The Gentleman at the End

Chapter 134: Chapter 133: Partners and Friends

Zede, also known as the “Corpse Maker”.

Originally a certified “Main Doctor” by Cesimani and a Doctor of Pathology from Hippocrates Hospital, he became a distinguished professor at the Omphalo-Centric-Academy in just five years, as well as the youngest professor at the time.

His strength, talent, and unique understanding of the physical earned him a period of focused attention from the First Gentleman, being deemed one of the rising lights of humanity’s future.

Unfortunately, during an expedition into the Grey Zone, he was stripped of his “Eye” privileges, which only exacerbated his already peculiar personality into something much more mad.

After returning from the Grey Zone, despite a lengthy period of treatment and recuperation and even psychological counseling,

he frequently received complaints from new recruits during his teaching tenure at the academy, until one time…

Perhaps it was a flare-up of Zede’s own condition,

or perhaps a new recruit, emboldened by his family’s background, spoke disrespectfully,

or an unexpected incident occurred during class,

or maybe effects from the Grey Zone lingering in Zede’s body hadn’t dissipated and remained active.

In the end, it led to the direct death of seven new recruits, and after an investigation by the organization, the cause was classified as confidential and sealed.

Considering some suspicious aspects of the incident and Zede’s contributions and personal value to the organization,

the tribunal decided to imprison him for life in the depths of the teaching building, but allowed him normal supplies for experiments and living, meeting Zede’s related needs as much as possible, allowing him to continue his research on Patient corpses under confinement.

Simultaneously,

Hogni Zede was also kept as a “Special Record Combat Power”, to be used in the face of inevitable crises to come.

Zede’s reputation was so well-known within the academy that it needed no introduction.

The cafeteria manager also stayed right outside the private room door for the entirety of Zede’s mealtime.

If the peculiar Zede had any excessive food requests, he could arrange them at the first opportunity, and he would report any violations to the academy’s higher authorities depending on the situation.

The manager glanced at his watch and exhaled a sigh of relief.

“Phew, it seems everything’s alright.

They must be nearly done eating by now. Zede has twenty minutes left for his outdoor activity.

If he doesn’t leave when the time is up, a professor-level gentleman will come and forcibly take him back.

I hope nothing goes wrong~”

The portly manager had just taken out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead,

Boom!

A loud, exaggerated noise came from the private room, causing his plump body to quiver. Ignoring the expensive handkerchief that fell to the ground, he rushed inside.

In the room,

Zede’s upper body, torn to shreds, happened to land in the middle of the dining table, remaining upright.

His lower body, having been subjected to a tremendous impact and rebounded off the wall, was perfectly hung from the chandelier above.

Although his body was torn open, there was no blood.

“What the hell!”

The manager was shocked, pushing his large belly forward, trying to pin Yi Chen, who had a gun, to the ground.

But Zede’s upper half quickly crawled forward, bellowing sternly, “Who let you in?”

The manager was taken aback by the question, hesitating, “Well… I just…”

By then, Yi Chen had already put away his gun into the oak mucus, closed the box, and hurried to explain,

“No worries!

I was just testing a new weapon with teacher Zede, didn’t expect the noise to be so loud, my apologies.”

Yi Chen then purposely looked at his watch, feigning surprise,

“Oh! It’s already so late. Teacher Zede, you have twenty minutes left of your outdoor time, we need to hurry back… If you’re late on your first outing, it might be hard to get permission to leave the campus again.”

“Ah~ then let’s hurry.”

Clang clang bang~

The chandelier swayed, and the lower half of the body hanging from it leaped back onto the table.

Hiss~ An ancient aura poured out from the wound, the two halves of the body fused back together as before, and he spat out bullet after bullet of metal pellets back to Yi Chen.

His pupils filled with admiration for the firearm.

Edmund and others naturally followed, escorting teacher Zede back to the teaching building.

However, they were not qualified to go to the underground area where Zede was located and could only say goodbye in front of the teaching building.

Everything that needed to be said had been said in the cafeteria,

Edmund waved and turned to leave with his teammates,

As the three of them departed, the ‘distance’ between them and Yi Chen grew further and further.

“Wait a moment!” Yi Chen suddenly called out,

“If Miss Juliana doesn’t mind, I can offer regenerative treatments here on campus during non-weekend hours. The effect might not be very apparent, but it should speed up the recovery to your former condition by a couple of weeks.

“If there’s ever a suitable mission, feel free to call me anytime.”

Edmund didn’t verbally respond; instead, he turned his back, raised his right hand, and made an [OK] gesture before slowly vanishing from sight.

It was then that Zede spoke with the rare tone of an instructor:

“In this regard, Edmund has done better than you.

This place is not any peaceful world – it’s where you can easily fall ill and die. @@novelbin@@

If there is a natural [gap] between people and this gap only widens with personal growth… there’s no need to consider past affections or deliberately help others.

Doing so would not only slow down your own growth,

but also prevent the other person from undergoing the necessary trials and growth.”

“Got it.”

“That said, this kid’s family really has some skills, being able to tame such a living sick object and create such a perfect firearm… The weight, length, and attack mode are all well-suited for you.

It also shows that Edmund understands you well, indeed a good brother.

Helping out occasionally isn’t out of the question, it’s your call to make.

Let’s include this gun in our physical sparring from now on, the feeling of being blasted at close range is just too cool~ You indeed have a talent for shooting, the vibe when you fire doesn’t resemble that of a beginner at all.

Practice well with this thing, and it will surely become a means for you to fend off illness in the future.”

“Sure.”

“No time like the present, let’s start our physical sparring.”

…

Time flew by.

Before he knew it, Yi Chen had been in Zion for an entire year.

During this time, Yi Chen had not slacked off at all,

studying, undergoing special training, and sometimes joining Jin to head to Cesimani for tactical and practical training.

The two main Attributes he focused on, [Physique] and [Intellect], had not improved,

but he could distinctly feel a rising trend in his Intellect, and his Physique was also subtly changing during the special training. With enough accumulation, a chance to go on a mission might give him the boost he needed.

Moreover, the [Motorics] Attribute, representing nerve response and body speed, had changed,

A month ago, during practical special training in Cesimani, Yi Chen unexpectedly dodged a flying knife shot from behind with unbelievable reflex speed.

The moment he completed the dodge, his Motorics value jumped directly to [3].

The flying knife was like a breakthrough, transforming a year’s worth of reaction experience into an increase in the Motorics Attribute.

One year after becoming a Gentleman, Yi Chen’s Basic Attributes were as follows:

[Physique]: 4+

[Motorics]: 3

[Intellect]: 5+

[Psyche]: 3

[Luck]: 3

Such data might not be on par with Jin’s, but he had already surpassed the majority of the new Gentlemen.

There was another significant matter as well.

The Omphalo-Centric-Academy was going to conduct a [Test] for the new Gentlemen who had been enrolled for a year,

especially those who picked easy missions every month, attempting to coast along.

If they failed to pass the test, the Academy wouldn’t expel them but would reduce certain privileges and impose strict requirements for their development in the subsequent year. They would be asked to leave if they couldn’t meet those standards.

Yi Chen’s personal record, due to a record of a five-star difficulty mission, secured him an exemption from the test.

However,

both the First Tutor, Professor Qian Bosen, and the Second Tutor, Zede, insisted that he participate,

Qian Bosen thought the Academy’s testing would be very interesting and Yi Chen might learn something from it, even possibly catching the eye of the Academy and thus gaining access to more resources.

Zede simply wanted to show off to the Academy the student he had trained,

as in his eyes, Yi Chen had fully inherited his mantle on the Physical Level… If Yi Chen performed well enough, he might be allowed to leave the Academy early.

In the early morning,

Zede woke Yi Chen with a slap, who was sleeping while jogging on the treadmill.

“Hurry up!

I’ve specially freed up two hours to get out; we need to reach the assessment site early so that bunch can witness your skills, see how fierce the student I, Zede, have trained is.”

With dark circles under his eyes and a pale face, Yi Chen said weakly:

“Ah… right, there’s an assessment today. The special training went on too late yesterday; I completely forgot about it. Suddenly feeling so sleepy~”