Matthew Atkinson & Natalie Russell
Global Layer of the Supernatural Realm
After dinner in the team villa, everyone gathered for a chat.
"I just checked on the computer, and our team's competition points are currently 49." Professor Isabel Grant said, "After the second round, I remember there were 31 competition points. In the third round, only Ms. Powell and Matthew advanced, but they gained 18 competition points total, which meant 9 points per person."
"Each person received 1 competition point for advancing in the first round, and each person received 3 competition points for advancing in the second round."
"But in the third round, each person received 9 competition points after advancing. It seems that the points gained from defeating the defending champion are three times more than those from the previous round."
"At this rate of increase, in the next round of competition, as long as someone can advance, they will get 27 competition points per person, and in the round after that, it will be 81 competition points..."
Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback.
Following this growth pattern, as long as someone on the team could keep advancing, there was still a chance to improve the team's ranking.
Only…
It was too difficult to surpass a strong team's competition points with just one person's strength.
Moreover, given that champions were getting progressively stronger, it probably wouldn't be long before a seventh-rank champion appears.
'Would Aria Powell still be able to advance then?' That was the opinion of many people on the team.
As for Matthew…
Everyone except Natalie thought he couldn't go any further.
"Is the South Korean team currently in first place?" Grand Magister Russell asked.
Professor Isabel Grant nodded and said. "Yes, it's them."
This did not surprise anyone.
"How many competition points do they have?"
"Two of them were eliminated in the third round, and their current total competition points are 112."
Everyone was surprised to hear this.
Cull Obsidian was so strong, yet he only eliminated two people from that team? And did the other eight advance?
What kind of monsters were those South Korean teams?
It seemed she knew what everyone was thinking, so Professor Isabel Grant took the initiative to say, "I have checked the information of several championship seed teams. The South Korean team, led by Ma Dongwu, has two seventh-rank experts, with the rest at sixth rank. Five of them are veteran sixth-rank experts. It is one of the strongest teams in this year's Global Layer Competition."
"However, they practically gathered South Korea's best experts to assemble such a team, leaving other South Korean teams with very few strong experts."
"We have three championship-seeded teams in the United Kingdom, and the points gap between the South Korean team and our seed teams is not large."
Upon hearing the professor's detailed report, Matthew frowned and felt that things were somewhat tricky.
His goal this time was the championship. But in the champion challenge format, it was very difficult for him to win the championship.
Because his team members weren't up to par. Eighty percent of them had already been eliminated, leaving only him and Aria Powell.
But the Korean Team still had eight people, and all of them would continue to earn competition points. His team only had two people; how could they compete?
Matthew now hoped that the next challenger would be strong enough to eliminate all the sixth-rank supernaturals.
If the number of competitors between the two teams became close, Matthew would have a chance to catch up to, or even overtake, them.
All he had to do was manage to get through more rounds than they did in the competition.
"Don't think too much about it, just let nature take its course." Aria Powell said.
Everyone nodded in agreement. Their expectations were not high to begin with.
Unlike Matthew, who came here aiming for the championship.
"Speaking of which, the third round eliminated quite a few people, even more than the Bumblebee eliminated in the second round."
Professor Isabel Grant added, "However, there are still more than a million people who are qualified to participate in the competition."
Everyone was somewhat surprised.
Cull Obsidian's strength had reached the sixth rank, yet there were still more than a million people who could advance?
There were indeed many hidden talents among the world's supernatural individuals.
For the rest of the night, they rested in the villa overnight.
The information Professor Holland had requested from Matthew regarding his powers seemed to have been forgotten amidst the conversation.
When everyone returned to the arena, they immediately noticed the changes.
Originally, there were thousands of rings, but it looked like this number had been greatly reduced to a few hundred.
It seemed that as the number of participants decreased, the number of rings would decrease as well.
Although the number of rings had decreased, the area of each ring had increased significantly.
The previous ring was about 50 square meters, but now it was 500 square meters, which was very spacious.
Then the fourth round of challenges officially began, and new champions appeared in the rings.
The fourth champion was an extremely strong monster.
Although it has a body similar to a human's, it was definitely not human.
It is more like an alien creature with two giant horns on its head and a very ferocious appearance.
Its body was covered in a thick layer of metal armor, studded with sharp barbs.
The monster was also holding a giant axe.
It stood quietly on the ring, waiting for a challenger to enter.
His entire body exuded an astonishing aura, creating a strong sense of oppression.
It was obvious at a glance that this monster was definitely not simple.
In the audience, many strong figures changed their expressions upon seeing the fourth-round champion.
However, most people looked bewildered and curious.
"What kind of monster is this?" Professor Richardson asked curiously, "Does anyone here know it?"
Professor Holland and the others shook their heads, including Professor Isabel Grant, who also didn't know.
It seemed they hadn't encountered this monster in the supernatural realm yet.
But Matthew recognized it immediately.
While hesitating about whether to speak, thankfully, Aria Powell spoke. It seems she had information about this champion as well.
This was good for Matthew because if he had to reveal the champion's identity himself, he would face many questions about how he obtained this information.
But if Aria Powell didn't know about this monster either, then Matthew would certainly have shared what he knew.
Because this champion was incredibly powerful, he couldn't allow Aria Powell to face it without knowing anything about it.
Luckily, that wasn't necessary.
"It's Steppenwolf." Aria Powell's expression turned serious, and she said in a deep voice, "A very terrifying monster."
Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions turned serious.
Since even Aria Powell said that the Steppenwolf was terrifying, it must be very powerful.
But at this point, Matthew was a little confused. He knew what a monster Steppenwolf was. If this monster were at its full power, even seventh-rank experts might struggle against it.
Therefore, Matthew's suspicions, which had existed since he entered the competition, were further strengthened.
Most likely, the Supernatural Realm adjusted the power of the champions it selected in each round according to the round they were in.
This adjustment probably wasn't on a very large scale, and the champions retained their original abilities. But the Supernatural Realm seemed to make them weaker or stronger depending on the situation.
After all, even the Supernatural Realm might struggle to find champions with the exact power it wanted, right? In that case, making minor adjustments to the champions' power was normal.
At that moment, Aria Powell suddenly said to Matthew, "Matthew, I suggest you just withdraw from this round. The Steppenwolf has very strong defensive capabilities, and your punches probably won't hurt it."
Matthew nodded upon hearing this, agreeing with what Aria Powell said next.
Steppenwolf's defense was indeed very strong. He was practically a tough, thick-skinned creature that could withstand several punches from the real Superman.
Among the Justice League members, only Superman could overpower Steppenwolf. The others were no match for him.
Even Wonder Woman was at a disadvantage in her fight against Steppenwolf.
But Matthew was also now a Kryptonian. And this champion was a golden opportunity to see where his own power compared to Superman's.
Even if his strength was not as good as the real Superman's, he still should be able to deal with Steppenwolf without any problem, right?
"Okay. I'll go up and give it a try. If it doesn't work, I'll surrender," Matthew said.
"Ms. Powell," Professor Isabel Grant couldn't help but ask, "If we use our standards, what rank of strength would this Steppenwolf be?"
Aria Powell thought for a moment and said, "Probably a top-level sixth-rank expert."
Upon hearing this, everyone gasped in shock.
Meanwhile, the challenges had begun, and supernatural individuals were constantly appearing on the rings.
Suddenly, Professor Richardson pointed to the far-left ring and said, "Look over there, it's Ma Dongwu from South Korea coming up."
Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at the ring. On the ring, a man walked out of the portal and stood opposite Steppenwolf.
The man was not particularly handsome, nor was he very tall, probably less than 1.8 meters. However, he appeared to be extremely large and very sturdy.
He was South Korea's hope: Ma Dongwu
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.178: Matthew Unleashes a Part of His True Power
Ch.179: Secret of the Kryptonian Bloodline
Ch.180: The Fifth Champion – Diamond Jozu