The Last Gentleman

“Watchdog”

This was a term from his orphanage days that no child wanted to mention; once brought up, most people would be engulfed by fear, even an excellent student like Yi Chen would feel severe psychological discomfort.

[The Third Escape]

At only seven years old, Yi Chen, by summarizing the failures of his first two attempts and re-planning the escape route, finally settled on a third escape plan.

Just when he was about to execute the plan in the dead of night, a boy from his dormitory named Xiao Yan, who hadn’t fallen asleep, demanded to leave with Yi Chen, or else he would report him to the patrolling guards.

Even if Yi Chen gave up on escaping that night, he would have to be cautious every night thereafter.

He had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

But Yi Chen did not say that his plan was intended for one person only, and adding a companion who wasn’t familiar with the route on the fly made escape impossible… Moreover, he could tell from Xiao Yan’s eyes that the latter was merely desperate to take a risk.

At that moment, a sinister decision formed in the young Yi Chen’s mind.

Yi Chen was very aware that, with his high scores in all assessments, he would not be punished severely, at most thrown into a solitary cell.

But it was different for Xiao Yan, who was always on the verge of just scraping by.

However,

this time Yi Chen wasn’t confined to solitary, but instead strapped into a wheelchair, his eyelids forced open with metal braces, and wheeled into a basement surgery room he had never seen before.

The room was filled with a large number of pet cages, primarily containing large canines,

Xiao Yan was restrained on an operating table, surrounded by a group of doctors wearing distorted masks who had already completed basic disinfection, ready to perform the surgery.

They even kindly provided a turning dial for Xiao Yan to “choose on his own,”

As the dial spun, it finally pointed to a large shepherd in an iron cage in the corner.

Then, it was time for the surgery,

Yi Chen’s mechanically held-open eyes could not close, forced to watch the entire process of creating a “Watchdog,” and the female manager even considerately administered eye drops every minute.

After the guards threw him back into the dorm room, Yi Chen vomited in the bathroom all night, and no one in the dormitory mentioned Xiao Yan ever again.

…

Lost in these memories,

Yi Chen stood frozen next to the mailbox, unmoving, his pupils even slightly diverging.@@novelbin@@

But the “Watchdog” before him wouldn’t miss such an opportunity, the woman with an upper body connected by a spine showing a fierce appearance.

The canine body ran forward,

the woman’s mouth completely torn open, revealing chaotically growing canine fangs dripping with saliva laden with the rabies virus, locking onto the “young master’s” neck. Ꞧ𝐚𝐍𝙤𝐁Èś

Just as the jaws were about to clamp down… Buzz!

Yi Chen’s unfocused pupils instantly focused.

Not only that, but a dangerous black aura began to seep from the surface of his body… As the memories of the orphanage were invoked, a terrifying attribute spilled out from deep within his soul.

Swish! A stroke of silver moon wrapped in black fluid arced upward.

Yi Chen’s body remained motionless,

the Hand Axe held in his right arm, wrapped in black threads, completed its deadly arc.

Xue Rui’s head was severed cleanly and happened to land in a roadside trash can.

There was no possibility of regeneration,

The wound at the break was soaked with black lines similar to those on the surface of the axe blade, further corroding the physical body… In just a few minutes, it even consumed the woman’s upper body, the elongated spine, and the canine body attached behind, completely.

The head in the trash can also turned into black dust.

Witnessing this scene, children and pets in nearby buildings hurriedly moved away from the windows, seeing Yi Chen as the real monster.

…

Old World – Surface

The Duke, lying down in the ancient castle, had just extracted a honey-glazed live worm from the snack jar and wanted to stuff it into his mouth when he was shocked by the events unfolding in the gambling room.

Live worms slipped from his hands, swiftly snatched away by arms hidden in the dark corners of the castle, relishing this unexpected treat.

A significant part of the Duke’s inherent laziness dominated his nature, making it extremely difficult to inspire any movement in him… But now, multiple small hands emerged from under his armpits, changing his position from lying down to sitting upright.

Generally, he would only sit upright when the trade involved fundamental interests or significant treasures.

He muttered softly in his corpulent mouth,

“Hidden deep within his body, originating from another world, the ‘Death’ directly related to this memory can influence the operational rules of the world based purely on subjectivity, thus giving birth to individual abilities?

It seems that the appearance of the ‘Lifeless Egg’ isn’t just due to avian diseases; it’s also because of this guy following nearby.

If they really follow the rolling path of the ‘Lifeless Egg,’ they might reach the residence of the ‘First Dead Man.’ Luckily I intercepted them early, or else that guy would have stumbled upon a treasure.”

The Duke, also in a great mood, directly grabbed a large handful of live worms and scattered them below, sharing with the people sitting beneath him.

“However, such a death attribute will lower the difficulty of the gambling… Never mind! Can’t be bothered to correct it. Just consider it a charity. After all, the overall difficulty isn’t low; letting them experience the sweetness of gambling also facilitates the later ‘Deep Layer Trade.’

Perform well, and I hope the latter half can be even more exciting.”

…

[Gambling Space]

Click!

The door locked.

Yi Chen returned to the house with composure, tidied up the messy kitchen, and after getting a glass of water, returned to his room.

The blackness in his pupils had already dissipated, and the memories were locked up once again… or rather, Yi Chen was gradually learning to control such emergences of memory, but he was still far from full self-control.

Sitting at the desk,

he dumped a pile of letters he had picked up onto the tabletop,

regardless of size, the envelopes’ material, color, sealing style, and weight were all the same.

Casually opening one of them, the information inside made Yi Chen reveal a relieved smile, meaning that this adventurous trip was worthwhile.

Written on the white paper with golden liquid was a sentence:

≮Please obtain the “Orphanage Qualification” within two days, or it will be considered a gambling failure≯

“Orphanage… no wonder the Duke is so interested. So it’s because he accessed this memory?

I had revisited the old scenes in the Principal’s thought test not long ago, and now I have to undertake a deeper and more detailed exploration of memory.

But this is good~

Last time, due to the Principal’s sudden interruption, I couldn’t completely kill that woman; I must seize the opportunity this time.”

As Yi Chen muttered softly, a massive amount of death aura began to seep out again, the corners of his mouth revealing an almost twisted smile.

Although he was well aware that this was just a gamble, a scene created by the Duke based on memories, he took it more seriously than ever before, not just treating it as a simple gamble.

Time passed unknowingly,

drip, drip ~ a series of honks came from outside the window,

When Yi Chen stood up to look,

rows of colorful cars entered the street at the same pace and spacing, each stopping in front of every house. A pair of mechanically affectionate parents got out of each vehicle.

Yi Chen watched as a red Chevrolet stopped in front of his house,

his father still holding the coffee from when he left in the morning as he got out of the car, while his mother seemed to sense something wrong and quickly stepped inside, her steps wide enough to tear her wrap skirt.

Yi Chen remained expressionless,

seemingly understanding what “Orphanage Qualification” means and how to obtain such a qualification.