Hearing the word "fishing," Kevin and Luna both froze in place.

They exchanged a glance, then turned to Stephanie in unison and shouted: "Fool!"

The moment the words left their mouths, the floor beneath them began to shake violently. Even the ship, which had been sailing steadily across the ocean, tilted ten degrees.

Immediately after, a shadow roughly the height of a person shot out from the horizon. A thin steel line connected to the figure, the other end gripped tightly in Leo’s hands at the far end of the deck.

A crimson mist rose up, rapidly engulfing the entire deck.

From the bridge, Kevin and the others looked down to see an Eldritch entity charging rapidly toward Leo.

It possessed a shark’s head, a rhino’s horn, a gorilla-like muscular upper body and arms, a thick, powerful tail resembling a water snake, and a pair of human legs.

Kevin stared at the familiar figure and cursed silently under his breath: "Damn it!"

A Grotesques—a physical-type Eldritch. Its form was typically a monstrous stitching together of different species.

They usually possessed formidable physiques and violent temperaments, boasting immense physical destructive power and rapid regenerative abilities.

If it had a weakness, it was that these Eldritch typically lacked the capacity for thought.

But right now, Leo was alone on the deck. Facing a Grotesques, he was just prey waiting to be hunted.

Crash!

Wood splinters flew across the deck.

The Grotesques charged at Leo wildly, leaving behind a two-meter-wide trail of destruction in its wake.

Bang!

A deafening impact echoed out.

The steel pipe in Leo’s hands flew straight up into the air.

Behind Kevin, Stephanie let out a scream, covering her face with both hands, unable to bear the thought of the gruesome scene on the deck. Even Luna instinctively turned her head away.

However, the bloody image they dreaded didn’t unfold.

Leo hadn’t been injured by the Grotesques’ charge. On the contrary, he had actually dodged the direct impact.

That loud crash earlier had actually been the sound of Leo striking the creature with the pipe.

He simply lacked technique. The recoil was too intense, causing the pipe to slip from his grasp and fly into the air.

Kevin watched the entire exchange closely. He immediately noticed that Leo had activated his talent: [Arousal].

At this moment, Leo’s entire body was packed with bulging muscles. His height, arms, and thighs had all expanded by over fifty percent, making him look as strong and powerful as a gorilla.

Leo panted heavily, a look of lingering shock still on his face.

With trembling hands, he locked eyes with the monstrous Grotesques before him, then a flash of excitement broke across his features. "Hahaha! So this is what the talent does! Damn monster, you dare try to eat me? Take this!"

With that, Leo grabbed a nearby wooden plank and swung it at the Grotesques again.

The creature roared and fought to block the strikes, but it was temporarily suppressed by Leo’s assault.

Stephanie and Luna, standing behind Kevin, also noticed the commotion on the deck.

Seeing Leo actually overpowering the Grotesques, Luna gasped in disbelief. "Is his talent this strong?"

Stephanie watched Leo go crazy, her eyes lighting up. She shot a smug look at Kevin. "See that, Kevin? Only Leo on this ship can stand toe-to-toe with these monsters. Without him, even if you’re the captain, you’re one step away from dying. Be smart and share your food and water with me. And hand over your soda, too. Otherwise, don’t expect us to protect you."

Kevin rolled his eyes. "I don’t need a gunslinger’s protection."

"A gunslinger?" Stephanie looked totally confused.

Kevin glanced at her. "You’ll find out soon enough."

On the deck.

After taking three hard hits from Leo, the Grotesque bit down on the wooden plank. Its sharp fangs easily tore the board to pieces.

But Leo quickly stepped back and grabbed another plank.

He looked at the fresh cracks all over the Grotesque’s body and smirked. "Is that all you’ve got? You’ve got the nerve to attack me? You ugly freak. Compared to my talent, you’re nothing but a noob!"

With that, Leo kicked it again.

But this time, Leo’s hit didn’t affect the Grotesque at all.

Instead, the shock from the monster’s muscles sent Leo flying backward several meters. He had been strong as a gorilla just a moment ago.

When Leo hit the deck, his body had already shrunk back to normal size.

Kevin checked his watch and smiled. "Not even twenty seconds."

"That’s way shorter than the time I remember from my past life," Kevin muttered to himself. "Looks like there are some changes I don’t know about yet."

"What just happened? Why did Leo fall so fast? Wasn’t he strong a second ago?" Stephanie stared at Leo’s weak, collapsed form and panicked.

She quickly grabbed Kevin’s arm, her voice shaking. "Kevin, what do we do?"

Kevin pulled his arm away with disgust and sneered. "You guys brought this mess on yourselves. Fix it yourself."

He then pushed Stephanie straight out of the wheelhouse.

Thud!

The door was shut tight.

Stephanie finally realized what Kevin had done. "Damn it! Kevin, open the door right now! Let me in!"

At that moment, a thin red fog began to rise in the cabin.

The dread and creepy vibe grew thicker and thicker. Stephanie’s skin crawled, and she grew even more frantic.

[Sanity -1]

[Sanity -2]

[Sanity -3]

As her sanity dropped faster, Stephanie’s heart started pounding out of control.

She dug her fingers into her hair and kicked the wheelhouse door hard. "Kevin! Let me in! Why is my sanity dropping on its own?"

Stephanie was completely losing it. She cursed and cried, but the door stayed locked. She couldn’t get in.

Inside the wheelhouse.

Luna looked at Kevin and asked nervously, "That red fog... is it going to hurt us too?"

Kevin shrugged and explained, "Of course. The blood fog is packed with strong neurotoxins and hallucinogens. It triggers human fear, makes people hyper and lose their minds. If you stay in it too long, you’re gonna go crazy."

Hearing that, Luna frowned. "How do you know that?"

Kevin smiled and tapped his head. "Don’t forget, I have the Intel Talent."

Luna rolled her eyes at that. "Your intel is too spot-on. It’s like you know everything."

Kevin raised an eyebrow. "Thanks for the compliment."

He didn’t plan to explain much more about his ability to Luna. It was all experience he’d bought with his life, over and over, in his past life.

Seeing Kevin didn’t want to talk more, Luna dropped it. She turned to the window, worried. "What about that monster on deck? Leo looks like he can’t hold it off. Should we go out and help? After all, you have a gun."

Kevin shook his head. "I’m not the only one with a gun."

Right after he said that, a huge boom came from the deck.

Blazing fire exploded, tearing through a big patch of the blood fog on the deck.

Leo collapsed on the deck. He watched the Grotesque get swallowed by flames. He scrambled to his feet, hands and feet moving in a panic, screaming as he ran toward the cabin. "Help! Help!"

But before he could even yell twice, the Grotesque let out a roar like thunder.

That fireball had almost melted its skin, but as soon as the flames died down, its skin was already healing fast.

Seeing this, Leo’s fear hit its peak. His heart felt like it was about to jump out of his chest.

He didn’t dare stay on the deck anymore. He scrambled into the cabin like a scared stray dog.

The Grotesque didn’t chase him right in.

That fireball had triggered a deep, instinctual fear in it.

It scanned around for the shooter who attacked it, then quickly lifted its head to look at Amelia, who was standing on the high lookout tower of the sailboat.

Right after that, the Grotesque charged at the mast like a mad bull.

Its creepy strength almost snapped the mast. Amelia wobbled on the tower. She quickly grabbed a rope to keep her balance.

Facing an Eldritch Entity for the first time, fear rose in her chest too.

But years of working as a patrol officer taught her how to keep her cool and stop those feelings from taking over.

But with her life on the line, her control was clearly slipping.

"Kevin, aren’t you going to step in?" Amelia forced her panic down. She stared straight at Kevin in the wheelhouse.