MIGHT AS WELL BE OP

Chapter 789: Anomalies Against Anomalies

”Do you know where the rest of the team disappeared to? Or rather, when they’re coming back from their mission?” Vega asked, her amethyst eyes fixed on the sky as she gazed through the wide crystal window before her.

”Well...” Anthony began, tilting his head slightly as though focusing on something far beyond the horizon. ”They just returned from their mission. Their military aircraft landed only a few seconds ago. Tell me, is your question a coincidence, or does this have something to do with your Cause and Effect ability?” he asked with a faint smirk.

”Only a coincidence,” Vega replied lightly, turning her head from the sky toward the same direction Anthony was facing. With her Eyes of the Universe, she could perceive literally every inch of the military base planet from their current location. At that moment, her vision focused on the team, Dale, Kingsley, Spectre, Clement, Reynold, and Seraphim.

As both of them silently observed from afar, Vega spoke again, her voice carrying quiet intrigue. ”Kingsley is indeed... remarkable. It seems he’s grown even more powerful than before.” She paused briefly before continuing. ”At this level, I thought improvement would become very slow. After all, even the two of us spent centuries within the Divine Realm.”

”It seems your eyes have seen something interesting about him,” Anthony said after a moment of thoughtful silence. ”Well... Kingsley is blessed by the Universe itself. You could say he’s the heir of this very Universe, destined to inherit it, or something close to that.” His tone was calm, matter-of-fact, as though he were stating a law of nature.

”Before you joined the team,” Anthony continued, ”our first mission led us into a confrontation with a being from a higher galaxy. Kingsley and I faced it together, but even combined, we couldn’t defeat it. I had to resort to some rather... unsavory methods, schemes I don’t particularly enjoy using.” He exhaled softly before going on. ”Long story short, Kingsley lost terribly in that battle. But because of that defeat, his growth skyrocketed. His training exploded as if he’d been launched by a rocket.”

Anthony paused briefly, recalling the event in vivid detail, then added, ”Also, don’t ask how I know this, but after that loss, he awakened a peculiar ability called Sleep Training. Every time he falls asleep, loses consciousness, or even enters deep meditation, his consciousness is transported to another realm, one with time dilation far greater than even the Divine Realm. There, he trains endlessly, and all his progress and experience are directly transferred to his physical body when he wakes.”

He leaned back slightly, a faint smile playing at his lips. ”And the best part? He doesn’t even need to cultivate like we do. His body can’t contain mana or any form of energy, so he skips all the complicated processes and focuses entirely on strengthening his physique and martial prowess.”

Vega remained silent for a while, her gaze fixed on Kingsley as though she were observing a rare and fascinating specimen. Her expression was one of deep curiosity mixed with subtle admiration.

”Why are you looking at him as though you’re about to strap him to a table and dissect him?” Anthony asked dryly, his voice snapping Vega from her thoughts. She blinked and coughed awkwardly before replying.

”His abilities are... intriguing,” she admitted, watching Kingsley walk with that familiar air of confidence that seemed to follow him everywhere. ”No wonder he reached the Planetary Level before I did. Although I’m talented, it seems there are far more monstrous geniuses out there than I thought.” She sighed softly, finally tearing her eyes away from the group.

”Aren’t you the monstrous one here?” Anthony replied, shaking his head with an amused sigh. ”Only your parents could rival your level of absurdity.”

”Ant,” Vega called out calmly.

Anthony turned his sky-blue eyes toward her at the sound of his name, and before he could respond, Vega continued, ”Imagine if Kingsley awakened the Perfect-Rank Human Bloodline.”

Her words made Anthony freeze for a moment. He pondered the idea, his mind racing. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how unfathomably powerful Kingsley would become if his bloodline ever evolved to that rank.

Would he instantly ascend to the Universal Level, completely skipping the Galactical Stage? Anthony wondered silently. Though the thought seemed ridiculous, he knew it wasn’t impossible. With the Universe itself backing Kingsley, such a leap was well within the realm of possibility. The man might one day awaken something as rare as a Primordial-Rank Human Bloodline.

’Is Kingsley the real protagonist of this story?’ The thought crossed Anthony’s mind, unbidden. He quickly dismissed it with a shake of his head. He was simply overthinking. Plot armor and miraculous encounters were things he’d never associated with Kingsley. ’Although he’s the Universe’s Favored Son, the Universe doesn’t seem to interfere much, or at all,’ he thought with mild amusement.

His thoughts shifted toward Aaaninja and Lucian. He would be seeing them soon, and he intended to bring Kingsley and Vega along with him. Just the idea of those meetings made his curiosity spark.

He couldn’t help but imagine it: a fight between Kingsley and Aaaninja... or Kingsley versus Lucian.

Would Aaaninja’s time abilities work against Kingsley?

Would Lucian’s copy based powers have any effect on Kingsley?

Anomalies against anomalies, who would emerge as the greatest among them?

And then, perhaps, a rematch between Aaaninja and Lucian themselves... that would be a spectacle worth witnessing.

The more these scenarios swirled in Anthony’s mind, the more he found himself looking forward to the coming reunion. Alas, he had to wait a week before it could happen. He briefly considered using his ability to fast-forward time, but quickly dismissed the idea. It would be useless, as temporal acceleration wouldn’t affect the planets belonging to other races.

A small grin spread across Anthony’s face as he imagined all the potential matchups and chaos that would inevitably unfold. If Aaaninja or Lucian dared to challenge him, though, they had better be prepared to be thoroughly humbled.

His mind drifted back to the last time he’d encountered the two of them, during the great battle against the Demon King’s clone. Back then, ??? had appeared before them and promised a rich reward for their impressive performance. And if there was one thing Anthony had learned over time, it was that ??? always kept his word, and always granted abilities that bordered on the absurd.

He leaned back in his chair, his expression thoughtful as he stared into space. ’What did Aaaninja and Lucian receive from him?’ he wondered silently. ’And by what method did they obtain it?’

Whatever it was, he knew it wouldn’t be ordinary. Anything bestowed by ??? was bound to defy logic, reason, and even the laws that governed the universe itself.