Honkai Summoning.

"Hmm." Su Mo nodded, took the only shotgun, and stuffed it into Tranton's arms.

Compared to the other guns in the trunk, this one is civilian-grade, suitable for Tranton's self-defense, though the recoil is a bit strong. Su Mo estimated that Tranton wouldn't have the strength or time to fire a second shot after firing one.

However, its advantage lies in its high lethality and large kill area, so there is no need to aim at all.

"This is used in the same way as a flintlock musket?" Tranton said, his eyes gleaming with considerable interest.

Firearms are indeed a man's romance, even a little boy is no exception—no, to be precise, little boys are more interested in these things. Who didn't have a few toy guns when they were a kid?

However, "old-timers" like Su Mo only regarded them as a type of weapon and had no interest in them whatsoever.

“I’ll teach you how to use it somewhere else,” Su Mo said.

He had no intention of training Tranton's shooting skills; firstly, he didn't have the time, and secondly, he didn't have any extra bullets to waste on Tranton.

Let alone going from a complete novice who has never even touched a gun to a sharpshooter, even the simplest task of hitting a target requires a considerable amount of ammunition.

All Tranton needed to learn was how to pull the trigger.

For the next few days, the island remained calm and peaceful, as if the dramatic events of that day had never occurred, except for the occasional sporadic gunshots echoing in the sky above the island.

Time passed quickly, the ritual to summon the demon was almost complete, and there were only three days left before the next ship carrying the sacrificial offerings arrived.

The atmosphere on the island gradually became tense.

Those sacrifices and slaves understood that their fates were about to change drastically—either death or—becoming the masters of demons!

The original island rulers, however, felt a more complex mix of unease and restlessness. They wondered if they would have a chance to turn the tide once the ships docked, since their men were all on board.

However, the fact that Joyce and Mrs. Liz did nothing, or rather, had completely sided with Tranton, weighed heavily on their minds.

If we resist, will we really have a chance to survive?

Those who obediently follow the rules might still have a one percent chance of survival.

At this moment, Lady Liz stood before Su Mo, her once alluring face now revealing an unconcealable haggardness, her eyes filled with fear, yet she forced herself to ask, "Are we... do we have no choice but to die?"

Su Mo put down the book in his hand. He had been reading Joyce's collection of books these days, most of which were about demons. Su Mo got a little confused after reading only a small part of it because of the messy introductions.

A small portion introduces the customs and culture of the British Empire, which, although incomplete, is far more useful to Su Mo than those "devilish knowledge" materials.

Most of the information about demons was just people's imagination and speculation, and it's unknown how much of it was actually useful. Joyce, on the other hand, believed that everything recorded in it was true, and there was absolutely no possibility that the two of them could have communicated.

"Why do you say that?" Su Mo asked with a smile as he looked up at Madam Liz.

Mrs. Liz opened her mouth, but said nothing.

"Alright, to tell you the truth, the others are definitely going to die." Su Mo was too lazy to hide it anymore. "Even if my young master is magnanimous, the other ones are not as easy to talk to as my young master."

The other person Su Mo mentioned was Arno's master. After these past few days, Su Mo finally learned that person's name—Benson. It was an ordinary name, from an orphan in an ordinary family, with nothing particularly special about him.

In the past few days, five people have died at his hands, making him arguably the most ruthless person on the island. It's hard to imagine that this is a child who is not even ten years old.

Arno, however, was quite satisfied with his master's soul, which was completely twisted by hatred.

"What will it take for you to let me go?" Lady Liz looked at Su Mo with pleading eyes.

She could tell that this demon was completely different from the other demon.

The other demon was completely obedient to its master—while the one before them manipulated its master like a puppet on strings.

"Don't be nervous." Su Mo waved his hand. "If you want to live, you don't need to beg me. I never intended to kill you. The key is that you need to persuade my young master."

Although Mrs. Liz did not hold a higher position on the island than Joyce, she was a businesswoman, and a very successful one at that. In a world like this, it was no easy feat for a woman to become a successful businesswoman.

As for why Lady Liz came to the island, it was simply because she was too greedy and wanted to get involved in some mysterious deal. As a result, those people put her in charge of transporting certain supplies for the island, and she fell headfirst into this trap from which she could not extricate herself.

Although he made a lot of money, he had to spend at least a third of the year on the island and on the boat.

For Su Mo, such a person is far more useful than Joyce, that mad "scientist" who only studies demons.

If possible, Su Mo intended to let Lady Liss go. Even if he had to kill her, this woman had so much wealth; he could take her back to the continent of the British Empire, get the assets, and then kill her later.

Of course, Tranton didn't have a good impression of this woman, but he temporarily suppressed his murderous intent after being persuaded by Su Mo.

"I'll give it a try." Lady Liz breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and walked out. Dealing with humans was much simpler than dealing with demons.

After a while, Tranton opened the door and walked in, the gun Su Mo had given him hanging at his waist, looking like a nobleman's sword. Behind him followed Lady Liz, who looked completely submissive.

“The ceremony can be held at any time,” Tranton said, looking at Su Mo. “Why don’t we begin now?”

"As you wish, my young master." Su Mo stood up.

Half an hour later, everyone gathered again in the open space in front of the tower. The former rulers of the islands, the sacrifices, and the slaves stood on the huge pattern on the display, their faces filled with unease.

Each of them had the same pattern carved on their bodies; they were all used as sacrifices.

“You will preside over the ceremony,” Tranton said to Mrs. Liz.

Mrs. Liz nodded.

Joyce, standing beside him, wore an incredibly enthusiastic smile. He knew that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the ceremony would definitely succeed.

“I don’t know how many people will survive, but I think you’re all prepared for that,” Tranton said to the group.

"Go to hell!"

Just then, a man suddenly shouted and rushed out of the crowd, leaping onto the stage and lunging at Tranton.

However, this person's surprise attack was completely ineffective, and he was kicked away by Su Mo while he was still in mid-air.

The man's chest was visibly dented, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, some fragments of his internal organs visible in the blood. He flew backward, landed on the ground, rolled a few times, and then fell silent.

“If anyone is unwilling, I will have my butler send them off ahead of time,” Tranton said with a gloomy face.

Everyone remained silent and chose to compromise—of course, the sacrifices and slaves didn't count; in fact, this was their only chance to turn things around.

In the past few days, Tranton had spoken to some of them, giving them a choice. If they chose to remain neutral, he would still take them away from the island. However, once they returned to the British Empire, whether they lived or died, or were hunted down by those behind the island, was no longer Tranton's concern.

After witnessing the power of Arno, even those who were only seven or eight years old, all ended up gambling.

“I will spare you if you don’t die,” Tranton said to Mrs. Liz, who was presiding over the ceremony.

Mrs. Liz gave a wry smile and said nothing more.

These past few days, Arno, Trent, Joyce, and a few others have finally figured out some of the details of the ritual to summon the demon.

The person who presides over the ritual to summon demons is not without danger. When a demon is summoned, it is in a dazed state and does not care which soul is the one who summoned it. It will only devour some souls according to its will and then choose one of them as the master to sign a contract with.

Chapter Sixteen: Are you sure?

The person presiding over the summoning ritual has a higher probability of being chosen by the demon due to their position—whether they are eaten or chosen.

Of course, the person presiding over the ritual may be spared, unlike the sacrificial offerings, whose bodies are marked with summoning symbols and who only have two choices: death or signing a contract.

Joyce had never had any problems presiding over ceremonies before because he had never successfully drawn the true invocation symbol.

Interestingly, because Tranton forcibly memorized the pattern, a part of it had a problem. As a result, by sheer coincidence, that pattern turned out to be the one used for the summoning ritual that actually had a probability of success—yes, a probability of success, not a certainty of success.

Whether it will succeed depends on two factors: first, the summoning ritual and whether the power of the contract can be transmitted to hell; and second, whether the demon will choose to respond.

As for the sacrifices, some of the souls were consumed to open the passage for demons to pass through, while the rest became food for the demons—this cannot be changed.

The only thing that can be changed is the probability of being eaten by a demon.

According to Arno, although demons love to devour souls, they are also extremely sensitive to the smell of blood. If everyone's souls are similar and there is nothing that will attract the demon's attention, the smell of blood becomes an important selection criterion.

It's like when people are half asleep and have just woken up, there are two dishes in front of them to eat. If the two dishes are similar, they will instinctively choose the one that smells better.

Therefore, the island's rulers, among those sacrifices, had their blood mixed into the materials used to create their designs. As a result, these people could not escape the fate of being eaten by demons.

As for Joyce, the demon fanatic, he did not become a sacrifice—neither Sumer nor Tranton would give him any chance to fight back, even though Joyce had been quite cooperative all along.

However, Tranton's aristocratic complex kicked in, and he decided to let Joyce witness the ritual of summoning the demon before he died, thus fulfilling Joyce's dying wish.

In Trent's words, this is the compassion of the strong and the powerful for the weak. Even enemies, if possible, should have their dying wishes fulfilled; this is the pride and magnanimity of the nobility.

Su Mo naturally gave this attempt at showing off a negative score, but he was too lazy to interfere and let Trent go ahead and indulge in his aristocratic pride and magnanimity. With Joyce's mediocre skills, under his and Arno's watchful eyes, he certainly wouldn't be able to cause any trouble.

"call--"

With a long sigh, Lady Liz walked to the center of the summoning circle and began chanting a complex incantation that was completely incomprehensible to anyone—the incantation was provided by Joyce.

Following his advice will definitely increase the success rate.

Of course, Tranton was skeptical of this. He hadn't chanted any incantations at all; he had simply drawn a summoning circle with mud and blood and then successfully summoned the demon, thus completing the contract.

However, he didn't choose to stop Mrs. Liz from doing it; what if it really worked?

While chanting incantations she herself didn't understand, Lady Liss squatted down to complete the final stroke of the summoning circle diagram, then stood up again and closed her eyes.

The person who completes the summoning circle is the one who presides over the summoning ritual.

From this moment on, everything that happens is no longer under Mrs. Liz's control; everything will be left to fate.

Just as she closed her eyes, Lady Lis felt a sudden tightness and pain in her waist, as if she were bound by an invisible rope. Her body was suddenly lifted into the air and then fell out of the summoning circle.

The instant she flew away, black light emanated from the pattern on the summoning array.

"It can actually interfere directly." Su Mo, who was next to the summoning array, flicked his fingers and thought to himself.

Lady Liz suddenly flew out of the summoning circle, not because of the power of the summoning ritual, but because Su Mo continuously refined the love lock, forming an almost invisible thread as thin as a fishing line that pulled her out.

Su Mo did not object to Trandon's decision to let Lady Liss preside over the summoning ceremony and let fate decide her life or death. However, this did not mean that Su Mo would not interfere.

Pulling Lady Liss out of the array diagram as soon as she finishes it is something Su Mo decided to try from the beginning.

Of course, if the formation is completed and there is no way for outsiders to interfere, then we should wait and see.

Lady Liz was neither eaten nor became the master of the demon, which is the best-case scenario.

If Lady Liz becomes the master of the demon, then Su Mo will kill her immediately, without giving her any chance to fight back.

Demons cannot be killed, but killing their master, terminating the contract, and sending the demon back to hell is undoubtedly not a difficult task. For Su Mo, who possesses modern firearms, it is an even easier matter.

Raise your hand, pull the trigger, it's that simple.

Unless those demons are fast enough to catch bullets in an instant—which, judging from Arno's case, is impossible—or the demons simply use their own bodies as human shields in front of their masters.

However, Su Mo's firearms were not the kind of flintlock pistols in this world that were loud enough to be intimidating but whose actual power far exceeded their actual strength. Piercing through a demon's body would not be a big problem for him.

Realizing she had been given a second chance at life, Lady Liz didn't linger. After a brief moment of confusion, she ignored the pain and got up, standing diagonally behind Tranton. This was partly to show her submission, and partly because she felt this was the safest position.

The black light had enveloped the entire summoning circle and everyone inside, like a giant curtain.

Even Arno, the devil, couldn't see what was actually happening inside.