Natalie Russell
Tenth Layer of the Supernatural Realm
Natalie felt a dizzying sensation, and by the time her vision recovered, she had arrived in an unfamiliar place.
The light here was dim, making it hard to tell if it was early morning or evening.
Her gaze quickly swept around, taking in everything in her surroundings. This seemed to be an abandoned city, with many tall buildings and skyscrapers in sight.
However, these tall buildings were all very dilapidated, and covered in various mosses and other unknown plants.
The roads were also filled with dust and useless garbage, while many places were overgrown with green grass. Countless abandoned, rusty vehicles were also left here.
If one had to use a word to describe this city, it would be "desolate".
Natalie had just scanned the area and hadn't seen a single moving living thing. It was as if she were the only living person in the entire city, all alone.
To be honest, at this moment, Natalie was a little surprised.
Her professor, Isabel Grant, had told them that this was an apocalyptic world and had shown them many photos. But seeing photos was nothing compared to the shock of seeing them with her own eyes.
Even though she had just arrived in this world, she already felt lonely. Such an environment was definitely a world no human would want to live in.
Natalie took a deep breath, then took out half of the Medallion of Sweethearts pendant from her inventory and held it tightly in her left hand.
She closed her eyes slightly, wanting to sense Matthew's location. When she opened her eyes again, her delicate brows furrowed deeply. In her perception just now, Matthew was very, very far from her.
Natalie's expression remained unchanged. She hung the necklace around her neck and put the medallion over her heart.
Then she accessed her inventory and tried to summon Bumblebee, her special transformer vehicle, but, as expected, it didn't work.
The Supernatural Realm didn't allow the use of every supernatural item on every layer. While some layers allowed all kinds of supernatural items, others prohibited their use.
And in some layers, only certain types of supernatural items were forbidden to use, just like this layer.
Natalie knew from her professor's lesson that vehicle-type supernatural items couldn't be used on this level, but there was no harm in trying. At worst, the supernatural item would remain locked away in her inventory until she left this layer.
This was an advantage provided by their inventory skill. Matthew and Natalie could put whatever they wanted into their inventory and enter the Supernatural Realm.
And if the Supernatural Realm didn't allow the use of an item or material, it wouldn't allow them to summon it from their inventory.
That was also why Natalie had placed the Medallion of Sweethearts in her inventory before entering this layer. She didn't know if this supernatural item was allowed on this layer.
And if someone entered the Supernatural Realm with an unauthorized supernatural item without putting it in inventory, it would be forever lost. Natalie didn't want to risk that, so she had placed it in her inventory as well.
But luckily, the supernatural realm hadn't placed any restrictions on this item in this layer. Although it wasn't possible for her to go to Matthew, it was still possible for Matthew to come to her, as in the original plan.
Until then, her mere survival was enough.
Next, remembering some key points Professor Isabel Grant had told her, she began to explore the city.
Her goal was clear.
First, of course, was to find some food and water, as food and water also could not be brought into the Supernatural Realm.
Then, find a safe place and wait for Matthew to arrive.
Natalie moved cautiously through the streets. Her Observation Haki was fully active.
She did not choose to go to a high place to observe the terrain.
Although a higher vantage point offered better vision, it also made it easier for monsters to spot her. In this layer, some monsters could even sense the gaze of other creatures.
As long as someone saw them, they would also discover their location.
Natalie's current strength was very strong, second only to Matthew among the freshmen, and she had opened a significant gap between herself and the other freshmen students.
It could even be said that her strength was in no way inferior to that of her father, Grand Magister Russell. And her father's power was high among the fifth rank experts.
Therefore, Natalie could very easily have been placed among the fifth-rank experts. Furthermore, she was not far from Elemental Transformation. And then her power would increase even more. She might even reach the sixth-rank level.
But Natalie had no arrogance whatsoever. Just thinking of Matthew's power made her feel that her own strength was nothing.
Moreover, the tenth layer was unlike the others. This layer contained monsters and humans with sixth-rank power, as well as even those with seventh-rank power.
In such a place, she couldn't afford to be careless.
Not long after, Natalie finally encountered something moving. It was a group of zombies.
They wandered aimlessly and slowly in front of a convenience store. There were a total of six zombies, all ordinary, none mutated.
With Natalie's current strength, she could easily eliminate these zombies with a wave of her hand.
However, she was new to the place and didn't know much about it, so to be safe, she chose to retreat.
Although she could see vaguely through the glass that there were things on the shelves in the convenience store, she felt that something was not quite right.
After deciding to retreat, Natalie left without any hesitation, turning and walking away.
When she had walked a dozen steps, she suddenly stopped, then looked up, her gaze directed towards the second floor of a building.
There, several pairs of panicked eyes appeared.
"Damn it. She found us."
"She's indeed a super ability user."
"What do we do now?"
"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and leave!"
"Wait… She doesn't look like those Nomads. Perhaps we can try to make contact with her."
Although these people spoke in hushed tones, they didn't know that Natalie's senses had reached a terrifying level. And at the supreme level, Observation Haki also greatly enhanced her senses.
Let alone their hushed conversations, even the scuttling of rats within hundreds of meters would not escape Natalie's ears.
Seeing that these people seemed to fear her, Natalie pondered for a moment, then she decided to observe first.
Because she needed information and couldn't just wander around aimlessly.
If she accidentally stumbled into the territory of monsters or even encountered a Devil Monster, she would be in big trouble.
A moment later, the door on the ground floor opened, and a middle-aged man walked out. This middle-aged man had a scraggly beard and messy hair, and wore a thick cotton coat, though it was tattered and covered in black stains.
At first glance, this guy looked very much like those homeless people on Blue Marble who hadn't bathed or changed clothes for years.
But Natalie knew that this was a common appearance for survivors in this apocalyptic world. After all, in a world where even food and drink were a struggle and life was not guaranteed, who had the leisure to dress themselves up every day?
And no matter how much one cared about their appearance, without clothes to change into, after a year or two, they would also become as dirty as beggars.
Compared to the survivors, Natalie, who was completely in clean and new clothes, seemed out of place in this world.
The middle-aged man also noticed Natalie's appearance and was somewhat surprised. Even in the large shelters, very few people were as clean as Natalie.
'She was like those clean people from peaceful times,' thought the man.
In addition, Natalie was truly too beautiful. He couldn't understand how such a beautiful young woman could be wandering around in this kind of environment.
Originally, the middle-aged man had come down to negotiate. But upon seeing Natalie's unusual appearance, he didn't know what to say for a moment.
Finally, it was Natalie who spoke first, "Are you one of the survivors staying nearby?"
At the sound of Natalie's question, the middle-aged man came to his senses. He didn't answer immediately but asked cautiously, "May I ask who you are…?"
"Don't worry, I'm not one of those Nomads." Seeing that the middle-aged man was somewhat afraid of her, Natalie took the initiative to say.
Professor Isabel Grant had also told them about the Nomads. They were a group of very terrifying humans.
They were actually super ability users, possessing unique powers. Because they disliked being constrained by the rules of the large shelters, they chose to go alone and wander everywhere.
Those people… to survive, they would do anything. Robbing other survivors of food, or even torturing and killing survivors, was a regular thing for them.
When there was no food, they didn't hesitate to eat other survivors to satisfy their hunger.
Some groups of Nomads would even attack smaller shelters. Once the shelter breached, it would be a living hell.
Therefore, the locals feared the Nomads. Even Professor Isabel Grant repeatedly warned them not to deal with Nomads.
If she could kill them, she should do so quickly. If she couldn't beat them, she should find a way to escape.
Natalie knew that a single sentence was not enough to convince these survivors. After all, natives who could survive in this world were all sufficiently vigilant.
Those who weren't vigilant had already died.
At this moment, Natalie sensed that at least three guns were aimed at her in the dark.
But she did not worry. This was because, although she could not yet achieve full Elemental Transformation, she no longer feared firearms and ammunition.
"I have no ill intentions, nor did I know you were here. I came here purely by chance." Natalie said and then added, "And I think we can cooperate."
Hearing this, the middle-aged man was startled and asked, "How do we cooperate?"
Natalie did not answer directly, but instead asked, "You're hiding here, presumably for the things in that convenience store, right?"
The middle-aged man frowned, looking at Natalie, waiting for her to continue.
"I can help you get the food in the convenience store, but I need half of the food." She said.
Hearing this, the middle-aged man immediately fell into thought. He pondered for a moment, then said, "I need to discuss this with my companions."
"Okay, but don't take too long," Natalie said.
The middle-aged man nodded and quickly turned to leave.
As for why Natalie made such a disadvantageous offer... Of course, it was so that the survivors could discuss the matter amongst themselves.
This way, Natalie could listen to them from a distance and learn what the problem was at the convenience store.
Also, if the other side adhered to the agreements, giving them half of the food wouldn't be a problem for Natalie. She thought that this way, the other side wouldn't hesitate to share information with her.
Soon, the man returned to the second floor.
"Uncle, what did that woman say?"
"I just saw clearly, she's so beautiful, even more beautiful than the big celebrities from before."
"Keep your voice down." The middle-aged man said, "She said she's not a Nomad and wants to cooperate with us to take food from the convenience store."
Subsequently, the group began to discuss.
"Cooperate with us? Take food from the convenience store? Doesn't she know the convenience store is a trap?"
"Could it be that she's a powerful ability user? Confident in dealing with that monster?"
"Hmph. If she were confident, would she need to seek our cooperation?"
"Uncle, I think we can cooperate. We will let her take the lead. It would be great if she could perish with that monster."
"Don't treat her like an idiot. Do you think someone who can live so cleanly is an idiot?"
"The main thing is that we have no other choice. We've searched everywhere nearby, and now the only place with food left is that convenience store."
"You are right, uncle. Tilly and the others haven't eaten for four days. If they don't eat something soon…"
"I also support cooperation. I think there's enough food in that convenience store, maybe enough for us to last until we reach Shelter 33."
"Are you all fools? She says cooperate, and we cooperate? Who knows what she's really thinking?"
These people chattered, all expressing their opinions.
They didn't know that even though they tried their best to keep their voices down, Natalie heard everything clearly.
Only then did Natalie realize why she had always felt that something was not quite right with that convenience store.
It appeared the convenience store was a trap.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.205: Showing Some Sincerity
Ch.206: Mutated Zombie
Ch.207: Conflict Among Native Survivors