Matthew Atkinson & Natalie Russell
Global Layer of the Supernatural Realm
"So, Uncle Russell, you can retain your memories, but you'll have to pretend," Matthew said.
Grand Magister Russell was taken aback upon hearing this.
"Pretend? How?"
"It's very simple." Matthew smiled and said, "As long as you also have an extraordinary treasure chest, that will be fine, right?"
Grand Magister Russell frowned slightly and said, "Are you planning to leave your extraordinary treasure chest, or Natalie's extraordinary treasure chest, with me first, just to make a show of it?"
"No. No." Matthew shook his head and said, "That would only shift the problem. It wouldn't solve the problem at all."
After these words, Matthew stopped being mysterious and, with a thought, an extraordinary treasure chest appeared before him.
"Uncle Russell, this is an extraordinary treasure chest reward I received because of the ninth layer of the supernatural realm. Now it came in handy."
As he spoke, he handed the extraordinary treasure chest to Grand Magister Russell, "If you take this treasure chest, then everyone will have one. What can anyone say then?"
Grand Magister Russell was surprised.
"Is it really the reward from the ninth layer?" he asked, still unsure.
"Of course," Matthew affirmed. "Supernatural Realm is just arranging the rewards now. To distribute the rewards, we need to leave the Global Layer. If it's not from the ninth layer, where am I supposed to get a treasure chest?"
These extraordinary treasure chests were very mysterious. Once someone took the extraordinary items inside, the chest would automatically disappear. Therefore, all Matthew had was this extraordinary treasure chest that he hadn't opened yet.
After thinking for a moment, Grand Magister Russell did not refuse. He took the treasure chest from Matthew and said, "After we leave, I will give the treasure chest to Natalie, and then Natalie will return it to you."
Matthew immediately waved his hand: "These are all minor matters, let's talk about them when we get out. But Uncle Russell, there are a few things I need to talk to you about. And now is the perfect time."
"Oh. What do you want to talk about?" Grand Magister Russell said, then suddenly his face hardened, and he spoke in a cold voice, as if something had just occurred to him. "Matthew, I hope you're not going to tell me Natalie is pregnant. Otherwise, no one can save you from me."
"Uh... What? No. That's not what I want to talk about," Matthew said, cold sweat dripping from his forehead. Just moments ago, Grand Magister Russell's aura felt even more dominant than Shanks'.
"Oh. Then good. Go ahead," Grand Magister Russell said, returning to his normal demeanor.
"First matter. I recently won a special prize from an extraordinary treasure chest. Thanks to this prize, I can now remember what happened in the Amnesiac Layers. But I don't know what to do with this information. That's why I wanted to consult you, Uncle Russell."
This information greatly surprised Grand Magister Russell. After recovering from his surprise, he asked many questions, learning everything about Matthew's new ability.
And then he gave him his advice. "It would be best if you kept this information to yourself for now. This information is quite valuable to the country, but once upper management learns of it, you will be subjected to extensive investigation and scrutiny. Don't tell anyone until you stop hiding your strength. When you stop being lowkey, come and give me your report on the Amnesiac Layers. It's as if you've just acquired this ability. Does Natalie know about this?"
"Not yet. I wanted to tell her. But she has many guards watching and protecting her. I couldn't risk anyone else hearing out," Matthew said.
"You did well. For now, this information should stay just between the two of us. As you said, Natalie has a lot of eyes on her," Grand Magister Russell said.
"Another matter..."
Then Matthew talked about the rewards he and Natalie had earned in the eighth layer. And after that, he explained his plan to make the Life Extending Potion known to everyone by auctioning it off.
This way, Matthew and Natalie's family members and those close to them could use the potion without any problem.
This information astonished Grand Magister Russell once again.
Ageless Trait Potion? Life Extending Potion? Devil Fruit Weakness Removal Cards?
These were things he had never heard of before, things even the most famous supernatural beings would line up to buy.
"How many Life Extending Potions do you plan to auction?" Grand Magister Russell asked, finally recovering from his surprise.
"Ten at most. But I know people will want more after that. So we can auction five of them first, and then, depending on the situation, we can 'reluctantly' put the other five up for sale, or we can directly negotiate with individuals," Matthew said.
"Good idea. You can give me the potions after you leave the Global Layer. I'll handle the auction and other business. Anything else?" Grand Magister Russell said.
"One last thing. You know, tenth layer, the next layer we'll be entering is the Solo Layer, Uncle Russell. But if my successes in that layer are announced via a super announcement, all my plans to stay lowkey will be ruined. So, I wanted to ask if you know of a way to prevent that," Matthew said.
"Hmm..." Grand Magister Russell thought for a moment. And then he said, "I think I've heard of something that might be useful to you, but I don't know the exact details. I'll investigate this and get back to you when we get out, okay?"
"Thanks, Uncle Russell," Matthew said.
"You don't even need to mention it," Grand Magister Russell said.
...
When the two walked out of the dining area, to everyone's surprise, Grand Magister Russell actually had an extraordinary treasure chest in his hand.
'Where did it come from?' Although all of them were curious, they were wise and didn't ask any questions.
However, among the group, there were also those with relatively low emotional intelligence.
"Grand Magister Russell, where did you get this extraordinary treasure chest?" Professor Richardson asked. "Have your rewards already been distributed in advance? Why didn't we get any?"
Grand Magister Russell truthfully replied, "This is not a Global Layer reward, but a reward from Matthew's ninth layer of the supernatural realm. He lent me the treasure chest temporarily."
Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback for a moment.
However, everyone was smart enough to quickly realize that Grand Magister Russell wanted to keep his memories, which was why Matthew lent him the treasure chest as cover.
Only Professor Richardson still couldn't understand what kind of situation this was.
Just as he was about to ask another question, a female professor next to him pinched him hard on the waist, silencing him.
But Natalie didn't need to hold back and asked directly, "Dad, do you plan to keep your memories?"
"Yes." Grand Magister Russell nodded, glanced at Matthew, and said, "I had some misunderstandings about this kid. Now that I've figured it out, I thought I'd keep my memories. Anyway, I don't really need any supernatural item."
Natalie thought for a moment and said, "That's good. This way, you won't go on and on every time you call me."
Grand Magister Russell: "..."
Mr. Russell was in a bit of an awkward position at this moment. After all, every time he called Natalie, he would tell her how good Clark Kent was and how many flaws Matthew had.
At this moment, Aria Powell suddenly reminded Matthew, "Matthew, that old man from South Korea, although he is now critically ill, is still a threat to you."
"Our team won the championship this time, which will definitely attract a lot of attention. Although the credit can be attributed to me, it's hard to avoid people having other thoughts."
"What if the old man wakes up one day, tries your lifestyle, and discovers the secret of his Kryptonian Bloodline..."
"I suggest you resolve this as soon as you get out."
Upon hearing this, Matthew frowned. He had been thinking about it too, but doing it immediately after exiting the Global Layer? He hadn't planned on doing it this quickly.
Grand Magister Russell added, "Ms. Powell is right, this matter really needs to be resolved as soon as possible."
Then, Grand Magister Russell looked at Matthew and said, "I will remind you about this after we get out."
Matthew nodded, feeling that he really couldn't delay any longer.
As for Grand Magister Russell saying he would remind him of this, it was to make sure no one would think Matthew would remember what happened here.
Matthew originally planned to delay for a few years until he was completely invincible before dealing with this matter.
But it looked like he now needed to bring this plan forward. As expected, plans couldn't keep up with changes.
At this moment, Professor Richardson suddenly said, "I received a notification that the reward settlement is complete, asking me whether I want to keep my memories or take the Extraordinary Treasure Chest."
Then everyone received the prompt and made their choice.
Professor Isabel Grant asked with a smile, "Professor Richardson, what did you choose?"
"Of course it's the treasure chest." Professor Richardson said.
Everyone smiled.
At this moment, everyone's face was filled with joy.
Because the championship rewards for the Global Layer were simply too generous.
Leaving aside the extraordinary treasure chest, the 800 attribute points alone were an immeasurable fortune for them, enough to elevate their strength to a new level.
...
One hour passed quickly. And when the countdown ended, everyone in the entire arena vanished.
Blue Marble. The University of Oxford.
In the lounge, everyone appeared together. But almost everyone looked somewhat bewildered.
Only Grand Magister Russell and Matthew remained calm.
Meanwhile, Grand Magister Russell, taking advantage of the situation the others were in, discreetly hid the extraordinary treasure chest he was holding.
After all, it would be strange if he were the only one with his prize while the others hadn't received theirs yet.
Then, a public announcement regarding the Global Layer appeared.
[The members of the champion team in this Global Layer event are Aria Powell, Natalie Russell, Sam Richardson, Matthew Atkinson, Theodore...]
[The members of the second-place team are...]
[The members of the third-place team are...]
[All rewards have been distributed...]
When they saw the announcement, Professor Isabel Grant, Professor Holland, and the others wore expressions of disbelief.
"We... are the champions?"
"T-This can't be a mistake, right? Are we really the champions? Is the name Sam Richardson on that list really me?"
"The rewards have been distributed. It really is us..."
At this moment, Grand Magister Russell suddenly exclaimed, "It must be Ms. Powell who led us to the championship."
These words were immediately echoed by several professors because, among everyone, Aria Powell was the only seventh-rank expert.
Who else could it be but her?
"Yes, yes, yes. We were able to win the championship, thanks to Ms. Powell."
"Ms. Powell is truly amazing."
All eyes were on Aria Powell.
And Aria Powell... was completely dumbfounded. She was well aware of her own strength.
Although she did reach the seventh rank standard, it was only recently.
In the past year, she hadn't entered the Supernatural Realm much, and her training had hit a bottleneck, with her attributes growing very slowly.
In terms of strength, she was definitely the "strongest" among everyone in the lounge.
However, among the seventh-rank experts, she was likely to be among the bottom group.
With such strength, leading a group of fifth-rank supernatural beings, and even two freshmen, to the championship was nearly impossible.
This was the event of the Global Layer, a place teeming with powerful individuals.
Even if Aria Powell was narcissistic, she couldn't believe it was true.
"This…"
Aria Powell had a vague feeling that something was wrong. But she couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong.
As the only seventh-rank expert among them, it was no wonder she deserved the credit for winning the championship.
'Could it be that I just got incredibly lucky and won the championship with such a team?' Aria Powell thought as her gaze swept across everyone's faces.
She soon realized that only the professors were excited. The two freshmen, Natalie and Matthew, looked thoughtful.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.192: Everyone is Shocked and Suspicious
Ch.193: There's Something You Need to Do
Ch.194: Extraordinary Treasure Chests