“These people even killed the demon commentator. Should I really go with them?” Although I still appeared calm on the surface, my legs kept cramping up—thanks to the introduction about Leonard Wolf and the others, which had scared me.

Seeing that I hadn’t opened the Book of Demons either, Lillian Faulkner didn’t say anything, but Leonard Wolf looked at me with curious eyes, as if he was very interested in me. Jack closed his own Book of Demons with one hand and said to Lillian Faulkner, “I can’t wait to set off. There shouldn’t be any more delays, right?”

Lillian Faulkner nodded and led us out of the room. She had prepared a seven-seater Buick minivan, which was quite spacious for the five of us. After leaving the Devil’s Island Grand Hotel, we headed south. I had checked the map of Devil’s Island and knew that this strange island was actually quite large, probably several hundred thousand square kilometers. On the way, I took the opportunity to ask some questions about Devil’s Island, and finally got a general understanding of this world.

No one knows the origin of Devil’s Island. The first to discover it on Earth was a mysterious American consortium. While excavating a ruin, they found the Wish Fruit and learned the secret that swallowing the Wish Fruit allowed free passage between the two worlds.

Devil’s Island possesses things unimaginable to the outside world. The earliest explorers brought back the elixir of youth from Devil’s Island, which caused the entire underground world of humanity to boil with excitement. They organized many teams to venture into Devil’s Island.

Some people hoped to gain long life, some sought great power, and others wanted a resurrection potion for their deceased loved ones. There were also those who simply wanted to fulfill wishes they couldn’t realize in the real world. In short, everyone who came to Devil’s Island had their own reasons.

However, the earliest adventurers faced a staggering death rate of over ninety percent. Later, all the consortiums abandoned the model of recruiting adventurers from outside and switched to training professional mercenary groups on Devil’s Island.

Currently, there are at least twenty or thirty mercenary groups active on Devil’s Island. Lillian Faulkner was hired by the Demon-Sealing Mercenary Group and became their agent on Devil’s Island. She’s been here for three years.

Along the way, aside from my Q&A with Lillian Faulkner, Leonard Wolf and the others didn’t say a word. After getting out of the car, Jack stretched lazily, but I suddenly felt a chilling atmosphere around me and instinctively took a step back.

Whoosh! The sharp sound of something slicing through the air echoed right by my ear, and somehow, Jack was already holding a scalpel. The gleaming blade flashed in the sunlight, stopping exactly where my heart had just been.

Swish! A faint white light gathered in my palm. “Holy Light Bullet!” The only skill I knew was triggered instinctively. Caught off guard, Jack didn’t have time to dodge, and the Holy Light Bullet, trailing a long tail of radiance, struck him directly in the face, blasting him backward with the force of the impact.

With an agile flip in midair, Jack landed safely, his face completely unscathed.

“The next time you make a move, you’ll get more than just a lesson!” I forced myself to sound calm as I threw out this line and strode into the training camp, though my stomach was so tense it hurt. If Jack attacked again, I’d be dead for sure!

Jack seemed quite surprised at his failure. He licked the scalpel, suddenly grinned, and turned to Leonard Wolf, saying, “This kid is really interesting. I was planning to get rid of a useless piece of trash, but I’ve ended up with a big headache instead.”

Leonard Wolf let out a strange cry, took a few big steps to catch up to me, and slapped my shoulder, saying, “Good thing Jack made his move a bit early, or I’d have lost face. Looks like you, just like me, weren’t telling the truth. That demon lady, you also… heh heh!”

I brushed off Leonard Wolf’s huge hand without looking back. But his words just now made my heart clench again. “Do these people treat life as nothing? No wonder Julia didn’t want to come to the training camp with me. Turns out it’s not that the Demon-Sealing Mercenary Group has special rules, but that this place is just too dangerous.”

Other than the tenfold strength card and the Holy Light Beetle, I had no other skills. With these dangerous men who had killed the demon commentator and seized a large number of cards, if I showed even a hint of weakness, I’d probably be torn to pieces right away.

Lillian Faulkner didn’t try to stop our brief clash at all. She simply opened her portable Book of Demons, tapped on some card I couldn’t see, and with a sudden whoosh! a pair of pure white wings sprouted from her back. With a gentle flap, she lifted off the ground and flew into the air. Just as Lillian Faulkner rose into the sky, I saw a faint glint in Jack’s palm—another scalpel for sure.

“There are currently one hundred and eighty-five newcomers in the training camp. After you check in, a dedicated instructor will be assigned to you. Now, summon your Books of Demons and pass through the entrance inspection!” Lillian Faulkner introduced the training camp to us as calmly as if she didn’t know Jack had just tried to kill her.