Chapter 064: Extreme Joy

"I see…"

Carl had already made things very clear—if Raymond still didn't get it, then there would be something wrong with his brain.

If the Hellfire Club really was like Carl described, then Raymond's concerns were probably pointless.

Everyone had their own selfish motives, so there was no need to worry about whether new members had them too.

That also explained why the core members of the Hellfire Club, despite having many different identities, were still able to work together without too much trouble.

"That's the general idea. If you want to join, Doctor, with your abilities, there's no way we'd turn you down. But there's something I need to make clear beforehand, so we don't run into any trouble later…" Juggernaut took over the conversation and said directly to Raymond.

Basically, it was just a case of "saying the ugly things first" to avoid future misunderstandings.

The rules were simple: once you joined, you couldn't intentionally harm other core members. If anyone was caught doing that, all the other members would hunt them down—until one of them was dead.

Also, while core members weren't forced to help each other, it was a two-way street.

If someone needed help and you ignored them, don't expect others to help you when you're in trouble.

Of course, help usually wasn't free. Normally, you'd have to give something in return—just a little something to show appreciation.

All in all, the Hellfire Club's rules were pretty relaxed.

Even Juggernaut, the Black King and official leader, didn't have absolute authority over the others.

He could give orders, but the other core members had the right to ignore them.

Still, most of the time, people respected him enough to listen. Respect goes both ways, after all.

After hearing everything, Raymond started to feel like joining the club wasn't a bad idea at all.

For him, the benefits clearly outweighed the risks. In fact, that was likely true for every member.

As long as he used this identity wisely, it could bring him a lot of advantages.

Sure, there were some risks—but that all depended on luck.

Right now, even S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy had more rules than the Hellfire Club, so joining didn't seem like a big problem.

Once Raymond confirmed his decision again, Juggernaut happily welcomed him into the club and gave him a special ID badge representing the title of "Black Bishop."

"Don't think too much about this. It's just so people who don't know all the core members can recognize who you are. I'll let the others know about your membership. You can all get to know each other better at the year-end gathering." Juggernaut smiled as he handed over the badge.

Raymond took the badge, nodded, and asked, "I heard there are sixteen core member spots in the club. Now that I've joined, how many are still open?"

"Before you joined, four spots were open. Now there are only three left," Juggernaut answered with a smile but didn't say which positions were still available.

Raymond didn't ask further. Since Juggernaut mentioned there would be a year-end gathering, he figured he'd find out then.

"Well then, on behalf of the club, welcome aboard, Doctor!" Seeing that Raymond had no more questions, Juggernaut officially welcomed him as the Black King.

"Thank you—"

Ding!

You have successfully joined the "Hellfire Club" as the new "Black Bishop". Development Points +300

You can convert Development Points into Universal System Points at a 1:5 rate

As this is your first time receiving Development Points, some new Universal System functions have been unlocked. You can explore them by thinking "Beginner's Guide" in your mind.

"Development Points? One to five?"

Raymond was overjoyed when he saw the sudden message in his mind!

Even though he tried hard not to laugh out loud, the surprise came so fast that he almost couldn't hold it in.

Because of that, his expression twisted a bit without him noticing.

This reaction didn't go unnoticed by the other three. For Psylocke and Carl—who had just seen him "act crazy" earlier—it felt way too familiar.

"Uh-oh, he's losing it again!"

They both came to the same conclusion at once and quickly jumped back!

Psylocke grew a pair of glowing energy wings and floated backward, while Carl instantly turned into crystal form and rolled away like a wheel—

In a blink, the two had retreated several dozen meters and were watching from a distance to see if Raymond would go wild again, ready to back off even more if needed.

Only Juggernaut was left standing in front of Raymond, unsure of what to do…

After sending off the three of them, Raymond still couldn't hide his excitement. He quickly returned home to figure out what these Development Points were all about.

He had to admit, Psylocke and Carl's reactions were pretty embarrassing.

It was obvious they both thought he was mentally unstable again.

But he didn't bother to explain—sometimes the more you explain, the worse it sounds. Even if he said he wasn't crazy, they wouldn't believe him.

Besides, this kind of misunderstanding actually helped hide his powers.

There was no need to clear it up—let them believe whatever they wanted.

What mattered more was the surprise boost of Development Points!

If they worked like Exploration Points, with a 1:1 exchange rate, then 300 points would still be nice—but not enough to make him lose control.

But the problem was—the exchange rate was 1:5!

What did that mean?

These 300 Development Points could be turned into 1,500 Universal System Points!

Even after meeting so many characters—plus the unexpected surprise from Director Fury—his total Exploration Points didn't even add up to half of this!

With this gain, even if he had bad luck, he could still get another sub-personality on the same level as Tao Pai Pai!

And with 1,500 Universal System Points, not only could he buy a Silver Character Card, he'd still have 500 left to spare—enough to splurge on extra bonuses.

More importantly, he had just found a brand new way to farm points!

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