Norton wanted to establish the Crimson Empire—this wasn't an empty threat.
He genuinely intended to build it, but not by becoming the Progenitor himself. He planned to push this Crimson Empire into the spotlight, turning it into a target to confront The Church. If they could overthrow The Church, then so be it—this would completely eliminate the specialized countermeasures against old-era vampires, allowing Norton to position himself in an invincible position!
If they couldn't overthrow The Church, they could still gradually transfer the label of "vampire" onto the new-style vampires, thereby allowing the old-era vampires to fade completely into obscurity. Only then would Norton be truly safe.
The new-style vampires had obvious weaknesses, astonishing reproductive capabilities, and most importantly, the flaw of bloodthirsty frenzy—making them the perfect choice to bear the vampire name.
Only by truly eliminating The Church and burying the old-era vampires in the dust of history could Norton finally rest easy without worry.
As for the Progenitor to be pushed forward, of course it would be Priest Abraham—currently the only first-generation vampire.
After gaining control of Rino City's church, Norton immediately went to the church's library to examine the books collected by The Church.
The old-era vampires were shrouded in mystery, and to this day, he had only managed to grasp a few scattered skills. This made him feel like he was carrying treasures but didn't know how to use them.
But unfortunately, whether because The Church hadn't researched vampires deeply enough, or because other vampires were fundamentally different from Norton himself, the various books collected by The Church contained no further descriptions of vampires, nor any mentions of God, Kuba, or similar terms.
It was as if everything was hidden in secrecy, unknown even to ordinary high-ranking church officials.After confirming that The Church didn't have the books he wanted, Norton turned his attention to the Holy Knights.
Rino City's church housed two Holy Knights, and according to both Priest Abraham and Bishop Good, these two were low-tier Holy Knights—possessing only instincts, having almost lost their independent thought, and currently in an inactive state.
But these vampires didn't dare approach the area where the Holy Knights were stationed, afraid that these beings might detect their unclean aura, revive, and destroy them.
They might be helpless, but Norton had a solution!
These foolish knights that only had instincts left would be perfect to drown in water!
So Norton immediately ordered large numbers of Church Knights to start digging a massive deep pit within the church grounds.
But at the same time, his Crimson Empire was steadily advancing.
In the Church calendar year 2230, the Blood Ancestor ascended to power at Rino City's church, with only about thirty new-style vampires as witnesses, all sworn to secrecy.
After all, they weren't powerful enough to challenge The Church yet—everything had to proceed in secrecy.
But the one ascending wasn't Norton; it was Abraham, the unlucky pawn being pushed forward.
Priest Abraham ascended to power but held no actual authority, with all power firmly gripped in Norton's hands.
But even unlucky pawns had their own schemes.
Bishop Doxia turning into a vampire and fleeing Rino City was no small matter.
Norton had asked them about Bishop Doxia's current whereabouts. After all, he had overheard Bishop Doxia's conversation with Boar Empire spies, and Bishop Doxia's importance far exceeded that of priests and low bishops. Out of caution toward Priest Abraham and the other new-style vampires, Norton separately interrogated all vampires, even resorting to using his Aura Pressure to break their psychological defenses.
The result was that Priest Abraham and the other vampires acted as if they had coordinated—completely avoiding the topic of Bishop Doxia turning into a vampire and fleeing, instead claiming he had left Rino City on important business, never revealing the truth of his defection to Norton. This clearly showed they already had rebellious intentions.
Their current state was exactly like that of God, Divine Cause, and Kuba back in the day.
As the true Progenitor, Norton treated these vampires as tools to fulfill his own ambitions. Meanwhile, the new-style vampires, as his creations, showed extreme deference to Norton on the surface, but behind his back, each wanted to overthrow the natural order to escape Norton's terrifying control and domination through the Life Hierarchy.
One could only say that God's death wasn't unjust—the rebellious nature of intelligent species seemed innate!
Priest Abraham and the others hadn't even become Pope yet, but they already possessed the same mentality the Pope had when facing the Divine Corpse—one could say they hit the jackpot.
The Vampire Clan Progenitor's ascension had no impact on Rino City as a whole, but Norton's assumption of power created massive changes.
The recruitment of the poor in Rino City continued vigorously. Since Norton didn't want The Church to learn about Rino City's situation yet, these vampires strictly implemented all Vatican orders to maintain the appearance that nothing had changed.
During this period, a new proclamation was issued from the church.
Effective immediately in Rino City, regardless of wealth or poverty, public defecation was prohibited, and throwing overnight waste onto the streets in the morning was forbidden—violators would be executed!
This proclamation sparked overwhelming resentment throughout Rino City.
In an era where defecation and urination were still considered personal freedoms, suddenly imposing such a ban made everyone feel severely restricted.
"The Church is overreaching! Even controlling where we shit and piss—this is utterly unreasonable!"
"Exactly! This is our freedom!"
For a time, public anger surged, with some even leading public demonstrations of defiance by relieving themselves in the streets to protest this inhuman decree.
But as everyone knew, The Church never joked around.
These defiant individuals were dragged from their homes one by one by Church Knights, then taken into Rino City's church, after which their fates remained completely unknown.
This finally deterred further public protests. Though resentment still simmered, at least superficially everyone complied.
Two days after the proclamation, The Church issued new demands to the major Nobility.
All Nobility were required to fund the construction of public toilets throughout Rino City for public use.
Since Rino City's Nobility were mostly family members of church officials, and this order came from The Church itself, they complied diligently without complaint.
Thus, Rino City's massive toilet construction project began.
Meanwhile, Norton, using Blood Ancestor Abraham's authority, ordered the confiscation of all silver items, religious ornaments, Cross decorations, and similar objects throughout Rino City. They even used "replacement" as an excuse to have Missionaries destroy all Images of God both in the city and within the church itself.
Almost overnight, all religious items related to The Church seemed to completely vanish.
But this was only the surface level.
To ensure greater stability within the church and prevent church personnel from discovering that all high-ranking officials had become vampires.
Norton ordered Priest Abraham, as a first-generation vampire, to convert the Church Knights into second-generation vampires, who would then convert the Missionaries and city's Nobility class into third-generation vampires.
Only by securing all high-ranking officials in his grasp could Norton's position become unshakable!
Simultaneously, this was a necessary process for his Crimson Empire's rise!
Using his targeted control over vampires to manage the vampire leadership, and using that leadership to control the lower levels—this was how he could ensure all of Rino City remained firmly in Norton's hands!
All arrangements in Rino City proceeded smoothly and systematically, and the massive pit Norton ordered dug to drown the Holy Knights was finally completed within the church grounds.