The Last Gentleman

Chapter 23

With only two minutes remaining, four carriages awaited at the town’s gathering point.

A large group of frenzied townspeople arrived, with some noticing Yi Chen approaching from the lakeside, turning to chase him.

At that moment, one of the carriage’s rear compartments suddenly opened, and a muscular arm extended—Dagobert from the Northern Territory, who had previously worked with them.

Beside him sat the blond-haired Edmund, who waved to Yi Chen.

"Isn’t that William? Come on, we’re just one person short."

At this critical moment when the test was about to end, there was no need to refuse.

He quickly stepped forward. When Yi Chen extended his hand to clasp Dagobert’s, an immense force pulled him into the carriage without even needing to jump.

Edmund, seated next to him, closed the door.

Now that the carriage was full, the driver didn’t wait.

Besides the four of them, there were two other unfamiliar faces in the carriage, both injured. One had bandages wrapped around his waist, while the other, with severe wounds on his right arm, was applying medicine to the injury.

Compared to the others, Edmund’s team had suffered minimal injuries.

Dagobert’s left arm was wrapped in a small bandage, and Julianne was resting against the carriage wall, clutching her right side, seemingly with a minor injury. Blond-haired Edmund had only a small adhesive bandage on his cheek.

By contrast, Yi Chen, who was unscathed, naturally became the center of attention.

Edmund leaned closer, asking curiously, “Mr. William, I’m a bit curious. The three of us fought our way from the town center to the gathering point, stopping twice to observe along the way, yet we didn’t see you at all. Did you come from the lakeside?”

“Mm.”

“How did you do that? During the town’s chaos, the lake, where the pathogen breeds, is the most dangerous. Almost no one would approach it at the last minute.”

“I just happened to notice an ‘opening,’ that’s all.”

“Really? Impressive.”

“By the way, how long will it take to reach the organization’s headquarters?”

Noticing Yi Chen taking the initiative to ask, Edmund quickly explained, “Locations chosen as test sites are usually close to the organization for easier monitoring and to prevent unexpected incidents. In at most three hours, we’ll reach the headquarters—Zion City.”

“Mm.”

Yi Chen asked no more, using the time to close his eyes and rest, recovering from the mental trauma.

At the same time, he checked on Little Grape.

Despite some selfish motives during the lake mission, Little Grape had proven mostly reliable.

Creak, creak. Plant roots moved within his body, trying to make contact with the growing Little Grape to check its condition. As he drew near, the roots dispersed again.

“Forget it, best not to disturb it…”

With his hands in his pockets, he leaned back against the carriage wall to sleep, but found lingering thoughts kept him awake. Every time he closed his eyes, memories of the deep abyss laboratory and the mysterious entities resurfaced.

Unable to sleep, his engineering mind started analyzing the origins of the Green Lake Town incident.

“The true mastermind should be that unknown entity I glimpsed. The giant eye at the lake’s bottom was merely a product of his experiment. He must have released that eye along with some parasite samples into Green Lake Town. Rather than a diseased invasion, it’s as if the town was used as a ‘breeding ground.’

Once an advanced infected person emerges, they might be taken to the abyss.

How terrifying…

What kind of entities rule over this world?”

Recalling the epic music of the ocean and the golden frame above the unknown entity’s head, Yi Chen smiled faintly, eager to uncover this world’s secrets.

…

Approximately two hours passed.

Suddenly, a strong jolt hit them.

At the same time, the carriage gradually tilted upward, clearly heading up a slope.

“Are we finally going up the mountain? Ah, we’re almost there. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Edmund, with his blond hair, stretched lazily and then decided on his own to open the rear carriage door. The driver didn’t say anything about this behavior.

As long as they were going uphill, there was no risk of contamination.

At least, for now.

In the instant the door fully opened...

“What the heck!”

A surge of acrophobia instantly flooded Yi Chen’s mind, his eyes widening instinctively. Luckily, he wasn’t seated near the edge; otherwise, he would have been scared out of his wits.

At present,

the carriage was moving along a dangerously steep mountain road on the edge of a cliff.

The right side was a drop-off of over two hundred meters.

Most terrifyingly, the width of the road was barely ten centimeters wider than the carriage itself.

The wheels were almost rolling along the very edge, always on the brink of sliding off. Any ordinary person would naturally feel a primal fear—a deep, instinctive dread of death.

However,

the other passengers showed little reaction, fully trusting the driver’s skills.

As the carriage turned a bend along the cliff,

hundreds of meters away,

at the top of the mountain cliff,

a black city stood.

The city was built against the cliff, with even a third of its area extending out beyond it.

Thick fog hovered over the city, with some areas even shrouded in a black membrane, effectively blocking any external probing.

“So this is [Zion].”

For some reason,

when Yi Chen looked at the city, his body felt a strange, cold comfort, as though he’d found a safe haven in a world full of sickness and decay.

Just then,

a sensation stirred within him.

On his shoulder, his skin suddenly swelled, and thin black threads pierced through, gently tearing open his skin without any pain.

A black lump, identical to the original, emerged.

The nerve connections between them were fully restored.

Then came Little Grape’s voice:

“Are we about to arrive at the organization already? That was quick.”

“Little Grape, you’re healed already? I thought it would take you a few days.”

“It was just a delicious snack. A few hours were enough to digest it... It was good, I suppose. It did give me a bit of a boost.

Here, let me share it with you.”

As Little Grape shared his newly upgraded visual ability,

Yi Chen’s vision was now equipped with a circular dotted line representing a [Lock-On].

Whenever any living target entered his field of vision,

the circle would automatically lock onto them.

Currently,

Edmund, the blond-haired one, was in Yi Chen’s line of sight.

The dotted circle, almost like an aim-assist, instantly targeted Edmund’s head.

One second later,

the dotted line gradually became solid, indicating that the lock-on was complete.

Little Grape’s voice returned,

“All set! The target is locked! Just give the command, and the mental energy will be directed at them.”

“What!?”

Yi Chen quickly looked away and blinked.

The [Lock-On] was immediately released.

Edmund seemed to sense Yi Chen’s glance but didn’t care at all.

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