Matthew Atkinson
East China Sea
It took Matthew a little over five minutes to reach the point where he had parted ways with Grand Magister Russell.
Even though he couldn't see the plane with his eyes when he arrived at the same spot, he could easily tell its location using his Observation Haki.
Matthew quickly went to the front of the plane, hovering in the air, and made sure Grand Magister Russell saw that he had returned.
Immediately afterward, Grand Magister Russell opened the plane's door and allowed Matthew to enter.
"Don't talk now, wait until we leave this area first," said Grand Magister Russell, and Matthew nodded in agreement.
Then Grand Magister Russell and Matthew took their seats on the plane, and the aircraft began to move upwards. As soon as the transport plane stabilized, Grand Magister Russell asked, "Matthew, was this trip smooth?"
Matthew smiled and nodded, "It was fairly smooth, but there was a small complication."
"Oh? What complication?"
"I ran into Ma Dongwu."
Grand Magister Russell was greatly surprised upon hearing this.
In his opinion, Ma Dongwu was a very formidable supernatural, and in terms of strength, he was an existence that Grand Magister Russell had to look up to.
However, Grand Magister Russell quickly remembered that this kid in front of him had suppressed Ma Dongwu in the Global Layer and won the championship.
In terms of strength, Matthew was definitely stronger.
"What exactly happened? Tell me in detail," Grand Magister Russell said.
Matthew put away his smile and said, "Uncle Russell, I have to thank you for warning me. Your previous concerns were correct. When I went to that hospital, the old man had already been under someone's control and protection. When I made my move, Ma Dongwu just happened to arrive."
"Did you two fight?" Grand Magister Russell asked.
"Sort of. We exchanged just one move," Matthew said. "However, I didn't get entangled with him. Once I achieved my goal, I left directly."
Grand Magister Russell nodded, "You did the right thing."
Matthew thought for a moment and said, "Although it was only one move, the destruction and impact caused should not be small. Many people were injured at the scene."
Upon hearing this, Grand Magister Russell immediately said, "Don't worry, you used a fake identity so that trouble won't find you."
Matthew smiled and nodded.
In fact, he wasn't very worried. His main purpose in choosing to use Natalie as a shield and hide his own strength was to guard against the other Kryptonian Bloodline user.
Now that the old man was dead, although Matthew still wasn't completely worry-free, at least he didn't need to worry too much.
Even if he were truly exposed, he wouldn't need to panic. So, even if the worst outcome occurred, he could accept it.
Of course, this did not mean that Matthew would now actively expose his strength.
He still had to wait at least two months.
After two months, when the new students embarked on their Holy Land trip, and if it was confirmed that no one had obtained another Kryptonian Bloodline Card, he would truly be worry-free.
Because if no one obtained a Kryptonian Bloodline Card after two months, it would mean Matthew would have another year to develop.
With his current rate of improvement, in a year, he would definitely become one of the world's top powerhouses.
By then, he would reach singularity, and the Holy Land would no longer produce Kryptonian Bloodline Cards.
And the Kryptonian Bloodline would become Matthew's unique ability.
Conversely, if Matthew were to expose his powers now, and by chance, a new student were to obtain a Kryptonian Bloodline Card in the Holy Land two months later, and choose to use and conceal it, that would be real trouble for Matthew.
…
At the same time in South Korea.
Ma Dongwu was invited into the Blue House to discuss what happened today. In the huge conference room, the President personally attended the meeting.
Although Ma Dongwu didn't sit in the main seat, his arrogant demeanor clearly showed that he didn't even put the President in his eyes.
But he had the strength and qualifications to do so. On the contrary, the President had to keep smiling at him.
This was the sorrow of a small country.
Any strong person, even if not king-rank, could disregard the President. Unfortunately, South Korea was one of the countries that had only a King-rank expert.
At this moment, in the conference room, the prosecutor general was speaking eloquently. "According to surveillance data, the assailant who appeared in Seoul today has a 98% similarity to a guy named 'Clark Kent' from the United Kingdom. It can almost be confirmed that they are the same person."
"It's just that… According to the information we collected, Clark Kent's strength was around that of a sixth-rank supernatural a few months ago, so he can't match Protector Ma. This is also the biggest point of doubt."
"If he could reach Protector Ma's level of strength from sixth rank in just a few months, that would be too astonishing."
As the prosecutor general spoke, he uploaded a large number of photos onto the giant screen in the conference room.
Seeing the comparison photos, Ma Dongwu immediately said angrily, "It's this bastard. I am sure of it. What does the United Kingdom want to do?"
Then, Ma Dongwu turned his gaze to the President and said impolitely, "Your Excellency Changgok Jung-Su, please immediately send a protest to the United Kingdom and demand that they hand over the culprit."
"The dignity of the Republic of South Korea must not be violated."
The President did not speak and frowned. Nobody knew what he was thinking.
…
When Matthew returned to his dormitory, it was just getting dark.
He went to the cafeteria for dinner, then returned to his dormitory and turned on his computer.
On the internet, many people were still discussing this year's champion team in the Global Layer.
The champion of Division 2 was rarely mentioned.
However, many netizens felt that the Division 1 champion team was undeserving of the title.
The vast majority of netizens believed that Aria Powell and her team had simply gotten lucky and somewhat won this championship.
Matthew just smiled at these netizens' comments and didn't care at all.
He closed the trending topics page and found a breaking news story on a news website that interested him.
The news stated that Seosan, South Korea, had experienced a terrorist attack this afternoon, and the culprits were stopped by the "national hero" Ma Dongwu.
Upon seeing this news, Matthew was stunned for a moment before smiling.
…
The next day. Morning.
Matthew woke up from the sunbathing machine and, as usual, checked his attribute panel first.
.........
Race: Human
Trait: Ageless
Constitution: 3155 (↑15)
Mental: 3301 (↑5)
Strength: 3155 (↑15)
Agility: 3155 (↑15)
Ability: Tremor-Tremor Fruit, Kryptonian Bloodline [Steel Body (5), Super Strength (5), Super Speed (5), Super Mind (5), Super Flight (5), Super Sense, Heat Rays]
Skills: [Fist/Galaxy Impact], [Haki (Supreme)], [Demon God's Descent], [Inventory], [Danger Sense]
Attribute Points: 800
.........
Upon seeing the changes in his four attributes, Matthew was immediately surprised.
He remembered very clearly that yesterday, on his attribute panel, his Constitution, Strength, and Agility were all 3140 points.
And his Mental attribute was 3296 points.
'How did these three attributes of mine reach 3155 points overnight? They actually increased by 15 attribute points instead of 10. Even my Mental attribute increased by 5 points instead of the 3.' Matthew thought.
His four attributes had been consistently increasing by 33 points each day for almost a year.
Now, a sudden change occurred, with a total increase of 50 points, which immediately caught Matthew's attention.
'Could it be the change brought about by killing that old man from South Korea yesterday?' That was the first thing that came to mind for Matthew.
"That's right, I remember feeling very relaxed after killing that old man, as if my body had shed some kind of burden… It's just that Ma Dongwu came after me at the time, leaving me no time to think about it."
"It seems my guess was correct. It should be that killing that old guy temporarily made me the only user of the Kryptonian Bloodline. Meant that I have a temporary singularity now, so my gains from sunbathing also increased."
The more Matthew thought about it, the more he felt that this was the most reasonable explanation.
Otherwise, there would be no way to explain why his four attributes' daily improvement rate suddenly increased.
Moreover, why didn't they increase earlier or later, but precisely after he killed the old man? It seemed almost impossible for this to be a coincidence.
At this moment, Matthew was already certain of this speculation.
"Anyway. Whatever the reason, such a change is a good thing. I just don't know whether it's only effective today or will continue to be effective in the future. Or will they yield the same results tomorrow, or will they increase even more?"
Regarding this, he would probably know when he woke up tomorrow.
With some anticipation, Matthew washed up and left the dormitory for the cafeteria. It was still early, enough time for him to have breakfast before going to class.
"Matthew."
As soon as he entered the cafeteria and got his breakfast, Matthew heard a voice calling him.
He turned his head and saw Denis Read and the others.
"Matthew, over here," Filip Walker greeted.
Matthew smiled, carrying his tray, and sat down among them.
As soon as he sat down, Filip Walker said, with an envious expression, "Matthew, congratulations on winning the Global Layer championship."
Matthew smiled and waved his hand, deliberately changing the subject, "I didn't see you all last night. When did you come back?"
Previously, Filip Walker, Denis Read, and others had left campus because of the Global Layer.
"We stayed home last night," Filip Walker said, "Just arrived this morning."
The others nodded, indicating they had done the same.
At this moment, Charles Francis suddenly asked, "Matthew, I saw online that Miss Powell's strength is not enough to lead a team to win the championship. Could it be that in this Global Layer, they still relied on you and Miss Natalie?"
As soon as these words came out, Charles Francis immediately received several looks as if he were an idiot.
Lucian Richards immediately said, "Don't listen to the nonsense online. The three formats of the Global Layer, regardless of which one, require significant effort to achieve good results. In Matthew and Miss Natalie's team, besides Miss Powell, no one else should have been able to do it."
"Three formats?"
Charles Francis showed a curious expression.
"This…" Lucian Richards was a bit embarrassed, "It's confidential, I can't talk about it. Sorry."
…
Everyone finished breakfast and walked together towards the classrooms. Then Matthew separated from them and arrived at Class B's classroom.
Today, Professor Holland was going to discuss the tenth layer of the Supernatural Realm.
According to Professor Holland, the tenth layer was very dangerous. It was even the most challenging of the mandatory layers.
And there was a lot of related information about this layer, so it would probably take several days of classes to finish explaining it.
At eight o'clock sharp, the class bell rang, and Professor Holland walked into the classroom right on time.
Looking at his radiant face, it was clear he was in an extremely good mood.
As a supernatural who had just won a Global Layer championship, anyone would be in a wonderful mood.
Seeing Professor Holland's arrival, some students who knew how to flatter loudly said, "Congratulations, Professor, on winning the Division 1 championship of the Global Layer."
Upon hearing this, Professor Holland couldn't help but show a happy smile.
Then, another student asked, "Professor, what were the rewards for the champion team members?"
Professor Holland was very happy today, and upon hearing this question, he actually answered, "It's 800 attribute points and an extraordinary treasure chest. Every member of the team gets them."
As soon as these words came out, many students in the class showed surprised expressions.
Then, many people's faces became envious.
"Professor, can I ask what supernatural item you received from your extraordinary treasure chest?" a student curiously asked.
Professor Holland could choose not to answer because this question invaded his privacy.
However, today's Professor Holland was clearly in an extremely good mood and actually told them.
"It's a pair of supernatural shoes. When worn, they can increase Agility attribute by 150 points."
Upon hearing this, the students were once again envious.
Then, many people looked towards Matthew.
---------------
Author's Note: You folks can also read up to +50 chapters on my P@treon Pages as an early access privilege.
You can also read "+3 Free Chapter" and see some pictures as aFree Member.
www.patreon.com/spell_merchant
P@treon Page Name: Spell Merchant
www.patreon.com/vanguard_v
P@treon Page Name: V For Vanguard
Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.198: Tenth Layer – An Apocalyptic World
Ch.199: The Most Dangerous Mandatory Layer
Ch.200: No Distance Can Separate Us