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Kevin's hand was extended towards Cate.
The smile on Cate's face froze, then gradually disappeared. She stared at Kevin's palm, feeling quite uneasy.
"… Mr. Deep, why… why did you suddenly want me to do this?"
Cate didn't understand Kevin's request, because from her perspective, he didn't seem to like her very much.
Even though Kevin hadn't visited The Woods much during this period, Cate could sense that this Superhero from The Seven had always subtly tried to keep his distance from her.
That's the more polite way of putting it.
To be blunt, Mr. Deep of The Seven was afraid of Cate's 'Compulsion'.
It was precisely because Cate noticed this that she maintained her distance from Kevin in The Woods.
But today, he had actively extended his hand, asking Cate to read his thoughts.
This was very abnormal.
At least to Cate, it was very unusual.
"Just an experiment."
Kevin explained blandly.
But this explanation clearly couldn't convince Cate.
"… What kind of experiment?"
"Don't worry about it so much for now. Just try it. Can you hear my thoughts?"
Kevin smiled, wiggling his hand at Cate.
Coming from the bar to see Cate and trying to have her read his mind wasn't a whim of Kevin's.
It was because Kevin suddenly realized that he would need Cate's help for many things to come.
Her ability, similar to Professor X's control, if used well, would allow Kevin to confidently approach, recruit, and not worry about betrayal from anyone, whether it be Zoe, Neuman, or anyone else who might appear in the future.
But the premise was that Kevin himself needed to have resistance to Cate's ability.
So Kevin thought of the Rune system within his skill tree.
Nearly two months had passed since Kevin returned to the The Boys world from Kama Taj.
Even though Kevin hadn't participated much in the plot, because the plot itself had been significantly altered by Kevin, and with a modified mission system providing prompts, Kevin had accumulated eight skill points bit by bit over these two months.
Adding the one skill point he originally gained in Kama Taj, Kevin invested all nine skill points into the Rune system.
He maxed out the first skill of the Rune system to Level 3, and simultaneously leveled up each of its three extended skills to Level 2.
Active skills only require one skill point for each of their first three levels. Kevin had just enough remaining skill points to unlock these skills.
The first skill in the Rune system is [Rune: Imbue], a fairly simple skill that allows one to create runes and attach them to objects to enhance the object's attack power.
It's a bit like 'enchanting'.
The three extended skills of [Rune: Imbue] are [Imbue (Strength)], [Imbue (Defense)], and [Imbue (Life)].
The three active skills are easy to understand: one increases an object's attack power, another increases its defense, and the last increases its health.
The duration of the imbue is limited and consumes Kevin's stamina.
Although there's no cooldown, Kevin's own stamina reserves limit the effectiveness of these skills.
Of course, these aren't important. As long as his physique continues to strengthen, Kevin will have plenty of stamina, and as the level of [Imbue] increases, the stamina consumed will also decrease.
What Kevin truly cared about was the change brought by the extended skill [Imbue (Defense)].
After a brief test, Kevin discovered that the defense increase provided by [Imbue (Defense)] was comprehensive.
It wasn't just physical defense on the body's surface; mental defense would also increase.
In other words, after imbuing his skin with runes, Kevin gained the ability to defend against psychic powers.
To test this power, before coming to find Cate, Kevin had also sought out the psychic 'Mezmer' as a passerby and asked him to read his thoughts.
The result was that with the runes imbued, Mezmer, the psychic, found it very difficult to hear Kevin's inner voice.
Additionally, during this period, Kevin had gained some insights from his study of those magic books, learning a unique set of meditation methods to relax the mind, which could clear his mind at critical moments.
And the passive skill [Deep Sea Heart] also seemed to provide some means of psychic protection.
With multiple factors stacked, Kevin felt confident facing Cate and having her try to listen to his inner thoughts.
Cate's current ability, due to long-term medication, had already weakened, unable to display even a tenth of its full power.
Facing Kevin, who could clear his mind and had imbued himself with runes, she would most likely be unable to hear Kevin's inner voice.
Even if she could hear it, Kevin could prevent Cate from grasping his true thoughts.
In short, Kevin wasn't worried about being controlled by her, or about her discovering his identity as a transmigrator.
Kevin was still waiting for Cate to shake his hand.
Looking at Kevin's outstretched hand, Cate hesitated for a moment before slowly removing her glove and extending her hand towards Kevin.
In truth, as long as she didn't use her 'Compulsion' and merely listened to others' inner voices, Cate wasn't particularly resistant.
Because when she was at Indira's home, Indira would sometimes have Cate listen to her inner thoughts to reassure her.
The main reason for her hesitation when facing Kevin's request was that Kevin didn't like doing this.
But now that Kevin was actively requesting it, Cate wouldn't have any psychological burden.
Cate's slender hand reached towards Kevin, slowly making contact with his upward-facing palm.
After a few seconds, Cate's hand finally rested on Kevin's palm.
She immediately closed her eyes, using her ability to listen to Kevin's inner thoughts.
But after only two seconds with her eyes closed, she suddenly opened them, asking incredulously:
"How did you do that?!"
"You can't hear anything, right?"
"Yes… but… but that's impossible… you don't have psychic abilities, this…"
Cate didn't understand. Even though her ability had been suppressed to a certain extent due to medication, she could at least hear the thoughts of ordinary people and Supes without psychic protection.
If a Supe's mind was completely unguarded, she could even compel them to do things she commanded.
Cate's 'Compulsion' was that powerful; in the The Boys world, where psychic abilities were scarce, as long as she could make contact with someone, she could control everything about that person.
But now, Cate's ability had failed in front of Kevin.
She couldn't hear the thoughts in his mind, and as for whether she could control him… Cate believed it was highly unlikely.
Currently, Cate's abilities were greatly weakened due to long-term medication.
Originally, she could easily command someone to do certain things, but now, if Cate used such an ability on someone twice, she would feel a headache, the kind that made her feel like her head would explode.
And this was against ordinary people with little resistance.
Kevin had resistance to Cate's ability. If Cate forcefully tried to command him, Cate felt that even if she succeeded, the blood vessels in her own head might burst.
"Still can't hear anything?"
Kevin asked again.
Cate nodded slightly, her gaze towards Kevin filled with curiosity.
After her initial surprise, she began to wonder how Kevin had managed all of this, asking the same question again.
"Yes… You… How did you do that?"
"My ability has improved a bit, I guess that's it. You see, isn't there a theory that the ability to control people's minds is essentially about controlling the fluids in their brains? And I happen to have the ability to control water flow, so after a little thought, I came up with this defensive method."
Kevin was spouting nonsense with a straight face, even bringing up an unproven theory from an anime.
But Cate seemed to believe him. Her cute eyes widened instantly, and she asked incredulously:
"So… mind-reading and mind-control abilities are essentially branches of water manipulation?"
"Uh… pretty much? But it hasn't been proven. At least I can't control other people's thoughts through this method."
Kevin didn't expect Cate to actually start believing this explanation. Lacking in theoretical knowledge, he could only reluctantly agree.
Controlling thoughts by manipulating the flow of blood, brain fluid, and spinal fluid in others' bodies—even if such a thing were possible, the precision of water manipulation would have to be incredibly fine.
At least at the current stage, Kevin certainly couldn't do it.
If he tried to force such an operation, he might end up bursting someone's head instead.
Yes, just like Neuman.
"That's still amazing!"
Cate looked at Kevin with a hint of complexity.
She thought that if her family members all had abilities like Kevin's, perhaps the tragedy in her home wouldn't have happened, and her brother wouldn't still be missing.
Kevin hadn't thought Cate would have such thoughts.
His main purpose in approaching Cate today was to build a closer relationship with her, hoping that one day she would act according to his wishes.
From the current perspective, the effect was quite good.
After chatting with Cate and confirming that his defensive enchantment… Imbue ability, could indeed defend against Cate's level of psychic power, Kevin changed the topic, asking very naturally:
"Alright, let's stop here for now. Has Indira not returned yet?"
"… She has a lecture today, said she'd be back late."
"Then you'll be going back alone later?"
"Mm."
"I'll see you home. Even if you're a Supe, you're still a girl, and it's dangerous to walk alone at night."
Kevin said with a smile.
He was still trying to get closer to Cate.
Although Kevin had previously kept his distance from this girl with mind control abilities, suddenly showing closeness now might make Cate wary of him.
But Kevin also had his advantages.
Being unable to have his thoughts read and being immune to Cate's ability were his advantages.
Now, in Cate's mind, Kevin must be that very special person, and facing this special person, Cate might have some thoughts different from those she had for others.
Kevin thought this, and he felt that things should develop as he expected.
However, what Kevin didn't expect was that things went too smoothly, or rather, incredibly smoothly.
Because just two days after Kevin saw Cate home, Indira brought Cate to visit him.
And Indira asked Kevin:
"Cate will be staying with you from now on. Don't look at me like that; this was Cate's own request. She said she might feel more comfortable staying here."
Indira said so.
Kevin: "?"
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