"Level 15?" Max got distracted from his ongoing show of leadership as his head flicked in Jenny’s direction.

He saw her looking at him, her eyebrows raised and expression twisted into something that suggested she was amused.

She was clearly having fun after revealing Fredrinn’s level and rarity to Max.

After all... that man always seemed to believe that he was the strongest around here.

Jenny or the other awakener of their group, Aadav, both were no match for Max since they were only rare rarity. And Jacob turned out to be no threat as well.

However now, out of nowhere, that claim was getting challenged outright?

Max didn’t express any sudden reaction as he said in a controlled voice, "That’s great. Would he like to join us on our journey to Ohio?"

Jenny grinned, "Yes, I already asked him. He will come if we let him bring two of his friends alongside."

She knew that Fredrinn and the girls were listening, so she emphasized on the word ’friends’ intentionally.

"2 friends... That’s alright." Max nodded casually like he couldn’t care less before turning back towards the crowd.

They had been tame ever since he shot the first bullet, though some whispers and curses were flying around.

Charlie was standing next to Jacob and Max didn’t ask him to leave, as if he had already decided that Charlie was in the group that was leaving.

"I know that most of you are sceptical about the Ohio safe zone and your space in our group, but for that you can always talk to your real, original leader, my dear friend Jacob." Max smiled as he said, turning the entire mob’s attention towards the black haired, cowboy hat wearing man.

But before the crowd could begin questioning the man, Max pulled Jacob backwards.

He began to speak in a low volume that was only audible between the two.

Then after nearly 1 minute of back and forth between them, Max casually pushed Jacob away, leaving him to deal with the people he had saved a day back.

Leon, Naomi, the cheerleader like blondie, everyone were on the edge, intending to talk to Jacob first.

But the same thought was shared by several other people.

Everyone began to clamor, shouting, yelling, trying their hardest to get their voices to Jacob.

With so many, the only thing that reached Jacob was chaos.

Some even decided to push their luck and began to move closer towards him, exercising their strength and pushing the crowd closer and closer towards the awakened crew.

However unlike before, Max didn’t shoot any bullets nor raised his voice to control the crowd.

He let the chaos spread, only moving backwards along with his teammates and Christine, leaving Jacob alone.

Fredrinn glanced at the man and the crowd. In his mind, he was weighing the pros and cons of interfering, after all, there were a few voluntary thrall targets among that group, but then he looked backwards.

Rhea and Andrea both were there while Jenny was also looking at him from the side.

He knew the basic maths and how to count to 3, so technically, he currently had no need to fret over other girls.

Not like he had any connection to them either.

Naomi hated him, the cheerleader like blondie was neutral but Fredrinn instinctively felt that the effort in bagging her would probably not even be worth it.

Should he still bother?

[ <LUST> adds that the voluntary thrall slots would increase with the increase in levels. It’s not like the host needs only 3. ]

[ <LUST> also asks that has the host not heard of saying ’more the merrier?’ ]

’And have you not heard the saying that too many cooks spoil the broth?’ Fredrinn shot back casually.

’I would rather have less but understanding women who would support me. In Apolasia I barely had much chance to experience romance, it was just all for pleasure or cultivation. Emotional bonds? None. You want me to have that once again?’

[ <LUST> laughs. Love is bullshit. But failure is the best teacher. If host wishes to walk that path, lust would be sure to enjoy the suffering. ]

’We’ll see.’ Fredrinn brushed it off, looking forward to the future where he has women who he can actually claim to love wholeheartedly.

Right now, he couldn’t even claim that for his own family.

Amongst his thoughts, Fredrinn didn’t even realize when Andrea had pulled him backwards, away from the crowd as they watched the chaos unfold.

Jacob was trying to calm them down, but the mob refused to relax.

Charlie helped, or at least tried to. The poor buff teenager was easily pushed aside using the collective force of 10+ people.

It became so bad that anything spoken was incomprehensible.

No one could hear anyone and yet they refused to quieten down.

"If you all don’t behave, I am going to take none of you." Jacob’s sudden voice pierced the mob, shocking them momentarily.

However the effect wasn’t as he had hoped.

The response to his threat was greater chaos and strings of curses. After all, how dare he decide to leave them behind?

Who was he to abandon them in this underground shop?

Some brave... or rather, foolish men gathered some courage, moving closer and closer to Jacob until one guy dared to grab Jacob’s collars.

The neon jacket crumpled against the grip, making Jacob’s hat tip forward until Jacob caught and fixed it with one hand.

"Now you’ve done it." His low voice slipped out of his mouth, unlike the easygoing and light tone that he always had.

Before that man knew it, Jacob’s foot was on his chest and he was sent flying backwards alongside a good 4-5 people who were directly behind the man.

Chatter died down once again, this time for obvious reasons as everyone stared with mouths agape at Jacob.

They knew he was strong. He was an awakener. Why did they think they could overpower him easily?

Instinctively the smarter ones stepped a couple steps backwards as they waited for the leader to speak again.

Even the kicked man didn’t let out a single peep of noise, he staggered upright and stayed on the spot, no longer trying to show off his meager strength.

Jacob scoffed looking at the sight.

"Hah, that old man was right. Sometimes you just need to give others a good kick to make them listen. Fuck that oldie’s lessons who taught me to act diplomatically.

So... listen up, I will only say it once."

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A/N: Y’all listen up too! I am back, so expect daily uploads and give me lots of power stones and golden tickets. Also comment guys, don’t read so dryly. I love reading you all’s reviews!

Anyways, thanks for reading and support.