Eddie lifted the red wine and said, "Then I'll trouble you with one thing—work a little harder and give birth to the child."
Lisa hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "I will. Don't worry. So who'll be your bodyguard during this period? Without a bodyguard you can't go out—you need someone to look after you."
"I'll take Hilda and Jill." After thinking it over, Eddie decided it was better to keep Jill by his side.
"She's good too; if she passes the test she'll be very powerful. You need an ocean-type bodyguard, and Hilda fits the bill." Lisa nodded.
Chapter 524: Alexia's Potential Proposal
Three minutes later Hilda burst from the sea, clutching a flat deep-sea fish found only five thousand meters down, and flung it onto the sand.
"Your evolution is special; you're incredibly fast in the ocean. For the next six months, barring accidents, you'll be my bodyguard." Eddie lay on a beach chair, basking in the sun.
Hilda nodded. "Got it. Leave your safety to me—I'll take responsibility!"
That sounded odd—what did she mean, "take responsibility"?
Jill asked, puzzled, "Then why do you want me as a bodyguard?"
"Can't bear to leave your BSAA job?" Eddie teased.
Jill shook her head, rolling her eyes. "Everything happens for a reason."
"I just want you with me—any problem with that?" Eddie was blunt, offering no excuse.
His words left Jill speechless yet secretly pleased. "You really surprise me sometimes. Fine, since you put it that way, I'll stay with you."
Besides the late-arriving Ms. Yaxi and Mrs. Taimina, even Manuela passed the fear test.
Pure-hearted, innocent Manuela cleared the test in record time. Everyone had expected her extra ability to be fire-starting, but nothing manifested.
The same went not only for Manuela but also for women like Jill and Annette—aside from slightly better skin and a younger look, there were no obvious boosts.
Even Alex couldn't figure it out, leaving only the comment: "Maybe the time isn't right, or perhaps their unique skills haven't surfaced yet."
The older daughters had grown up, but the younger children still needed schooling—some were just born—so Katherine had to teach them. Who made her the teacher? On the island she continued her teaching job.
Only her students were rather special: all were her daughters, and they called her "Auntie."
On another island Alexia was building a spaceship, clacking across the ground in high heels while a virtual ship model hovered before her eyes.
With a delicate tap on the model, massive vines lifted thick steel plates into place, embedding them with unique welding skills.
Invisible flames ignited, perfectly fusing the steel.
Sensing Eddie's approach, Alexia paused her work while the vines continued assembling the spacecraft.
Her beautiful eyes blinked; she circled him once and, like a female rogue, whistled—an odd feeling. "You broke through?"
Eddie nodded. "Yeah, how did you know?"
Alexia raised a jade hand; fire blossomed in the air. "Because I did too. This is my second ability: I can emit viruses and special substances that mix with the air to create flame—silent, scentless."
"How did you break through?" Eddie told his wife about his close encounter with a nuclear bomb.
Alexia pondered, then gave a charming smile. "Me? I broke through naturally. Your magnetic ability isn't just for eavesdropping on calls—stop using such shameless tricks."
"What's shameless about it? It's an awesome power! I know there's more I can dig into—I just haven't found the way yet." Eddie shrugged helplessly.
"Spend a bit less time on that Simmons mattress and you'd figure it out. Aren't you afraid of kidney deficiency?" Alexia saw right through her husband at a glance.
"Ahem, it's not like I asked for it. Okay, topic closed—any good suggestions, darling?" Out of ideas, Eddie sought his wife's advice.
Whether it's Alexia or Alex, both are top-tier geniuses. As the saying goes, depend on your wife at home and still depend on your wife outside—otherwise, why marry a woman whose intelligence is practically demonic?
Alexia tilted her head, golden hair and emerald eyes framed by tonight's pure-white evening gown, looking drop-dead gorgeous. "Got it—you said you ran into a nuclear bomb? Then let's do it again."
Alexia clapped her hands; a vine burst from the floor and hurled an object into the air.
Boom! An explosion roared; Eddie instantly used his magnetic-field power to curb the blast, compressing the fiery wave with magnetism.
Alexia circled the flames in curiosity, studying the shifting magnetic field, even pulling out a laptop to run equations. The more she calculated, the brighter her eyes sparkled, as if she'd spotted something fascinating.
"Keep this ability active. Memorize the current magnetic changes—brand them into your mind. It's crucial for you. Remember, then compress—compress the flames further, tracking every magnetic shift." Alexia's queenly voice rang out.
Eddie's mental focus locked onto the magnetic field, the world around him forgotten. Amid its fluctuations he sensed certain fields were identical, as if interconnected.
Half an hour into the state, Alex arrived after hearing the news. She glanced at her husband's condition with an odd expression. "Go prepare food—and whose turn is it this time?"
"Whose turn for what?" Jill asked, puzzled.
"You, of course. You're the principal wife—if not you, then who?" Alex teased. Regret was inevitable; her name wasn't on the household register, but she had wedding photos at least.
Jill was still confused—until Eddie ended two hours of sustaining his limit state and was hoisted over a shoulder and carried off. Then she understood exactly what was up.
Alexia watched with a smile. "The shared nature of magnetic fields—legendary teleportation and space-spanning all begin here."
Alex nodded. "Exactly. Truly my husband. Haha, he's probably delighted inside. Log the coordinates, find the most stable point—that's the teleport node. Incredible when you think about it!"
"Nothing's incredible—once science reaches that level, everything follows." Alexia wasn't surprised, only pleased, as if it were only natural; someone as smart as she was ought to make such discoveries.
Chapter 525: The Brother-in-Law's in Trouble Again
A month later Eddie brought Jill and Hilda to France for a conference in the so-called nation of romance.
His real aim was to investigate links between Tricell and Brandon. Though the Uroboros Virus hasn't shown effects yet, it's still valuable for reference.
In his room, about to leave for the meeting, Eddie took an unexpected call—from Leon. "What's up?"
"Morpheus is dead!" Leon said in a low voice.
"Morpheus? When did you team up with him? How'd he die?" Eddie was puzzled. He had no fondness for the cross-dressing big shot but, for his brother-in-law's sake, let it go.
In broken sentences Leon explained: Morpheus had secretly engineered a virus for his perfect transformation, went to Africa, and partnered with a mysterious figure.
Yesterday, after a mission, Leon found Morpheus's warning telling him to leave the apartment.
Soon after, Leon was attacked and the apartment blown up. Morpheus's final email placed him in an African city for a deal.
"Got it; I'll look into it." Eddie nodded. Oriana was Morpheus's sister; her brother was down, so Eddie would check it out and find who killed him.
The two-day conference was the usual: keep funding the BSAA and develop new B.O.W. models for cleanup—fight power with power, magic with magic!
Eddie had zero interest; those who join B.O.W. projects never end well. He neither wanted in nor even considered it.