Chapter 141 Relics

Vivian rarely spoke to people so harshly. Even when she argued with Lily in the beginning, she never showed such malice. But her few words just now were basically spitting in Jean's face. Jean was stunned for a moment and didn't quite react – because he never expected Vivian to think about the issue from this angle.

Or, in other words, he never expected Vivian, as a vampire, to directly stand on the position of a complete outsider and criticize something that should theoretically be of great benefit to vampires. To any normal vampire, this was unbelievable.

Putting aside how much sense it made to pursue the original owner of ruins that had been abandoned for thousands of years, a normal vampire shouldn't have any doubts about what Jean and his people were doing (although, strictly speaking, this matter wasn't entirely proper). But Vivian was obviously abnormal from the start: she had an incomprehensibly unique view on race issues. Sometimes she would think from a vampire's perspective, showing some vampire traits, like disliking werewolves. But on certain topics, she would directly stand in a completely bystander position to consider things, setting aside her vampire identity to judge whether what others were doing was reasonable. She was a vampire with a strange "detached perspective," but she herself didn't know where this extraordinary perspective came from.

In any case, this way of thinking and these accusations made the Lucas family's messengers very embarrassed. Even Hesperiana looked at Vivian strangely: "Lady Vivian… you're scolding me too, I have half the keys here."

"That's why I'm saying, why are you meddling in this crap? It's best not to touch power from unknown sources. Who knows if it's a radiation source," Vivian glanced at Hesperiana, her eyes slowly softening, as if recovering from the momentary "detached perspective." "My words were a bit harsh, but the principle is this: the ruins don't belong to any of you, they belong to the Olympus family. Of course, you can say that the Olympus family has been destroyed so there's no need to care, but I have to remind you: Hesperus is still on the Greek peninsula. It's her own business that she doesn't want to deal with the ruins that make her sad, but you can't deny the facts."

Vivian paused, a sentimental look on her face: "I also want to remind you of something: to you youngsters (she emphasized the word 'youngsters'), the Olympus family that was destroyed thousands of years ago is a very distant and ethereal concept, but to me, they are all old friends whose voices and smiles are still vivid. I can even remember being a guest in their garden – the significance of a ruin is different for you and me. I hope you can understand this. I don't want to see the relics of old friends become tools and stepping stones to satisfy your desires."

Jean was silent for a moment, then carefully asked: "Your Excellency, forgive my impudence – what did Zeus look like?"

The nostalgic and emotional expression on Vivian's face instantly crumbled. After stammering for a long time, she slammed the table: "In short, the voices and appearances of my old friends are still here, how can you be allowed to occupy their old house – I am going into these ruins, and the people I brought must also go in!"

Hao Ren slammed his head on the table: Vivian's sincere expression just now was indeed fake. He almost thought that the girl's amnesia had really been cured. Now, a single question had left her speechless and even using classical Chinese…

Seeing that the most ancient vampire, with her eccentric temper, was so determined, and recalling the countless troublesome rumors about this vampire ancestor (mainly about her personality and stubbornness), the expression on Jean Lucas' face changed several times. Obviously, he had wavered – first when Lily reminded him to pay attention to the current situation, and then when Vivian mentioned the "legitimacy" of the ruins' inheritance rights. Both times, she had hit the traditional vampire where it hurt. He pondered for a moment, then slowly bowed and left the table: "I need to discuss this with the others, but let me state in advance: I have my own principles, and I cannot lose my own opinion just because you are a senior."

Vivian waved her hand to signal him to proceed: "I'd be disappointed if you didn't have your own opinion. Then you'd be no better than your brother."

Jean took his subordinates to a quiet room to discuss the matter. Hao Ren took the opportunity to throw out the questions that filled his mind: "Why is this matter so troublesome? Isn't it just letting him open a door… why are you so entangled? You've been discussing it for so long, why won't you cooperate?"

"Now you understand the mindset of a 'standard' vampire, right?" Vivian shook her head with a wry smile. "You think that person's insistence is inexplicable now, but placed a few thousand or even a few hundred years ago, these were all very normal concepts of honor and disgrace, and orthodox ideas. Even humans once adhered to this rigid and stereotypical way of thinking: a city-state would declare war on another city-state because one of the slaves sent had an un-tattooed heretic face, and a village would be slaughtered because someone secretly hid a heretical utensil in their home. These are all things that really happened. Heaven knows which idiot first turned these into dogmas. Anyway, ever since I was conscious, there have always been plenty of these thick-headed guys. The one you see is already one of the more flexible ones after years of evolution: at least he didn't directly start fighting when he heard Lily's identity, and he even allows other werewolves to live in the city."

"There are also werewolf-controlled shelters, where some vampires occasionally live," Hesperiana added from the side. "After all, due to the pressure of the situation, even the most inflexible people have to learn to adapt. Of course, that's easier said than done. After all, fighting from ancient times to the present, many alien races have more than just generations of blood feuds. There have been mutual slaughters, so it's difficult to completely eliminate hatred."

Seeing the others discussing this topic, Izhaks was also interested and asked Hesperiana: "How did the werewolves and vampires first start opposing each other? What about the other races? There must have been a beginning. Vivian says she can't remember, do you know?"

"Um, I don't know even more," Hesperiana smoothed her hair. "The opposition of many races seems to be innate – saying this out loud might get me scolded by other old fogeys, but I have a guess: the opposition of alien races shouldn't just be about grudges, I always feel like it's a conspiracy…"

Hao Ren: "?"

"I instinctively loathe werewolves, even though I've never actually fought a werewolf, even though I've never received orthodox vampire education since I was a child, I still hate werewolves. As long as I know someone's race is werewolf, I immediately can't help but get angry," Hesperiana looked at Lily a little embarrassed. "I don't mean to offend you, but after knowing your race, I almost couldn't control my anger. Lady Vivian made me forcibly suppress it. Of course, I'm fine now."

Lily scratched her head innocently: "Why? What grudges do I have with you?"

Hao Ren felt like he had grasped something crucial: "Wait, so if we take a vampire and a werewolf out of their respective races, raise them in an environment completely unrelated to alien races, and have them learn scientific worldviews and Marxism from childhood, would the two still immediately start fighting after meeting and introducing themselves? For no reason, just with an innate instinct, unable to hear the other's race name?"

"The purer the bloodline, the more serious it is," Hesperiana nodded. "It is said that the oldest werewolves and vampires don't even need to know each other's race. They can sense each other's bloodline as soon as they get close. A glance in the vast crowd can lead to each other uncontrollably transforming, going berserk, and then fighting to the death."

Hesperiana sighed after finishing speaking: "So these purest guys have already killed each other off. Now there's no way to verify this claim. Of course, all of the above statements have to exclude Lady Vivian: she is an exception in any case."

Hao Ren frowned, feeling that this matter was not simple. However, Lily had already seen through everything, and she jumped up and shouted: "Is there a problem with the DNA?"

Even if there was a problem, it probably wouldn't be easy to verify. Lily's statement just provided an idea. Hao Ren felt that if he really delved deeper into this issue… perhaps something happened after the aliens on Earth crossed over to this planet, and there was a lot to uncover.

The non-human races in the Dream Plane don't have this kind of obviously abnormal bloodline opposition!

At this time, Jean reappeared in front of everyone, interrupting their discussion.

"I can open the ruins gate," the vampire patriarch, who adhered to ancient etiquette, said stiffly. "This is because of the Countess's guarantee. She is recognized as the elder of all vampires and has the right to interfere in some affairs of any family. I am making this decision in accordance with the rules."

Hao Ren wanted to laugh a little: he had to give himself a step down even when yielding, and it was so obvious. This rigid guy was suddenly a bit cute.

"Then there's no time to delay, I hope to see those ruins today." Vivian nodded immediately.

Jean opened his mouth, then awkwardly turned around and ordered his subordinates: "… go prepare the holy artifacts, and get all the things needed for the opening ceremony ready before this afternoon."