The warship’s crew were the first to attack. As natives of the Sea of the Abyss, they had no fear of its harmful influence, even though they weren’t particularly powerful.

There were plenty of powerful demons from elsewhere aboard the warship. But the Sea of the Abyss’s power kept them from fighting at full strength here. In fact, they were even weaker than the native demons. That was the main reason these less powerful demons could make a living in this line of work—and charge such exorbitant prices for it.

The local demon sailors couldn’t fly either, but they jumped straight into the sea, completely ignoring the corrosive force of the Sea of the Abyss. One after another, they charged wildly at the gigantic abyssal sea beast.

The sea beasts in the Sea of the Abyss weren’t especially powerful, but they were huge, incredibly strong, and astonishingly quick to recover. They were also protected by the Sea of the Abyss, so unless you could overwhelm them with sheer strength, they were very difficult to deal with. And even if they were outmatched, they could simply dive into the depths of the sea. Not even the local demons could do anything about them then.

This crew clearly knew how to deal with abyssal sea beasts. Before long, the massive creature was covered in wounds. But things didn’t seem to be getting any better. The demon sailors’ actions appeared to have enraged the behemoth.

“Roooar—!” All three heads bellowed at once, and a dangerous presence began to spread.

“First Mate, wait for your opening and fire!” The demon captain immediately gave the order. “The rest of you, move out—quickly!”

As soon as the demon captain gave the order, the other demon sailors scattered. Then a blue demon activated a strange cannon-like device mounted at the front of the warship, and it launched a lump of black matter.

“Pfft—!”

The black substance splattered across all three of the sea beast’s faces. The energy attack it had been charging in its mouth fizzled out at once. Black fumes rose from the substance, and even the beast began to look listless.

“These demons are real geniuses. They’re attacking it with the muck from the depths of the Sea of the Abyss!” Bexia said with a laugh as she watched the lump of black matter. Its aura was much the same as the power of the Sea of the Abyss, but the power it contained was incredibly strange—or rather, its corrosive force was simply too strong. Ordinary creatures of the abyss couldn’t withstand it.

The abyssal sea beast was swarmed again after getting splattered in the face. The demon captain was especially fierce, even hacking off a huge chunk of its tail. The pain sent the beast into a frenzy, but in the end, it could only slink away into the Sea of the Abyss.

The abyssal sea beast had been little more than a brief interlude on the Sea of the Abyss. After that, they encountered one kind of abyssal sea beast after another, but each time they made it through without serious trouble.

“There seems to be an island up ahead!” said the first mate from his high vantage point, gazing at the huge shadow barely visible through the sea fog.

The demon first mate’s words brought the once-quiet warship to life. The demons stared eagerly at the dark shape growing clearer ahead, and when they drew near, they burst into cheers. It really was an island.

But the islands in the Sea of the Abyss were nothing like the ones on ordinary seas. There wasn’t a trace of vegetation. The land was completely barren and black, its appearance oppressive, and thick black fog drifted across it. This was power from the Sea of the Abyss, and even before they drew near, it weighed on the demons’ minds.

“We got lucky this time. We found an island not long after setting out!”

“Haha! I think I can smell treasure!”

The demons’ eyes gleamed with greed as they stared at the island ahead.

“This place isn’t safe. My divination tells me there’s great danger on that island!” said a demon with the power to divine, offering a well-meaning warning. The other demons only laughed in disdain.

“Danger? Who doesn’t know it’s dangerous here?”

“Where on the Sea of the Abyss isn’t dangerous? If you’re afraid of everything, you might as well go home and eat dirt!” said a clay demon. Dirt was, in fact, part of its regular diet.

Of course, not just any dirt!

Every demon knew there was danger in a place like this. But danger and opportunity went hand in hand. Even in the most dangerous places, some lucky soul would walk away with a prize. And none of them believed they’d be the unlucky one. Each secretly thought they’d be the special lucky one.

“Charge!”

As soon as the warship reached the island, the demons aboard rushed ashore like mad. One sharp-eyed demon spotted something in the black soil beneath their feet, dug out a stone, and cracked it open. Inside was a priceless Abyssal Primordial Stone.

Another demon spotted a turtle shell radiating powerful energy. It turned out to be an eternal-grade divine material, with astonishing defensive power.

“Haha! I’m rich!”

“I saw it first. Hand it over!” One demon immediately attacked.

In an instant, fighting broke out all across the island. There were too many good things here. The demons’ eyes turned red with greed, and some of the more domineering ones started snatching things outright.

The demons frantically dug through the soil and smashed rocks, stripping away layer after layer of the island’s surface and hillsides. Some of the demons who arrived later looked at the treasures around them with burning eyes, but their gazes soon turned toward the island’s deeper reaches—especially the places shrouded in thick fog, where their greed was impossible to hide.

Shadows flickered as wave after wave of demons charged onto the island.