On the eve of the storm

  Weist knelt respectfully on the smooth floor and said in a respectful tone: "Honorable Speaker, that's how it is."

  Kuroba, who rarely spoke, walked back and forth on the high platform a few times before suddenly turning his head to ask: "So, what's your impression of Jester? Vester, tell me your intuition, don't analyze it, just what you feel. Tell me."

  Vester hesitated for a moment, thought carefully and almost word by word replied: "Jester is already a dead man."

  The lawmakers and senior clerks of the Dark Council looked at each other, a black sorcerer with a black cat in his arms was about to teach Vest a lesson. The Speaker grunted: "Silence, silence, not good... Vest, tell me why he's already a dead man? Even if he's dead, we can still use him, we can turn him into an undead knight, haha..." The Speaker made a rare joke, and the subordinates couldn't help but laugh. Suddenly, all sorts of unpleasant laughter erupted: guffaws, snickers, and cackles.

  "Sir, Jester... his heart is dead. Can you imagine? A young man trained by the Church from a young age, taught in rigid etiquette and filled with cheap notions of justice, now a thug, a rascal, an addict, and judging from his eyes and the stench on his body, a drunkard as well. A young man who once had hopes of becoming the 13th Holy Knight is now like this... And his heart has long turned to stone; he laughs, he gets angry, he cries, he worries, but it's all just a facade. The real him is already a walking corpse."

  The chairman muttered in a low voice: "That doesn't necessarily mean he's like that."

  "Vester said in a low voice: 'I'm sure, sir... my wife, that innocent Baroness was burned to death, exactly one hundred years ago, I and Jester are the same.'"

  The entire dark hall suddenly fell silent, with pairs of extremely sympathetic eyes looking towards Wester. Yes, the kind of truly sympathetic gaze that is rarely seen in normal society appeared on these people who vowed to destroy what they called the "bright world".

  The chairman nodded and said, "Sorry, Wester, but for the sake of the council's interests, please continue with your judgment... Let past hatred drift away like the wind, don't accumulate it in your heart, understand? You can stand up and speak now, this is a special privilege given to you by me, the chairman of the Dark Council."

  Vester slowly stood up and said in a low voice: "99% hatred, and 1% love, that's what keeps Jester alive in this world. He wants to destroy the Church, that's what I see, but he still has something that he can't let go of, that's what I don't understand, I don't know who his love is directed at since his lover died. Sir, maybe Jester is a pure human being, and I'm not capable of understanding his emotions."

  The Speaker extended his hand, commending him: "No, you've done a great deal already. You're one of the most astute two or three of all our external agents, Wester. It's strange that Jester can serve an ordinary person... why is that? Well, we must consider every aspect, we must be cautious, because if we give him control over one-third of your strength, he might lead people to storm the Vatican directly... We need to examine every aspect, what do you think about that Chinese man?"

  Vester's forehead was beaded with sweat, and the not-too-bright vampire's head spun wildly for a moment before he stammered out: "Fear... I have an inexplicable fear of that Chinese man... Maybe it's the innate intuition of our vampire family, but I'm afraid of him. I don't even dare to talk to him too much... He, I, I just can't see through what kind of person he is."

  With a heavy sigh, Wester said: "He's a weird guy, the head of another black society, generally not like him, he seems to want to plunder everything he can get, power, status, money, everything. He has a very strange ambition... No, maybe it's a revenge mentality, who knows what he's avenging? Damn it, I don't know what kind of bastard this is... A bastard who makes the strongest and most elite 'Black Devil' unit in Germany his subordinate."

  The hall was silent for a long time, and then the voice of the speaker sounded: "It's really interesting, it's really very interesting... Ah ha, you gave Jester a month's probation?"

  "Weist nodded slightly and said: I made the decision in accordance with the absorption method of top-level objects, ordinary peripheral members need a probation period of two to three years."

  The chairman said in a low voice: "Alright, did you agree to those conditions?"

  Wyatt sighed: "He won't let go of the leader of the German branch, I promised to arrange a fair duel for him, and this still needs you to decide."

  The chairman's strange smile appeared: "Alright, for Jester's joining, a small duel is deserved. And we shouldn't tolerate those who harm our interests, the Shakle family, what a powerful force they are! As long as they exist, the Vatican won't dare to put all their energy on us. But that bastard... Hmph, Jester doesn't need a month's probation period anymore, now, right now, I'll absorb him as an official member of the Dark Council, enjoying the position of Second-Class Executor of Foreign Affairs, and not subject to our restrictions. Does everyone agree?"

  "A voice immediately rang out: 'Opposed, Honorable Speaker, why? Giving him power and status I do not oppose, but if he is not subject to our control, then where is the dignity of our council?'"

  The Speaker burst out laughing: "Saka, you need to learn a bit of human cunning. If the Vatican is an impregnable fortress, Jester is just a small hole in the wall. Got it? We need him to muddy the waters, we need him to undermine the Vatican's power, and I believe he can do it. Who says I'm not controlling him? Hehehe... The Dark Council, isn't it that simple?"

  Everyone stared blankly at the Speaker, who lightly tapped his wooden staff on the ground and said in a low voice: "Michelle from the Philippe family, come out."

  A petite figure with a serene and beautiful face, long black hair falling straight down to below her hips, and big blue eyes walked out of the darkest corner of the grand hall, proudly nodding slightly at the chairman.

  The surrounding council members whispered among themselves: "The Philippe family? Those vampire aristocrats who, like the Schakel family, refused to join the council?"

  The Speaker smiled slyly: "The Philippe family has officially joined our council, their patriarch will become our thirteenth member. Michelle will become Jest's deputy... Heh heh... I once saw that little girl from the Shakle family, Michelle looks very similar to her, huh?"

  Meng Xue'er slightly furrowed her slender eyebrows, discontentedly hummed a sound, and muttered to herself: "It should be that maid who is as I imagined?"

  "Ah, Mr. Speaker, you are indeed clever! Hehe, that little Jester won't be able to escape our control. Of course, we need to give him a certain number of men. Too few would show disrespect, but if I really gave him one-third of my subordinates, I'm afraid all the churches in England would be destroyed by tomorrow morning."

  The chairman thought for a moment, nodded and said: "Well, since he has a good impression of vampires, let's give him 100 high-level vampires. The power is sufficient, but not very strong. Michelle will be his deputy to command these people... Hmm, tell me all about his every move."

  Michelle, dissatisfied, swung her body around. As the youngest daughter of the powerful Philippe family, this little girl was spoiled to an extreme degree on a daily basis. Now she had to go and be someone's subordinate? It seemed like she even had to seduce him herself? Just thinking about it made Michelle want to claw the chairman of the Dark Council to death, but...she probably couldn't beat him, so for now, she would spare his life.

  Weist bowed slightly and left with Michelle.

  In Rome, Fabio has completely taken over all the businesses of the Angetti family and is now preparing to take out a few small families in Rome to expand his territory.

  Just as he was about to launch a major attack, Cain found him and said coldly: "The boss has something for me, I have to rush back to London immediately, I'll take twenty 'Black Magic' squad members with me."

  Fabio was taken aback: "No, Cain, oh my god, you're leaving now? What about the things I'm dealing with here? You're taking so many people away at once. Never mind, never mind, let me talk to Yi and ask you to stay."

  Cain shook his head and said, "One hundred soldiers from the 'Black Magic' company have already departed from London. They will greatly enhance your strength. Major Schtrengart will stay in Rome as commander. Don't worry, these men can easily take down five hundred professional soldiers with one hand... As for the other Roman families' gunmen, even a thousand of them would be sending themselves to death."

  Fabio put down his heart and smiled: "That's great, oh, Cain, you go, don't worry about me, I'll handle things here... Of course, I still have some small gifts for Mr. Yi, would you mind taking them with you?"

  "Alright, I'll definitely bring it."

  Fatadiou contacted his boss for a while, blinking his eyes and said: "The boss actually sent 230 people to the United States in batches... Does he want to blow up the New York Stock Exchange?"

  "Damn it, 230 people? Do I still need to bring people over? Forget it, Ali was probably shot and is in a bad mood, now he's looking for someone to vent his anger on. Whatever, I just have these few direct subordinates, and bringing twenty people over will do, no need to make a big fuss, otherwise the US government will intervene."

  Fatadio nodded, and Mr. Phil had already walked in with a strange expression: "Boss, Wester brought a little girl over and said... she's looking for Mr. Jester."

  Yi Chen was taken aback, and it would have been fine if Vest came over alone, but bringing a little girl along, what did he mean? Did he think this place was a nursery? Fatadi saw that Yi Chen's expression wasn't quite right, so he hastily smiled and said: "Ah ha, I just remembered, since we're going to London soon, I'll go get some exercise before we leave. You have things to attend to, take your time, no need to find someone to accompany me."

  Yi Chen watched as Fatadio walked out, nodded lightly and said with a strange smile: "Phil, pull Jester off the bed and throw him over to me. Hmm, please ask Mr. Weist and that little girl to come over, I think we're going to have some fun."

  Phil walked out, and after a while, Gore brought Wester and Michelle in. Yichen stood up warmly, stretched out his hand enthusiastically, and shook Wester's hand hard, saying: "Ah ha, welcome, welcome! Look, Mr. Ouf has been making a big splash recently, are you satisfied?"

  Weiss smiled and shook hands with Yee, introducing: "Miss Miserella, this is..."

  "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. When Mr. Jester arrives, you can talk to him then. Please sit down, please sit down. Would Mr. Wester still like some port wine? And what would Miss Michelle like? Juice or milk?"

  The anger in Mihua's heart, she felt uncomfortable all over when she first saw Yichen's smiling face, and always felt that there was something under Yichen's smile that made her afraid for no reason. But, but Yichen actually asked her if she wanted to drink juice, this anger... Mihua forcibly restrained herself, revealing a charming smile and said: "Thank you, I'm already grown up, I drink wine."

  Yi Chen took one glance and saw through Mishielle's mind, sneering to himself: "Damn it, another little vampire. But she looks like she's only 16 or 17 years old? In a vampire family, at this age... No wonder she dislikes me looking down on her. This little girl is too easy to deal with. What did Vest bring her here for? To use her charm to seduce Jester? No... Jester doesn't have that kind of charm yet. And if they wanted to use a beauty to seduce someone, it would be more suitable to seduce Chikov."

  Yi Chen smiled and said, "Sorry, Miss Muxue, uh... Mr. Ge Er, make a cup for Miss Muxue, haha, but girls all like colorful ones, which cocktail color do you think is the most beautiful?"

  Mishuella raised an eyebrow, suddenly finding that Yichun wasn't so despicable after all. She twisted her small head to look around, then suddenly jumped up and landed under the frame of "Sleeping Lotus", examining it carefully. Yichun pretended not to see the fact that Mishuella had jumped three meters away with a light leap, while Weisi's heart was filled with cold sweat, wanting to strangle this little girl who had been causing trouble all along. Sending a mature female vampire might have a higher chance of success? But sending such an ignorant but pretending-to-be-know-it-all little girl, Weisi didn't have high hopes for the outcome.

  Yi Chen looked at Visor and casually asked: "You came to London, is there something going on? Or are you visiting Mr. Ouf?"

  West looked at Yichun, nodding repeatedly and said: "Mr. Ouf has been doing very well recently, thank you for your efforts. This... I won't bother him anymore. Hmm, hmm, the thing is, I discussed some things with Mr. Jest last time, this..." West's heart was suffocating, if he had met Jest first, the matter would have been settled already, but why did he meet Yichun instead? How could he explain throwing a little girl into Jest's arms? Damn it, did Yichun know about Jest's history?

  Weiss was depressed, depressed... while Yicun was laughing more and more happily, chatting endlessly with Weiss, from French wine to a restaurant in Rome that serves delicious spaghetti.

  After chatting idly for fifteen minutes, Phil reluctantly walked in with a similar gait to Jester's, plopped Jester down on the sofa next to Wester, and then couldn't help but take a deep breath, shaking his head as he stood by the door.

  Gore gently placed a colorful cocktail on the coffee table in front of the sofa, Jester muttered and fell onto the sofa with his head, picked up the cup. Michelle turned back, just in time to see Jester drink the beautiful cocktail that was supposed to be hers in one gulp.

  Mihua almost jumped over with a fierce cry, jumping three or four meters at a time, and rushed to Jester's ear, roaring: "This wine is mine."

  Weist clutched his face in despair, while Yichen leaned back on the sofa with an evil grin, pulled out a cigar, lit it with the lighter handed over by Ge Er, and began to smoke leisurely, purely enjoying the spectacle.

  Jester lazily opened his eyes, humming: "There's no name on it, what's the big deal..." Jester's whole body shook violently, almost jumping up like he had been electrocuted. But he immediately collapsed again, rummaging through his upper pocket to pull out a large hemp hand and extending it towards Goll.

  Gao Er lit a marijuana cigarette and handed it to Jie Si, who took a drag and blew the smoke directly onto Mi Xue's face. With a dirty mouth, he said: "Little girl, you're already learning how to drink like a man, but you're still so fierce, no one will dare marry you in the future."

  Weist's throat let out a strange "giggle" sound, Yi Chen's face smiled like a fox, and Ge Er simply pushed his wine cart away, he didn't want his good wine to be ruined all of a sudden.

  Mishelle's eyes flashed with a crimson light, her right hand formed into a knife shape and stabbed directly at Jester's heart. Vester shouted: "Mishelle!"

  Jester's eyes flashed with a fierce light, his right hand twisted lightly, like it had no bones, and wrapped around Miel's arm. He then gave Miel a light slap on the shoulder. Miel cried out in pain, took several steps back, and almost sat down on Yi Chen's body. This ferocious little girl suddenly burst into tears: "It hurts so much! You bastard, you're bullying me... I'm going to call Uncle and them to kill you, break your bones and feed them to Hali." Hali was a giant crocodile over 20 meters long in the Philippe family's castle.

  Yi Chen reached out from behind her and gently massaged Meixue's shoulders, smiling and saying: "Miss Meixue, Jester has a bad temper, you'd better not mind him. You're such a noble lady, why bother with a rascal like him? Look, your face is all dirty, Phil, call Miss Feili down to take Miss Meixue over to touch up her makeup."

  Mishelle turned around, her big eyes brimming with tears, and said: "I didn't put on makeup at all."

  Yi Chen smiled and poked her cheek, saying: "Then go wash your face too... Hehe, can't let others laugh at you."

  Fei Li had already heard the noise and walked in with Sally, smiling and kissing Yi Chen on the mouth, then pulled Mi Xue Er out, Mi Xue Er suddenly saw a girl who was slightly more beautiful than herself, her curiosity rose, and she skipped and jumped to follow them out.

  Vester's heart surged with endless admiration: "Satan above, if I had this Chinese man's skill in coaxing girls, would I have ended up so miserable? Along the way, this little girl has been causing trouble and looking at people with disdain. I've already taken out nineteen unlucky devils for her..."

  "Ah, Mr. Yi, I have something private to discuss with you, and I'm really sorry about it. I know I shouldn't be hiding things from you, but this matter is related to Mr. Jester... Uh..."

  Jester exhaled a mouthful of marijuana smoke, lazily looking at Wester and saying: "Forget it, forget it, boss, I won't hide anything from him... Boss, sorry, Mr. Wester is the leader of a cult organization, I joined that cult called Dark Council... Damn, God, I don't believe in Him anymore, so I joined the cult, long live Satan... If he can bring me a joint now, he's the most lovable person." After finishing speaking, he randomly threw away the marijuana cigarette butt in his hand.

  A vile laugh sounded: "Ahah, I'll give you a big fly, do you think Chekhov is the most lovely person?" After that, only Chekhov's last words were heard as he threw several big flies at Jest.

  Jester rolled his eyes and said, "What I just said is equivalent to not saying anything... Wester, what's going on? I don't have the patience to wait for too long. Don't worry, the boss won't sell you out. If the boss really wanted to betray people, at least a thousand people in London would be locked up by now."

  Yi Chen smiled lightly and didn't say anything. He didn't say that Jester's words were wrong, but he also didn't have the slightest intention of standing up for himself.

  West looked at Yichun, Chekhov, Phil, and Goll with a mixture of helplessness and resignation. He took a deep breath and said, "Alright, I trust you... Jester, the Chairman has specially appointed you as the Second-Class External Affairs Officer, no probation period required. This is your letter of appointment, but be sure not to let certain people see it. You understand, with this letter, you can get the help of all members within our organization and command a team of one hundred people... Hmm, Miss Misha will be your deputy, coordinating your relationship with those one hundred people."

  Easi dust snatched the letter from Wester's hand, it was a small, strangely-shaped badge, made of gold and some kind of strange metal alloy, with an eerie purple color all over, on which there was a devil's head, behind which were two small skull-like wings, and in the eye sockets of the devil's head were two small red gemstones that looked lifelike.

  Weist hadn't even reacted to how quickly Yidun had snatched the badge from his hand when Jester jumped up, stomping his feet on the sofa and yelling: "Damn it, do I want such a reckless, unreasonable, and murderous little kid as my deputy? Screw you, get out, replace him with someone else, or else I'll quit, got it?"

  Felicity happened to bring in Michelle, who heard Jester's roar and let out a sharp cry herself, about to rush up and have a big fight with Jester. Felicity hastily hugged her, and for some reason, Michelle was afraid of hurting Felicity, so she stared at Jester with her two beautiful big eyes, muttering a string of curses in a strange language.

  Jester immediately retorted in the same strange language commonly used among vampire nobles. Michelle was taken aback that Jester, a human, could use this language and was already thoroughly scolded by him, on the verge of tears again.

  Yi Chen stood up, one foot kicked on Jester's calf, kicking Jester into the air, slamming him to the floor. Yi Chen said with a stern voice: "Damn it, dear Jester, you're really something, bullying a little kid makes you feel accomplished? You're despicable." Yi Chen stepped on Jester's belly and scolded him severely.

  Jester slowly got up, shrugged his shoulders at Yicheng: "Sorry, boss. But looking at this girl makes me angry... Forget it, Wester, that's all. I'm too lazy to care about what you're thinking. My business, the boss knows everything. Sigh, you've made a big mistake, heh."

  Weist looked at Jester with a puzzled expression, what big mistake? And Jester meant that the Dark Council had completely ignored Yichen, how could they know Yichen's own strength and the terror of the forces behind him with thousands of threads?

  After a chaotic afternoon, Jester finally put on the badge... However, he didn't wear it in the right place. He actually pinned the emblem of the Second External Affairs Officer, who had great power within the Dark Congress, to his waistband... Wester looked at Jester with an unteachable gaze and sighed, shaking his head.

  While Easy Dust deliberately took people down to prepare dinner, Wester secretly handed a black book to Jester and whispered: "You are the flame attribute, right? This is the Dark Council's spell for manipulating hellfire and training methods. I think you'll be interested... If you need it, go to Fessa Castle in Birmingham suburbs and find me, I'll take you to the council headquarters, there are more dark classics."

  Jester flipped through a few pages with some interest, nodded and said: "Not bad stuff... the method of practicing the Holy Power of the Vatican, I'll tell you after I've practiced this book, got it?"

  "Never mind, never mind, I understand. You have to get some assurance, right? Alright, alright, I know. Once you've mastered this local hellfire scripture, just let me know... Heh heh... Ah, that Michelle missy, I admit she's a terrible little servant girl, but since she's been assigned as your deputy, you should..."

  Jester looked at him strangely and said in a low voice, "Alright, I'll try... From now on, nothing can be hidden from my boss. Our little group, if we didn't trust each other, would have fallen apart years ago, got it?"

  Vester nodded slightly, looking around nervously and said: "I understand, I know... I'll go visit Mr. Off, since I've come to London, I might as well take the opportunity to see him... I'll give him a list of our insiders in the British Parliament, oh, right, now that Miss Mitchell and Miss Faye have left, I'd better hurry up and leave, I don't want to get into trouble."

  Weist didn't care about being rude either and didn't bother saying goodbye to Yidun, hastily rushing out.

  Just as Vest went out, Yichen walked out from the back door and said with a smile: "Jester, that Mi Xueer, huh?"

  Jie Si raised her head and looked at Yi Chen, two tears suddenly dropping from the corners of her eyes: "What do they take me for? Do they think finding a little girl who looks similar can replace me?... A bunch of idiots."

  Yi Chen smiled, sat down beside him, handed him a cigar and said lazily: "In this world, various groups are always thinking of all sorts of plans for their own interests... Ah, never mind. As your boss, as your friend, as the brother who crawled out of the bloody hell with you, I advise you one thing: the past is already gone, grasping the present is what's real."

  Jester was taken aback, Yichun had already stood up, puffing on his cigar and muttering: "Damn it, a hundred good hands from the Dark Congress? Not bad, Jester, take them all to America, damn it, we don't need any of Cain's subordinates, just let them serve as hitmen... Damn it, if we bring over the people from the 'Black Magic' squad, travel expenses, accommodation fees, food expenses, although we've made some money, we can't waste it like this..."

  "Yeah, it's still better to have these dark guild people around. They pay their own way to follow us and then serve as our free bodyguards. If they don't do a good job, we can even scold them harshly and they won't complain at all... God, these people are perfect laborers."

  Jester's eyes widened and the cigar in his mouth fell uncontrollably, almost burning a hole in his clothes.

  Jester had only one thought: if Satan and Yichens sat together, would Yichens cheat him out of his underwear? Hmm... it's a question.

  Mishell bounced in with Ferri, and Yichen had already pounced on her like a yellow weasel, saying to the little chicken: "Miss Mishell, this way, we're going to New York, are you interested?"

  Mishelle was taken aback: "New York? What kind of place is that?"

  He smiled slyly, with a benevolent elder's demeanor: "This ah, New York is the world's largest city, most prosperous, with the most fun things to do, the most developed, the most advanced, known as the financial center of this world... Inside there are many delicious foods, fun things to do, and countless famous brands, perfumes, jewelry, clothes, haha, everything you need."

  Mishelle's eyes took on a wistful look: "But just going back to play isn't interesting enough."

  Yi Chen revealed a hint of a strange smile: "Who said that? Do you know what we're doing?"

  Mishelle widened her eyes and shook her head quickly.

  "We are the dark society, we're going to New York not just for fun, we're going to avenge a family that has wronged us, we're going to destroy that family, we're going to kill every single one of them."

  "Awesome, murder, arson and robbery? Awesome... I've seen a lot of videos in the castle of Philippe, it seems that New York was also mentioned inside... Ah, there's this movie called 'The Godfather', are you that kind of person? Awesome... I'm going. Haha..."

  Yi Chen said with a sly tone, "However, if we were to go to New York, I'm afraid it would be difficult to protect you during the fight. Therefore, Miss Misha, it's best that you bring a few bodyguards along."

  Mishelle shook her head: "I don't need a bodyguard at all..." But Mishelle's simple mind suddenly remembered her father's warning: "Never show your power in front of humans." Mishelle thought to herself: "Not showing my own strength? Then I'll just be beaten for nothing? No way... Ah, right! I have 100 subordinates, don't I? Hmph, hmph..."

  Mitsy laughed: "I have someone in mind, it's that what-what configuration for that what Jester's subordinate, just call them to follow together... Haha."

  Yi Chen smiled contentedly, but found that except for Feili and Sally, including Chekhov, everyone secretly gave him a middle finger, with extremely disdainful expressions in their eyes. Feili didn't make that kind of indecent gesture, but her mouth had already curled up to the sky, and she couldn't say anything about Yi Chen's shameless behavior. As for Sally? Sally just felt that Yi Chen's behavior was bad, but where it was bad, she didn't know either, so she could only remain silent.

  "Alright, now let's just wait for Mr. Cain to return... Oh, Miss Misha, you'll definitely like Mr. Cain, he won't get angry no matter what you ask him to do... By the way, let me introduce my subordinates: this is Chikov, you can bully him as much as you want without worrying about my face... These two are Phil and Goll brothers, if you need anything, including nuclear warheads, they can get it for you... And this guy Jest, just ignore him, he's a jerk... Ah ha, slowly but surely, you'll find out what a kind and lovely person I am."

  Jester rolled his eyes and leaned back on the sofa, as if he had joined the dark council himself. It seemed that Yichen was still the one who benefited the most... But what could Jester say to someone who could scrape off a layer of oil from even a mosquito's leg?

  One hundred high-ranking vampires ran to New York? Adding the branch of the American Dark Council will not sit idly by, Jest has already begun praying for Bill's soul.