Matthew Atkinson & Natalie Russell
Tenth Layer of the Supernatural Realm
Although Matthew now used only 20% of his strength in that punch, the destruction it caused was still terrifying.
Since it was in the wilderness, there was nothing to destroy, so on the surface, it didn't seem like much. However, cracks of various sizes appeared on the ground within a ten-kilometer radius.
And those more than ten nomads, no matter what abilities they had or how powerful they were when alive, after this punch, not even a speck of dust of them remained.
Most of those cyberpunk-style cars were destroyed as well. The only one completely intact was the modified heavy truck.
After Matthew's immense destructive power manifested, the woman on the truck's roof used her psychokinetic ability to form a barrier that blocked Matthew's destruction, saving the truck and herself.
At this moment, the woman on the roof of the truck was staring intently at Matthew, as if facing a formidable enemy.
After all, with just one punch, this young man eliminated all her subordinates and forced her to act quickly to save her vehicle. Just from this, it could be seen that the young man in front of her was definitely a formidable opponent.
The next moment, the woman slowly ascended, floating up, and then flew from the truck's roof to stand before Matthew.
Her flying speed was very slow, incomparable to Matthew's. However, her aura was very powerful. Matthew could tell from her aura alone that she possessed at least the strength of a sixth-rank expert.
Furthermore, this woman was not as dirty as the nomads or survivors. Her clothes looked new, and her hair was neat and clean, clearly indicating frequent washing.
Seeing this, Matthew's heart stirred. Not because of the woman's appearance. But because of what it means for her to be so clean.
He realized that the heavy truck must have been converted into an RV, with water inside for frequent bathing.
Otherwise, this woman in front of him couldn't possibly remain so clean.
Although this woman looked like a woman from the era of peace, she was quite ugly, burly like a man, and middle-aged, appearing to be at least 35.
When the woman landed in front of Matthew, she didn't immediately make a move.
"You brought that severed-armed bitch here. Does this mean my little brother Tiger is already dead at your hands?"
The woman went straight to the point as soon as she spoke.
"Tiger?" Matthew asked, "Is he that ugly guy with a face full of wrinkles and a slight underbite? The one who could grow bigger?"
The woman's expression had darkened when she heard what he said.
But Matthew smiled and added, "If you're talking about that guy, then he's definitely dead beyond dead, and he died very miserably. Mainly because his self-healing ability was quite good, I played with him for a long time."
Hearing this, a hint of killing intent flashed in the woman's eyes, and her fists clenched. She could imagine that her brother must have died a terrible death.
Yet, she wouldn't consider how unjustly those survivors who fell into the hands of her and her brother had died.
Just as Matthew thought the woman was about to make a move, he heard her speak again. "How about we collaborate? If we join forces, we can conquer this world."
She proposed cooperation entirely because the destructive power Matthew had just displayed in that punch made her afraid.
Matthew was startled for a moment, then began to laugh and then said, "Sorry, an ugly person like you makes me lose my appetite just looking at you. I just want to smash your disgusting face as quickly as possible."
Matthew knew what kind of community nomads were, and from what he had seen so far, this nomad group and their leader weren't different from what he knew.
Matthew had no intention of cooperating with such people.
Even if he did, he would most likely be stabbed in the back the moment he made an opening, and in that case, he couldn't blame anyone but his own stupidity.
Matthew's humiliating words would make anyone angry, so the woman's face changed dramatically in response. No matter how much she weighed the pros and cons in her heart, hearing these words, she couldn't tolerate it anymore.
"Then you all die!!!" The woman roared, suddenly raised her right hand, aimed at Matthew, and made a gripping gesture.
Instantly, a powerful, invisible energy acted upon Matthew.
Psychokinesis.
As the woman slowly clenched her fist, the pressure from the psychic power grew heavier and heavier.
The ground around Matthew collapsed, but Matthew himself remained standing still. Except for his clothes, which became taut, he showed no reaction at all.
In fact, Matthew even had a smile on his face.
"Is this your psychokinesis ability's limit? Or did you not eat enough earlier? Can't you add more force? It's not even enough to tickle me." He said.
Hearing this, the woman was greatly alarmed and quickly retreated a few steps.
Through that punch just now, she knew that the man in front of her had strong, destructive power, but she hadn't expected Matthew's body to be so indestructible.
'What kind of monster is this?' the woman thought.
Then she suddenly gritted her teeth and raised both hands. Behind her, two slightly damaged pickup trucks slowly floated up.
"Haahhh!" The woman shouted, and her hands suddenly came together in a clenched fist.
Under her control, the two pickup trucks flew towards Matthew simultaneously, one from the left and one from the right, crashing into Matthew.
But Matthew still saw no need to dodge it and remained where he was.
-Boom
A violent crashing sound rang out, and Matthew was completely engulfed by the two pickup trucks.
The survivors who had just been rescued in the distance were all terrified at this sight.
Only Natalie remained calm.
"April, your friend…"
"Don't worry, he's fine. He's just playing with his prey. He doesn't normally do this, but it seems he's been bored for the past few days." Natalie said.
Matthew was indeed fine. And he was indeed playing with his prey because he was indeed bored.
When the two pickup trucks separated and landed, they revealed an unharmed Matthew. Though the two pickups were severely deformed, Matthew's even hairstyle wasn't messed up.
"You…" The nomad leader was stunned.
Her younger brother, Tiger, also had a very strong defense, the strongest among all nomads in their group. And she used him as a meat shield against monsters very often.
But even Tiger couldn't withstand an attack like that just now and still stand unharmed.
Why was this young man in front of her completely unharmed? Was he invulnerable?
Facing such an enemy, the woman was at a loss for what to do for a moment.
"What? Can't you think of any other useful move?" Matthew seemed to see through the woman and said, "Then get ready, it's my turn to attack."
As his voice fell, he directly threw a punch.
[Fist Impact]
This time, Matthew used forty percent of his strength for the Fist Impact.
He didn't use other more powerful abilities because Matthew was afraid of damaging the heavy truck in the distance.
-Bang
Accompanied by a violent air explosion, the void in front of him was severely deformed. Then a violent air cannon appeared in front of Matthew, carrying immense force, sweeping away everything in its path.
The woman's face changed dramatically, and she quickly unleashed her full psychokinetic ability, forming a barrier in front of her to protect herself.
Although she reacted in time, the disparity in strength between the two sides was simply too great. Therefore, the woman was directly sent flying by the Fist Impact.
Although this woman possessed the power of a sixth-rank expert, Matthew's power was now pushing the boundaries of seventh-rank.
Perhaps he had already surpassed seventh-rank and reached eighth-rank, the King-level. Unfortunately, it wasn't currently possible for him to take an official test to determine his true level.
-Plop
The woman landed heavily, dazed and in severe pain all over her body.
If she hadn't protected herself with the psychokinetic barrier in time, she would probably have been torn to shreds by the fierce wind.
From this point of view, her psychokinetic ability was indeed good. Her overall strength might even have been enough to reach the top of the sixth rank. But a sixth rank was a sixth rank after all, and a sixth rank powerhouse had no chance against Matthew.
At this moment, Matthew suddenly stomped his foot.
The power of Demon God's Descent instantly transmitted from underground, and then the ground beneath the woman suddenly exploded.
-Boom
With women at the center, the ground within a ten-meter radius was completely shattered, forming a circular ruin.
The woman, being right at the center of the explosion, was instantly blasted into the air. When she landed again, she was covered in blood, missing limbs, and dead.
This was her destiny, written from the moment she met Matthew, and her survival until now was simply because Matthew wanted to stretch his body a little.
In the distance, the survivors who witnessed this scene were all dumbfounded, stunned into silence.
In their eyes, the nomads' leader was someone as powerful as a god. And this god just died like that?
For a while, they could hardly believe what they were witnessing, and some even thought they were dreaming.
But then someone suddenly let out a scream and said, "Look over there in the sky… What is that?"
"Oh no. It's the mutated crow flock!!!"
Someone exclaimed.
Hearing that it was the mutated crow flock, all the survivors' expressions changed dramatically. Everyone looked, and sure enough, they saw a huge "red cloud" in the sky, rapidly approaching them.
And that red cloud was composed of mutated red crows.
They resembled crows but were slightly larger, with very few feathers, exposing large areas of red flesh. Only the feathers on their wings were relatively dense.
The most terrifying thing was their long, sharp beaks, like blades.
"What are you still doing? Run."
"Run? This is the wilderness, where can we run to?"
"It's useless, even if we can run, we can't outrun them."
"It's over, we're finished."
All the survivors looked desperate and ashen. Even Natalie frowned, and her pretty face was solemn.
Professor Isabel Grant had explained this monster, the mutated red crow, to them.
Actually, a single mutated red crow wasn't difficult to deal with, but the problem was that these monsters appeared in large groups.
Once mutated red crows appeared, they always formed a large flock. There was absolutely no such thing as a lone one.
And a flock of mutated red crows could cause terrifying destruction. Their beaks could even peck through armored vehicles.
Even powerful ability users would die if they encountered them.
In Professor Isabel Grant's words, once they encountered such things, unless they could hide underground, they had to immediately choose to withdraw from the layer, then find cover, and pray they could last ten seconds without dying.
The most foolish act was to stay and try to fight. The consequence would very likely be to be pierced by countless beaks and die a painful death.
Mutated red crows were one of the more common monster types in this world, and also one of the most troublesome. They had organs similar to bats, which allowed them to locate and perceive their surroundings through ultrasonic echoes.
'It must have been the previous battle here that attracted this flock of beasts.' Thinking of this, Natalie quickly shouted, "Matthew!!!"
Matthew had already noticed the arrival of the mutated red crow flock. Hearing Natalie's shout, he understood her meaning.
The girl was asking him whether they should withdraw from the layer.
"Don't worry, Nat, leave it to me," Matthew said with a smile.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.215: You Should Have Told Me
Ch.216: Amnesiac Supernatural Substance
Ch.217: Bone Core