingual mess—but it might just hold the key to what came next.

“Oh, I’ll translate then,” Oliver said with an awkward chuckle.

Good thing he was fluent in sixteen languages—finally, that brain of his was pulling its weight.

He flipped through the documents, eyes scanning quickly. “Okay, so… turns out Lucien’s family wasn’t at the top of the food chain. They answered to someone named Monroe. He’s the real power on this island—the top dog, the absolute overlord of the vampire factions.”

“Monroe…” Ethan repeated, the name already sounding like trouble.

“Yeah,” Oliver continued, “his base is in a city not far from here. And get this—he runs seven of these ‘farms’ like the one we just cleared out.”

“Seven?” Mia raised an eyebrow.

“Yup. All of them funnel crystal cores and blood straight to the city on a regular schedule. It’s a whole supply chain. That’s how Monroe’s built up so much power—constant resources, nonstop.”

“No wonder he’s untouchable,” Brandon muttered. “If he’s the island’s top predator, he’s gotta be at least SS-rank.”

Chris leaned in, frowning. “How many zombies does he have under his command?”

Oliver shook his head. “No idea. The records don’t say. But it’s safe to assume the number’s been growing over time. And there’s more—Monroe’s vampires only control half the island.”

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “What about the other half?”

Oliver hesitated, then pointed to a section of the map marked in red. “This area here—it’s called the Radiation Zone. No one controls it. It’s full of mutated creatures, and no one really knows what’s in there.”

“Radiation Zone?” Ethan echoed, unfamiliar with the term.

Elara, who’d been quiet until now, finally spoke up. “Some meteorites carry high levels of radiation. When they crash, they contaminate the area. Any living thing exposed to that radiation can mutate. That’s how the Radiation Zone formed. If we’re looking for the Radiant Crystal, it’s probably in there.”

Oliver nodded. “And it’s not just radiation. There was a wildfire there a while back—burned for a whole month. Now it’s all scorched earth. A total death zone.”

“Jesus…” Chris muttered, eyes wide. “How the hell are we supposed to get in there?”

Oliver flipped to another page. “Oh, and there’s something else. Besides the vampires, there are zombies on the island too. According to Lucien’s ledgers, their supply runs to the city were often ambushed by a rogue zombie faction.”

Ethan nodded slowly. He’d heard something like that before. At Lucien’s dinner party, a kid had mentioned his mom getting torn apart by zombies during a supply run—and said he was already looking for a new one to replace her…

Everything about these vampires was twisted.

Chris let out a low whistle. “So there are zombies out here bold enough to jack Monroe’s shipments? Damn… these aren’t your average shamblers. They’ve got balls.”

…

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