Despite brainstorming for a couple of hours, all of them could only come up with two scenarios to answer Alucard's question. One, the undead were slowly evolving and hence were gaining some sort of resistance or immunity to salt, which would explain how the undead crossed the ocean.
And second, the undead had infiltrated the other continents. None of them wanted this to be true, but no one could ignore the possibility either.
This conclusion was a bit unsettling due to obvious reasons. There were undead creatures walking in their midst and no one knew about it. Something like that wouldn't have affected the werewolves much, but for the vampires, the undead's presence was nothing short of a pandemic.
Not to mention it was a direct violation of the treaty between the species which stated no species is allowed to step foot into the land belonging to other species until and unless they are invited to do so.
However, it wasn't possible for the undead or anyone for that matter, to do so without being detected. Which meant... someone, a vampire, was in on this too. It could be anyone, from a high-ranking member trying to climb the ladder by eliminating everyone or a small timer who would do so for material things.
On the outside, Alucard appeared to be normal, but inside his head, he was already making a list of the people who could do something like that. Anyone who ended up there... would not have a peaceful life anymore, to say the least.
"All of you can leave now," Alucard dismissed them with a reassuring mind, "I will handle this on my own. In the meantime, Ashton, we can start your training from tomorrow onwards. If that's okay with you."
"Thank you, your-"
"Training? What training?" Irina immediately jumped up.
For years she had begged her father to teach her the way of his sword. But Alucard declined her every time and instead sent them to get trained by the swordmasters spread across their continent.
That's why when Alucard said he would be training Ashton, she was a bit offended. In her mind, it almost felt like she wasn't worthy enough, but Ashton, on the other hand, was.
"Yes, I am training him." Alucard did not beat around the bush or tried to diffuse the situation, "But it's not because he is capable that I am doing so. Actually, it's the complete opposite of it."
"Father, we have fought against him and we know he is stronger than us-" Verina chimed in, but Alucard interrupted her.
"All he knows is using brute force. Nothing else. Since his strength far exceeds yours, it was obvious you would be defeated. That being said, unlike you and your sister, he is terrible when it comes to handling his weapon and the only reason I am teaching him is that he has to protect the two of you not the other way around."
[He is such a sly man. I like him.]
Ashton couldn't disagree with Astaroth even if he wanted to. Alucard's diplomacy was always a sight to behold and never disappointed any spectators either.
'I could learn a thing or two from him.'
[That's something I should say. As for you, you could learn an entire encyclopedia worth of things from him.]
'...'
Judging by how easily Alucard managed to calm everyone down and did not make any of them feel offended, was something to admire. Not only that, but he easily managed to get his point through to everyone as well.
In other words, what Alucard told everyone was that, while Ashton was strong he lacked the essential techniques to master his weapon. While at the same time, the sisters had the skills but did not have the strength to overpower anyone. Thus satisfying both the parties without making any of them feel slighted.
'Maybe he has an ability for-'
[That's not the case every time... some people are born with talents no one else has. Just like you.]
'Having you inside my head isn't a talent. It's called cancer.'
[...]
***
Meanwhile, somewhere in Deja.
Jonathan was walking through a dimly lit corridor. A place that was hidden from the rest of the world and only a select few had the knowledge that such a place even existed.
Even Jonathan wasn't aware of it until twelve or so years ago when he accidentally stumbled across the room that happened to be some sort of armoury. A place that must have been used during the war with humans. A place that had been turned into a secret lab since.
"Any progress?"
"Not much, your highness." A man replied, "The subject keeps rejecting the gene implants."
His face wasn't visible in the low light, but it was obvious he wasn't a werewolf. Hell, he didn't belong to any of the dominant species on the planet. For he was just an ordinary human.
However, since he was covered in some kind of a special black suit, coupled with the bad lighting, his presence was completely hidden. Had he not answered Jonathan's question, no one would even know he was inside the room.
"I want results Tom," Jonathan whispered while staring down at Mera's unconscious clone inside a pod filled with a mysterious liquid, "I already heard today's quota of excuses somewhere else. We both know it's possible. That kid is the living proof of it."
"Yes, but his existence shouldn't be possible." Tom shook his head, stepping out of the shadow, "These genes aren't meant to coexist. There must be something else inside him that's binding these genes and not allowing either of them to overpower the other two."
Jonathan sighed heavily before grabbing the human by the neck. But as soon as he realised how important Tom was, he let him go.
p
"You will feed my family to your domesticated undead creatures. I know it very well. Give me a few more weeks, I will find a way to make it work by then."
After hearing what he wanted to hear, Jonathan turned around and left the room, not suspecting anything that had been going on inside Tom's head.
"He's gone." He spoke through his communicator after making sure Jonathan was gone.
"Good. Just keep up the act. When the time comes, you'll be generously rewarded." A mysterious feminine voice replied, "Long live Nirvana."
"Long live Nirvana..."
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