The Gentleman at the End

Chapter 54: Chapter 53: Abnormal State

The clinic was silent,

when the piercing sound of high heels, like nails constantly drilling into the eardrum surface, was heard… It even felt as if the heels were made of long nails, to produce such a disconcerting noise.

Moreover,

the sound of high heels advancing was intermittent, stopping briefly after each stretch.

Captain Edmund also quickly realized the reason for the ‘intermittence’, “Is that guy checking each apprentice’s dorm on the third floor one by one?”

Yi Chen nodded, “Quite likely… If that’s the case, it indirectly means that the other party is not aware of our exact location, our current situation is not exactly passive.

I’ll take a peek, see if I can get a clear view of what’s checking the rooms.”

Edmund was somewhat puzzled, “How can you take a look? Going out now isn’t a smart choice.”

“No need to go out.”

Yi Chen pointed to his shoulder, then gave it a gentle jab.

A black meatball slowly squeezed out from the collar, with a small black hand stretching and yawning as if still half-asleep, completely indifferent to the ongoing ‘Grayification’ happening here.

“Little Grape,

it seems there’s a Patient outside, checking every dorm on the third floor.

When they check the room next to us, can you go around from the window and see what they look like?”

“No,” Little Grape flatly refused.

“You can’t even take a quick look?”

“I am currently in a state known as ‘juvenile’… In this completely unknown environment where Grayification is happening, once I leave your body to act independently, the risk would increase significantly.”

Yi Chen caught a key point in those words, responding with a smile:

“So, you mean it’s alright as long as you don’t leave my physical body, right?”

Before long,

Yi Chen almost pressed his body against the window, stretching his entire left arm as far out as possible, sticking closely to the wall outside to touch the room next door.

Of course,

the length of an arm naturally could not reach the window of the next room.

Creak creak~

After half a year of special training, Yi Chen was more adept at manipulating plants; a thick branch grew between his palms, almost as thick as his arm.

Little Grape’s main body was following the branch towards the window of the next room.

“That’s far enough! Don’t stand out too much!”

The branch stopped growing immediately upon touching the window frame,

with Little Grape’s small black hands gently holding the rust-stained frame, slowly peeking out with half an eyeball, observing the erosion in the next room.

This dorm had suffered significant damage,

the lower half of the door had vanished without a trace, with only the upper half still attached to the hinge, barely sealing the room.

Tap!

Accompanied by a sharp noise, the mysterious Patient patrolling stopped in front of the door as expected.

Since the lower half of the door was missing,

one could see a pair of black high heels about 20 cm tall,

two fair long legs,

and the hem of a white coat,

from which one might imagine a beautiful, elegant, tall woman who was in charge of night rounds in the hospital.

However,

when the upper half of the door was pushed open by the ‘female doctor’, the pleasant fantasy in the brain was instantaneously shattered.

1. A lower body that had been cut in half at the waist, perfectly preserved,

2. A metal stand for hanging IV bags was inserted vertically at the waist break,

3. An IV bag hung from the stand, connected to the lower body by a tube, maintaining the freshness of the two long legs and providing energy at a normal infusion rate.

4. At the top of the stand, a head with black hair covering its face was attached, its specific features unclear.

5. At last, he was draped in a white lab coat emblazoned with the English words “Twilight Hospital.”

If one only looked at the lower half or the silhouette from behind, it really gave the impression of a female doctor.

Such a visual image, transmitted through the grape-sized creature, made Yi Chen feel slightly uncomfortable.

The pathological individuals he had seen before mostly retained human form, at most resembling merfolk covered in fish scales.

But what he was looking at now had, to a certain extent, transcended the category of human.

Having seen clearly,

the plant growth with the structure of tree branches quickly retracted into a palm, and the grape-sized creature returned inside.

When Yi Chen relayed his detailed description of the ‘female doctor’ to Edmund,

another term of professional jargon was thrown out of his mouth.

“Non-Normality Patients, such individuals have appeared? Based on this, we can deduce that the Grayification transformation happening here is reaching its later stages.”

This term was also mentioned in classes related to Grayification.

Edmund muttered to himself,

“The past ‘False Moon Incident’ must have affected the Clinic; a large-scale battle occurred inside, with heavy casualties… Some of the leftover blood, bodily fluids, and even complete limbs, combined with the equipment of the Clinic, are very likely to undergo some form of pathological combination under the effects of Grayification.

Thus giving birth to these Non-Normality Patients,

the ‘ego consciousness’ of these beings is extremely strange, and their various actions and attack patterns are difficult to judge or reason out through conventional experience.

I have never encountered such things, nor do I have related battle experience.”

“Hmm…”

At this time, the inspection of the neighboring room had already ended.

The ‘female doctor’ in her high heels took just two large strides to stop at the doorway of the room where the two men were,

Scrape! Scrape!

Something metallic scraped against the door; because it was locked, it could not be opened right away.

Suddenly, boom!

The solid wood door was kicked open, breaking a large hole as splintered wood and the lock mechanism flew off together.

The wooden door swung open.

Long legs in high heels now formally entered the suspect bedroom.

The head mounted on a metal frame gently sniffed the living aura within the room, starting her exaggerated inspection.

Regrettably, the inspection yielded disappointment; not a single person was found.

Below the female doctor’s black hair was a face conveying considerable disappointment, and after a soft sigh, there was no choice but to turn around and leave the bedroom.

[Ten seconds earlier]

Yi Chen and Edmund had already climbed out the window a step ahead, arriving at the spacious and open rooftop area.

Perhaps due to the protective effects of their gentleman’s clothes, the two did not feel any discomfort from being exposed under the moonlight… as long as they avoided staring directly at the strange moon in the sky.

Before understanding the current predicament of the Clinic, it was best to avoid battle.

If a conflict with the ‘female doctor’ erupted in the bedroom, the noise from the fight might likely draw more, more troublesome entities.

“Shall we climb down the wall, drop into the Clinic’s front yard… Starting from the lobby, perform a thorough search of the Clinic during the early morning hours, looking for traces of Dagbert and the others?”

“Yeah, that’s the only way.”

If it were not for the consideration of missing teammates, they could have temporarily left the Clinic, retreated to the forest… and after the night passed and the moon disappeared, continued with their secret medicine mission.

Just as the two were preparing to leave the rooftop,

Thud! Thud!

A series of heavy footsteps suddenly sounded from the entrance to the rooftop. @@novelbin@@

A shadow larger than a human figure stood there, its ‘head’ piercing a liquid tank, with eyes suspended in the tank fixated on the two men preparing to ‘go downstairs.’

In a somewhat awkward atmosphere,

a black ball of flesh suddenly squeezed out from Yi Chen’s shoulder, calling out excitedly:

“Grape!”