Matthew Atkinson
Oxford, United Kingdom
Once the auction page went live, Matthew saw a surge in viewers. In just a few seconds, the live stream's viewership surged to tens of thousands.
Those who could enter this livestream were, naturally, all freshmen.
Surprisingly, despite the large crowd, the live stream remained smooth and didn't lag.
"Hello everyone, I am a teacher from Imperial College London. I will be hosting today's auction." At the beginning of the live stream, a beautiful teacher appeared and introduced herself.
Then she smiled at the camera and said, "Next, I will introduce the items in this auction one by one. If you see something you want, you can click on the 'bid' button in the lower left corner to participate in the bidding."
"To avoid outsiders from sneaking in and causing unnecessary trouble, this auction will be conducted entirely under a real-name registration system..."
Upon hearing this, Matthew glanced at the ID in the upper left corner of the screen.
His ID is displayed as: The University of Oxford – Matthew Atkinson.
And it couldn't be changed. It looked like the accounts were already registered under real names.
The auction began quickly.
The female teacher hosting the event began bringing one supernatural item after another before the camera for public auction.
Almost every supernatural item drew many students to the bidding.
Matthew wasn't particularly interested in these things. Because many of the items auctioned were one-time enhancements. And, for Matthew, these things were mostly useless.
Because most one-time supernatural items that boosted stats didn't actually boost stats by a percentage, they only boosted basic stats additionally.
For example, the pair of "speed shoes" currently being auctioned simply increased agility by 80 points.
What use were 80 attribute points to Matthew?
Furthermore, many layers of the supernatural realm forbade the use of one-time items.
Therefore, Matthew simply watched the auction. And during the bidding process, he saw quite a few familiar names.
People like Filip Walker and Bobby Burns have appeared. Even Natalie's name occasionally appeared...
...
About half an hour later, the Tremor Fruit was finally placed on the table.
"Next up for auction is a Devil Fruit." That's what the beautiful teacher said.
Matthew, who had been watching the live stream without making a move, suddenly perked up.
His hand was already on the mouse, ready to bid.
"This Devil Fruit is the Paramecia-type Tremor-Tremor Fruit. Among all Paramecia-type Devil Fruits, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit is extremely rare, and it is known as the strongest Paramecia-type Devil Fruit..."
The beautiful teacher praised Tremor-Tremor Fruit to the skies.
However, the adjacent comment section was filled with opposing comments.
"Haha, you flattered it so much that I almost believed you."
"If it were really that good, would it still be here? It would have been used up long ago."
"Don't just talk about the advantages. Mention the side effects too."
"To be honest, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit is indeed very powerful and rare, having only appeared five times so far. However, the side effects of this thing are something that ordinary people cannot withstand..."
"Yes. Harming yourself while attacking... such a side effect is enough to scare away the vast majority of supernaturals."
"Most importantly, this Tremor-Tremor Fruit has been stored for too long, losing its crucial training-enhancing effect. Now it's practically useless, and it's still a useless fruit that can harm you."
"Yeah. If the training-enhancing effect were still there and if I could get stronger through training after consuming it, I might even bid on it. But let's forget about it now."
"I guess only those guys with self-healing abilities or other defensive abilities would be interested in this fruit, right?"
...
The beautiful teacher seemed to have seen the comments, so she also listed the drawbacks of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit before saying, "The auction now begins."
"The starting bid is 500 points. Everyone can start bidding now..."
When students heard the starting bid was as high as 500 points, comments such as "Too expensive" and "Only a fool would want it" immediately appeared in the adjacent bullet comment section.
But there were still bidders.
The first bidder was a student from Imperial College London named Ben Johnson.
His bid was 550 points.
After this person made a bid, someone else immediately followed suit with a bid of 600 points.
It seems that Professor Holland was right. This Tremor-Tremor Fruit was useless to most supernaturals, but it was still a decent ability for some supernaturals with special abilities.
Matthew glanced at the points on his account. He had over 6,100 points.
This was what he got after exchanging his student points. And frankly, he didn't know how it was calculated.
After a moment's thought, he simply entered "6000 points" and clicked on the bid button.
Matthew's idea was very simple: Offering a high price upfront to scare away others and prevent anyone from getting carried away and creating vicious competition.
Another point was that his points were useless to him at university.
The university had begun giving him special treatment, just as they had given Natalie, and they were providing him with everything he needed, as long as he didn't make excessive or absurd demands.
So, he could only use his points here.
Therefore, Matthew didn't feel bad about handing over his points all at once.
"Matthew from The University of Oxford has bid 6000 points."
The beautiful teacher immediately exclaimed in surprise, then asked, "Is there anyone offering a higher price?"
The bid of 6000 points shocked countless people the moment it was made.
The adjacent comment section was immediately flooded with a large number of comments.
"Holy crap? Who bid 6000 points?"
"Wow. Did someone spend 6000 points to buy a Tremor-Tremor Fruit that's practically useless? I've never seen anything like it before."
"How can he have so many points? That's not fair."
"What's unfair about it? He is Matthew Atkinson. Natalie Russell's teammate. They get godlike SSS ratings every time in the Supernatural Realm, so isn't it normal for the university to give them more rewards?"
"Matthew Atkinson from The University of Oxford? The one who's always trending on social media? Author of the Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings book series? Isn't he supposed to be the most brilliant mind? How could he do something so stupid?"
"6000 points, wouldn't it be better to save them to buy those offensive supernatural skills? Why did he bid for the Tremor-Tremor Fruit?"
"I remember he merged with the Kryptonian Bloodline, right? Does that bloodline have defensive abilities?"
"Heh, I think he's tired of living and wants to die young."
"It's probably for his friends or classmates, right?"
...
Just as Matthew predicted, bidding stopped immediately after he bid 6000 points.
Those students who were aiming for the Tremor-Tremor Fruit were immediately scared off and dared not bid again. More precisely, they most likely didn't have more than 6000 points.
Seeing that no one was bidding for a long time, the beautiful teacher immediately shouted, "6000 points for the Tremor-Tremor Fruit… Going once... Going twice… SOLD! Congratulations to Matthew Atkinson from The University of Oxford for successfully bidding on the Tremor-Tremor Fruit."
Matthew breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.
Soon, his phone rang from the message notifications.
Filip Walker: {Matthew, I didn't expect your target to be this Tremor-Tremor Fruit.}
Sam Harris: {Matthew, I heard that the Tremor-Tremor Fruit reduces lifespan every time it's used. Why did you decide to buy that?}
Bobby Burns: {Matthew, think it over. This isn't a good thing...}
Natalie: {That's good ability. It suits you very well.}
Only Natalie knew just how formidable Matthew's defenses were.
Upon seeing these messages, Matthew smiled, replied casually with a few sentences, then chatted with Natalie for a while before putting his phone down.
...
The auction lasted for a full three hours before it ended.
"Dear students, with the last item sold, this year's annual university auction has come to an end. Thank you all for your participation. The items you bid on will be delivered to your respective universities and colleges within 48 hours. Please check your mail then..."
After the beautiful teacher finished speaking, the livestream was turned off.
Matthew shut down his computer, his heart filled with anticipation for the Tremor-Tremor Fruit that was about to be delivered.
He knew very well how terrifying the Tremor-Tremor Fruit was in Whitebeard's hands.
Whitebeard was hailed as the strongest Emperor in the One Piece world, the strongest man, and a powerful being capable of destroying the world, all thanks to the destructive power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
Of course, Whitebeard's own power was also terrifying, which allowed him to unleash the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
And what about Matthew?
He possesses the physique of a Kryptonian, the physique of Superman, and he believed that in the future, his strength would far surpass that of Whitebeard.
Then… When he threw a punch, how destructive would it be?
It was probably impossible to estimate.
Most importantly…
Ever since learning of the terrifying existence beyond the atmosphere, Matthew had been eager to grow stronger.
He would accept anything that could increase his combat power. The more the better.
...
That evening, the auction actually made it to the top of the trending searches.
This was the first time the Ministry of Education had organized a nationwide auction, so it already had a significant impact.
Moreover, at the auction, an oddball like Matthew appeared, spending a "huge sum" to bid for the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, which had little practical use.
It was safe to say that Matthew deserved immense credit for making it to the trending topics. The topic of discussion among netizens was almost entirely him.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.163: Becoming a Devil Fruit User
Ch.164: House of Cards and the Cult
Ch.165: A Handful of Amateurs