After this small incident, the lower-class vampires became much more obedient. Adele wasn't sure if they had truly learned their lesson or if they were just biding their time. Some time later, Adele's semester came to an end, and her evaluation results were sent off to Black Castle. However, Adele had no intention of returning; she continued working at Spark Farm.
She also began acquiring nearby farms. Although "nearby" was a relative term since the area was vast and sparsely populated, the newly acquired farms were still quite far away. Adele took Molly, a few maids, and some farm managers to the new location, while Molly contacted the commander to arrange for a new vanguard team to be stationed there. In Molly's vision, the human resistance army would one day be closely tied to Adele's enterprises. Peaceful development was one path, but peace without force was an illusion—humans still needed to retain their strength.
The commander also brought good news: after persistent research, they had invented firearms. The vanguard brought some finished products for Molly to inspect, and she tried operating them herself. Although she hadn't encountered such things before her transmigration, she had seen them often enough in TV shows and movies to understand the basics.
The test results were… quite powerful. If bullets were coated with sunflower juice, they would be deadly to vampires. Firearms could break through a vampire's defenses, and sunflowers could inflict significant harm on them. Besides vampires, they were also effective against other species. After all, everyone was still made of flesh and blood.
However, the firearms were unstable, prone to backfiring, which could injure the user. Out of the five times Molly fired, the gun backfired three times. If it weren't for Molly's special abilities, her hand might have been blown off. Although these firearms were dangerous, with continued research, they could eventually become humanity's most important weapon.
Adele also recognized the power of these firearms. While they seemed laughable now, one day they could pose a real threat to vampires. Adele wasn't concerned; in fact, she hoped to see the weak grow strong. She was a true pacifist.
This pacifist, however, had a heated argument with Molly over one issue, with neither side willing to back down. Adele insisted on naming the new farm "Molly Farm No. 2," while Molly refused, saying the name was far too embarrassing.
"How could you say that?! The name of Spark Farm was decided after listening to you, so I should be the one to name the new farm!"
"You can name it, but you can't use 'Molly No. 2.'"
Molly's gaze was cold, colder than usual. She could almost feel her toes curling in embarrassment. She also keenly noticed the "No. 2" designation, which meant that Adele hadn't given up on renaming Spark Farm to "Molly Farm No. 1."
No way! Absolutely not!
Molly did want to go down in history, but the kind of legacy she wanted was one where the records about her were ambiguous, leaving behind a code name and details of her deeds that people would admire while she remained shrouded in mystery. But with names like "Molly Farm No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4," how could she maintain any mystery?
Besides, she was a bit eccentric, but not an attention-seeker! Just thinking about having a bunch of farms with her name on them made her cringe!
But Adele wouldn't agree; she was determined to have Molly No. 2!
After a few days of frustration, Molly came up with a new proposal and approached Adele: "How about this? We both make a compromise. We can establish 'Daili Farm No. 1.'"
Adele was a bit puzzled by the name since "Daili" didn't seem to have any connection to either of their names. Molly then went on to explain, insisting that "Daili" was actually a combination of parts of Adele's name and her own.
In Molly's native language, this made sense, but in Adele's language, "Daili" had no relation to their names at all—it was just a random person's name. Still, Molly's explanation moved Adele, and she agreed to this seemingly nonsensical name.
Adele thought: Molly really does like me a lot. She wouldn't allow me to use "Molly No. 2" but came up with a name that combines both of us—how romantic is that?
In the end, the new farm was named Daili Farm No. 1.
As time passed, Adele began packing her bags to return to Black Castle. It wasn't that she was giving in to her parents, but the Blessing Festival was approaching—this was the most important holiday for vampires, and Adele had to go back for it. It was like a child running away from home after a fight, but they still had to return home for the big holidays, or things would really get out of hand.
She bought an airship ticket, made sure everything at the two farms was in order, and then boarded the airship with Molly.
As soon as Adele arrived at the port of the Black territory, she saw the familiar old car and the familiar servants. They opened the car door and respectfully invited Adele in, as if she had never had any conflicts with her family. After Adele got in the car and returned home, the head maid took Molly away, as if nothing had happened, to resume her work.
Adele first returned to her room, took a quick bath, changed her clothes, and then went to see her father. The head of the Black family didn't mention the previous issues, instead praising Adele for taking first place again. Adele wasn't surprised by this; taking first place was only natural. Having received years of education as the head of the family, Adele knew the yearly profits of her family's businesses, and comparing Spark Farm to the family's other farms, she realized how astonishing Spark Farm's revenue was.
Next semester, with her continued expansion, her performance would only get better.
After accepting her father's praise, Adele presented the management forms for her farm to him. After reviewing them, his expression changed slightly. The figures Adele showed him were even more impressive than those she had reported to the school. After carefully reviewing them, the head of the Black family didn't rush to discuss farm matters with Adele but instead asked, "I heard your farm has also brought in a lot of other races and lower-class vampires?"
"Yes."
Adele maintained a calm exterior, but inwardly, she was startled. She knew that no matter how remote Spark Farm was, her father would certainly have someone keeping an eye on it to prevent any unforeseen incidents. However, knowing this and having her father mention it directly were two different things. With just a single sentence, the head of the Black family made Adele consider: where exactly were her father's informants, and had they infiltrated her farm? Had she said anything inappropriate at the farm?
Father and daughter engaged in a round of subtle exchanges. Perhaps because Adele had just returned, the head of the Black family didn't make things too difficult for her, simply saying, "While you've been away, your mother hasn't said anything, but she does miss you. The young master of the Green family isn't meant for you; he's likely to marry into the Gordon family soon. Your mother is upset about it, and since you haven't been home in a while, you should go see her."
His mention of the young master of the Green family was his way of telling Adele that, for now, she didn't need to worry about her marriage being a bargaining chip. In truth, the head of the Black family wasn't particularly fond of the Green family's young master either; his talent and family background weren't quite up to par, so whether they married him or not didn't matter.
But if a more suitable vampire came along, the head of the Black family, like his wife, would expect Adele to marry them.
However, this was good news—at least for now, Mrs. Black wouldn't be pressuring her into marriage.
After bidding her father farewell, Adele went to see her mother. Mrs. Black hadn't forgiven her and immediately began to speak sharply upon seeing Adele, "Oh, isn't this Adele? Your wings have really grown strong; you even dared to hypnotize me and sneak out of the house…"
Before Mrs. Black could finish, Adele interrupted, saying, "Mother, I didn't sneak out of the house." In fact, she had defeated several of her mother's personal maids before leaving openly.
Hearing Adele's words, Mrs. Black's expression darkened. To be honest, being hypnotized by her own daughter was incredibly embarrassing—so embarrassing that she couldn't even tell her sister. She, a noble vampire who had lived for over a thousand years, a lady of the Gordon family and the wife of the head of the Black family, might not be as combat-oriented as her sister, but she had still lived for so long. Yet, she had been hypnotized by her daughter, a vampire who had only recently come of age!
It was a huge humiliation!
Mrs. Black was so angry that she picked up her fan to cover her face, her tone growing harsher, "Fine, you're really something!" She laughed sarcastically, "You didn't want to get engaged to the young master of the Green family, so now Miss Gordon has taken your place. She's about to be engaged to him."
"The next generation of vampire offspring won't be around for at least a few hundred years. By then, they may not even be interested in an 'old lady' like you." Mrs. Black said, thinking her words were vicious, but to Adele, it sounded like: What great news!
She couldn't care less if she didn't have a suitable match later on. Right now, she was deeply in love with Molly, and if she could avoid marriage for the rest of her life, that would be ideal! Besides, having a few hundred years to breathe was wonderful. But then, as she thought more, Adele felt a bit defeated. She could live for hundreds, even thousands, perhaps over two thousand years, but Molly was human, and she would only live for a century at most…
This issue had crossed her mind when her mother had previously tried to arrange a marriage for her. Perhaps she could stay by Molly's side, let her marry someone else and live a happy life, while Adele protected Molly's descendants for a hundred years. But now that they were together, Molly naturally wouldn't have any descendants, so what would Adele do after Molly's century had passed?
Adele's face darkened as troubling thoughts swirled in her mind. Mrs. Black, seeing her reaction, thought her words had hit the mark.