Chen Heng could not help but look at Ali.
It seemed that just like him, Ali had also noticed something different about Jacdo.
That was to be expected.
After all, even Chen Heng could sense that Jacdo was not ordinary and could sense his negative faith energy.
Ali had even more faith energy than Chen Heng, and he naturally would be able to sense what Chen Heng could.
However, he did not have Chen Heng’s Fortune Mark and could not confirm Jacdo’s true identity through it.
Otherwise, with his personality, he might directly draw his sword.
“Nice to meet you.”
Jacdo looked at Ali with a look of surprise, before quickly smiling, “Looks like you are also a powerful warrior.”
“I’m just an ordinary person; I don’t dare to call myself powerful.”
Looking at Jacdo, Ali had a slight smile on his face but his body was stiff as he maintained a certain stance.
This was his stance when he was about to attack. He could draw his sword at any moment and begin fighting.
Evidently, he had found that something was off about Jacdo and was feeling wary.
“Such powerful negative faith energy, this fellow…”
Even though Ali had a smile on his face, he felt quite grave inside, “I can’t allow him to get close to Mister Ed.”
Someone who could gather so much faith energy was not ordinary.
As someone with Fortune and being a hero candidate, Ali could innately sense the faith energy within others.
This was the case right now.
He could sense that Jacdo’s negative faith energy was simply unfathomable, and even he could not help but frown in front of it.
Just how many evil things had he done and how many people had cursed him for him to gather so much negative faith energy?
He felt incredibly wary as he thought to himself.
In actuality, since Jacdo had reawakened, he had not done anything.
Even though his apostles were constantly talking about destroying this world, he himself had done nothing.
Ever since he had been reawakened, he had traveled about. Not only had he neglected his duty as the demon king, but he had even kept his apostles under control so they could not go out and cause trouble.
However, this did not affect the negative emotions and cursing from countless people, which combined to form a mountain of negative faith energy.
The reason was very simple.
The demon disaster.
The reason why demon beasts would leave forests to attack human settlements was because the demon king had reawakened.
Those people who had died, or those who had lost their homes and families, directed all of their hatred and anger towards the demon king.
As the demon king, this was something that Jacdo could not avoid.
This was why he had so much negative faith energy even if he did nothing.
However, Jacdo himself did not care that much.
He was the demon king and naturally represented this world’s negative faith energy. He did not care if he was cursed by all people.
After all, after some time passed, those people would all enter the ground and become nutrients for the world.
However, even if the demon king himself did not mind, that was not the case for Ali.
Standing to Chen Heng’s side, he silently walked over to Chen Heng and made preparations to fight.
“I wonder where Mister Jacdo is from?” he forced out a smile as he asked.
As he spoke, his vision slightly deviated and he looked towards Jacdo.
Behind Jacdo, his followers were still there.
Even from an ordinary person’s point of view, Jacdo’s followers did not seem like good people and gave off strange auras.
This was not strange.
After all, even though they could not compare to the demon king himself, they were still the demon king apostles, and they were all extremely vicious and evil people.
It could be said that in this world, those who were the demon king’s apostles were all bad people.
What kind of normal or good person would want the world to be destroyed?
As a hero candidate, Ali looked at those apostles and could not help but frown.
Dense evil aura was spreading out, and the negative faith energy caused his heart to thump, making him almost draw his sword.
As if they sensed Ali’s bloodlust, the demon king apostles raised their heads with savage looks on their faces, killing intent in their eyes.
While Ali felt the negative faith energy that these people possessed, they could also sense the positive faith energy from people’s hope and love on Ali.
In their eyes, Ali was extremely eye-catching and unbearable.
They felt an urge to attack and get rid of him.
This was a classic matter of opposing sides.
The hero and demon king were natural enemies, while hero candidates like Ali and the demon king apostles were also natural enemies.
Normally, when they saw each other, they would definitely fight to the death.
Fortunately, they were not the only ones here.
Chen Heng patted Ali’s shoulder, causing him to come back to his senses, and Chen Heng smiled at him.
“What is it?”
Sensing Chen Heng’s care and concern, Ali came back to his senses and forced out a slight smile as he said, “I’m fine, Mister Ed.”
“That’s good then.”
Chen Heng smiled and looked at Jacdo and spoke softly, “Mr Jacdo, your servants don’t seem to friendly.”
Behind Jacdo, the apostles all looked incredibly ferocious.
Hearing Chen Heng’s words, Jacdo smiled and said, “No, that’s not the case; it’s just that they’re quite eager to fight. After all, they often fight with criminals. In actuality, they’re not bad people.”
“Is that so?” Ali suddenly cut in as he looked back and forth between Jacdo and the apostles, “Are you sure the people they fight with are criminals, not innocent people?”
“I’m not too sure about that,” Jacdo laughed as he stretched out his hands, “I just hired them with money to help me do things. As for their past, is that really important?”
“If they acted against innocent people in the past, who knows what they will do in the future…” Ali said with a cold tone.
As he spoke, the group of apostles looked at him furiously.
If it wasn’t for Jacdo using his power to restrain them from talking, they most likely would have started cursing at Ali.
However, Jacdo evidently did not have any intention of letting them continue.
Standing there, he gave a slight smile as he looked at that group of people.
Under his cold gaze and his demon king’s power being released, the apostles all shivered and fell silent.
“Alright,” Chen Heng spoke and smiled at Jacdo, “Regardless, since you’ve come here, you are a guest. Please come in.”
Chen Heng spoke softly, “Rooms and hot water have already been prepared; they’re just waiting for you all to settle in.”
“Thank you for your hospitality.” Jacdo nodded and led the group of demon king apostles in.
Chen Heng and Ali also began to walk.
On the way, Ali walked by Chen Heng’s side and remained silent. His gaze was incredibly sharp, watching Jacdo and the others warily.
This was to be expected.
The hero and demon king were natural enemies, and normally, once they met, one of them would end up dead.
Even though Ali was not a true hero right now, nor was he sure about Jacdo’s identity, the negative faith energy that Jacdo gave off made him view Jacdo as an enemy.
Jacdo did not care much about Ali’s attitude, and he instead felt that it was quite amusing.
In the past, he had only fought with heroes as soon as he had met them, and they had rarely interacted peacefully.
It was incredibly rare for a hero and demon king not to immediately start fighting, like today.
This was especially so seeing Ali looking desperate to draw his sword, yet holding himself back because of Chen Heng. This made Jacdo feel incredibly interested.
It seemed that he had been right in coming here today.
If he had not come here today, how could he have seen such an amusing scene?
However, looking at Chen Heng and Ali, he could not help but think of some other things.
In the past, even though there had often been outsiders coming to this world, those outsiders could rarely affect anything.
At most, they were just a variable and were a minor character in this story.
However, Chen Heng seemed to be an exception.
As an outsider, he could gather this world’s faith energy and had talent that even the demon king marvelled at.
With this kind of talent, he had the right to enter the hero trial.
In this trial, perhaps this outsider would defeat native hero candidates.
If that happened, the situation would become quite interesting.
At that moment, many thoughts appeared in Jacdo’s mind, causing him to give a slight smile.
Chen Heng headed onwards and brought this group to their residence before stopping.
After Jacdo and his group settled into their residence, it was just Chen Heng and Ali.
“Ali.”
Chen Heng turned and looked at Ali, who looked quite hesitant, and he could not help but smile and asked, “Is there anything you want to say?”
“Yes.”
Hearing Chen Heng’s words, Ali paused for a moment before nodding, “Those people… I’m afraid they’re not good people…”
Even though he did not know who Jacdo was, he could tell from that feeling, as well as those people following him, that he evidently was not a good person.
For them to suddenly come to this town, they most likely had some kind of ulterior motive.
Ali felt that he should give Mister Ed a warning so that he would not be caught off guard.
Otherwise, if Jacdo and his people really wanted to do anything bad, this town’s peace would be disrupted.
When that time came, many people would be injured or killed and go through much pain.
Thinking to there, Ali became resolute and looked at Chen Heng as he said, “If possible, please be wary towards those people.”
“Mental energy, I understand.”
What surprised Ali was that hearing his words, Chen Heng actually smiled and nodded, “Those people indeed are not any good people.”
Hearing this, Ali felt quite surprised and asked, “If that’s the case, then why…”
“You want to ask me why I didn’t chase those people away, right?” Chen Heng said softly as he looked at Ali, “I actually thought of that as well. It was just that it wasn’t too appropriate.”
“Not appropriate?”
Chen Heng nodded, “After all, they are guests and came to support us in taking down demon beasts. If we chased them away because of their past, what would people think of us in the future?
“Those who might have come to help us might not come, and some people who are here might leave.”
“But…” Ali frowned, “Those people are most likely bad people.”
“We don’t have any evidence.”
Chen Heng patted Ali’s shoulder as he shook his head, “I’m sure you also sensed those people’s negative auras. They indeed are not good people, but only we know that. To other people, they are just ordinary mercenaries and warriors. If we chase them away without any reason, that would result in a bad image on our part. After all…”
Chen Heng looked at him and said quietly, “If we can get rid of a group of mercenaries from outside today, claiming that they were bad people, who’s to say that we won’t do this to others?
“This will make other people feel incredibly unsettled.”
“Is that… the case?” Hearing Chen Heng’s words, Ali fell into his thoughts.
After thinking about it, he felt that what Chen Heng had said was quite reasonable.
To ordinary people, they did not know that Jacdo and his people were evil.
They only knew that they were mercenaries from outside, and they had come here to help them.
If Chen Heng got rid of them as he wished, that would seem quite unjust.
Unjust behaviour would make the people feel quite unsettled, causing chaos.
Seeing Ali sink into his thoughts, Chen Heng lightly sighed.
“This fellow is too gullible.”
Looking at Ali, Chen Heng inwardly sighed but did not say anything.
The real reason why he did not want to chase Jacdo and his people away was not because of those things but because he felt that Ali could not defeat them.
As a hero candidate, Ali was indeed quite strong, but he evidently had not reached his peak.
On the other hand, from the moment the demon disaster had started, Jacdo had been at his peak.
Ali was not a match for him at all right now.
If that was not the case, Chen Heng would not have minded to let Ali beat up this demon king.
“In the end, it comes down to strength.”
Chen Heng rubbed his forehead, feeling quite troubled.
“You should go back and rest,” Chen Heng smiled, “Have a good rest while you can. You’ll all be going out again soon to attack those demon beasts. When that time comes, you will be facing a lot of pressure.”
“Very well.”
Ali stopped thinking and looked at Chen Heng as he nodded earnestly, “Please get some rest too, Mister Ed.”
“I will,” Chen Heng nodded and smiled.
Following this, the two of them separated.
Before leaving, Chen Heng gave the room that Jacdo was staying in a deep look before leaving.
In the distance, within the somewhat-spacious room, Jacdo looked away and gave a slight smile, “How interesting. Looks like the outsider this time is much more interesting than before.”
For a demon king like him who had lived countless years, a change like this was something incredibly delightful.
As such, he felt much anticipation towards Chen Heng, wanting to see just how far he would go.
Following this, time passed peacefully.
Under Chen Heng’s leadership, the small town gradually grew, and it began to take back neighboring regions. In fact, it even took a few other towns into its territory.
During this time, Chen Heng launched a few more attacks towards the demon beasts.