The Gentleman at the End

Chapter 95: Chapter 94 Chicken Coop (7th Update)

“Jin seemed particularly sensitive to this sudden negation… Indeed, there was a moment just now when I felt the urge to kill her, so I must be cautious in the future and try to avoid negating her as much as possible.”

In fact, Yi Chen could fully understand the abrupt change in Jin’s emotions.

During their life in the Orphanage, those children who were abandoned by their parents, especially those who were abandoned after they became sensible, and even those who were abused by their biological families, often had certain ‘psychological restricted areas’. @@novelbin@@

Once these areas were touched, their temperaments could change drastically, and they might even act without considering the consequences.

A boy who used to get along well with Yi Chen was told by other kids one day, ‘Can you not act like a dog?’.

He immediately pounced on the speaker and bit off his nose and ears, almost tearing off the entire face.

It was later revealed that as a child, this boy was often locked in a kennel by his parents and raised like a dog, getting hung up and whipped for any disobedience.

As for Jin’s situation, it might be even worse.

Yi Chen would certainly pay close attention to this and try his best not to touch Jin’s ‘restricted area’.

…

Now was the moment for interrogation,

It was necessary to pry some important information from the mouth of this chicken that had appeared out of nowhere, moving at high speeds, and even able to speak.

Plants bound the chicken’s body to prevent it from escaping.

With his hands cradling its slightly plump body, Yi Chen quickly detected pathological substances within the chicken’s body.

The pathology mainly affected the brain area.

This black chicken’s brain was not confined to the cranial cavity but was proliferating along the neck, filling half the body cavity… Its brain size was comparable to a human brain.

This might explain how the black chicken was able to speak and have thoughts.

Besides the brain, the chicken’s leg muscles were quite developed, with muscle structures similar to feathers visible on them.

If it were not for personnel like Jin, who had reached the limit in terms of coordination, an ordinary gentleman would have really struggled to catch up with it.

Apart from the brain and legs, the rest were normal and posed no threat.

This was also Yi Chen’s first close contact with a pathological animal, surprisingly safe.

“Hey! Hurry up and give us more information, or my friend here will really kill you.”

The black chicken was so scared that its comb had collapsed, and it shivered all over, trying its best to squeeze out human words:

“Grandmother knows, grandmother wants to talk to you. About the forest, about the village, and the Church, we can talk about it all—cluck cluck!”

“What grandmother? Where is she?”

“I’ll take you there… Grandmother isn’t controlled by the Church, she lives alone in a secret place outside the village—cluck cluck!”

“Has she sought out other humans before?”

“No—Grandmother is very discerning; those other humans couldn’t have survived, but you’re different! You effortlessly killed those… freaks at the village entrance—cluck cluck!”

Yi Chen didn’t continue the questioning but turned to Jin, who was waiting at his side.

“Jin, let this chicken lead us there… Even if it’s a trap, it should be to your liking, right?”

With an Instant Step, Jin moved over and gently touched the chicken’s comb, nearly making the frightened black chicken explode in a fluff.

“Fine! Hurry up and take us to your chicken nest… Don’t you dare deceive us.”

And so,

Plant roots wrapped around the chicken’s neck like a pet leash, leading the way in front.

Yi Chen also noticed that the direction the chicken was leading them in was completely opposite to the direction from which the sensing had come earlier, indicating that someone else might have been observing the fight.

The deeper they went towards ‘Grandmother’s’ residence, the more chickens began to appear amongst the trees around them; some could even fly short distances, fluttering their wings to perch on very hidden branches.

Yi Chen considered these chickens to be ‘Grandmother’s’ eyes and ears,

If what the black chicken said is true, it’s possible that the grandmother has a bias towards “Patient Zero” not being controlled and occupies an area in the forest all by herself.

She lives separated from the villagers, silently observing the changes in the forest and the village… Of course, one cannot completely rule out a relationship with the Church.

The specific situation can only be determined after meeting her.

Soon,

the black chicken led them to what was called ‘Grandmother’s dwelling’

A giant tree, enormously fat, its surface covered in boils oozing pus, at least three times larger than a normal tree.

“Grandmother lives down here, follow me,” said the black chicken.

With a flurry of wing flaps, the black chicken leapt towards a crack about half a meter long in the trunk, squirming as if it were trying to suck in any external objects.

Yi Chen didn’t hesitate, stepping forward and placing his palm on the trunk to widen the gap slightly.

Under the cover of his coat, he squeezed through the sticky tree sap and into the slit.

Inside the trunk was a ‘slide’ that felt somewhere between flesh and plant, carrying Yi Chen to a mysterious underground area.

After sliding down a spiraling path for about fifty meters, he finally landed in a pile of straw.

Around him, numerous yellow chicks quickly gathered, seemingly welcoming Yi Chen as an outside guest.

Taking advantage of Vision’s perspective, he swiftly scanned the surrounding environment,

It was a rather large underground space, hemispherical with walls lined with chicken feathers of various colors, presumably providing some shielding from the outside world.

Overall, the area could be roughly divided into three zones:

[Incubation Area]

Different colored metal chicken coops stacked on top of each other, arranged along the walls, with many eggs incubating within. The chicks surrounding Yi Chen had come from here.

[Nutrition Zone]

Living root tendrils extending from the giant tree, each one embedded in the body of a large broiler chicken, extracting their nutrients. Once depleted, the next chicken in line would quickly take its place.

Through this act of self-sacrifice, the giant tree is nourished, supporting this underground space and ensuring the safety of the chicken community.

At the same time, the essence seeping from the giant tree was collected in the nutrition troughs, and the chicks hatched from the eggs grew rapidly by eating such juice, maturing quickly.

If they grew into chickens that could talk, move as fast as the wind, and had sharp vision, they would gain [Freedom] to run errands for Grandmother outside.

If they turned out to be ordinary chickens with no particular use, they would be labeled ‘broiler’ and join the queuing ranks.

[Home Area]

Located on the other side of the underground region.

Stove, dining table, fireplace, bed, and other basic household items were all present.

A slightly plump old woman, dressed in a colorful cover-up, her short wavy hair interspersed with streaks of gray, was sitting on a wooden chair.

Her feet on the ground were bare… or rather, could not wear shoes,

Her foot structure was still relatively normal, but her toes had mutated, elongating and covered with dark wrinkled folds, also growing sharp and curved talons.

In her arms, she cradled a chicken with golden outer feathers, somewhat spherical in Body Shape, gently stroking it.

With her back turned, her face was not visible, which inevitably reminded Yi Chen of his previous encounter in the attic,

Just as Yi Chen was about to greet her,

‘Grandmother’ turned around, with dangling red flesh under her chin, her facial features similar to those of humans, and a kind, warm smile on her face.

“Welcome to my chicken coop, just call me ‘Grandma Chicken’.

You really are different from the others, being able to catch [Little Pei], the fastest chicken I have,” she said.

Yi Chen heard this and immediately released the vines’ binding, allowing the trembling black chicken, Little Pei, to return to Grandma Chicken’s side.