Norton was getting taller.

This wasn't an illusion—last time he'd felt that standing up straight would make his head hit the attic ceiling. And now, when he stood upright, he needed to bend his head slightly to stand in this attic.

He really was growing taller.

And this undoubtedly meant he was advancing toward the next stage.

"Third stage? It's been so long."

Norton stood in the attic, extending his radar outward, feeling its expanded range.

The radar, or rather this Aura Pressure thing, had indeed grown, and faster than he had anticipated.

Originally only spanning ten meters, it was now increasing geometrically as he grew.

He had only grown three to five centimeters taller, yet this Aura Pressure could already radiate throughout the entire Rino City!

This was simply explosive growth, allowing Norton to clearly perceive the population count, building layout, and the growth rate of New-style Vampires in Rino City while standing in the Clock Tower.

Through the dual efforts of Priest Abraham and the Coal Ball couple during this period, the number of New-style Vampires in Rino City had exploded, now reaching double digits.

Currently, only within the Church's domain—likely due to God's holy radiance—Norton's Aura Pressure couldn't penetrate, appearing as a patch of darkness in his mind.

But even so, Norton remained quite satisfied.

"Never expected an ability I initially looked down upon could evolve to this extent. Is this really something a Vampire can possess?"

Norton stood in the Clock Tower, retracting his city-wide perception.

Although this thing didn't consume energy and could be turned on and off at will, as long as it was active, it would attract the attention and fear of people around like a searchlight. Since Norton was currently hiding in the city, it was better not to use it.

Besides, keeping this thing active made him feel nauseated.

The bottom class of Rino City weren't the oppressed honest folks as some might imagine. Or rather, not a single person among Rino City's underclass was honest!

While it was pitiable that they were oppressed by the Church, precisely because of this oppression, their animalistic instincts far outweighed their humanity just to survive. Their competition with each other and methods of mutual harm knew no bounds.

Not a single word symbolizing positive human qualities—honesty, simplicity, integrity, kindness—could be found in these people. Instead, every term describing the ugliness of human nature—violence, disgust, deceit, perversion—matched them perfectly.

Scenes of cannibalism, rape, murder, and more occurred almost constantly in Rino City's slums. Men were violent and bloody, women were deceitful and black-hearted, vividly portraying the animalistic nature of the era's lowest class in its most extreme form.

This was the era's fault, not theirs. But Norton really didn't want to watch anymore, especially with this field active—it was like Superman's super hearing and vision, constantly making him acutely aware of all kinds of scenes throughout the city, with various violent, bloody, murderous, and rape scenarios imprinted in his mind through this ability. For more chapters visit N()velFire.net

Watching too much porn is nauseating, let alone watching the darkness of this world.

After seeing so much, Norton even felt his own psychology was becoming twisted.

No wonder God is so perverted—must have watched too much!

But with this thing, Norton could leave the city at will.

The monsters in the wilderness could no longer affect him. This incredibly long-range radar-like Aura Pressure perception allowed him to clearly sense any species approaching.

But now, Norton instead didn't want to leave the city.

His Holiness Adam was absolutely right—when a person no longer worries about safety or food, they're bound to start thinking about other things.

That was exactly Norton's situation now.

When he realized he no longer needed to fear monsters outside the city or worry about the Church inside, his thoughts began to involuntarily shift.

His new vampire clan was reproducing and growing stronger, his Priest Abraham was working hard.

Norton felt that after so many years in this world, after pretending to be a beggar for so long, it was time to enjoy himself!

Since Rino City was so beneficial to him, why couldn't Rino City belong to Norton?

He, Norton, would also become a Vampire Lord!

Anyway, the Papal States were now unstable, already at the brink of chaos. If he quietly took over Rino City during this period, what could His Holiness the Pope possibly say?

Of course, this actually wasn't that important. Norton's biggest consideration was still those two Holy Knights in Rino City.

That blood which could accelerate his growth was what truly mattered most to Norton.

----

Time passed slowly, the early autumn heat gradually decreasing. Within less than two months, cold air began arriving in wave after wave.

Norton didn't know the situation within the Papal States, but conditions in Rino City were gradually worsening.

This year's heavy rains had affected the harvest. As temperatures dropped and food supplies dwindled, more and more people couldn't survive.

The Church Knights of Rino City were all stationed in the Rino City Church to protect Bishop Doxia's safety, leaving the city without supervision.

The slums had descended into chaos—murder, cannibalism, abuse, rape... tragedies occurred almost constantly, with even the air permeated by a layer of bloody scent.

Besides the famine, another species was secretly developing within Rino City.

Priest Abraham and the bat couple continuously created Vampires, causing Rino City's Vampire numbers to steadily increase. By now, not counting the Vampires within Rino City Church, those outside the city alone had reached over a hundred.

Not everyone who gained this power boost would be like Norton and Priest Abraham, knowing how to conceal their abilities and develop secretly.

Because of God's presence and the Church's accumulated authority over the years, the Church Vampires developed by Priest Abraham remained somewhat controllable—at least they knew to hide themselves to avoid exposing weaknesses.

But the Vampires created by the bats' indiscriminate attacks lacked this restraint.

Especially some former poor people—after suddenly gaining powerful strength, their long-suppressed resentment transformed into madness and perverted desires. The feeling of finally having power over others made them completely lose themselves, recklessly releasing and displaying humanity's deepest ugliness within the weaker human society.

This situation made Priest Abraham extremely furious!

"Pitter-patter..." Fine raindrops hit the Church hall's roof. Although the hall's construction materials were quite solid, faint sounds could still be heard.

In Low Bishop Goode's room, over a dozen Missionaries wearing Missionary Robes and Low Bishop Goode in his black bishop's robes had gathered.

"I remember clearly telling every one of you—hide yourselves, don't get carried away with just a little power! We have fatal weaknesses, being too arrogant most easily attracts catastrophic disaster! Why didn't you listen!"

Priest Abraham was emotionally agitated. With his roar, his already crimson eyes became even bloodier red, with even the corners of his mouth slightly tearing.

He was becoming less and less human. Through his torn mouth corners, one could even see his internal teeth becoming somewhat sharper.

Priest Abraham's crimson eyes, torn mouth corners, and protruding fangs made him look ready to devour someone at any moment, truly terrifying.

Scolded by Priest Abraham, the newly cultivated Vampires standing below all dared not speak. Even Low Bishop Goode, though gritting his teeth, had to lower his head and endure.

During this period, Priest Abraham had cultivated many Vampires. Through these Vampires he'd cultivated, he discovered a very serious problem.

That was, this Vampire cultivation mechanism seemed to have something like generational bloodline dilution.

For example, Priest Abraham himself—pale skin, emaciated figure, bloodshot white eyes, two long sharp front teeth resembling Vampire Bat fangs, tough and sharp nails. Now with some additional mutations causing his mouth to tear when opening wide, making him increasingly resemble a Vampire Bat.

But the next generation he cultivated through blood seemed to have somewhat diluted bloodline.