The Last Gentleman

Deceased Information (Registered by Sunshine General Hospital)

Name: Ingrid Morales

Gender: Female

Age: 67 years old

Residential Address and Status: 112 Ferro Street, living alone

Brief Description of Death: When discovered, the body was completely swollen and showed obvious signs of decay and putrefaction. No obvious wounds were observed upon preliminary examination, and she is suspected to have died from poisoning.

Body Preservation: Temporarily stored in morgue extension (Section 3) – locker number 19 at Sunshine General Hospital.

…

As Barry looked at the information on the body record form, beads of cold sweat spilled from his forehead.

The more Barry thought about it, the more panicked he became, and he hurriedly reached up to wipe the sweat off his forehead.

He sat down close to Yi Chen with his armored butt, and out of fear of a potential death threat, he put his steel bucket helmet back on.

But considering that he was eating at someone else’s home, wearing a helmet seemed too out of place, so he immediately took it off again.

Glancing at the kitchen to confirm that the old lady was still cooking, Barry quickly leaned over to Yi Chen’s face and whispered:

“William, if the old lady who owns this house is already dead, and her body has been sealed in the hospital, then who is the one cooking… Could it be the deceased’s sister or her younger sister, who came to live here alone after her sister’s body was moved away?”

“Do you think that’s likely? She has her own house to live in but chooses to stay in a place where someone died, especially at such a special time.”

“Not very likely… So what is this!”

“This afternoon, during our patrol, we passed by here, and I visually confirmed the basic situation of each household with my eyes. At that time, there wasn’t anyone in this house at all.

We were just about to head back to the hospital for dinner when suddenly someone appeared here. Combining that with my memory of the information about the deceased, I immediately sensed a problem, so we decided to come and check things out.

We didn’t expect to actually stumble upon something suspicious~ From the conversation we had as we entered, it’s very likely that the old lady is the deceased herself.”

“Crap! The hospital has strict supervision over the morgue, with apprentices guarding every checkpoint, and it’s impossible for a body to escape… Even if it did escape, the hospital would have a record of it, and we wouldn’t be unaware of it.”

“You’re right, the body is indeed still in the morgue.”

“So what’s the deal with this old lady? Why are we the only ones noticing this situation?”

Barry’s mind was overwhelmed, unable to comprehend the situation before him.

“Levinhome is clearly short on manpower, plus gentlemen who have not yet broken through their limits are being managed collectively. None of the gentlemen are going door-to-door for checks like us.

Barry, don’t panic.

We’ll act as if everything is normal for now, pretend we’re just here to freeload a meal, and see what the other party does. After dinner, I’ll try to tease out some information.

If there is indeed danger, you run back to the hospital and report the situation first, and I’ll hold the other party off.”

“Alright.”

Barry had never acted before; in his previous missions, all he had to do was be the meat shield, provide auras, and support his teammates in their fights.

Faced with the unknown and incomprehensible death threat before him, all he could manage was to sit upright and tense, with sweat still beading on his forehead.

Barry was full of regret now, he would rather face a real and transparent enemy in head-on combat, than deal with such a perplexing situation where a careless move could mean death.

Slap!

Yi Chen suddenly pressed down hard and smacked Barry’s shoulder with his palm.

A special inner strength penetrated the armor and went straight into his body, almost dislocating his shoulder joint due to his unpreparedness.

“Whoa! What are you doing~” Barry’s features scrunched up as he vigorously rubbed his right shoulder.

Yi Chen leaned closer, his lips next to his ear, “Your body is stiffer than a corpse in the morgue, and your head is sweating as if you’ve just had a shower. Are you that afraid of letting people know what you’re scared of?

Barry, think of it this way, if we really make a break-through discovery here, the organization might directly reward you with a relic that matches your contribution.

Risks and rewards coexist.”

The heavy slaps, coupled with Yi Chen’s slightly hypnotic words, completely relaxed Barry’s tense nerves.

Not much later.

The old lady brought over a fragrant plate of vegetable and meat stew, along with a thick corn soup—it actually looked quite appetizing.

But Barry didn’t dare to eat, fearful that the food might contain some sort of lethal bacterium that could send him straight to the morgue, especially since the information sheet had indicated that the old lady had died from poisoning.

However,

Yi Chen picked up the corn soup and, with gentlemanly manners, spooned it into his mouth.

Of course, Yi Chen was only appearing unconcerned on the surface; in reality, the little grape had already integrated deeply within his brain, conducting a compositional scan the moment the food was served, detecting no issues.

Seeing that Yi Chen was eating without issue, Barry also started to eat.

Out of basic gentlemanly etiquette, they remained silent throughout the meal.

The old lady didn’t show any signs of problems, and when the stew in the pot was finished, she said, “Wait a moment, I’ll go and prepare some dessert for after the meal.”

“No need to trouble yourself, my friend and I are quite full. We have our own duties to attend to, and increasing the frequency of patrols might effectively reduce the death rate among the citizens.”

Yi Chen wiped the grease from the corners of his mouth with a napkin, while Barry put his helmet back on.

Once Barry had completely stepped outside,

Yi Chen, standing at the doorway, offered a gentlemanly gesture to the old lady: “Thank you for the dinner, Ms. Ingrid Morales.”

Yi Chen, who kept his head lowered when he called out the ‘name,’ sneakily glanced at the old lady’s expression as he raised his eyes.

The old lady, however, continued to wear a benevolent smile, giving no indication that the name was wrong, nor did she offer any clarification that it wasn’t hers.

Huh… Yi Chen took a deep breath and stood up straight.

“Ingrid Morales…That’s the name I saw on the picture frame inside the house—isn’t it your name?

Suddenly, I remember something, though I might be mistaken. Although I was just assigned here for patrol, I had a chance to look over the information on recent deaths.

The name Ingrid Morales seems familiar, as though there was a deceased who also had this name.”

As Yi Chen spoke with a puzzled expression, the old lady smiled and offered an explanation: “You might have remembered it wrong?”

“Oh… Then why does the house number also seem to match?”

As Yi Chen asked this question, Barry, who was standing behind him, was sweating profusely, setting up his heavy hammer and shield and releasing an aura from the soles of his feet.

Ha ha ha~ha ha~

The old lady standing at the entrance suddenly burst into loud laughter, even choking up some black liquid, unintentionally staining the area around her mouth black,

Barry, shocked by this sudden change, stumbled back three steps,

Yi Chen, however, remained expressionless, staring intently at her.

“Have you laughed enough?”

As Yi Chen spoke, the old lady slowly ceased her frantic laughter, lifting her right arm to point at the two of them.

“Including you, all people will die.

You will become a part of death, continuing to spread this gift, reaching more places where living beings dwell, and your friends and relatives will, one by one, be tainted…”

Smack!

Yi Chen took a quick step forward, instantly appearing in front of the old lady, whispering in her ear:

“I’m not sure if the guy behind you can hear this, so let me put it this way~ For a wimp like him who only knows how to hide and stir up trouble, don’t talk to me about death.

Such a pathetic creature who only plays tricks from the shadows is truly tedious~ If it weren’t for the organization’s orders, I wouldn’t even be here, it’s a complete waste of my time.”

After he finished speaking,

Yi Chen’s gentleman’s clothes, which had a high ‘Skin Content’ under his deliberate control, suddenly shot out a multitude of threads, instantly wrapping up the old lady, packaging her tight.

This move was learned from the Village Chief; Jin had once been bundled up like this by accident.