The Gentleman at the End

Chapter 69: Chapter 68: Dilemma

Through the dialogue with the theater owner, Elton John, everyone had gleaned the basic information about the “Moon Transformation Disease” before the battle.

[Appearance]: Any individual who has had visual interaction with the “False Moon,” which acts as a pathogen carrier, will develop a Moon Seal on a specific part of the body depending on their physical constitution.

This belongs to the mental category of pathologies and is only effective on higher organisms that possess “Thought.”

The more active and unique an individual’s thinking is, the shorter the pathological process will be…, when the Moon Seal crystallizes, it will transform into a special type of Patient—[Moon Folk],

The characteristics are as follows:

1. Immunity to silver (outer appearance will show silver eyes and silver hair)

2. Super strong physical attributes.

3. What had been a human’s ‘special skills’ will be materialized, magnified, and made practical.

This third point is also the most unique and most difficult to deal with among the Moon Folk disease traits,

For example, a homeless man who liked to have pets could share a certain effect of the Moon Seal with his pet dog, allowing it to combine with him.

A theater owner who enjoyed performing could conceal his aura, disguise himself as different people, and even concurrently express multiple limbs and faces during combat.

However, Mr. Li was different,

He himself was a gentleman, who had chosen the white letter, corresponding to the profession—[Beast Tamer].

Perhaps related to his birth, family background, and personal preferences, Mr. Li had liked rats from an early age. After acquiring the profession of Beast Tamer, the primary group of beasts he controlled were also rats.

Only, the number he could control had increased, and the control was stronger.

He could use the swarm of rats for a rapid search of a certain area, a quite competent reconnaissance gentleman.

But Mr. Li was naturally timid, always hiding behind others during missions, and would only take action if he was absolutely sure…, he would choose to avoid any trouble he could.

The arrival of the Moon Transformation Disease had enhanced and magnified his ‘profession’ with disease traits, giving him an experience of extraordinary power beyond human.

Not to mention, in order to protect himself, he also forcibly injected the exclusive secret medicine from the Twilight Clinic – “Dusk Thin Silver Liquid”.

This inadvertently brought him closer to the moon, reaching a deeper level of pathology—[Severe Patient]

…

In the ward,

Yi Chen stared at the bitten-off wrist,

Roots had already removed the rat eggs, concurrently stemming the blood flow and smoothing over the wound.

However, the pathological plants he mastered were still far from enough for “limb reconstruction”.

The healing potions prepared by the squad could at most stop bleeding and replenish blood… To achieve regeneration, one would need to use a high-level secret medicine with matching attributes.

The continuous pain from his wrist was nothing to him, instead, it stimulated his nerves, enhancing his concentration.

Just then,

A hard gun barrel gently tapped on Yi Chen’s shoulder.

“William, as we planned earlier.

I’ll handle the main offense, drawing this guy’s attention. You and Anna quickly find out the ‘Pathogen Core’ in his body.”

“Hmm…”

Yi Chen took a superfast step back, pressing his body against the wall.

Now, the battle plan needed revision, taking into account Mr. Li’s recently demonstrated terrifying strength as well as his own severed hand.

Thinking, integrating, and analyzing are key to breaking through.

This was the time to trust that his teammates could fight for enough time.

『Little Grape, for a Severe Patient like Mr. Li, how long can a mental invasion affect him?』

『From the previous encounters with ordinary Moon Folk, the ‘Moon Transformation Disease’ is a rare pathology that raises all attributes, naturally including resistance.

Even directly affecting this guy, the duration is estimated not to exceed three seconds.

Moreover, re-application within half an hour will be ineffective.』

『…So it can only be used at the deciding moment then.』

『Yes.

Using the recent opportunity when we cut open his body, yet we couldn’t find the ‘Pathogen Core’… These weaknesses in Severe Patients are hard to discover and might even be continuously moving.

Getting nervous now, huh? This situation is quite unfavorable for you. You might even be completely defeated.』

However,

Little Grape’s words unexpectedly awakened Yi Chen.

『Wait! You said the Pathogen Core might be moving? Could it be hidden inside one of the rats, since his body structure is entirely composed of rats?』

『Trust your intuition and deduction~ You have to survive, William.』

…

As Yi Chen leaned against the wall thinking,

Mr. Li, bathed in moonlight, began to reveal his killing intent… Crack!

He brutally ripped the hospital bed in two halves and threw it towards Edmund, who was closest.

Hum!

Edmund stepped lithely to the side, dodging perfectly.

The shattered hospital bed smashed into the wall, demonstrating immense strength.

“Oh, what quick reflexes you have… Your ‘Coordination Motorics’ must be quite high,” he said.

A smile appeared on Edmund’s face beneath his blond hair as his left hand, holding a gun, made the number ‘4’.

“Indeed, it’s high~ With a bit more effort, maybe you could reach the ‘Limit Barrier’ within half a year and apply for a long vacation from the organization to start an interesting journey of relic hunting.

Unfortunately, that day will never come.”

‘Rat Transformation’

Whoosh! Mr. Li’s arm, starting from the elbow joint, separated and rapidly filled with a massive number of rats, making up the flesh and skin of the rats.

By forcibly compressing and rearranging the flesh, it formed an arm structure.

Thus,

Mr. Li’s arm transformed into a three-section structure: front, middle, and back.

Longer, more flexible, and highly variable.

Not only that, but the arm continued to change,

growing white fur,

with muscles bulging, even exhibiting hardened stripes of muscle on the surface,

and sharp claw structures appearing between the palms,

with each fingertip sprouting a pair of granular rat eyes, seeming to provide ‘active’ fingers capable of effectively tracking movements.

This was only the beginning of the transformation.

Whoosh!

The spine elongated and detached, trailing behind him,

Hiss hiss hiss~ swarms of rats emerged, crawling over the exposed spinal bones, intermingling and compressing their flesh, forming an extremely pathological tail structure.

It was as if nearly a thousand rats merged together, with even the tip of the tail capable of tearing open to reveal a mouth filled with sharp teeth.

With each tail strike, it could also bite and tear away flesh from its target.

If hit, one could be instantly killed!

Revealing his true pathological form,

Mr. Li revealed an almost insane smile and muttered to himself:

“I was born a weak human, only the rats would befriend me.

Even as a gentleman, some fellows in Zion, including that damn Dr. Macaul, still looked down on me.

I have never experienced physical strength, relying only on my friends for information and advantage.

It was the moon, it was that lord, who let me feel the power of tearing apart my opponents with my own hands, giving me a new life experience.

This is where I belong… Being sick feels just too good!”

As his voice fell,

his silver hair floated,

he slapped his limbs on the ground,

and Mr. Li pounced toward the nearest Edmund with full killing intent.

With crossed claws,

Mr. Li already imagined the wonderful scene of his target being torn apart.

Ding!

A strong metallic collision resounded in the hospital room instead of the expected sound of flesh being torn apart.

As the claws were about to strike,

they were perfectly deflected by the blade in Edmund’s hand at a brilliant angle and timing.

This perfect parrying by the blade even caused Mr. Li’s pathological body to lose balance to some extent.

Almost simultaneously,

the emblem on Edmund’s neck emitted a hot iron-like red glow, emitting wisps of white smoke.

He stepped forward with his left foot,

extended his arm straight,

and the gun barrel, level with the ground, perfectly caught in the unbalanced Mr. Li’s mouth.

He pulled the trigger!

Bang!

The wall behind was instantly stained red, with bits of pink tissue hanging on it. @@novelbin@@

Special Combat Skill – ‘Sword Gun Bullet Refraction’