Matthew Atkinson
Oxford, United Kingdom
Since Matthew was a member of the Global Layer Champion team, everyone was curious about his reward.
"Matthew, it seems everyone is very curious about what supernatural item you received. If you don't mind, why don't you tell us about it?" At this moment, Professor Holland spoke. It seemed Professor Holland was also very curious.
Matthew had originally intended to ignore his classmates' gazes, but since Professor Holland had spoken, he naturally had to give him face.
Anyway, obtaining Conqueror's Haki was not something to be ashamed of. As for the other awards he and Natalie had received, Matthew had no intention of mentioning them.
"It's a supernatural skill: Conqueror's Haki," Matthew said.
After hearing this, Professor Holland was greatly surprised.
As for the students, their reactions varied. Some were shocked, some were puzzled.
"Conqueror's Haki? Is there such a Haki?"
"That's right. Why have I only heard of Armament Haki?"
"Of course there is. I heard from my uncle that there are three types of Haki: Armament, Observation, and Conqueror's. Among these three types of Haki, Conqueror's Haki is the rarest and most powerful type of Haki, extremely terrifying."
"Really? How terrifying can it be?"
"Armament Haki is already a very powerful skill. It can greatly increase defense, making an expert invulnerable to swords and guns. Is Conqueror's Haki even more powerful than Armament Haki? What kind of amplification does it provide?"
"Just by the name, you can tell this Haki must be even more awesome."
...
The students discussed it animatedly.
As for Professor Holland, he looked at Matthew with a complex expression. His previous radiant look had vanished.
Because his reward was too inferior to Matthew's.
"Matthew, have you already used your reward?" Professor Holland asked.
Matthew nodded and said, "Yes."
Professor Holland sighed and couldn't help but say, "You shouldn't have used it. I remember Conqueror's Haki consumes Mental Energy, and you haven't added any attribute points to your Mental Attribute, have you? This ability isn't very suitable for you."
"If you were willing to trade Conqueror's Haki for other supernatural skills, even if it was for five or even ten skills, I believe there would be a large number of people willing to trade with you."
"Oh?" Matthew said with a smile, "Is Conqueror's Haki that valuable?"
As for Professor Holland's belief that his Mental Attribute was low, Matthew wasn't about to correct that mistake.
Even though his Mental Attribute was currently his strongest attribute, there was no need for others to know that. Furthermore, Matthew couldn't explain it without revealing the Kryptonian secret.
"Of course it's valuable." Professor Holland said, "Let me put it this way. Among all the experts globally, including the king-rank ones, those who possessed Conqueror's Haki can be counted on one hand."
"Such data is enough to illustrate the rarity of Conqueror's Haki."
"It can be said that Conqueror's Haki is one of the rarest supernatural skills in the Supernatural Realm."
After Professor Holland's words, all the students in the class were greatly surprised.
Then everyone's gaze shifted towards Matthew.
'This guy is simply squandering a treasure.' Most of them thought.
Matthew, however, smiled indifferently and said, "Since I already used it, it's too late to talk about it now."
Professor Holland nodded, only able to sigh inwardly.
But nobody knew that Matthew had obtained his current Conqueror's Haki not at the Global Layer, but at the eighth layer.
And the Conqueror's Haki skill scroll he'd got from the Global Layer was currently in his inventory.
'It looks like Conqueror's Haki is more valuable than I thought. It's good I learned that,' he thought.
Since he and Natalie already possessed Conqueror's Haki, the more valuable this extra skill was, the better for them.
At this moment, a classmate next to him suddenly said, "Matthew, you look very imposing today. Is that the effect of Conqueror's Haki?"
Hearing this, everyone looked towards Matthew and indeed found that Matthew's current demeanor was more extraordinary.
He gave off the feeling of a truly important figure, with a powerful aura.
Matthew spread his hands, "Probably? I'm not entirely sure."
But Matthew knew that this aura surrounding him was the lingering effect of yesterday's operation.
Even though a day had passed, Matthew had conducted a covert operation in another country and had clashed fist-to-fist with seventh-rank expert Ma Dongwu.
It was difficult to shake off the effects of such an event immediately, and although he felt largely relieved after a day, the aura of the fight he had been in was still somewhat palpable.
A female classmate asked with curious eyes, "Matthew, besides changing your demeanor, does Conqueror's Haki have any other special features? What are its effects?"
Because Conqueror's Haki was too rare, everyone's understanding of Conqueror's Haki was also a blank slate.
"Conqueror's Haki can generate mental attacks," Matthew said, but he wasn't intending to discuss its other effects.
Matthew knew that leveling up Conqueror's Haki normally required significantly more attribute points than other skills like Armament Haki.
Therefore, it was highly likely that the experts currently possessing this skill hadn't yet reached the supreme level. This made him and Natalie the only people in the world with supreme-level Conqueror's Haki.
And Matthew didn't want other Conqueror's Haki users to know what effects they had at the supreme level, if possible. At least, he didn't want them to know more than they currently did.
'Mental attacks?' Everyone was very curious and became extremely interested after Matthew's words.
"Matthew, can you demonstrate it?" A classmate asked.
"Demonstrate?" Matthew was startled, "How do I demonstrate?"
"Just a live demonstration of skill."
"Here?"
"Yes."
"I'm afraid that if I release my Conqueror's Haki, more than half of the people in this class would die. And the remaining ones, even if they don't die, would become vegetables."
As soon as these words came out, everyone was greatly surprised.
Many people thought Matthew was boasting.
Professor Holland quickly stopped the students' foolishness and said, "Don't mess around. Matthew is telling the truth. Conqueror's Haki has a very strong mental impact. You think supernatural skills are just a game."
With Professor Holland speaking, everyone had no choice but to back down.
"Alright, it's time for class."
Professor Holland said, "Today, we're going to talk about the tenth layer of the Supernatural Realm."
"As I've told you before, the tenth layer is a solo Supernatural Realm, and it's extremely dangerous."
After saying this, Professor Holland's expression became serious.
"First, let me talk about the world background of the tenth layer."
"According to the information collected by old generation experts, it can be inferred that the world of the tenth layer was originally a smoothly developing world, with a flourishing population and a prosperous civilization."
"But suddenly, one day, disaster arrived."
"The first wave was various natural disasters. A thick black fog blocked out the sunlight, endless nights descended, extreme cold and storms raged, directly destroying the global ecological environment."
"Then, a terrifying virus appeared as a second wave, causing more than half of the global population to mutate into zombies. And zombies surged like a tide, followed by the successive appearance of various monsters."
"Those monsters were extremely powerful. Humans find it difficult to kill them even with hot weapons, and some terrifying creatures can even withstand nuclear bomb attacks."
"The people of that world call these terrifying creatures Devil Monsters. And as far as we know, no one who has encountered these devil monsters has ever survived. Only those who managed to see them from afar and escape have been able to pass these rumors on."
"Under such continuous attacks and disasters, the human civilization of that world directly collapsed. Out of tens of billions of people globally, less than one in ten survived."
"Survivors barely clung to life amidst various ruins, with only a few major forces able to establish shelters."
"This is the world background of the tenth layer."
"Next, I'll show you some photos, all of which are true images from the tenth layer."
When Professor Holland finished speaking, the students were already frowning. After Professor Holland displayed those apocalyptic scene photos, the students in the class were even more alarmed.
The timid ones even showed expressions of fear. Because the photos Professor Holland displayed on the projector were very striking.
There were cities completely turned into ruins, countless zombie hordes, and hideous and terrifying monsters...
In the photos, most of the surviving humans were emaciated and dressed in rags. They were in a worse situation than beggars.
There was also a photo entirely of human skeletons covering the ground, which was very shocking.
Seeing this scene, even Matthew frowned, let alone the ordinary students.
He didn't know how strong those strange creatures were, but they certainly didn't look weak.
Of course, he wasn't worried about himself. With his flying speed, even if he couldn't win, flying away shouldn't be an issue.
He was worried about Natalie.
Although Natalie's current strength was also good, she would still be in danger in such an environment, especially when she's alone.
Matthew would have had a little more peace of mind if Natalie could have awakened her Witch Bloodline ability.
Magic from the Harry Potter world was a versatile ability. In a post-apocalyptic world, it would have been incredibly helpful to Natalie for both security and other necessities.
But Natalie needed to wait a year after eating the Flame-Flame Fruit before she could use that bloodline.
And there were still about two months to go for that.
"The world of the tenth layer is far more dangerous than you imagine. Many experts speculate that some terrifying existence must have targeted the world, and those monsters and devil monsters are all its minions."
"Even if I were to go in now, if something goes wrong, I will lose my life. Because the tenth layer contains monsters and individuals so powerful that neither you nor I can handle them."
Hearing this, Matthew frowned again.
He thought that the world he was currently in, the Blue Marble, was also being targeted by a terrifying existence.
It was just that the terrifying existence was currently devouring their star and was temporarily unable to invade Blue Star, so everyone was still safe for now.
But once the sun was completely devoured, then Blue Star might follow in the footsteps of the tenth-layer world.
Under Professor Holland's narration, everyone had already realized the seriousness of the situation. The world of the tenth layer was indeed a bit terrifying.
"Next, let me tell you about those monsters."
Professor Holland said, while displaying photos on the projector.
In the photo was a monster that looked very much like an earthworm, but its body was much larger.
"The first type, and also the most common type, that world named this monster 'Devourer'."
Professor Holland said gravely, "This monster usually inhabits underground. They are very sensitive to sound and vibration. As long as someone trespasses into their territory, they will quickly emerge from underground and devour humans."
"Its body length exceeds ten meters, and it's very thick, capable of swallowing a 150-kilogram fat person in one bite. This is the origin of its name 'Devourer'."
"Its skin is very thick and tough, capable of resisting damage. Even an assault rifle firing at it cannot leave a mark on its skin. Additionally, its vitality is extremely tenacious. It's almost an unkillable existence. If you cut it into two segments, it will still move freely, and both segments can attack you. After it devours you, its two segments will fuse back together and recover fully in a short time."
"Unless you can destroy its core in one hit, it's basically impossible to kill. Therefore, when encountering this monster, the best option is to escape."
"Besides devouring humans, it also devours zombies. If you suddenly find yourselves in a place with no zombies, then you must be careful of what's underfoot, because you might have already entered the 'Devourer's' territory."
The moment Matthew saw this monster, the Sandworms of Dune immediately came to his mind. But these worms from the tenth layer seemed smaller than them.
Then, Professor Holland paused and changed to another photo.
This time, it was a monster similar to a bat.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.199: The Most Dangerous Mandatory Layer
Ch.200: No Distance Can Separate Us
Ch.201: R.O.B.I.N.