Chapter 175 Superpowers And The Zero Gate
Superpowers.
They were the thing that formed the subtle driving force of the Eternal universe, and in some ways, even the home universe.
People of both universes sought them and craved them, though less than a zillionth of a decimal point percentage of both universes could have them. In a wide universe with numbers so large that even a powerful AI forced to do a census would break down, the number of superpowered users might not be more than 20,000.
Of that small number, many would never cross the F Rank. A few who were lucky enough to have some talent might hit the E rank in the small time they were given in the Black Land. Even fewer would be like Dante and hit the D rank, and that was for the exceptional ones who spent every moment they had in the Black Land fully focused and hard at work.
Those who would reach the C rank out of them were not just magnificent geniuses, but powerhouses who decided the fate of the universe. Even just at the D rank, Dante had acquired such powers and abilities that made our hearts tremble, and those only required mindless energy absorption.
What kind of abilities would one gain at the C rank when they literally had to both absorb energy and comprehend their superpower to a certain limit? It was a true breaking point and when the name 'superpower' started to cause fear.
As for the B Rank, even in the entire history of the Eternal Universe and when they started recording from more than 6000 years ago, there were a two-digit amount of people who managed to achieve it.
Portia Portinari, the Mother of Beatrice, was one example.
At such a level of power, unless they literally came to a favorable location, with their superpower publicly known and researched, along with needless resources and weapons to take them down, it was impossible to kill them.
This was why Beatrice blamed herself for her mother's death. The ambush and all those countermeasures were nothing much for Portia, but the opening that gave their enemies the chance to take her out was Portia's almost obsessive need to protect her daughter and make sure not a scratch came to her.
That was what killed her.
A rank superpowers? Well, only Lara in history, and we saw her current position. If we called her the grandmaster of the universe, it wouldn't be too far off, given the respect and fear she commanded, as well as her seemingly limitless political power.
As for S rank and above? There was a reason why the Apocalypse World made it near impossible for even the best and cunningest students to reach the S rank in their superpowers, and it was because they simply did not know what that was like!
Even what they knew of the B rank and A rank came from the mouths of Lara and the few others who got there. The S Rank seemed to be a solid barrier that blocked everyone from moving forward, forcing Lara to focus on quantity rather than quality by acquiring seven superpowers.
However, what was required for the S rank was something only she knew.
Whatever the case, superpowers transcended technology and any known special method. They had a ruleset that was indecipherable to only those who had them and they were like a closed circuit while at the same time being an endless void.
Closed pursuit in the sense that there were no loopholes or openings that would cause logical or unexpected failures or problems. Like Dante's Quantum Entanglement being able to deposit him at correct spatial coordinates while accounting for the movement of planets and changes in space.
Endless void in the sense that despite themselves, they had limitless possibility. A simple ability that was able to allow its user to travel two universes using a quantum tunnel safely had evolved into something that let him enter quantum worlds and open a pocket quantum space.
Who knew what magnificent things Humphrey's Aerogenesis or Slessor's spatial Folding could beget?
And that brought us to the situation in front of Dante. A dense amount of superpower monsters stood before him, all of them having been born and living in the Zero Gate world for who knew how long.
Unlike students who only had 10 weeks a year to work on it for a total of 5 years, making 50 weeks, these monsters had unlimited time to absorb the dense Zero Energy to upgrade their superpowers and even comprehend.
So really, what advantage did students have over them? No wonder even the mighty Lara didn't dare to run rampant here.
Even if we are to say that these beasts and monsters were unable to be enlightened and did not have sentience, so had difficulty comprehending compared to humans, they still had much, much more time to do so than humans did by far.
Despite the nonsense fiction put forth, the simple fact was that it was a universal truth that quantity could make up for quality once it reached a certain point. With enough time, these beasts likely had superpowers no weaker than Lara at her prime, at the B and A Ranks.
However, for one month every year, these beasts suffered from some sort of tide or rule of the Zero World that weakened their superpowers to the E-C rank. So those who had A rank now had C rank superpowers, those who had B Rank now had D rank and so on.
This was not necessarily an objective fact, but an assumption by Dante given the small tidbits of information he heard, saw, and researched here and there, as well as his continuous scanning of the environment and lifeforms since he came here.
His main evidence? Well, given what had just been explained about superpowers, do you think any student could survive not only 30 days, but also snatch Fruits of Condensation from these trees and the mouth of these beasts if the denizens of the Zero Gate world had superpowers at the B Rank and above?
When the real descent came, it wouldn't just be first years entering the Zero Gate, but 1st to 5th years all going in at once. The most inexperienced are the first years and they are usually made to follow the seniors while the most crazy and desperate were the fifth years whose last chances were that session.
The fifth years are likely to either have D rank or C rank superpowers depending on their talent. How could first years with E and F rank superpowers compete?
If the beasts were too powerful, whether fifth or first year, everyone could only hover on the outside and watch the beats fight and claim the fruits, then chew them on the spot like cuckolds watching their wife being ravaged by a mandingo.
Dante stood before these 9 beasts that were glaring at him with two parts fear and eight parts hostility. They did not know where this tiny being came from but they felt a great and fatal threat from him, especially those enthralling amber eyes that seemed to hint at a deeper truth.
Not to mention that his casual clap just now sent them all flying a bit. Given that Dante's size was the lowest of the group here, they naturally understood that this tiny two-legged beast was hiding great power in that small form.
They definitely could not treat him like they did the other humans that came before, or they would suffer defeat. This made the beasts, who were fighting against each other just now, take a step back and glance at each other subtly.
There was a faint intention to team up and deal with the biggest threat in their eyes, but there was also a hint of refusal due to a lack of trust and a bit of pride in their power that stopped? them from taking that step.
Dante smiled and created a Celestial Tether with each of them. The moment he did so, they sensed that something was wrong given their superior power. After all, even if their superpowers were suppressed, they had entered their own soul spaces and comprehended their superpowers through the C, B, and to the A rank.
Their minds might not be the focus of their powers, but it definitely wasn't as weak as that badger monster that could only be toyed with by Dante. As such, they felt the connection but could not block nor terminate it.
However, they could guard their minds and prevent Dante from passively reading their thoughts.
Anyway, Dante was obviously not interested in doing such a thing. Rather, he reached out to them and introduced himself as Dante, with the superpower of D Rank Quantum Entanglement, which allowed him to teleport.
Seeing that Dante had straightforwardly greeted them and even introduced himself, the beasts were bewildered, but they soon processed the information and tentatively reached back, replying to Dante with a similar greeting.
Dante smiled widely when he got what he wanted.
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