Iron, water, and chicken leg.
The three essentials for replenishing blood.
Mike had already prepared these for Vladimir, feeling quite considerate. He thought of himself as a good person.
Vladimir looked utterly dejected, resigned to his fate, and even asked proactively, “Master, what temperature should the blood be?”
Mike thought for a moment, “220°F? Ahem, I mean 130°F will do.”
“Alright.”
Vladimir’s expression went blank for a few seconds before he spoke again, “It’s done.”
“Master, may I ask what you need so much blood for?”
“You can ask.”
Mike nodded, “But I don’t want to answer.”
Vladimir: …
As they spoke, Chief Harry led them to a frozen harbor.
Harry pointed to the frozen harbor and said, “This is the place. The hot blood flows from here, and that creature… has a huge appetite.”
Vladimir raised an eyebrow.
A craving for fresh blood, needing large quantities, greedy, even insatiable.
This was familiar!
Wasn’t this describing a vampire?!
Could it be that beneath the ice, an ancient and powerful vampire was sealed?!
Vladimir immediately warned, “Master, I have no intention of being selfish, but providing fresh blood to an injured vampire is never a wise move!”
Especially with his high-quality blood!
To put it bluntly, Vladimir was definitely a high-quality Duke among vampires.
“It’s rare for you to genuinely consider something. Very good, very nice.”
Mike patted Vladimir’s shoulder again.
This gesture made Vladimir feel like his soul was trembling!
Mike’s habitual gesture meant that something bad was definitely going to happen next!
“I’ve considered your concern.”
Mike pointed to the ice, “Do you have a way to detect that creature?”
Vladimir shook his head.
If Harry hadn’t told him, he wouldn’t have noticed anything special about the ice.
“Exactly.”
Mike continued,
“The icy plain is its domain. If it doesn’t come out, even I can’t do anything about it.”
A trap always needs bait.
Clearly, Vladimir was the bait.
Vladimir protested, “Master, even if bait is needed, ten tons of blood is excessive!”
A little would suffice!
Mike took something out of his storage ring, “I’ve already considered that. Eat something to replenish your strength before you start bleeding.”
Vladimir looked closely.
Mike was holding a bunch of poisonous mushrooms!
These mushrooms wouldn’t kill Vladimir, but the toxins would spread through his bloodstream, significantly weakening his combat power.
In other words…
After eating the poisonous mushrooms, Vladimir’s blood would be toxic.
The supplement turned into poison!
The creature beneath the ice, the greedier it was, the more it consumed, and the stronger the backlash when the toxins took effect!
How to mask the toxins in the blood was something Vladimir knew without Mike’s
instruction.
After hearing Thor’s complete plan, Vladimir could only applaud.
“Brilliant! Brilliant!”
“As expected of you!”
Mike even enthusiastically invited Vladimir to choose from a pile of poisonous mushrooms, “Pick the ones you think will work best together.”
It was the first time Vladimir had seen someone let the victim choose the weapon for their
execution.
Too much!
Vladimir stepped forward and quickly selected the best combination, four types of poisonous mushrooms together.
“Fire poison with petrification, plus severe injury and hallucination, should be enough!”
Everything was ready.
After consuming the four poisonous mushrooms, Vladimir’s face turned ashen. Even with his Duke-level strength, the combined effects of the four toxins made his body sway slightly.
Mike rolled his eyes, piercing through Vladimir’s act, “Who are you trying to fool? The mushrooms are still in your stomach, not digested. Stop dawdling!”
“It’s about the ceremony!”
With that, Vladimir’s face turned green, this time genuinely poisoned.
Simultaneously, he skillfully cut open his own artery, letting the 130°F hot blood gush out.
Hot Blood Edition: Vampire Duke, Limited Release!
A real man bleeds ten tons. No big deal!
Mike turned his head away.
He was squeamish about blood and couldn’t stand such a gruesome scene.
The blood dripped onto the ice, immediately melting it.
The blood didn’t spread but flowed straight down, not a drop wasted.
Clearly, the creature couldn’t resist the delivered food.
Seeing everything going smoothly, Mike instructed, “You keep bleeding here. I’ll go explore
the icy plain.”
Vladimir, gnawing on a chicken leg in his left hand and stuffing a piece of iron into his mouth
with his right hand, nodded, “Leave it to me. Don’t worry.”
After Mike left, Vladimir looked at the ice, his gaze deep.
“Could it be you?”
“Old bastard, I can smell your stench even through the ice.”
“You’re trapped in an endless cycle too. Haha, I can’t wait to see what you look like now…”
…
In the distance, on the icy plain.
Subtitles appeared before Mike’s eyes.
The subtitles revealed Vladimir’s inner thoughts, even with tone markers.
Due to the soul contract, the [Eye of Truth] could achieve this level of detail.
No one else would get this treatment.
Mike smiled and shook his head,
“This guy has never been honest!”
Clearly, Vladimir might know the creature beneath the ice.
From the moment he learned the creature craved blood, Mike had been pondering this.
The three Supreme Beings had speculated that every ten floors, the story might be connected!
But the story of [Cetus] and [Mistveil Castle] seemed unrelated!
Until the creature beneath the ice appeared, making Mike realize a possibility:
The story of Mistveil Castle was a daily cycle.
And the story on the icy plain might be a periodic cycle!
Cetus repeatedly performing whale falls, the Ice Village repeatedly nearing extinction…
And the hidden boss of this level might know Vladimir!
They might come from the same place.
Looking at it this way, it’s like ten puzzle pieces trapped in a time loop. Only an SSSSS rating
can break the endless cycle.
When all cycles are broken, what will the completed puzzle reveal?
His thoughts ended there.
Mike had only experienced two instances so far, and the information was still too limited.
Trying to deduce the full picture of the Tower of Truth from this was impossible.
The secret behind these ten instances plus the zeroth floor might be the ultimate secret of the
Tower of Truth!
Mike could only proceed step by step.
On the icy plain, besides Mike, there were no signs of life.
Even his footprints were quickly covered by the falling snow.
Walking aimlessly on the boundless icy plain, Mike didn’t know which direction to go.
It was an instinct for map exploration driving him.
He had seen the Sea of Life, a creation of Morpheus.
He wasn’t interested in what Apollo had done on the twentieth floor!
What about Ares?
He must have left something on the twentieth floor.
With this doubt, Mike wandered the endless icy plain. Suddenly, Mike stopped, looking down at the abyss beneath his feet.
The icy plain had split in the middle.
A canyon over fifty yards wide appeared before Mike, its depth unfathomable.
Not just a canyon, the icy plain ahead was shattered, as if slashed by a sharp weapon.
On the opposite ice wall, there were words!
Mike raised his hand to shield against the snow and looked forward.
On the opposite ice wall, in familiar irritable handwriting, it read: “Why leave so much nonsense? Just slash it!”