The dense ck cloud over the sea loomed like a curtain, enveloping the entire sky. In the midst of the ck mass, streaks of blood-colored light flickered, interspersed with shes of lightning that sparked incessantly.


    Underneath this ck cloud, a steadily spinning wall of clouds had already isted the entire sea region from the outside world. The violent gales on the sea''s surface were strong enough to topple any vessel daring to approach—even warships weighing tens of thousands of tons were no exception.


    Gazing upon the apocalyptic scene before him, Colonel Marcus couldn''t suppress his curiosity and turned to Mackie at his side. "Could the demigods from our country achieve something of this magnitude?"


    Staring at the wall of clouds formed by the hurricane and the ck clouds covering the entire expanse of the sea, Mackie hesitated, uncertain. "I''ve never personally witnessed the actions of the six demigods from our nation, but there''s a record from the missile crisis years ago—our demigods once intercepted enemy fleets and opposing demigods at sea. I believe it''s possible they could manage something like this."


    Mackie''s answer carried a note of ambiguity, and Colonel Marcus could easily hear theck of conviction in his reply.


    It wasn''t that they doubted their own country''s demigods. It was just that the sight before them, the phenomenon created by Chen Yu and Hiromi Jounouchi''sbined efforts, was too astounding.


    The United States also had a demigod capable of summoning storms. However, in official experiments, despite exerting their full power, that demigod had only ever managed to summon a single tornado. A hurricane like the one covering an entire sea region before their eyes was entirely beyond their capability.


    While both could unleash destructive power, the difference between a tornado and a hurricane was like the difference between apact car and a heavy-duty truck. Both could kill you at seventy miles per hour, but the car might leave a whole corpse with some chance of rescue, whereas the truck could pulverize you on impact.


    But the most critical difference was that this wasn''t just a simple hurricane. The ck clouds above shattered the skies, blocking out all means of detection.


    The blood-colored light and lightning emanating from the ck clouds registered immense energy levels on the sensors and were clearly not just ordinary natural lightning or a mere visual effect.


    "Do we have any way of knowing what''s going on inside?" Colonel Marcus furrowed his brow and questioned the intelligence officer beside him. By now, the fleet had approached the area ofbat but had lost all ability to intervene in the battlefield. They couldn''t even ascertain the status of the ongoing battle.


    The feeling ofplete loss of control left Colonel Marcus deeply uneasy. As amander in the US military, he was long ustomed to having all intelligence under his control and dominating the battlefield with one-sided transparency and technological superiority.


    Now, this totalck of control, this helplessness in even discerning thebat situation on the battlefield, was driving Colonel Marcus to frustration and despair.


    It gave him a burning desire to vent, to do something—but the agony of knowing he could do nothing only added fuel to his suppressed anger.


    He knew that losing his cool and yelling at others would yield no results, so Colonel Marcus suppressed his emotions and looked toward the intelligence officer, hoping for good news.


    But the intelligence officer shook his head and said, "Sorry, Commander. The entire expanse above the sea region is blocked by thatyer of ck clouds. Even the satellites can''t capture anything. Everything is shrouded in darkness."


    As he spoke, the intelligence officer disyed the satellite footage on the screen, which showed a massive rotating ck cloud. It continued to churn in an unyielding spiral.


    At its core, just as with any typical hurricane, there appeared a central eye. However, even that eye was covered by ck clouds.


    Moreover, the eye seemed to be where the blood-colored light was most concentrated, giving the entire ce an ominous crimson hue. It radiated an inexplicable sense of malevolence.


    "Goddamn it! Can''t anyone figure out what the hell is going on in there?" Colonel Marcus finally lost hisposure, mming the pencil in his hand onto the mapid out on the table.


    Just as Colonel Marcus was cursing, the door to the operationalmand room swung open. A woman in a naval uniform sporting the rank of rear admiral stepped inside.


    "Colonel Marcus, what is going on here? Why was the USS Iwo Jima deployed on abat mission without my knowledge?" The female admiral immediately questioned Colonel Marcus upon entering. Her arms were crossed against her chest, the golden buttons on her white service uniform visibly straining as she spoke.


    "General ire!" Colonel Marcus promptly saluted the admiral, and the other personnel in themand room hurriedly rose to their feet.


    The female admiral waved her hand dismissively, signaling for everyone to continue working, and then continued pressing Marcus. "Answer me, Colonel. What is happening here? Why are the USS Iwo Jima, two Arleigh Burke-ss destroyers, and an attack submarine deployed on abat operation without my knowledge? And what on earth did you people do to turn this ce into such a state?"


    As she questioned Colonel Marcus, the admiral stepped toward therge screen disying the rotating ck hurricane. Her expression grew even grimmer.


    The sight of the female admiral caused Mackie to be visibly uneasy. Among everyone in themand room, he was the only civilian. Standing so close to a high-ranking military officer made him feel awkward—neither stepping forward nor retreating felt appropriate.


    The admiral clearly noticed Mackie and cast a sharp nce at him. "And who are you? What are you doing here?" she asked coldly.


    "I am…" Mackie started to reply, but before he could finish that single sentence, the admiral cut him off.


    "I don''t care who you are. This is an operationalmand room. Civilians are not allowed. Please leave." She gave an unmistakable look toward the door, making her intentions evident.


    Mackie was rendered speechless and knew he couldn''t argue—the admiral unquestionably had the authority to expel him.


    So, after throwing a nce at Colonel Marcus—that seemed to say "Good luck"—he left themand room.


    Once Mackie was gone, the admiral turned her gaze back to Colonel Marcus, clearly waiting for an exnation.


    "It''s like this, General…" Colonel Marcus began his exnation to the admiral.


    Meanwhile, on the deck outside themand room, Mackie stood staring at the sprawling ck hurricane that had consumed the horizon. After a moment of hesitation, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number.


    "Lord, an unexpected situation has arisen. Major General ire has shown up," Mackie said deferentially into the phone. Even though the person on the other end couldn''t see him, Mackie still bowed slightly, disying evident reverence.


    "..."


    "Yes, my lord, I understand. I know what needs to be done." After listening to the voice on the other end, Mackie quickly and respectfully responded.


    Once the call ended, Mackie pocketed his phone and straightened up. Turning his gaze again toward the distant ck hurricane, a peculiar expression flickered in his eyes.