Chapter 121: Rebirth Prison: Conversation with Uncle Arsen

Louis’s base entrance is located in a medical building inside the prison.

From here, taking the elevator descends fifty meters underground—don’t think this depth is shallow; in fact, one floor is only three meters high, so this is equivalent to seventeen stories down.

Moreover, building a base underground is entirely different in difficulty from constructing a building above ground.

Without family assistance, the financial cost of such a base would be enormous.

Even so, the family poured most of its wealth into it; their earlier claim of insufficient funds was due to this very reason.

While riding the elevator, the two chatted casually, but perhaps both intentionally steered the conversation toward the supernatural, soon shifting the topic there.

Unlike Uncle Max, Uncle Arsen has strong acceptance of such matters; according to him, during his years helping the family with dirty work and intelligence gathering, he’d encountered several supernatural incidents.

But since most were too weak—like mentally ill patients—hard to distinguish as real, he’d always remained skeptical.

Only a few years ago, while retrieving something for Father Karl in England, he encountered an event that completely changed his view of the supernatural.

“Over there, I met a collector. Do you know what he collected?”

“A gray vampire with giant bat-like wings, hairless, emaciated to the bone, fangs, claws, feeding on blood.”

“According to him, his father acquired it in 1897 from a cargo ship named Demeter, then still under the Tsarist regime before it became Mao Xiong, and the vampire was named Dracula, fed only small amounts of fresh blood daily, and has lived until now.”

“That was my first time learning vampires existed—and I finally confirmed the reality of the supernatural.”

“Besides that, the collector owned many other items; though most were ordinary artifacts, he was deeply interested in the supernatural, and some of them were genuinely useful novelties—I saw many of them there.”

“Wait, Uncle Arsen—if their family still keeps this vampire alive, haven’t they ever tried…?” Louis wasn’t surprised by the existence of vampires—or rather, it would be strange if such a classic monster were absent.

He just wondered: if they were keeping vampires, why hadn’t the collector’s father tried turning himself into one? After all, extended life—

“You mean becoming a vampire?”

Arsen seemed to anticipate the question; his expression didn’t change. “The flaws are too great. Vampires aren’t as elegant as imagined—they’re just bloodthirsty monsters.”

“The collector comes from a rigid, ancient family that even claims descent from King Arthur; they’d never stoop to such a thing.”

“Of course, I think there’s another reason.”

But Arsen didn’t say what that reason was.

“Since then, I’ve paid more attention to the supernatural and found countless vague legends everywhere—impossible to verify. When you actually search, most turn out to be fake.”

“Even mediums and priests? Their abilities are limited; they possess no truly miraculous power.”

“So I gradually calmed my mindset.”

“Until our family produced you—I truly didn’t expect…” Here, Arsen shook his head.

Louis then revealed some of his own background: his abilities were connected to the other side of the ocean.

Hearing this, Arsen understood.

“Ancient bloodline.”

Louis’s lips twitched slightly—Arsen probably misunderstood. But why did America, like Europe, still cling so tightly to bloodline myths? They could fabricate this so easily.

At that moment,

Click.

The elevator stopped. The two stepped out.

Before them stretched a spacious, brightly lit steel floor, illuminated by glaring incandescent lights, surrounded by dense steel structures radiating a raw, industrial aura.

What?

The sleek sci-fi aesthetic from movies?

In the 1990s, that was impossible to achieve—and Kanuo family’s wealth wasn’t sufficient. Even this underground base was only partially completed, not synchronized with the vast prison, occupying merely a fraction of it.

Even so, Louis was satisfied.

In the early stages, he didn’t need a large base—he couldn’t even gather enough researchers.

“This is the experimental zone built to your specifications—the most fortified area in this building. Inside: liquid nitrogen, flamethrowers, electric shocks, sulfuric acid, and alloy walls. Each room is an absolute cage; at least one-fifth of the funding went into these.”

“Take a look.”

“And ventilation… lighting… power…”

Arsen gave a general explanation. Louis nodded repeatedly—unquestionably, professionals were superior; the design was thorough, and he was satisfied.

Soon, the underground base cafeteria.

Though no staff had been hired yet, ingredients had been arranged in advance; Arsen casually prepared two dishes, and several decent-looking meals appeared.

Shrimp, red wine-braised steak, celery mashed potatoes, garlic pork chops…

“Louis, tell your Uncle Arsen your future plans for this place?” Arsen asked, delicately slicing a piece of steak with elegant precision.

Louis wasn’t so refined—he peeled shrimp while speaking: “I plan to store dangerous items here, like the Jason we captured earlier—you know, that thing is dangerous. Also, the doll music box Grandfather wants to use—the demon inside is peculiar.”

“Besides these, when I cultivate, I often make big moves—it’s inappropriate to do so outside.”

Arsen nodded slightly. “How do you plan to handle secrecy?”

Louis explained his new Blood Charm. He didn’t mind sharing it with others, especially family, and also disclosed his crude original plan to Yulun Ka for Uncle Arsen’s consideration.

After all, for America’s upper echelons, Uncle Arsen—a professional specializing in the dark side—understood better.

As expected, Uncle Arsen offered advice—very seasoned advice.

“For hiring, use this. Since you need secrecy, this provides better guarantees than contracts—but you should adopt two approaches. First, recruit those suffering hardship or in special circumstances.”

“Use voluntary principles: screen those willing, then identify the vulnerabilities that made them accept your terms. Gradually dissolve the Blood Charm through offerings, cultivating loyalty—these people can serve as official staff.”

“You can further screen and train elites within them—this part you must control yourself.”

“Second, those cowardly, despicable scum—no need for me to elaborate; you understand.”

“I say this to warn you: human hearts change too quickly. Relying solely on these Charms won’t control everything—it may trigger unexpected betrayal at some point.”

Louis pondered.

Uncle Arsen was right—sometimes people abandon life for certain things.

This must be used cautiously; don’t assume everyone can be controlled—that’s arrogance.

At the same time, Louis thought of Emma and other special individuals—he had no intention of dissolving the Blood Charm for them in the short term. In fact, they didn’t care about the Charm; in some ways, the Blood Charm had become a tacit understanding between them.

A twisted bond exclusive to perverts, wicked children, villains, outcasts, and heretics…

At this moment, Uncle Arsen continued.

“Don’t target high-ranking officials—maximum level should be city councilors outside a few prosperous cities, and preferably confined to Orlando or Miami.”

“Don’t think having tools means you can ignore those officials.”

“The state has countermeasures for such things. Though scattered across the entire nation, the real masters of the state are surely prepared.”

“I don’t know what their methods are.”

“But I know even Father has some bottom-line countermeasures.”

Hearing this, Louis’s expression turned strange.

Grandfather indeed had bottom-line methods—but their side effects were extremely severe.

Still, Arsen’s words reminded Louis of Grandfather’s warning: yes, as the largest violent institution, how could the state be weaker than private individuals?

And this nation belongs to big capitalists—they are the true masters, whose power must not be underestimated.

Even if all else fails, there’s still the church—there are options.

In this light, he and Yulun Ka had been too hasty.

Louis’s recent urgency, sparked by encountering Eldiki’s remnants and unlocking the visualization diagrams, settled back into calm.

Grandfather was right—I’m still young. Why rush? Slowing down isn’t necessarily bad.

He placed the last shrimp into his mouth.

All the food was finished. Looking at the clean table, Arsen raised an eyebrow. “Looks like my cooking is good.”

“Haha, Uncle Arsen’s cooking is excellent.”

“Of course, I have a friend named Lai Kete—he’s an excellent cook. I learned a few tricks from him before.”

“Then when you have time…”

“By the way, what will the prison be called?”

“This? I discussed it with Max—we’ll call it Rebirth…”

“Rebirth Prison? Sounds decent.”

“….”

After some casual chat, the two left together.

Louis personally felt this conversation was immensely beneficial; though he didn’t see Arsen’s ruthless, venomous side, he witnessed his seasoned wisdom.

But now that the new base is ready, let’s quickly move Jason and the others in—they must be eager for their new home.

Soon, that night, a large truck arrived and lowered Jason, still in his iron cage.

They brought him all the way to the underground base.

(End of Chapter)