This kind of resistance was useless at first; my consciousness quickly began to blur, and I was overcome with an intense desire to sleep.

I had a vague feeling that if I truly “fell asleep,” I might never wake up again, so I desperately tried to find a way to resist. Perhaps it was a stroke of inspiration—in the final moments before my last shred of consciousness slipped away, I suddenly recalled the scene that person had shown me.

My parents’ faces, usually so familiar, had become unbearably grim and fierce, which suddenly sparked boundless anger within me. This surge of anger forcibly held back the temptation to drift into sleep and resisted that evil consciousness.

This kind of mental warfare was the best whetstone. Though I knew nothing about this field, in this life-and-death struggle, I gradually grasped some rough techniques for mental confrontation.

The technique was to use extreme emotions to strengthen my willpower, and right now, I happened to be both extremely angry and extremely—afraid!

Both anger and fear can push a person’s potential to the limit, including mental strength.

This struggle was vague and intangible, yet it was a direct clash. The anger from my parents’ deaths and the fear of the unknown blended together, making my will ever stronger and unleashing an incredible potential. The voice from within the golden shroud grew more and more furious, constantly cursing me, but it seemed powerless to do anything about me.

I don’t know how long this mental battle lasted. Suddenly, I felt the pressure lighten, and that extremely evil will let out a piercing, unwilling howl before bursting like a bubble and vanishing.

My consciousness surged into the golden shroud, taking the place that had originally belonged to “it.”

The extreme mental exhaustion made me faint immediately after realizing I had won.

I had never fainted even once in my life, but in a single day, I’d been knocked out by someone once, and then by this strange piece of cloth again. It seemed to foreshadow that my life from now on would never be the same as before.

When I woke up, I was no longer in the hotel, but in a car.

Chapter Five: The Dark Training Camp

I turned my head and glanced around. The person driving in front laughed and said, “You seem to really like it, actually using it as a headband. Want to write ‘Victory,’ ‘Blood Vengeance,’ ‘Annihilation,’ or ‘Rocky must die’ on it?”

I reached up and touched my forehead, and sure enough, that thing was tied around it, though I definitely hadn’t put it there myself. As soon as I willed it, the thing quietly slipped into my palm and automatically wrapped itself around my wrist. I could clearly feel that this golden shroud was alive and obeyed my every command.

Its original consciousness had already been erased; now it was my will controlling it.

Or you could say—the golden shroud was now a part of my body, and I could command it as easily as my own limbs. As for what use the golden shroud might have, that was still unknown!

“My name is Edward Bennett! Now I’m going to take you somewhere, a place called the Dark Training Camp. The Dark Training Camp is where an underground organization selects reserves for the dark world; it’s also a gateway into that world. There, you’ll learn some basic survival skills for the dark world. The Dark Training Camp is extremely brutal, with no laws or any rules you might imagine—it's even more dangerous than the dark world itself. In the dark world, you might get lucky, but in the Dark Training Camp, there’s no such thing as luck. Only the fiercest can walk out alive.”

Edward Bennett paused, grinned, and said, “Only those who survive the Dark Training Camp can earn the right to enter the dark world. The chance of walking out alive is about one in ten. Whether you can actually gain entry depends on your talent and effort. Kid, this is as far as I can help you. From here on, you’re on your own.”

Edward Bennett paused again, then said, “You still have one last chance to back out. If you want to live an ordinary life, there’s a bank card in your pocket right now with ten million on it. You can take it, get out of the car, and forget everything I’ve told you.”

I answered almost without thinking, “I want to kill Rocky to avenge my parents! I will never regret this choice!”

I felt in my pocket, took out the bank card, and intended to return it to Edward Bennett.

Edward Bennett suddenly smiled and said casually, “No need to give it back. Consider it a gift. Soon you’ll understand that, for people in the dark world, money is worthless. As long as you can survive, money has never been a problem for those who walk in the dark world.”

I hesitated for a moment. Somehow, I felt there was some hidden meaning in Edward Bennett’s words, but I couldn’t figure it out.

This bank card was clearly useful for revenge, so I simply put it back in my pocket, then slumped into the seat, lost in a jumble of thoughts. My mind was a mess; I didn’t even know what I had really chosen, or why I believed Edward Bennett. But if I didn’t do something for my dead parents, I would definitely go insane.

Edward Bennett drove for more than ten hours without resting, just tossing me a pile of food and drinks, and letting me out twice for bathroom breaks.