Chapter 125: The System Crumbles
After those gold-digging vampires with their ulterior motives had left, the vampires who were on good terms with Adele gathered around her. Adele was a rising star in social circles, a trendsetter, and the clothes and cosmetics produced in her territory were highly sought after by nobles of all ranks.
At the White family’s party, the topic of the recent article in their tabloid naturally came up. Someone asked Adele, “Miss Blake, what are your thoughts on this matter?”
Adele was intelligent. She never revealed her true feelings, simply offering a diplomatic response. “That vampire was blinded by his sudden wealth. If only he had used a more appropriate method to purchase blood.”
Her words silenced those who had been eager to gossip. Adele then changed the subject, “Is blood really that expensive these days? I’ve always used the blood produced at my own farms, so I’m not very familiar with the market prices.”
Naturally, there were helpful young ladies willing to answer her question. “You don’t need to buy blood because the quality of the blood produced in your territory is so good, right? But blood prices have been rising in recent years. A few months ago, the bank even implemented a more refined grading system, making high-quality blood even more expensive.”
“Is that so?” Adele feigned ignorance. “The purchase price has been decreasing recently. I thought the selling price would have decreased as well.”
“No, it’s because the selling price has decreased while the purchase price has increased that many nobles are struggling to afford the tribute payments…”
Seeing the conversation heading towards a sensitive topic, Adele, swirling her wine glass, interjected, “Perhaps it’s simply a matter of supply and demand. High-quality blood deserves a high price.”
Her words, “supply and demand,” instead of ending the discussion, only fueled it. The conversation shifted to, “Has the supply of high-quality blood decreased? Is that why it’s becoming more expensive?”
“But the amount of high-quality blood we offer as tribute hasn’t changed.”
“Then where is all that blood going?”
No one answered the last question, because they all knew the answer: the blood was going to the Council of Elders, to their esteemed elders. And there was another pressing question: did the bank even have enough blood in reserve? Blood was essential for vampires. If more blood was being given to the Council of Elders, then naturally, less would be available for them.
They had sold their blood to the bank, exchanging it for money, believing that they could simply buy it back when they needed it. But now it seemed that the bank didn’t have much blood left. They decided… to go to the bank and buy some as soon as they returned. Otherwise, it would all be gone, and what would they drink then?
Adele’s subtle manipulations had played a significant role in steering the conversation in this direction. But she hadn’t done anything overtly provocative. Her words and tone suggested that she was on the Council of Elders’ side.
She had even interrupted others several times when they tried to criticize the Council.
People now thought of her as: Ah, Miss Blake. A true model noble.
The party ended, and Adele, having achieved her goal, gracefully retreated. Upon returning to Spark Farm, she was still excited. “Well? How did I do?” Facing Adele’s request for praise, Jasmine readily obliged. “You did great, Adele.”
And now it was time for Adele’s reward. Jasmine was generous, indulging Adele’s every whim, except for the blood-drinking part, which Adele found to be incredibly stingy. Adele wanted kisses, so Jasmine kissed her until she was dazed. Adele wanted pleasure, so they spent two or three days tangled in bed.
Adele still wanted to drink blood. She pleaded, her voice pitiful, “Jasmine, I only drink your blood. If you don’t let me drink, I’ll starve to death. Artificial blood isn’t enough. I can only tolerate your blood.”
It was true, but Jasmine, being mischievous, couldn’t resist teasing her. “That’s not entirely true.”
“?”
“I remember that time when I was eating spicy blood curd, you also tried a piece. Although your mouth went numb afterwards, you still swallowed it.” Jasmine had a good memory. She hadn’t forgotten that incident.
Hearing this, Adele froze. She had indeed eaten a blood clot. But! But that didn’t count! And it had only happened once!
Jasmine looked at her, her expression saying, “You’re not pure anymore, Adele.” This made Adele blush furiously. She climbed on top of Jasmine, pounding her fists against Jasmine’s chest. Although Adele’s punches were harmless to Jasmine, she still instinctively protected her chest.
“Jasmine, what are you doing?”
“Nothing,” Jasmine mumbled.
They had been lovers for so long. Adele had developed the ability to read Jasmine’s poker face. She understood Jasmine’s meaning now. Her gaze fell on Jasmine’s chest, and Jasmine instinctively puffed it out.
Adele chuckled. “Don’t worry, Jasmine. My punches won’t make your chest cave in!”
“!”
They continued to tease each other for a while. They weren’t in a hurry. After all, things took time to develop. Toppling the Council of Elders’ rule required a long-term strategy. But they didn’t have to wait too long. Vampires were notoriously impatient creatures.
Although they had long lifespans, they weren’t good at waiting. This was evident in their actions. For example, they were eager to arrange engagements for their daughters as soon as they reached adulthood. They seemed to want to get everything done quickly, then they could relax, like hamsters who had gathered enough food for winter, settling into their nests.
Or perhaps it was because they had been traumatized by famines in ancient times, their genes still carrying the instinct to hoard resources.
Anyway, the headquarters of the vampire bank was, unsurprisingly, flooded with requests for blood. And these vampires, mostly high-ranking nobles, weren’t polite. They simply threw money at the bank staff, demanding blood. The bank employees in rural areas were human, but at the headquarters and other important locations, they were low-ranking vampires.
These employees had no power to resist the nobles. They could only accept the money and hand over the blood. But a problem arose. The blood reserves in rural areas were quickly depleted, forcing the nobles to travel to the headquarters. But the headquarters also had limited reserves. To be precise, the amount of money in circulation far exceeded the amount of blood stored in the bank.
Adele and Jasmine had played a significant role in this. Because those nobles weren’t just carrying genuine banknotes. They also had large amounts of counterfeit money. Based on the amount of currency the bank’s research institute issued annually, there should have been enough blood to meet the demand. But with the counterfeit banknotes added to the equation, it was far from enough.
Unable to obtain blood, the frustrated nobles, abandoning their usual decorum, gathered outside the bank, refusing to leave until their demands were met. Adele’s informants reported that several nobles from Blake territory were among them.
Adele knew that they wouldn’t have dared to do this without her father’s tacit approval.
The bank’s security team tried to disperse the crowd, but these nobles were accustomed to getting their way, and the security team was mostly composed of low-ranking vampires, with only the leader being a noble. In a confrontation, the security team would be the ones who suffered.
The nobles, shedding their usual elegance, rolled up their sleeves and fought the security team. They had reverted to their primal instincts, relying on brute force. It was understandable. Vampire society was a hierarchy based on power. And vampires were essentially beasts, merely disguised as civilized beings.
Because there were so many nobles involved, the Council of Elders couldn’t punish them all. Instead, they appeased them, providing each noble with the blood they requested. This reassured those who had been worried about the bank’s dwindling blood reserves. But the article published in the next month’s newspaper made them panic.
It stated that the bank would be suspending the exchange of high-quality blood at the end of the month due to a system upgrade. This confirmed the nobles’ suspicions: the bank had run out of blood. And where had all that blood gone? Into the mouths of the Council of Elders, of course.
To be honest, the Council of Elders did consume a portion of the high-quality blood, but the main reason for the shortage was the abundance of counterfeit banknotes. And until now, they hadn’t realized that a significant portion of the money they had received was fake.
Besides the official newspaper, there was also the White family’s tabloid, which was much more entertaining than the Council of Elders’ dry and formal publication. The writing style was engaging and witty, with the vampires’ signature sarcastic tone. The bank’s inability to provide blood had clearly angered the author, who even wrote: If the bank has no blood to offer, then where did the blood we sold them go? If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have sold the blood from my farms.
His words resonated with many nobles. Initially, they had been reluctant to sell their blood. Vampires were greedy and selfish. How could they possibly give up their life force so easily? But the barter system was inefficient, hindering the development of vampire society. After thousands of years, they were still living like their ancestors.
It was only after the introduction of the banking system that vampire society had made significant progress. But this progress was built on trust, on the belief that the worthless paper they held could be exchanged for blood when needed.
And now, that trust was crumbling.
Adele and Jasmine didn’t have to do much. They simply had to wait and watch as the system collapsed.
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