The Last Gentleman

On the way to the Gentleman’s Hall, the four individuals seated in the carriage remained silent.

Supervisor Edge kindly reminded them:

"Because your task completion rate is exceptionally high, and you successfully uncovered hidden information behind it, we will hold a closed-door discussion in an upper-level conference room of the Gentleman’s Hall to bring this mission to a perfect conclusion.

Don’t be nervous.

I can reveal a little bit to you... The higher-ups highly value your performance during this mission, and the final reward will far exceed expectations.

The experiences from this mission will also be heavily documented in your profiles.

So, there’s no need to act overly tense. When they ask questions, just answer honestly.

Don’t hold back—disclose all the intelligence you’ve gathered as comprehensively as possible.”

"Understood," Yi Chen nodded.

The reason he remained silent throughout the ride was that he was organizing the fragmented memories obtained a month ago from Mr. Lee’s brain via "Central Taste", combining them with his own investigation. He was preparing his speech in advance.

By now, it was mostly ready.

"Supervisor Edge, what happened to the corpse I brought back?"

The corpse Yi Chen referred to was none other than [Pathogenic Gentleman - Mr. Lee], which had been handed over to Edge for processing upon their return to the city.

"Congratulations!

Because the core of the pathogen remained mostly intact and the body was relatively well-preserved, after incineration in the furnace, Mr. Lee’s body has been refined into a high-quality 'Pathogenic Crystal', which will be included as part of your mission reward.

You can distribute it within your team afterward."

"Alright."

When the carriage arrived, the supervisor instructed everyone to wear masks to enhance concealment.

[Gentleman’s Hall - Upper Level]

This floor is typically used to host powerful gentlemen like Professor Chamberson and is equipped to handle extremely challenging exploratory missions. It is divided into six larger conference rooms.

The group was led to a special room marked with a red banner, signifying a fully enclosed meeting.

Inside the oval conference table, four individuals were already seated:

two other supervisors from the Gentleman’s Hall, Professor Chamberson, who was linked to this mission, and [The Doctor].

“This person is…”

Yi Chen immediately recognized the doctor seated in the central position. It was the very same individual he had encountered when he first arrived in Zion City—a figure he had briefly spoken with beneath the arch bridge. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The doctor wore a bird-beak mask, symbolizing old-era physicians, along with a modern medical coat emblematic of contemporary medicine.

His presence alone suppressed the atmosphere of the entire meeting room.

Yi Chen speculated that this was the “higher-up attention” mentioned by Supervisor Edge. The doctor’s status and capabilities undoubtedly surpassed those of Dr. McCoff from the Twilight Clinic.

Supervisor Edge introduced the doctor:

"This is Deputy Director 'Andre Vesalius' of the Hippocrates Grand Hospital and one of the heads of the Secret Medicine Review Department. Since the mission involves the distribution of secret medicine as a reward, personnel from the Secret Medicine Review Department needed to participate.

Upon hearing about this case, Mr. Vesalius personally decided to attend.”

From beneath the bird-beak mask came the same eerie, slightly viscous voice as before:

"I heard there were new gentlemen who, while handling the aftermath of the 'False Moon Incident', directly defeated a Pathogenic Gentleman hidden in a co-located space.

Moreover, they ensured the survival of the entire team while dealing with open-source patients. I came out of personal interest to observe.

Proceed according to the normal meeting process. If I have any comments, I’ll voice them directly."

"Understood."

As the mission issuer, coordinator, and supporter, Supervisor Edge naturally chaired the meeting.

He first distributed a document to the reviewers, detailing the personal information and evaluations of the four team members, the [Secret Medicine Recovery] mission sheet they had accepted, and the 'False Moon Incident' report they had reviewed prior to the mission.

"This is all the information they were aware of before executing the mission. The Gentleman’s Hall ensured that the intelligence provided remained at the [Surface Level]."

Dr. Vesalius nodded, satisfied with the mission’s arrangements.

"If there are no further questions, let them describe the details of the mission execution."

Supervisor Edge smoothly transitioned the meeting into its next phase. The reviewers present turned their gazes toward the four young participants.

Typically, it was the team leader’s responsibility to narrate the mission’s sequence of events.

But Edmund glanced at Yi Chen and handed all decision-making authority to him. Yi Chen nodded in acceptance, his gaze fixed straight ahead, with no hint of hesitation in his eyes.

In concise and precise language, he completed the entire explanation process within fifteen minutes, including judgments, decisions, and the basis for those decisions at every key point.

At that moment, Dr. Vesalius, behind his metallic glasses, revealed a rare look of appreciation and offered his evaluation.

"Not bad. Your handling of every detail of the task was nearly flawless.

For rookies to be able to kill a severely infected patient individual with gentlemanly characteristics demonstrates a level of skill that doesn’t require further praise from me.

However, I have a question.

After obtaining the leverage of [Moon Skin], you successfully negotiated with Mr. Lee and confirmed the antidote's effectiveness.

You also roughly inferred that Mr. Lee is cautious and timid by nature, someone who avoids trouble and intended to let you go.

So why did you choose to take the risk and engage in a life-or-death battle instead?"

Captain Edmund stepped forward to answer:

"The gentlemanly principles I learned since childhood prevent me from turning a blind eye to such a degenerate individual. If I couldn’t eliminate him and instead chose to subjectively evade the problem, I would no longer be worthy of the title of a gentleman.

Such evasion would also leave a scar on my conscience, hindering my future growth."

"Hmm..."

Dr. Vesalius nodded, but he seemed to be seeking a different kind of response.

He turned his gaze slowly to Yi Chen. "And you? As the primary communicator with the infected patient, why did you choose a life-or-death battle?"

Yi Chen responded awkwardly, "My reasoning might not be as principled as Edmund's, nor did I think as deeply."

"No matter. Just state your true thoughts."

"To be honest, I wasn’t concerned about the gentlemanly aspects.

Analyzing the situation at the time, while Mr. Lee indeed intended to let us leave, this ‘intention’ wasn’t 100% certain. The probability was about 50-60%.

There was a chance that after we left the underground ward and returned to the surface, Mr. Lee could trap us in the same spatial zone again, complete his absorption of the Moon Skin, gain even greater strength and freedom, and then kill us or turn us into his infected thralls.

As long as the probability wasn’t 100%, I couldn’t take that risk. If we had to fight Mr. Lee again after leaving his ward, it would mean certain death for us.

Additionally, I personally wanted to kill him. By defeating a strong enemy, I could refine my skills, temper my body, and enhance my thinking. If I was lucky, I might even obtain the complete corpse of a severely infected patient.

Killing Mr. Lee would also significantly increase the mission rewards. After all, I still owe Edmund quite a bit of money, and I was hoping to pay it off in one go."

Dr. Vesalius squinted slightly and gave his assessment:

"Objective analysis combined with instinctual killing, along with a certain inclination toward personal gain... I have one more question. Did you enjoy the process of pushing yourself to your limits and experiencing a battle on the brink of death?"

"Yes, I do enjoy that feeling personally."

"Excellent!"

Dr. Vesalius said no more and gestured for the meeting to proceed.

Supervisor Edge paused briefly before looking at the four team members.

"As you have experienced during the mission,

the [Secret Medicine Recovery] post-mission cleanup task was deliberately designed by the organization to further evaluate the capabilities of promising rookie gentlemen.

The surface objective of the mission was to recover the 'missing secret medicine.' Of course, the recovery team dispatched by the organization would never make such a low-level mistake, and we were aware of the secret medicine's status from the start.

The underlying objective was to guide you to the clinic, using the missing secret medicine as a lead, to uncover the truth behind the scenes.

This was to assess whether you possess the investigative skills that are crucial to a gentleman.

By evaluating the depth to which you uncovered the essence of the truth, we determined the extent of your potential and whether you are worth further cultivation by the organization.

Therefore,

we still require one piece of information to evaluate the depth of your insight into this incident.

Please provide a detailed explanation of your findings regarding the [Twilight Clinic]."

"I’ll do it."

Yi Chen had already organized the truth in his mind and added a literary touch to his account.

As his narration began,

the emblem on the back of his head began to writhe.

A truth, one dark and deeply antithetical to the gentlemanly ideals, was about to be unveiled.