Crying, wailing, and indistinct curses came from the gray, dull factory not far away.

That was Duke Eleanor’s money-making tool, the background sound of the Blood Beast Factory, day after day.

Enchanting Demon Mengya turned a deaf ear to it; she couldn’t even be bothered to glance in that direction.

The goblin Stinkfish beside her didn’t even twitch an ear; they had long learned to treat those noises like the sound of the wind or something similar.

The two walked forward along the straight stone-paved road, aiming for the center surrounded by the group of factories—a towering spire.

After walking no more than twenty steps, the noise behind them abruptly stopped. Every Blood Beast Factory was surrounded by a soundproof magic array.

Ahead, the tower drew increasingly closer.

It was very tall and stood out in this area dominated by low factories.

But what was truly special wasn’t its height, but the mycelium attached to its surface and the few big mushrooms growing on it.

Those who didn’t know might think this tower had been abandoned and untended for years.

But in reality, this tower was newly built.

It’s just that the one living inside... was from the Mushroom Race.

"The color of these mushrooms is getting darker," Mengya said casually, looking up at the giant mushrooms, "they’re almost black."

Stinkfish lazily lifted his eyelids for a glance upward and let them droop back down.

"Mm."

He didn’t look a second time, completely unconcerned about the color change of the mushrooms.

When they reached the base of the tower, Mengya’s steps suddenly halted.

A familiar figure was coming out of the tower door.

Tall, indifferent, with a face always wearing an expression she despised the most.

It was her former boss, the enchanting demon team leader of the intelligence group, Salina.

During Mengya’s years in the intelligence group, this boss never showed her a good face; promotions didn’t fall to her, but the hard, outsourced jobs did, making Mengya always feel that the other woman was envious of her tail’s more attractive shape, thus deliberately making things difficult.

However, ever since she returned with Lord Thirteen, she no longer had to put up with Salina’s attitude.

The Duke arranged for her and Stinkfish to take care of Thirteen. Although the work involved was that of a servant, her status was much higher than that of an ordinary intelligence group leader.

Thinking of this, Mengya neither shifted nor avoided, walking straight to stand before Salina.

She tilted her head slightly, gazing at the other person with a faint, mocking smile.

Salina, apparently not expecting to encounter her in such a place, was even more surprised that Mengya would block her path.

That perpetually haughty face momentarily registered shock, then shame and anger surged almost simultaneously, causing her cheeks to flush slightly.

She gritted her teeth, wanting to curse, but ultimately she lowered her head.

"Mengya Manager."

Her voice was so low it was nearly indistinct, but she managed to utter the words.

Mengya let out a satisfied "hmph," motioned with her hand, and let her leave.

Salina almost fled past her, walking briskly away.

"Childish." Stinkfish had already reached the tower door, not even bothering to turn his head.

Once the two demons reached the top of the tower, their demeanors changed again.

Stinkfish directed other servants to bring lubricant oil, while Mengya personally attended to maintaining Thirteen’s mushroom body.

They were currently aligned with Thirteen; the more Duke Eleanor valued Thirteen, the better their treatment would be, so naturally, they served Thirteen diligently and conscientiously.

Unfortunately, Mengya didn’t know that Thirteen only gave her technique a barely passing score of 62, unable to compare with Pink Puki.

However, Thirteen considered itself not to be a weakling Puki obsessed with kneading like No. 4; it had higher pursuits of pleasure.

When no one was watching, Thirteen’s tentacle lightly touched the ankle of a passing servant.

In an instant, negative emotions such as fear, despair, and pain overwhelmed the half-vampire servant, causing her to drop the can of lubricant oil in her hand onto the ground. She clutched her head, squatting on the ground, emotionally collapsing and crying in agony.

[Negative Energy Collection]

Thanks to the several Blood Beast Factories around this tower, Thirteen stored the massive amounts of collected negative emotions in the mushrooms within the tower.

Occasionally toying with a few individuals like this was a small amusement for Thirteen during the painstaking period of luring big prey.

Others glanced over one after another, and the big prey who had just ascended also witnessed this scene.

The Duchess’s originally gentle smile quickly vanished, and she coldly looked at the subordinate weeping in despair, waving her hand as two guards behind her escorted the "unworthy" away.

After dealing with the subordinate who embarrassed her, Eleanor then donned a smile and approached Thirteen to discuss her territory’s progress.

Lately, it was a mixture of joy and worries for Eleanor.

Because of the Holy Scripture affair, she was recently reprimanded by the Emperor and had a batch of elite troops forcibly reassigned from her command to compensate for her mistake.

This reduced her forces by nearly half.

Fortunately, her duchy was located deep within the territory, not facing pressure from enemy nations, and the only threatening coastlines, with the help of Puki, not only repelled the bothersome Chis but also restored some maritime routes.

Meanwhile, in trade, thanks to Puki again, she had started selling delicious mushrooms!

Although nearly half of the upper echelons in the Empire were of the Blood Race, the proportion of Blood Race was significantly lower in the middle and lower strata.

Among these non-Blood Race individuals, a large portion pursued delicacies like delicious mushrooms for their gourmet desires.

However, it was impossible for the Empire to import such delights from enemy countries such as humans or dwarves, so Eleanor seized the opportunity, capitalizing on the fungal mat spread by Thirteen to establish a monopoly on delicious mushroom trade within the Empire.

This earned her considerable wealth and alleviated her financial crisis.

For a moment, it felt as though she had returned to the time when she controlled most of the blood trade in the Empire.

But Eleanor did not indulge in this brief joy.

In terms of warfare and politics, she might not always excel, but in business acumen, she was indeed considered the best among the Twelve Pillars of the Empire.

She was well aware that the delicious mushroom trade was not something that could last long.

Just look at the humans; from initially selling ordinary mushrooms at a high price to bags of delicious mushrooms barely worth anything now, it only took a year or two.

Whether the Empire eventually annexed the dwarf or human territory, or other lords sensed the business opportunity and joined in, the trade of delicious mushrooms, given its low cultivation threshold, was destined not to last.

She had to find a new way before then.

This time, she came to see if she could squeeze anything useful out of her beloved Thirteen.

Faced with Eleanor’s inquiry, Thirteen endeavored to hide all its malice, appearing to ask casually in return, "Then why don’t you do like that Westerner, what’s his name, and make some delicious blood?"

Sure enough, Eleanor’s scarlet eyes immediately brightened: "Good Thirteen, do you mean you know how Sigmund’s ’Blood Jade Wine’ is made?"

Seeing Thirteen nod its mushroom cap slightly, Eleanor grasped Thirteen’s round mushroom body and immediately realized her own impoliteness, withdrawing her hand.

However, the eagerness in her eyes did not diminish at all.

Thirteen pressed a telepathy stone against Eleanor’s cheek and explained, "I guess it relies on a skill randomly mutated after symbiosis with the mycelium!"

"A skill randomly mutated after symbiosis?"

"Yes, the symbiotic mycelium; there’s a chance of acquiring different skills. That Westerner Duke probably selected out blood donors with a delicious effect."

Eleanor showed a look of sudden realization.

The first thing she thought of was those tribal people surviving the cold waves in the Northern Territory, supposedly bearing traces of mycelium symbiosis, likely because they acquired [Cold Resistance]!

And if she could master the method of making Blood Jade Wine, she could truly regain control over the Empire’s blood trade!

This couldn’t help but excite her: "Then what are we waiting for? Good Thirteen, dear Thirteen, let’s start making it quickly!"

Thirteen, however, put on a troubled look: "The mutation skill is uncertain and requires a lot of trial and error, and it’s so troublesome."

Eleanor couldn’t allow Thirteen to only enjoy without doing work, so she immediately promised, "Thirteen, you help your sister this time, and afterward, whatever you want your sister will agree to! As for the ’materials’ needed for trial and error, don’t worry, aren’t there plenty around this tower? As long as you can produce delicious blood, even if you kill them all, it doesn’t matter!"

"Really... anything?"

"Of course!" For the sake of Blood Jade Wine and to contend with Sigmund, Eleanor agreed without hesitation.

Thirteen extended a tentacle, touching this big prey’s hand again, enduring the trembling of its mushroom body, and, in a cute tone, said, "Then I’ll do my best, big sister Eleanor~ "