Matthew Atkinson
Oxford, United Kingdom
"Thank you for telling me this, professor. I wouldn't have known if you hadn't told me." Matthew said with a smile, then added. "Professor, I have a question I'd like to ask you."
"Oh? Go ahead."
"It is about the supernatural abilities gained in the Holy Land. If someone possesses two of them simultaneously, will there be a conflict?"
Upon hearing this question, Professor Holland, on the other end of the phone, replied seriously, "That depends on the type of abilities. If the two are the same type of ability, there will definitely be a conflict."
"For example, if a Devil Fruit user eats another Devil Fruit, a conflict will occur, and there is even a high probability that they will die instantly."
"Even two bloodlines won't work together. If a supernatural person already has one bloodline, merging with another bloodline card will cause a conflict and produce unpredictable consequences. The best outcome is that one bloodline is overwritten by the other..."
Matthew nodded repeatedly as he listened. Then he asked, "What if a person with bloodline ability ate a Devil Fruit? Would there be any conflict?"
Upon hearing this, even if Professor Holland were stupid, he would realize something was amiss.
"Matthew, you don't actually want that Tremor-Tremor Fruit, do you?"
"Yes. That's exactly what I'm aiming for." Matthew readily admitted.
There was no need to hide this matter.
Professor Holland, on the other end of the phone, paused for a moment, then said, "I wonder if you've investigated the Tremor-Tremor Fruit? This Devil Fruit isn't something an ordinary person can control. The attack power it brings is indeed very strong, but the side effects are equally obvious."
"Every time the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power is used, it generates a strong tremor, damaging the user. This is a force that harms its user after every attack. Only an extremely strong physique can withstand such side effects..."
Although Professor Holland put it tactfully, Matthew could tell he did not approve of him aiming the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
Matthew could understand. After all, Professor Holland had no idea how strong his Kryptonian Bloodline was.
"I know all of this." Matthew laughed and said, "I get so many expendable attribute points at each layer of the Supernatural Realm. And I have Armament Haki. If I just add more to my constitution attribute, wouldn't that be enough?"
"It's not that simple. Even if your constitution attribute is higher than your strength attribute, it's still hard to withstand the side effects of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit." Professor Holland sighed, "Otherwise, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit wouldn't be avoided by so many supernaturals."
After a pause, Professor Holland continued, "Those who can truly control the Tremor-Tremor Fruit are probably only those supernatural individuals with self-healing abilities and other defensive ability users."
"As for you, Matthew, I don't recommend that you compete for that Tremor-Tremor Fruit. For supernaturals, expendable attribute points are already extremely scarce. If you put most of your expendable attribute points into your constitution just to be able to use the Tremor-Tremor ability normally, it would be too much of a loss."
"Because this will severely slow down your progress in becoming stronger, you might as well acquire more supernatural skills in different attack styles, which would be much better than this Tremor-Tremor Fruit that has lost its training-enhancing effect."
Although Professor Holland's analysis made a lot of sense and was indeed for Matthew's benefit, Matthew didn't have the patience to listen.
Because only he knew his own situation best. Compared to other defensive ability users, Matthew's Steel Body innate skill was enough to outperform them completely.
"Professor Holland, just tell me directly, if I eat that Tremor-Tremor Fruit, will it conflict with my Kryptonian Bloodline?"
Professor Holland waited a few seconds without speaking, and then said.
"...Probably not. This Tremor-Tremor Fruit has been stored for so long that the training-enhancing effect it contained must have completely disappeared. It won't have any effect on you, but it also won't increase your attributes during training."
"Okay, I understand." Matthew said warmly, "Thank you for your suggestion, professor. I know you mean well. However, I have a clear plan for myself and for the path I will follow. So, I will definitely fight for this Tremor-Tremor Devil Fruit."
On the other end of the phone, Professor Holland was silent for a moment before saying, "Since you know what you're doing, I won't say anything more. However, there must be many people eyeing this Tremor-Tremor Fruit. As far as I know, quite a few students in your year have self-healing abilities or defensive abilities."
"I understand, thank you for reminding me," Matthew said and hung up the phone.
After that, Matthew continued to study the items at the auction. After all, unexpectedly, he came across Tremor-Tremor Fruit at this auction. Perhaps he could find something else that would be useful to him.
A moment later, his phone suddenly started ringing incessantly.
It was all text messages.
They were all sent by Filip Walker, Denis Read, Bobby Burns, and others.
The content of the information was also largely the same.
{Matthew, did you see anything you liked at this auction? If you don't have enough points, I can lend you all of mine...}
Upon seeing these messages, Matthew smiled and replied to each one. {No need, I have enough points, but thanks.}
...
In the blink of an eye, three days passed.
Matthew didn't sit idle during those three days. After all, he had obtained Tony Stark's talent at the eighth layer, and he wanted to use it as effectively as possible.
To this end, he decided to focus on an area that would make his job easier and support his other projects: Artificial Intelligence.
Matthew was going to create an AI assistant for himself, and he already had the code for AIs like JARVIS, FRIDAY, KAREN, and EDITH that Tony Stark had created.
Matthew had already begun writing an AI code to assist himself, based on the code of these AIs.
He was using the high-end laptop he had previously used for coding OASIS. He never connected the laptop to the internet; he had even removed the Ethernet card and the Wi-Fi adapter. He even disabled the Bluetooth.
Both OASIS and Tony Stark's technologies contained highly sensitive information, and Matthew didn't want them stolen or falling into the wrong hands.
Until now, he had to keep his laptop in the dormitory on campus, but since obtaining the inventory skill at the eighth layer, he had been keeping it permanently in his inventory unless he was using it.
He had made some progress over the three days, but completing the code would most likely take him close to a month.
Unfortunately, he didn't currently have an environment like Tony Stark's holographic research lab. Therefore, he couldn't simply create things with Vibe Coding, like Tony Stark.
For now, he had to type every code himself using the keyboard. He even had to re-code his compiler software from scratch because all compilers in this world were different from those in Tony Stark's world.
But he was quite hopeful about the final product, and this AI assistant would greatly facilitate his subsequent projects.
After the AI assistant, Matthew was considering starting the Neuro Linker project.
Even the publicly available versions of Neuro Linkers, which were personal computers worn around the neck, had high processing power and storage capacity. Otherwise, it wouldn't be possible to process and store data from people's brains.
It could also contain a virtual world for individuals and had the power to process a program like Brain Burst, which could alter the perception of time.
If these tasks were to be done with the technology available in this world, it would require a massive server and highly powerful supercomputers.
For Matthew's AI to demonstrate its power, it needed to be supported by a server and computing power. Otherwise, with just Matthew's laptop's hardware, even an AI with the best code wouldn't be able to do much.
Therefore, Matthew planned to build a Super Neuro Linker to house his AI. Not one of the versions sold to the public, but rather one used by scientists and R&D laboratories.
In this way, by wearing a device around his neck, he would avoid having to build a massive server and a big supercomputer.
But first, he needed to finish the task at hand.
And as Matthew devoted himself to coding, the time for the auction finally arrived.
At noon, after having lunch, Matthew sat in front of his general-use computer in his dormitory, waiting for the auction's live stream to begin.
The Ministry of Education went to great lengths to create a live stream page for this auction.
And at exactly twelve o'clock, the live stream started on time.
---------------
Author's Note: You folks can also read up to +50 chapters on my P@treon Pages as an early access privilege.
You can also read "+2 Free Chapter" and see some pictures as aFree Member.
www.patreon.com/spell_merchant
P@treon Page Name: Spell Merchant
www.patreon.com/vanguard_v
P@treon Page Name: V For Vanguard
Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.162: Bidding for the Tremor-Tremor Fruit
Ch.163: Becoming a Devil Fruit User
Ch.164: House of Cards and the Cult