The Last Gentleman

The Old World, also known as the Focus of Infection.

Yi Chen had read about the Old World in the foundational collection area of the Great Book Library. This matter was not kept secret but was fully disclosed to the organization.

The organization, established for so many years, had sacrificed countless distinguished gentlemen, confirming this through extensive investigations.

All illnesses were not autonomously produced by the world but were directly or indirectly infected from the Old World, which was the origin of diseases, a collection point for all the root causes of illnesses.

On the title page of the book, there was a sentence left by the founder of the organization, along with an illustration.

“It is not that we contracted the disease, but the disease came to us.”

The illustration was divided into three parts:

1. Sketching a planet representing human life, with Central Domain and the Five Continents clearly marked, completely normal without any issues.

2. Beyond our planet, to the right, appeared another living planet, oozing pus, corroding, and even growing tendrils capable of floating in space, but the entire planet was pierced through by a giant sword.

This diseased planet represented the Old World, and the small holes represented the passages.

Of course,

this was just a greatly simplified illustration to help most people understand; the true situation required high-dimensional drawing to be accurately expressed.

According to the book, the Old World, as the center of diseases, was completely locked for some reason, including the continuity of time and the expansion of space, both ceased.

There was no normal air to breathe,

and even the simple exothermic chemical reaction associated with a kerosene lamp couldn’t occur,

This completely locked world was like a human nailed to a bed board, all organs removed, all blood vessels tightened, all muscles severed, even with a surgical knife pierced through the brain.

It should have died outright,

yet the Old World, like a zombie, not only did not die, but its insides still continuously bred germs, those sources of disease hidden deep within, still somehow maintained alive.

Either by the movement of its tendrils,

or by spraying large quantities of metabolites,

such a disease center of a world, even when locked down, was still able to wander between dimensions, randomly attaching itself to some normal world, drawing nutritional sustenance from it and transmitting diseases. 𝐑𝘈₦𝙤ᛒÈʂ

All of the above was the basic information Yi Chen read from the books,

but there was no mention of the structure of the Old World, the status of life within it, the distribution of powers, etc., which had to be explored on one’s own.

“Lorrian, when will you separate from inside me?”

Facing Yi Chen’s question, it took a minute before a voice responded:

“How disappointing… utterly disappointing~ It’s unbelievable that the origin of the illness could be a dying place, with not a glimmer of hope in sight.

That unknown giant sword probably killed this world countless eons ago, no wonder it adheres to the back of the human world through a ‘passage’.

Right now, I’m in no hurry to go out and feel such a desolate place. I’ll stay inside you for a little while longer until you have a chance to separate from your teammates, or are forced to separate, then I will peel away from your body.

This is also for your sake~ after all, once I separate it means the instantaneous loss of your right half.

In such a world full of death, losing half of your body is extremely dangerous. As a small token of my appreciation for bringing me here, I’ll offer a small surgery when we separate.”

“Fine.”

Outside the Temple lay an endless gray desert, belonging to the surface of the Old World.

Many newcomers who arrived at the Old World for the first time were completely like headless flies, afraid of losing the location of the ‘passage’, and left without much exploration due to time constraints.

According to statistics within Zion, only 8.1% of the newcomers who arrived at the Old World for the first time to explore relics managed to bring something back.

And it’s not to say that some were just ordinary relics, nowhere comparable to the Black Umbilical Cord in Yi Chen’s hands,

some still involved a bit of luck, such as wandering in the desert for a while and then kicking a hard object, only to pick it up and find it to be a fairly intact relic.

That is, without a clear exploration goal, the day would soon pass, with individual consciousness hesitating, or even subjectively getting lost, which could accelerate the flow of time, making it feel like hours had passed in the blink of an eye.@@novelbin@@

As Yi Chen was briefly communicating with Lorrian within him,

“Over here!”

“There’s a sensing here~”

“This way…giggle!”

Three voices rang out within the team simultaneously,

One voice came from Reagan, who was trying to release electrical energy by touching the sand grains with his hands. Instead of dispersing chaotically, the electricity surprisingly spread in a particular direction.

Another voice came from Jin,

who began digging through the sand right away, extending her arm as deep as possible into the sandy depths, reaching out further with Red Lotus roots.

As a “Pathological Trait,” the Red Lotus indeed sensed something and sprouted a red lotus on the sandy surface not far away, serving as a special marker for progress.

The third voice came from the small Pei on Jin’s body, an animal patient who had jumped onto the ground the moment they arrived in the Old World and took on a posture of laying eggs.

Who knew that small Pei would actually hatch an egg, but it was a gray egg.

Since everything in the Old World was sealed, including ‘fertility,’ this newly hatched egg was confirmed to be dead.

Hard, gray, just like a round stone.

This Dead Egg didn’t sink into the sand upon landing but rolled between the undulating dunes towards a specific direction.

Even if the Dead Egg was picked up and put down again, it continued rolling in the fixed direction.

However,

the direction of the electrical flow, the position of the Red Lotus growth, and the path of the Dead Egg’s roll were entirely different, presenting a multiple-choice question.

Time was limited, a decision had to be made immediately.

As Yi Chen quickly thought, Reagan pinched the flesh on his face with two fingers, offering his thought:

“William, the fact that you alone can overcome the risks of Gathering Eye Disease is enough to show that you’re capable of conducting a Relic exploration by yourself.

Moreover, as the Watcher said, this time we’re dealing with a completely new, surface-level, least dangerous passageway.

In my opinion, we all have the level to search for relics alone.

Since we’ve found three meaningful paths right at the start, why not split up and go separately?

I’ll take the path of electrical sensing; you and Miss Jin each choose one path… Time it right, and let’s meet at the Temple after a day.

Let’s try to find the relics that belong to us and match us in one go.”

Jin immediately raised her right hand in agreement, “That’s the plan~ Since it’s the least difficult exploration of the Old World, we should take full advantage.”

Yi Chen cast his gaze at his two teammates, confirming the proposal.

“See you at the Temple after a day! Remember, keep an eye on the time…”

As Yi Chen cautioned this, he immediately moved close to Jin, embraced her, and whispered in her ear:

“Jin, remember, one day!”

Jin gently lifted a corner of her mask, revealing her tender, thin lips, and turned her head to press it against Yi Chen’s earlobe.

“I’ve told you, in such a completely unknown area full of hidden risks, I will be more reserved, and I’ll also try my best to survive, it wouldn’t be fun if I died… It’s you, William, who shouldn’t get too carried away and forget the time.”

During the conversation,

Jin quickly reached into Yi Chen’s shirt, pressing against his right chest.

“I’ve felt it from the start… the rhythm of your right side of the body is different than usual. Even though I don’t know why you would hide it from us, I still trust you.

Don’t mess around, remember to meet on time after a day.”