Ethan Smith
Forks, Washington - USA
After lunch, Matthew returned to his apartment to rest.
While he slept, news of him and Natalie receiving an SSS-grade mission rating for the second time spread rapidly.
In the USA, it was already past 4 a.m. based on the Pacific time zone.
The luxurious Smith Estate remained brightly lit.
This was Ethan Smith's rule!
As long as he hadn't fallen asleep, no one in the manor could sleep!
The reason Ethan was still awake so late was, of course, because he had just experienced the pain of losing his daughter and was having trouble sleeping.
Anyway, given his current Mental attribute, even if he didn't sleep for a whole night, it wouldn't have any effect on him.
-Knock, knock, knock
A series of knocks sounded on the door.
"Come in!" In the study, Ethan gave a stern shout.
A butler quietly entered and then reported in a low voice.
"Sir, we have just received news that the two new students from the United Kingdom, Russell and Atkinson, have once again received an SSS-grade mission rating in the second layer of the supernatural realm."
Upon hearing this news, Ethan looked up instantly, staring intently at his butler.
At this moment, Ethan exuded a terrifying aura, and all the metal in the study trembled.
The butler turned pale with fright, lowered his head, and dared not move an inch, much less look at Ethan.
"That's wonderful!"
Ethan's voice suppressed indescribable anger. "I believe that Dale deserves some credit for their achievements."
The butler dared not accept that.
A moment later, Ethan seemed to have regained his composure.
"Two consecutive SSS-grade mission ratings? Enviable, and incredible... Collect their data immediately."
The butler seemed to have been prepared and immediately took out a document, saying, "It's already ready for you, sir. This is the latest information about the two new students, from the CIA."
Seeing that the butler was well-prepared, Ethan's expression softened slightly.
Ethan took the documents from the butler and immediately began to read them.
The contents of the document were, naturally, information about Natalie and Matthew.
Ethan glanced around but didn't find anything unusual.
He calmly pondered for a moment before saying, "Since the birth of the Holy Land, there have been at least a hundred Logia-type Devil Fruit abilities, right?"
"Yes, sir. According to statistics, Logia-type Devil Fruits have appeared a total of 136 times," the butler said. "However, very few of them are lucky enough to make it to the end. Most of them have already died."
Ethan said, "There are over a hundred Logia-type Devil Fruit users, many of whom have abilities that are even more destructive than the Flame-Flame Fruit, such as the Magma-Magma Fruit and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit... Even they have a hard time getting an S-grade mission rating, so why can a Flame-Flame Fruit user get an SSS-grade mission rating twice in a row?"
"Could that Russell really be an unprecedented genius?"
As Ethan spoke, his gaze drifted toward Natalie's file.
The documents also included comments from the intelligence agency.
-Huge potential!
-Threat Level: X!
He stared intently at the photo on the document, glanced at it a few times, and then flipped to the next one.
The following document was naturally Matthew's information.
The intelligence agency also provided its assessment.
-Limited potential!
-Threat Level: Moderate!
Seeing this, Ethan smiled and looked at Matthew's "Ability" column.
"Kryptonian Bloodline?"
He was somewhat surprised. This kid actually had the legendary useless ability?
"How can someone of Kryptonian Bloodline be able to team up with a user of the Flame-Flame Fruit? And even become Russell's only teammate?"
"Sir, this Flame-Flame Fruit originally belonged to..."
The butler recounted the information about the two people and concluded, "Their story is very popular online and is authentic."
Ethan nodded.
Although the butler gave a reasonable explanation, he still felt it wasn't that simple.
He carefully reviewed Matthew's file again but found nothing unusual.
All the information seemed reasonable.
Ethan frowned.
Then, he recalled something. "Regarding the Kryptonian Bloodline ability, I remember there was one in South Korea as well, right?"
It was not that Ethan had a particularly good memory.
It was that Kryptonian Bloodline ability owner from South Korea who was quite famous.
This person proved, through his actions, that the Kryptonian Bloodline was a useless ability.
No additional skills whatsoever! Training couldn't increase attributes!
With the cooperation of the South Korean government, every method has been tried, including burning, electric shock, poisoning, etc.
They even put him in a near-death state in an attempt to activate his potential, but it still didn't work.
After trying this for more than a decade, they finally had to give up.
"Yes, sir," said the butler. "You have an excellent memory."
Ethan ignored the butler's little act of flattery and immediately asked, "Is that person still alive?"
The butler, clearly prepared, immediately replied, "He's still alive, but he's over eighty years old. He's probably close to meeting his God... No! Given his past behaviors, he's more likely to go to hell."
It seemed the old man must have done a lot of disgusting things that ordinary people didn't know about, which was why the butler gave him such a low evaluation.
Ethan ignored him and simply said, "It's good that he's alive. Bring him here immediately and send someone to keep an eye on that Atkinson. Make the old man do what he does every day."
"Sir, I'm afraid what you've said is impossible to achieve..."
Seeing that Ethan was showing signs of anger, the butler quickly said, "About a month ago, that Kryptonian Bloodline owner from South Korea suffered a sudden cerebral hemorrhage and was admitted to the intensive care unit. He is currently in a coma, and it is unknown whether he will wake up."
Upon hearing this, Ethan frowned.
Given the state of that old man in South Korea, it was indeed impossible for him to cooperate with the experiments.
He had no choice but to abandon this plan.
"Go to the dark web and post an anonymous bounty on them!" Ethan gritted his teeth. "I want them to pay with their lives for Dale's death!"
"Yes, sir."
The butler wrote it down and then asked, "How much is the reward, sir?"
Ethan thought for a moment and said, "Russell, one hundred million US dollars! Atkinson... two million US dollars!"
His money didn't come from thin air. He should save money wherever he could.
The reason he offered 100 million dollars for Natalie's life was that her life was worth that price!
As for two million dollars for Matthew's life...
Although it may be offensive to say, two million US dollars was more than enough to buy the life of a Kryptonian Bloodline owner with limited potential.
"Sir, there is one more thing."
The butler reminded him, "The CIA wants you to cooperate with them and put on a show."
"Oh? Explain it clearly."
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.74: Changes on Campus
Ch.75: Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit User