Strongest Superhuman System - Chapter 759

Chapter 759: Pretentious
The ceremony was one of the most pretentious things that Mark had ever been to.

There were parades, dancing girls, and drumming boys, and there were large groups of performers from the Japanese culture showing off their craft as they passed by the streets. Mark and the rest of his team were on a bus moving through the streets of Tokyo, and Mark could see hundreds of people gathered around the buses, taking pictures while pointing and waving at them with wide smiles on their faces. These buses had untinted windows, so the festival goers could see and greet the superhumans easily from the roads.

There were some little girls wearing masks that were made to look like Arit’s QUEEN form and Arit waved back with a smile as the kids all waved at her enthusiastically, but Mark just leaned back in his seat with his hands folded and tried to doze off so that he could get this over with as quickly as possible.

Mark’s tattoo was glowing with a soft golden light because he was currently using multiple birds and a few rodents to keep an eye on the Russian team. This was the longest that Mark had left the [Symbol of Gaia] active, and Mark was worried that it would cause him some mental strain, but thankfully, it hadn’t caused anything yet, so Mark just kept it open for as long as possible.

Surprisingly, the Russians hadn’t done anything suspicious since that first day when they attacked Leah unprovoked. In fact, they had been so well-behaved that it was a little irritating to watch. They never left their room, they spoke in low whispers, and if there was ever a time when one of them ran into someone from the Australian team, then they would try to apologize for what their teammate had done.

Did this mean that they only came to this tournament to serve as a distraction?

If they had only come here to distract Megumi and Genshi at the start of the tournament so that those anima would have a chance to sneak into the tournament, then Mark really needed to find out why. The desire to just go and grab one of them for questioning was very strong in Mark, but Mark had to hold out for a little while longer. Mark already scheduled a conversation with Genshi later today, so he was sure that he would at least have the chance to tell Genshi about what was happening in the tournament.

Whether Genshi believed him or not was another issue entirely. But Mark decided that he would deal with that bridge when he got to it. Even if someone doesn’t believe anything you say, just saying it is enough to plant an idea in that person’s head, and when something similar happens, the person would be able to react a little better than if they didn’t know at all.

The moving bus came to a stop inside a large auditorium and Mark, along with his team and all the other teams from various countries, came down from their buses and were met with the screams and shouts of thousands of fans who had come to watch the tournament. There were so many of them that they spilled out of the auditorium and into the streets outside. Some of them were using their abilities to hang in the air or hold others to see better, and there was even a balcony just above their heads that had even more people there! The entire auditorium was as large as a football pitch, and there was a large dome covering the top of it.

On the stage at the side, a hostess wearing a long kimono clapped along with the crowd while some ushers guided the superhumans toward the stage. The Japanese team was already present on the stage, and Mark scoffed when he realized that the Japanese team was the only one not wearing the regular black outfit that the rest of the countries were wearing. The Japanese men and women all put on traditional Japanese martial arts outfits—sleeveless kimonos and trousers that came down to their ankles. They also weren’t wearing the flag that denoted their country like the other contestants, but Megumi was standing in front with the captain badge proudly displayed on her left breast.

There was no doubt in Mark’s mind that the Japanese government was showing favoritism to their own superhumans in order to increase the popularity of their fighter, but the government really didn’t know how the minds of humans worked. Did they think that people would just not know that they were showing favoritism? This was only going to make the viewers root for the other teams more at this rate.

Mark got on stage and he was met with even more screams of adoration from the crowd as they began to shout his moniker ‘God Killer’ over and over again. Mark didn’t bother to wave to them, but he could feel his [Mortal Legend] title making him even stronger as the number of fans he had grew quickly. Mark already had so many fans that he had nearly a hundred percent more power at any time that he could tap into, and even though Mark didn’t want to be here, Mark knew that this tournament was only going to serve to make that number higher.

As Mark walked onto the stage, he saw Genshi along with the Japanese President shaking hands with all the athletes before they were led over to a multi-level set of seats arranged at the side of the stage just for them. When it came to the turn of the Americans, Genshi shook Mark’s hand for just a little longer than everyone else as he spoke.

“I received your message from the hawk. I don’t think I have ever had a bird deliver a message to me before, so you have piqued my interest. I am going to be free for dinner today. Would you join me?”

Mark gave a nod in return before they separated, and Mark went over to take a seat at the side.

The rest of the ceremony passed like a fever dream. There were speeches and talks along with some performances and even a popularity vote for the superhumans that ended with Megumi winning and him coming in second. Most of the people who voted were Japanese, so Mark wasn’t surprised by the end result, but he was surprised that he came in second though. Mark didn’t know he was that popular in Japan.

But the one thing that Mark noticed throughout the event was that Megumi kept looking at him. It was just passing glances at first, and Mark just ignored it because he didn’t think it was anything serious. But as time went on, it seemed like she became less and less conscious of it and began to look at him for extended periods without bothering to care if he noticed or not. Mark once turned to glance at her when he noticed her eyes on him, but even when staring at her, there was nothing Mark could decipher from her just by her expression alone. Mainly because she had no expression at all.

It was like her face was set in an empty mask that made no changes regardless of the situation. It was just like Mark thought the first time he saw her.

She really looked just like a doll.

Mark remembered from his system that Megumi had an issue with her emotions. As her blessing allowed her to grow stronger, it took away her emotions and forced her to become more stoic as a result. It was like she was burning her emotions at some sort of altar in order to gain strength with each battle.