The front desk clerk buried her head between Liu Zheng's legs.
One hand cradled his hoof while the other held the boning knife.
Flakes of keratin were shaved off, scattering onto the spread-out paper below.
After removing the dead skin, the front desk clerk found sandpaper to polish his hoof.
Liu Zheng nodded in satisfaction as he looked at his refreshed hoof.
"Master, can you let me go now?"
The front desk clerk pleaded pitifully. The rıghtful source is 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✶𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲✶𝗻𝗲𝘁
"Human, don't test my limits."
The front desk clerk bared her fangs.
"Want to turn hostile? Fine. Vlad III's heart blood tasted pretty good, I wonder how yours would taste?"
Liu Zheng said without any fear.
Now it was the front desk clerk who had broken the rules, and with his Legendary Vest bonus, he might not necessarily lose if they really fought.
"What exactly do you want?"
The front desk clerk asked warily.
"I already polished your hooves for you!"
"Someone once said that Japanese invaders respect strength but not kindness, and vampire invaders should be similar. If I don't make you suffer a bit, you won't truly submit."
"I submit, I really do submit."
The front desk clerk said hurriedly.
"I don't believe you. Don't worry, I won't kill you - you're still useful to me."
Liu Zheng grinned cruelly and inserted the knife into her mouth.
"Your teeth are nice, let's start with them."
The front desk clerk let out a terrified scream, but it was useless against his ruthlessness.
Liu Zheng showed no mercy even to himself, so why would he show mercy to enemies?
Ten minutes later, the front desk clerk sat slumped on the carpet, having lost ten fingers, four fangs, and two ribs.
The greed in her eyes was gone, replaced only by fear.
Liu Zheng wiped the blood off the knife with his tentacle.
"No, please don't pull any more teeth."
The front desk clerk cried indistinctly.
"Who said anything about pulling teeth? The Mermaid's father commissioned me to woo his daughter, I need your help."
"But I'm not familiar with the Mermaid, how can I help you?"
The front desk clerk felt relieved but then said speechlessly.
"That's your problem. Besides, you're colleagues after all, surely you know something about her?"
He said domineeringly.
"I'm the front desk clerk, she's the DM, what could I possibly know..."
The front desk clerk complained, but judging by Liu Zheng's expression, she couldn't avoid helping with this.
"Here, no rush, think while having some coffee."
He smiled and took out a cup of Unlucky Coffee for her.
Every coffee purchase required having your face opened up, so Liu Zheng naturally hadn't bought just one cup.
With Unlucky Coffee to drink, the front desk clerk's expression improved considerably.
She even complained internally - if you had just bribed me with coffee earlier, none of this would have happened, why go through all this trouble?
If Liu Zheng knew what she was thinking, he would have scoffed.
Didn't he understand these supernatural residents? If you didn't subdue them first, they'd never talk properly.
"I've got it - she seems to really enjoy hosting Werewolf games. If you can perform exceptionally well in Werewolf, she might view you differently."
After some deep thought, the front desk clerk said.
Liu Zheng rubbed his chin.
He had played Werewolf before, even been quite enthusiastic about it for a while.
His skill level was decent - he'd even won second place in Jiang City's Werewolf competition.
But he had one problem - he couldn't play as a wolf.
When playing as a villager, identifying three wolves in one round of discussion was routine.
But when playing as a wolf, getting voted out in the first round was commonplace.
Even when people didn't suspect he was a wolf, they'd often vote him out anyway.
The gaming experience was terrible.
The reason he only got second place was because of this.
"Is there any way to ensure I only get villager roles?"
The front desk clerk looked reluctant.
But this precisely indicated she could do it.
"Take this money first, buy yourself some reassuring blood to drink."
He took out a stack of cash and slapped it against the front desk clerk's chest.
Hmm, excellent load-bearing capacity.
"I don't need money, and besides, it's not easy to accept here."
The front desk clerk discreetly pointed upward and returned the money to Liu Zheng.
"Then what do you want?"
"You just said you've drunk Vlad III's heart blood."
"I didn't drink it, but I obtained some."
"Could you get another bottle?"
The front desk clerk asked expectantly.
"Your asking price is a bit high, don't you think?"
That was a Perfect-grade item - Bullhorse almost got beaten to death by the White Feather Chicken for it.
"I just want one sip, just one sip is enough."
The front desk clerk said hurriedly.
"One sip or the whole bottle makes no difference."
The front desk clerk went back to the counter and took out a thick stack of cash from her bag.
"Here's 120,000, all my hard-earned savings over the years."
"You've only saved this much after all these years?"
Although the salary level in this world wasn't high, she was a vampire after all.
Even saving just 10,000 per year would amount to millions after centuries.
"I've only worked for five years, saving this much is already quite impressive."
The front desk clerk said somewhat aggrievedly.
"Then what were you doing for the centuries before that?"
"What centuries? I've only been turned into a vampire for six years."
The front desk clerk said.
"Huh? So you're a late bloomer."
"Yeah. And not long after I became a vampire, my blood father got captured by hospital people before I could inherit any property."
The front desk clerk said pitifully.
"Why would hospital people capture your blood father?"
"I heard they took him to use as a dialysis machine."
The front desk clerk said.
"Uh... I guess that's professional matching."
"Forget about him, that old thing didn't have good intentions when turning me anyway. Is this money enough?"
The front desk clerk asked.
"Then I can't help it, this is all the money I've saved by pinching pennies. I can't even afford fresh blood, only getting decent meals when stupid customers come by."
The front desk clerk said regretfully.
Not sure if she regretted not having enough money, or regretted that Liu Zheng wasn't stupid enough.
"Not completely impossible though. Leave me your number first, I'll contact you when the time comes."
Liu Zheng thought for a moment and said.
Since Bullhorse wanted to get into smuggling, he'd need subordinates, and the front desk clerk seemed quite suitable.
Of course, he'd only make a recommendation - what happened afterward would be up to them.
The front desk clerk gave him her number.
Her attitude was very obedient.
"That's more like it. If you have no money or power, why become a vampire? At least become a boss first."
Liu Zheng patted the front desk clerk's face.
She nodded accommodatingly, though her true thoughts remained unknown.
Of course, he didn't care.
In any world, exchange of interests and deterrence of strength were the most stable foundations.
"Esteemed guest, are you looking to book the nearest Werewolf session?"
The front desk clerk suddenly stood up and said loudly.
While speaking, she winked at him.
"Ah, yes, can I get a spot?"
Although unsure what was happening, Liu Zheng played along.
"Yes yes, with you we happen to have exactly 12 players for the sheriff election."
With hurried footsteps, a woman in a qipao ran down from upstairs.
Liu Zheng compared her to the photo - though her makeup was heavy, it should be the Mermaid.
"Okay, let's play a round then."
"Wait a moment, I need to change clothes first."
The Mermaid finished speaking and rushed toward the changing room.
"See, I wasn't wrong."
The front desk clerk raised her eyebrows, saying silently.
Liu Zheng gave her a big tentacle thumbs-up.
"Don't forget about the role assignment."
He also mouthed the words.
The front desk clerk gave him an OK gesture.
Though without fingers it looked more like a raised fist, the meaning got across anyway.
A few minutes later, the Mermaid came running out.
Not only had she changed into casual clothes, but her makeup and hairstyle had changed to a pure-desire style, plus she wore red-frame glasses.
Hiss, now this commission became absolutely necessary.
"Hurry hurry, they've been waiting forever."
The Mermaid grabbed his tentacle and pulled him toward the second floor.