Matthew Atkinson & Natalie Russell
Oxford, United Kingdom
"Ms. Powell, thank you so much."
"I never dreamed that I would win a championship one day. Thank you so much."
The professors immediately expressed their gratitude to Aria Powell. Even Matthew said a word of thanks to her. After all, he had to play his part too.
Although he knew perfectly well that winning the championship was due to his own ability, he couldn't claim the credit for it yet. That credit should go to Aria Powell for now.
Faced with everyone's gratitude, Aria Powell felt a little guilty.
She knew very well that, with her strength, it was almost impossible for her to win the Global Layer championship, where powerful individuals gathered.
She knew all three combat formats in the Global Layer, and all of them required a strong foundation in strength to become a champion.
With her strength at the bottom of the seventh rank, she would need extremely exceptional luck to win the championship.
"I think winning the championship this time is a bit unusual." Aria Powell glanced at everyone and asked, "Did any of you choose to keep your memories?"
Everyone shook their heads.
Grand Magister Russell, ever the shrewd one, immediately pulled out the treasure chest that Matthew gave to him and said, "This is my extraordinary treasure chest reward. I wonder what's inside? I'm really looking forward to it."
Seeing this, everyone, one by one, took out their own treasure chests.
Aria Powell glanced around, surprised to find that everyone had a treasure chest. She herself had it too.
'What's going on? Such an unusual championship, and did no one choose to keep their memories? Not even me?' The more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
"Something... is not right." Aria Powell immediately said, "I am very clear about my strength. Logically speaking, our team should not have been able to win the championship. Now, not only have we won the championship, but everyone has also chosen the extraordinary treasure chest reward and given up keeping memories. This is absolutely weird."
Upon hearing Aria Powell's doubts, Grand Magister Russell immediately smiled and said, "Ms. Powell, you underestimate the allure of an extraordinary treasure chest for us. Moreover, since nobody chose to keep their memories, doesn't that mean nothing noteworthy happened?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Yes, Ms. Powell, don't overthink it. Winning the championship is a good thing," Professor Isabel Grant said.
Aria Powell could only nod helplessly. Since she didn't keep her memory, there was no point in her obsessing over it anymore.
Grand Magister Russell suddenly added, "However, Ms. Powell's words have given us a wake-up call. Our team winning the championship may indeed be a bit of a surprise, and I believe the other people will share the same view."
"Therefore, I propose that everyone take their treasure chest rewards and go out together."
"This is how we tell everyone that we all chose the extraordinary treasure chest as a reward and didn't keep any memories. So that some curious people won't come and ask us all sorts of questions."
This statement immediately garnered the approval of everyone.
"That's right, that's the way to do it," Aria Powell said. "Letting others know that we chose the extraordinary treasure chest as a reward and lost our memories can avoid a lot of trouble."
Everyone understands what kind of trouble she's referring to. Then everyone carried the treasure chests and walked out of the lounge together.
There were already quite a few people waiting outside the lounge. After all, all the supernaturals saw the announcement just now.
It was impossible not to be shocked. Out of curiosity, everyone came to see the champion team.
So, as soon as they came out, they were surrounded by a large crowd.
However, seeing the treasure chests in their hands, everyone who had questions they wanted to ask had to silently swallow them.
...
At the same time, Seoul, South Korea.
In a luxurious private residence, Ma Dongwu was throwing a tantrum at the moment.
"Damn it. Did we just come in second? How is that possible?"
The only reason he intentionally stopped progressing after the 35th layer of the Supernatural Realm was to win more championships in the Global Layer.
This way, he could increase his power and continue where he left off in the Supernatural Realm.
But unexpectedly, his winning run ended after only two championships.
Although the runner-up place was a decent result, it didn't do justice to his hard work throughout the year.
"Which team won the championship?" Ma Dongwu asked.
All nine of his teammates were standing around him.
Quickly, someone made a phone call. A moment later, the person who made the call returned and said, "Captain, I've investigated and found out that this year's champion team is very unusual. Most of the team members are fifth-rank supernaturals, and two members of the team are even freshmen."
"The only one among them who could be considered strong is someone named Aria Powell. This Aria Powell advanced to the seventh rank about a year ago, and her strength hasn't changed much in the past year. With her current strength, she can't possibly be a match for you, Captain."
Upon hearing this, everyone in the living room looked surprised.
Ma Dongwu was even more shocked and furious, "This kind of trash team can't even make it into the top 100 normally, so how did they win the championship this time?"
"Captain, there must be something fishy going on here," someone said.
Ma Dongwu immediately ordered, "Investigate. Find out the truth for me."
...
Similar discussions arose in many places.
Most top experts believed this year's champion team was not quite normal.
Many people knew about Aria Powell. To put it bluntly, most veteran seventh-rank powerhouses held Aria Powell in utter contempt.
Who would have thought that Aria Powell could lead such a weak team to win the Global Layer championship?
This didn't look normal at all.
Normally, Global Layer championships were won by famous teams. At least, it would be a well-known and popular team within the circle of supernatural individuals.
Therefore, the fact that an unknown black horse won the championship raised questions in many people.
After the news spread, it even went viral online and became a trending topic. In previous years, the topic of Global Layers rarely made it to the top of the trending search list.
They entered the trending topics this time because both championship-winning teams came from the United Kingdom.
"Haha, the champions of Division 1 and Division 2 are both our people, they're really amazing."
"I didn't expect the Koreans' championship run to end so quickly. I thought they were going to win for several more years."
"Why is there a foreigner on the champion team of Division 2?"
"Hehe, when someone reaches that level of power, they don't care about national borders anymore. It's normal for them to team up with a few strong foreigners in order to win the championship."
"No, what are you talking about? I don't understand."
"Global Layer of the Supernatural Realm. This is a grand event for us, supernatural beings. It's normal that you, an ordinary person, can't understand it."
"The champion team members in Division 2 are fairly normal. They're all veteran top experts. But what's up with the champion team in Division 1? How could a team like that win the championship?"
"What's wrong? Is there a problem? Ms. Powell is also a seventh-rank expert, you know."
"There's a huge problem. Among seventh-rank experts, there's a huge power gap between those at the rookie levels and veteran levels. Ms. Powell has only recently reached the seventh-rank standard and can't possibly compare to those veteran seventh-rank experts."
"There is definitely a problem. Powell's team is far inferior to those super-powerful championship seed teams."
"I even suspect that there might be a bug in this year's Global Layer?"
"Hmm? Why do I see two very familiar names on this championship team's roster? Natalie Russell? Matthew Atkinson? Aren't these two the kingly duo among the freshmen?"
"I've noticed them too. It's strange, but it seems like every team with them either gets an SSS-grade mission rating or wins the championship, right?"
"Good heavens, could it be that they won the championship for this year's Global Layer because of them?"
"Don't make wild guesses. These two are indeed the kings among the freshmen. No one in the world can compete with them. However, in the Global Layer, where strong experts gather, they are nothing. It is not a stage for them to show their strength."
The topic has sparked heated online discussions, and those who participated were almost all supernatural individuals.
The champion team had indeed caused a huge sensation and raised many questions, with some even suspecting Natalie and Matthew.
Meanwhile, at the University of Oxford, the situation was so alarming that countless bigwigs rushed over to inquire about it.
Fortunately, every team member had extraordinary treasure chests, which prevented much trouble.
...
That afternoon, in Natalie's dormitory.
Grand Magister Russell was sitting on the sofa in the living room, chatting with Matthew.
Natalie was also sitting nearby.
"Matthew, you little rascal, you're really not honest." This was the first sentence that Grand Magister Russell said.
Upon hearing this, Matthew broke out in a cold sweat. He forced himself to remain calm and said, "Uncle Russell, I don't quite understand what you mean. How am I being dishonest?"
Grand Magister Russell snorted coldly, but turned his gaze to Natalie and asked, "Natalie, I'm asking you, where is your senior Clark Kent?"
Natalie: "..."
Matthew: "..."
'Uncle Russell, didn't we already discuss this in Global Layer? Why are you bringing it up again? Besides, weren't you the one who told me not to tell Natalie that I remembered my memories from the Amnesiac Layers? Now you want me to pretend and listen to your scolding? Is this your revenge?' Matthew thought.
"What? You can't say?"
Grand Magister Russell said angrily, "You two are really something, teaming up to fool me, huh?"
Whenever he thought about this incident, Grand Magister Russell felt that what he said to Clark Kent was too embarrassing and uncomfortable. He was also angry that his daughter dared to deceive her old father, which was why he brought it up again.
"Dad. Did you... keep your memories?" Natalie asked.
The girl was incredibly clever. She knew that Grand Magister Russell must have discovered the truth within the Global Layer.
"What do you think?" Grand Magister Russell snorted coldly and scolded, "Natalie, I really can't believe you would help this brat deceive me."
Matthew knew that Grand Magister Russell was clearly using this as an excuse to make a fuss.
Unfortunately, Natalie did not fall for it.
The girl calmly said, "Since you already know the truth, it means you probably already scolded me in the Global Layer. There's no need to do it again, right?"
Grand Magister Russell: "..."
Having a daughter who was too smart didn't seem like a good thing.
"There were outsiders present at the time. How could I have lost my temper?" Grand Magister Russell denied, "Now is the time to settle scores."
But Natalie didn't indulge him, "Alright, Dad. Let's get down to business. Why are you here?"
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.193: There's Something You Need to Do
Ch.194: Extraordinary Treasure Chests
Ch.195: Operation Singularity in Action