Before departing from Earth, Ashton had requested the lich of the Eastern Palace to find a way to cure 'corpsification' disease. Since Ashton owned the Eastern Palace, the lich couldn't disobey him.
However, Ashton hadn't seen him since returning. The look on Avalina's face told Ashton all he needed to know.
"So he's missing," Ashton mumbled, "Why am I not surprised?"
"The last we heard, he was working around Contingency, gathering samples to test the fruits of his 'labour'." Avalina responded, "But then the undead population grew explosively, and we lost all contact."
"What about Nirvana? Heard from the undead authorities there?"
"Let me read their reply straight from the mail," Avalina cleared her throat, "The Attack on Contingency was an act of terrorism, and we strongly condemn it. Our best wishes are with you and your people. May Thanatos's blessing shine brightly upon you."
Ashton frowned. He more or less knew the undead empire would try to brush off the responsibility.
No sane head of state would ever admit their mistake publicly. That said, Ashton was expecting them to provide some help, you know, to clear up their image a bit.
Besides the undead, it seemed Alucard was having a tough time ruling over Vania. The noble vampires were not so happy about his 'positive stance' towards the werewolves.
After all, the animosity between the two groups was no secret. In the eyes of the nobles, the disaster was helping them to get rid of the werewolves.
Lycania was no more. Its citizens were disoriented, and the army disorganised. It was the perfect time to strike their mortal enemies down once and for all. Instead, Alucard was sending in resources and soldiers to help them.
Three mutants who allied against humans were now at each other's throats.
Their behaviour proved the theory that no matter how much brotherhood people share amongst themselves, as soon as the threat of the common enemy disappears, these so-called 'allies' would not hesitate before stabbing each other's backs.
pAn,da-n0v e1,c Ricochet and the metahumans were finding delight in watching the mutants have a tough time. Even after chasing away humans off the planet, the mutants were still as useless as ever.
However, Ricochet kept his men in check. They might find the situation to be funny, but regardless they were now part of Reaper's crew, and as a lieutenant, the captain's problems were his own.
Not to mention, they were on a planet ruled by mutants. Making fun of them would certainly not be good for their health.
"Three continents, three problems." Ashton sighed.
First was the undead situation in Contingency, which they could have handled easily if Ashton had his ship with him. The cannons and the plasma turrets should have been more than enough to clean Contingency of undead filth.
The second was trouble in Alucard's paradise. Arguably, this would be the easiest to handle since there were two things the vampires respected: Bloodline and power.
Ashton had both after being bitten by Dracula and having unparalleled strength on earth. Which meant the so-called rebellion would be suppressed as soon as he smacked some sense into a couple of 'nobles'.
Finally, arguably the worst problem of them all was confronting the culprits. Invading Nirvana would be easy; however, since only a little was known about the undead or the country of Nirvana itself, doing so would be quite bothersome. ReadNovelFull.com
Knowing that things would worsen if either of the three problems were not solved, Ashton had to get busy immediately. The first step was taking control of Vania. However, Avalina thought otherwise.
"Alucard can handle himself better than you think," She said, "Our primary focus should be on taking back lost territories for resources they have to offer... and I have someone you should meet."
"Who?"
"Just come with me for a bit. Anna could come as well as you might need her," Avalina awkwardly mumbled as the two followed her, "To be frank, I think we'll need Anna's help more than you. Please don't hate me for this."
"Why would I-" Ashton smiled; however that smile disappeared as soon as he saw the person Avalina wanted him to meet.
Ashton's rage-filled eyes locked on the woman waiting for him, and he wanted nothing more than to rip her to shreds.
"This is the big surprise you wanted to show me?" Ashton coldly asked Avalina, his voice smouldered with resentment.
Avalina could not look her son in the eyes anymore. Despite knowing Ashton would not approve of her or her methods, she went through with it.
"The fuck do you want?" Ashton ignored Avalina before turning his attention to the culprit.
"That's quite a cold greeting, even for you." The Mistress smiled, "It's good to see you too!"
That was all it took to set Ashton off. With a flash, he grabbed the Mistress by her throat and was ready to end her right then and there.
"ASHTON, DON'T!" Anna yelled in time to stop him, "It's not worth it."
In their intimate moments, Ashton revealed his past to Anna. That's how she came to know about the things the 'mistress' had done to him. For her, torture was a form of training, and it was a miracle Ashton came out of it with his mind intact.
Even then, killing her wasn't worth it. Unfortunately, Ashton did not care. Even now, when he had the Mistress in his clutches, the bitch was still smiling. There wasn't a shred of remorse on her face.
"Oi, sis. I think you broke your toy well before I got to play with him." The Mistress mumbled while struggling to free herself.
"Does he look like a toy to you?"
To Ashton's surprise, another Mistress walked inside the room. Confusion took over anger. Why the hell were two of them there?
"Tsk, I should have known," Ashton smacked his lips before easing the grip on the clone's neck, "A coward like you would never face me herself."
"You can say whatever helps you sleep, kid," Mistress shrugged, "Now then, shall we get down to business?"