Matthew Atkinson & Natalie Russell
Tenth Layer of the Supernatural Realm
"Don't worry, Nat, leave it to me," Matthew said with a smile.
Then he turned and looked at the mutated red crow flock approaching them. He had killed two batches of these things above the Atlantic Ocean before.
Hearing Matthew's words, Natalie immediately calmed down. She certainly trusted Matthew unconditionally.
In fact, she had the Flame-Flame Ability and could also deal with the mutated red crow flock. She just needed to set a big fire to burn them.
However, this flock of mutated red crows was simply too numerous. And while dealing with them, she was unable to defend herself fully. Unless she could use full Elemental Transformation, she couldn't handle them now and could only leave this crisis to Matthew.
Of course, Natalie didn't just stand there and watch. She immediately told the survivors, "Everyone, lie down on the ground."
As her voice fell, Natalie stood in front of the survivors, flames igniting in her hands.
The survivors, hearing this, also knew that their best chance was to place their hope in this young pair of "ability users", so they quickly lay down.
Standing made them an attractive target. Lying down would definitely be better.
As for the idea that lying down would slow them down if they had to escape...
They knew that escaping was pointless right now. Their only hope for survival at this moment was this young couple. And they had no choice but to lie down and pray.
…
A moment later, as the mutated red crow flock approached, their dense, endless numbers practically covered the entire sky.
It was a suffocating scene.
Only then did Matthew slowly ascend. When he flew to roughly the same height as the mutated red crow flock, Matthew narrowed his eyes slightly, then suddenly opened them wide.
[Conqueror's Haki]
Instantly, a violent aura erupted from him, sweeping across the entire sky like a hurricane.
In an instant, the world seemed dyed in blue ink, with lightning and thunder. The lightning was crimson, looking extremely eerie.
At this moment, Matthew's figure, in the eyes of those survivors, became incredibly majestic, like the King of Gods. Like a Supreme Being.
They felt incredibly small, even developing a desire to kneel and worship.
And the mutated red crow flock, which bore the full brunt of the supreme level Conqueror's Haki, was as if struck by lightning, frozen in mid-air.
The next moment, they began to fall one by one from the sky, crashing onto the ground. And because their numbers were too vast, the sky seemed to rain for a moment.
…
"Nat, some might not be dead. Can you finish them off with your flames?" Matthew said after he landed.
The main reason was that most monsters and zombies in this world were mindless beings acting solely on impulse. Therefore, even a normal level of Conqueror's Haki was ineffective against them.
Matthew realized that he could only affect these monsters when he used his Conqueror's Haki at its highest level.
He suspected that the main reason was that, at the highest level, Supreme, Conqueror's Haki could inflict physical damage.
Because when he examined the dead creatures, he noticed that they died not from the disintegration of their consciousness like other creatures, but from the reddening of their nervous systems.
Natalie nodded upon hearing this, stepped forward, and released flames.
Even though Matthew had severely damaged their nervous systems, some of them might have sustained less severe injuries and could recover after a while. Therefore, Matthew wanted to play it safe and asked Natalie to permanently get rid of them.
Although the mutated red crow flock was scattered all over the ground, setting fire to the ground was much easier than burning the sky.
Soon, under Natalie's ability, the entire battlefield turned into a sea of fire.
But after finishing with the mutated red crow flocks, Natalie came to Matthew and said, "I thought Conqueror's Haki did not affect creatures in this world. What's changed?"
"Normal Conqueror's Haki is still ineffective on them. But supreme-level Conqueror's Haki, when used at full power, affects them. Nobody noticed, because probably no one had ever entered this level with supreme-level Conqueror's Haki before," Matthew said.
Natile sighed and said, "You should have told me this before. I worried for nothing."
After all, Natalie also possessed supreme-level Conqueror's Haki. If she knew it worked against other monsters and zombies, her worries would have been greatly reduced.
"Now you know, right?" Matthew said with a mischievous smile, then added, "Come on. We still need to plan our next course of action."
Matthew and Natalie's mission this time wasn't to kill monsters, but to survive.
Since it was about survival, as long as they lived, that was enough. There were no fixed goals or tasks. They just had to spend their days here until they reached the grade they wanted.
Natalie had kindness in her heart and wanted to see these survivors through to the end, escorting them to the Thunder God Shelter in Sacramento.
Of course, she needed Matthew's consent for this, but Matthew had no objections. He had nothing else to do at the moment anyway.
Besides, waiting around doing nothing would make their time here unbearable. Accompanying the survivors to the Thunder God Shelter would at least give them something to do and make the days pass faster.
Upon receiving the news, the survivors immediately became excited. With two such powerful ability users escorting them, their safety on the way to Sacramento would be increased by who knows how many times.
Normally, this journey would have been considered almost certain to result in their death. And if Matthew and Natalie hadn't arrived in time, they probably would have already died.
But now they were very confident they could reach Sacramento this time. So, everyone got moving, searching for useful supplies, preparing to set off.
Half an hour later, everyone was ready to set off together. Matthew, Natalie, Paige Cooper, and other members of the Cooper family all got into the heavy truck.
Matthew's previous guess was correct. The heavy truck had indeed been converted into an RV, complete with a bathroom, sofa, bed… everything imaginable in this apocalypse.
…
Sometime later.
On a silent, deserted highway, a convoy was slowly moving.
The vehicle leading the way was an RV converted from a heavy truck, followed by several minibusses, vans, and pickups.
The convoy consisted of over 170 people, and their destination was Sacramento. And this convoy's leaders were Matthew and Natalie.
Inside the heavy truck RV, Matthew looked around and said, "They certainly know how to enjoy themselves."
Even before the apocalypse, maintaining such a large vehicle would require significant manpower and resources. Not to mention that it was apocalyptic times, when resources were scarce.
In such an environment, even obtaining fuel was extremely difficult.
Fortunately, the vehicle's fuel tank was full, and there were extra barrels of reserve fuel oil, probably enough to get it to Sacramento.
At the moment, Mason Cooper was responsible for driving.
After an introduction, Matthew learned that Mason Cooper was an old soldier with 12 years of military service who later retired due to injuries.
Mason was 39 this year and married relatively late, having a daughter at 30. His daughter's name was Tilly Cooper, and she was nine years old this year.
Currently, Tilly was also in the heavy truck.
In addition, the severed-armed Paige, an aunt, and a young man named Zeke Cooper were also in the heavy truck.
Zeke Cooper could drive and was currently sitting in the co-pilot seat, ready to take over when his uncle got tired.
There was a thick partition between the driver's cab and the rear compartment, and at this moment, the uncle and nephew were both silent in the driver's cab.
This was because the nomad ambush had caused heavy losses to their original team, with many people dying. Originally, the entire Cooper family had 13 members, but now only 5 remain.
…
Inside the RV, Natalie was helping Paige with her wound. Fortunately, there was a medical kit in the vehicle, and Natalie happened to know some first aid.
After Natalie's treatment, Paige's severed arm stopped bleeding. However, the girl's face was still pale, a sequela of excessive blood loss.
Her ability to hold on until now was because of her strong willpower. But at this moment, Paige's spirit was somewhat low.
This was not only because she had lost an arm but also because she already knew that her aunt, nephews, nieces, cousin… and others had all died in the previous ambush.
Although losing loved ones was normal in an apocalyptic environment, losing so many relatives at once still made Paige feel distressed.
"Alright, for a while, don't get it wet, and don't engage in strenuous activities, to prevent the wound from getting infected," Natalie said as she put away the medical kit.
Paige immediately said, "Thank you, April."
"You've already thanked me enough, so there's no need to thank me more," Natalie said with a smile, then added, "Also, my real name isn't April. It's just that my real name might cause some trouble, so I'm using an alias."
Paige wasn't surprised by this. She had heard Matthew call her "Nat" several times before. Therefore, she had already realized that April wasn't her real name.
"I understand. But I'll still call you April."
"Alright." Natalie smiled and nodded, then said, "Don't force yourself. Go to bed and get some good rest."
Paige was indeed very weak at this moment, and she felt waves of dizziness. However, there was only one bed in the RV.
Paige certainly didn't dare to sleep on it. She was afraid of dirtying the bed. That bed was definitely for April and that god-like man to rest on.
"April, I'll just lie on the sofa for a while."
Natalie more or less understood Paige's intentions, but she didn't insist. Forcing her in this situation might bring her more trouble than relief. So, she said, "Then lie on the sofa and rest."
Paige then lay on the sofa, but she still forced herself to stay awake, not daring to sleep.
Seeing this, Matthew smiled and said, "I'm going to check the roof of the truck."
He could sense the pressure his presence exerted on the survivors. They were constantly tense, as if they were in the presence of a country's president.
So, he aimed to check the truck's roof and give them some time to relax.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.216: Amnesiac Supernatural Substance
Ch.217: Bone Core
Ch.218: Awakening – Humanity's Savior