Leo laid out all of Kevin’s cards in one breath. After saying the last word, he panted heavily, his face full of excitement.

The special forces soldiers around him just stared at him, totally baffled.

George cleared his throat twice, leaned in close to Leo, and whispered, "Young Master, that guy also seems to be able to summon and control Eldritch Entities."

Leo’s eyes went wide, then he spat out, "No way. I’ve never seen him summon Eldritch Entities."

George frowned, too scared to argue back.

Just then, footsteps echoed. Nova walked straight out of the cabin in her high heels, looking annoyed. "What are you guys doing? I’m trying to rest. Can you keep it down?"

The moment she spoke, Nova finally noticed the deck was crowded with strangers. Strange, who was always at odds with her, just stood quietly in a corner like a background character, keeping his mouth shut.

When George, Leo, and the soldiers saw Nova, they all widened their eyes, a greedy look flashing across their faces.

Seeing this, Strange stepped right in front of Nova, shot her a look, then turned to George. "George, my partner doesn’t know what just happened. I’m taking her back inside now. The Eye of Tarot is staying out of what happens next."

Saying that, Strange moved to protect Nova as they headed back to the cabin.

"Hold on," Leo called out first to stop them.

The moment he saw Nova, he was completely hooked by her charming voice and face. Even Stephanie, who he always had a thing for, paled in comparison to Nova.

Leo walked slowly toward Nova, reached out a hand, and played the gentleman as he said, "Ma’am, please join my fleet."

Nova just chuckled. "Your fleet? You the captain?"

Leo stiffened for a second, but quickly straightened up and flashed a confident smile. "I will be soon."

Seeing his confidence, Nova laughed too. "Then invite me again once you’re actually captain."

But instead of going back inside, Nova just leaned against the cabin door, watching everything on the deck with great interest.

Strange kept giving Nova anxious side-eyes, but she completely ignored him.

Getting fed up, Strange warned, "George, Leo, Nova is the most valuable cargo The Eye of Tarot has. A big shot has his eyes on her. Please don’t go looking for trouble."

George just snorted. "Strange, I just saved your life. Besides, everyone knows The Eye of Tarot is an underground group that sells people. My young master has his eye on this girl. Whatever price you were going to sell her for, we’ll pay double."

Hearing this, sweat started to form on Strange’s forehead. His voice shook as he warned, "Aren’t you afraid of bringing disaster down on your families? Don’t think The Eye of Tarot is weak on this dark sea."

As he said that, Strange transformed again, his body turning into shiny black metal.

Just as the tension was about to snap, Nova’s eyes flicked over to Kevin, along with the Celula and Monchhichi sisters standing behind him.

Seeing the two pretty twins standing by Kevin, Nova asked with interest, "Aren’t you going to take advantage of their fight and run? Or do you want to stay and watch the show?"

Hearing that, Celula and Monchhichi both grabbed Kevin. They wanted to drag him off the deck and back onto the two-masted sailboat.

But Kevin just stood there like a stone pillar, not moving an inch.

Panicking, Celula rushed to say, "Aren’t we leaving? What are you doing?"

Kevin didn’t listen to her. He just stood his ground, not moving a muscle.

Leo noticed their moves and turned around with a sneer. "Trying to walk away? Did you ask my cannons and guns first?"

Seeing Leo target him, Kevin stepped forward and put himself in front of Monchhichi and Celula.

Right then, to Nova’s shock, red veins spread all over Kevin’s eyes. "The Fixing Gaze!"

Two red beams shot out and hit George and Strange dead on.

Red light wrapped around them, and they froze, unable to move a single muscle.

The soldiers around them didn’t expect Kevin to strike. They quickly raised their guns and aimed right at him.

But the moment their fingers touched the triggers, pale blue numbers and symbols flashed in Kevin’s eyes.

[Mechanical Sovereign] ability activated.

In an instant, all the machines within a hundred meters of Kevin felt alive, sending happy signals straight to him.

Guns, attack helicopters, armored cars, even the steering wheels and sails of the two ships-all of them locked into Kevin.

They obeyed him like well-trained pets, all waiting for his command.

Suddenly, a loud grinding noise came from all the gun barrels around them.

All eight soldiers’ guns suddenly jammed at the exact same time.

Leo watched all this, his eyes wide. "What the hell?"

Panicking, Leo snatched a pistol from a nearby soldier, cleared the jam, and fired straight at Kevin.

But the bullet didn’t fire. It exploded right in the barrel. Shrapnel tore through the air and blew Leo’s face into a bloody mess.

Leo howled in pain. He threw the gun on the ground and stomped on it twice. Then he looked up and tried to curse at Kevin, but his words were just bloody gurgles.

Right then, the attack helicopter in the air and the armored vehicle on the nearby ship spotted the fight. They both turned their turrets and aimed straight at Kevin.

Celula and Monchhichi both screamed. They raised their Glock 19s, ready to fire their last Fireball rounds.

But before they could pull the triggers, the bullets just popped out of the chambers on their own.

Seeing something so bizarre, the girls’ eyes went wide. "This is crazy. How did the bullets just fly out by themselves?"

Kevin stood in front of the girls, with his back to them, and spoke in a cold voice: "I promised to keep you safe. As long as I’m here, you’re completely safe. Put your guns away."

Hearing that, both girls felt a sudden wave of safety wash over them.

[Affection +10]

[Affection +5]

Kevin heard the system prompt and gave a small smile. "Let’s do this."

The moment he said it, a massive splash rose from the water next to the ship. Two Fish Fiends-one big, one small-leapt onto the deck at the same time.

The soldiers who had just pointed guns at Kevin were picked off instantly by the two fish monsters.

"Shit! Where did a five-meter monster come from?"

"F**k, Kevin isn’t summoning four Eldritch Entities. He’s got six!"

"What good is that doing? Just shoot already!"

"My gun jammed!"

"N-no... don’t come closer!"

Screams erupted all over the deck. Without their guns, the soldiers couldn’t even survive one hit from a Fish Fiend.

Just as the soldiers were about to be wiped out, the attack helicopter overhead and the armored car on the nearby ship fired at Kevin at the exact same time.

"Watch out!" Nova, who had been watching from the sidelines, quickly called out a warning.

Behind Kevin, Celula and Monchhichi realized they were locked on by the turrets and immediately panicked.

But the gore and chaos they expected never came.

Kevin just stood there, letting the sea breeze hit his face, completely unharmed.

Then came a sharp metallic clatter.

Ammo poured down in a thick sheet from the chopper’s Vulcan cannon overhead.

At the same time, the armored car’s cannon on the next ship sputtered and spat out a huge pile of bullets.

Celula, Monchhichi, and Nova all stared in total disbelief.

Nova’s jaw literally dropped at the Eldritch sight. "Do you guys feel that? It’s like those guns are consciously refusing to fire!"

The thought made Nova freeze for a second before she shook her head hard. "Impossible. What am I even thinking?"

Right then, the soldiers inside the helicopter cockpit and the armored car started panicking too.

They kept fiddling with their controls, but every dial and button felt welded in place, completely unresponsive. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Seeing their machines useless and their cannons dead, the soldiers grabbed their guns, half-popped out of their cockpits, and aimed to put Kevin and his crew down.

But the moment their heads popped out, two gunshots rang out.

Two soldiers got shot straight between the eyes. Their heads burst into bloody mist.

Only then did Nova, Celula, and Monchhichi realize that Luna and Amelia-who’d been tied up nearby-were already free thanks to the Fish Fiends.

Both women fired at the same time, landing perfect shots on their targets.

Celula and Monchhichi couldn’t help but whistle softly at the show.

"Monchhichi, are those girls gonna be our crew too? They’re insanely good with guns." Celula looked over at her, worry clear in her voice.

Monchhichi patted her shoulder. "Looks like Captain Kevin isn’t some jerk who just uses women as toys. That’s a good thing. We’ll stick with them."

With the girls’ help, Kevin’s group quickly wiped out every enemy except George and Strange.

Not even the pilots manning the armored car and the helicopter on the next ship escaped.

About three minutes later, the red glow on George and Strange completely faded.

Strange looked completely wiped out, and the dark metallic sheen on his body started fading fast.