The Last Gentleman

Chapter 21

A few kilometers away, atop a hill.

The gentlemen watched as the small town fell into total chaos. The 'clothes' they wore seemed to sense the blood in the air wafting from the town, becoming restless.

With his round belly, Mr. Sman squeezed his facial features together,

“If such widespread forced infections erupt tonight, hardly anyone will survive until tomorrow afternoon... I suggest ending the examination by dawn.”

This proposal gained the approval of many of the gentlemen.

Even the usually strict Professor Chamberlain, with his white hair, consented.

As most of the gentlemen’s attention focused on the town center and the surrounding area of fierce combat,

Hoot.

The owl on Chamberlain’s shoulder hooted, drawing his gaze towards the edge of the town—towards the Green Shade Inn.

Two conscious “afflicted” individuals didn’t participate in the town’s chaos; instead, they quietly slipped out the back door.

Together, they pushed a cart stacked with six “corpses,” their bodies wrapped in a “fish-egg membrane” filled with thick mucus.

At the bottom of the stack was the corpse of a young man, whom Chamberlain had noticed earlier, piquing his interest.

Chamberlain simply watched in silence, making no comment as the cart was pushed to the lake’s edge.

They tilted the cart forward,

Splash! The six bodies tumbled into the water.

The brother and sister who had transported them also jumped into the lake,

sticking close to the bodies, guiding them towards the lake’s deepest depths.

“This is...”

Chamberlain’s pupils shifted, for the first time activating his abilities during this exam.

The whites of his eyes turned blood-red, his pupils completely black, sharpening his vision and allowing him to see clearly through the green lake, zeroing in on Yi Chen, pretending to be unconscious in his membrane.

“This guy actually pulled this off…”

Chamberlain pointed forward,

the owl on his shoulder immediately taking flight, a white shadow cutting across the night sky as it headed toward the green lake.

...

[Beneath the Lake]

The bodies carried by the brother and sister were not corpses.

They were perfectly cultivated, 'fish-transformation hosts', intended as distractions to hide the true “sixth person,” Yi Chen.

The fish-egg membranes covering their bodies

effectively isolated them from the lake water,

preserving enough air to support them to the lake’s depths.

Additionally,

Yi Chen had taken extra precautions,

such as the “internal filter” built into his mask.

Fibrous “internal nets” in his throat, nasal cavity, and ear canals would prevent lake water from entering his body, filtering out any pathogens effectively.

With eyes tightly shut,

feigning unconsciousness,

a mouth hidden on the back of his head opened slightly, containing an eye that quietly observed the underwater situation.

His observation revealed:

[Upper Lake Region]: Teeming with dense clusters of glowing green parasite eggs and fish eggs,

[Lower Lake Region]: The smaller eggs were absent, replaced by a disturbing form of 'human-egg'.

Those who had reached the first stage of fish-scale infection curled up inside the eggs,

a thick, umbilical cord-like structure connecting from their navel to the lakebed,

beginning their "fish transformation" this way.

Once enough scales covered their bodies and their organs developed into fully functional gills, they would break free, transformed into merfolk.

Some fully developed merfolk also swam about here, checking on the human eggs and guarding against intruders.

Gradually, under the guidance of the siblings, Yi Chen drew closer to the lake’s depths.

A chilling sense of being watched crept over him—something was clearly observing them from below.

‘That’s it!’

After weaving past human eggs and patrolling merfolk, they spotted an enormous "giant eye", embedded deep within the lakebed... a gigantic green eye, constantly shifting, monitoring everything in the lake and Green Lake Town.

‘A giant green grape!’

The little grape inside Yi Chen grew unusually excited at this sight.

At this moment, Yi Chen realized why the little grape was so eager—it had probably known all along.

But there was still something he couldn’t understand.

‘Why is the source a giant eye and not a parent host?’

In his mind, the cause of the fish-scale disease transforming the town into merfolk should have been a massive, egg-laying insectoid monster.

Yet the giant eye before him seemed entirely unrelated to “egg-laying” or “parasites.”

Just as Yi Chen felt puzzled, the little grape’s voice spoke:

‘What is disease? Where does infection come from? These are questions no one has fully understood, marked by diversity and changeability, which are barely known.

Perhaps there is no parasite host,

this giant eye may just be an observer.

It might have been sent here, carrying the “parasite swarm” to monitor and witness the town’s transformation… and later might even take some high-quality infected individuals with it.

It can control the parasites through its gaze alone.

Either way,

this super grape is the source… and our target is it.

Soon, William, you’ll need to do just one thing—make physical contact with this eye.

Once you touch its surface, I can enter it directly and drink its essence.’

Listening to the little grape’s plan, Yi Chen replied:

‘You knew about the giant eye hidden beneath the lake from the start, didn’t you, little grape?’

‘Not from the start; only while drifting in the lake, feeling a connection to something of the same type… there’s always a subtle sense of that.’

Yi Chen didn’t respond further, focusing on what lay ahead.

After delivering the “cargo,” the innkeeper communicated with the giant lake eye, passing on information about the load.

When finished, they ascended immediately.

Any extra actions might raise suspicion.

Suspended four meters above the giant eye, Yi Chen and the other “cargo” floated in the deep water, close yet not close enough, needing the right moment.

Then, a strange sight appeared before him.

The pupil of the giant eye dilated, forming a small circular opening,

through which a fleshy, eel-like creature slithered out, a flesh eel, as he called it.

Its circular mouth was filled with rows of sharp teeth, trailing red threads of saliva through the water.

‘That’s... the navel-connection, like an umbilical cord!’

In the next second,

the flesh eel attached itself to a nearby “cargo,”

its mouth latching onto the navel,

dragging the cargo towards an empty spot on the lakebed.

Roots,

Nurturing,

Conversion,

Orderly and structured.

Another fleshy eel was born, linking to the new “cargo” in front of Yi Chen.

Watching the "bodies" around him being dragged away and packed one by one, an overwhelming sense of suffocation took hold, as if a hand was squeezing his heart, forcing his heartbeat to race.

"Hold on!"

Yi Chen suppressed his nervousness with all his might, waiting for the perfect moment.

Perhaps due to luck, perhaps the massive eye sensed something special about him, or maybe the innkeeper had said something to the eye—Yi Chen was the last one left. Now, in the depths of the lake, it was just him and the giant eye.

Creak, creak~

Through the small openings of the eye, the final fleshy eel slithered out, meant for Yi Chen.

It squirmed,

Floated upward,

Penetrated the membrane,

Hoo… Yi Chen took a deep breath, still not making a move, waiting for the right moment.

The eel slid across his waist, squirming towards his navel. A set of neural filaments grazed Yi Chen’s skin, causing an unbearable itch.

Circling around to the front,

The eel’s mouth opened like flower petals, revealing an inner wall full of sharp teeth, lunging at his navel.

At the instant the mouth touched his navel,

Yi Chen's eyes snapped open.

A silver axe, long prepared, whipped out from his clothes… swish!

Both the eel’s body and the white membrane around Yi Chen were cut in one stroke.

With his other hand, he grabbed the upper half of the eel remaining on his abdomen and crushed it with a powerful squeeze.

In the next moment, Yi Chen raised his free arm,

Grasped his face with five fingers.

Creak, creak~

Fresh plant roots quickly wove together, perhaps spurred on by the danger. The weaving was faster than before, and even a bark-like texture appeared on the surface.

In the blink of an eye, a filter-like mask had formed over his face, further isolating him from the lake water.

All this happened almost instantly.

While the giant eye hadn’t fully reacted, Yi Chen swam at full speed toward the deepest part…

Four meters,

Three meters,

Two meters,

With just over one meter remaining, a mutation occurred!

The giant eye, which had previously expanded its pupil, abruptly shrank and focused, transforming into a point the size of a ping-pong ball.

"Damn!"

Even though Yi Chen shut his eyes immediately,

An invisible mental wave pierced through.

It seeped through the mask and eyelids,

Through his pupils,

Traveling directly along his optic nerves to his brain,

Buzz!

An intense ringing echoed in his ears, like a mischievous child had stuffed a box of firecrackers in his head and set them all off at once.

"William! Hang on!

I can’t be exposed before reaching the Big Grape!"

At that moment,

The voice of "Little Grape" echoed in his mind, giving him motivation and mental support.

Under the infiltration of this mental force,

Yi Chen felt tiny eyes sprouting on the surface of his brain.

Any slight lapse in awareness would lead to these eyes taking over.

"Hang in there! This is a hard-earned chance at rebirth..."

[Willpower]

A mental construct forged through “life experiences” as a hammer.

Although Yi Chen was only in his twenties, the early part of his “life experiences” was like a spiked sledgehammer, constantly pounding him.

Having barely escaped,

He finally gained the opportunity to cross into this fascinating world,

And he wanted to live... really live this time.

At this moment!

Blood seeped from his eyes, dyeing the plant mask red.

His desperate shout transformed into a cascade of bubbles in the water.

With sheer determination, he breached the last meter,

Turned his body,

Extended his arm,

And touched.

His palm pressed firmly against the moist, smooth surface of the eyeball... directly at the opening where the eel emerged.

At the moment of contact,

A black fleshy sphere detached from his palm,

And wriggled into the giant eye through the opening.

The instant he succeeded,

Yi Chen could no longer hold on, his weakened consciousness was instantly overtaken!

However,

The mental invasion from the giant eye didn’t destroy his mind.

Instead, it processed Yi Chen’s consciousness, transporting it to an entirely unknown realm.

Buzz!

His consciousness trembled.

Yi Chen’s awareness seemed to arrive in a deep, abyssal cavern.

Hexagonal black fish scales covered the cavern walls like bricks,

The ground was submerged in water that reached an average person’s knees,

Flesh-colored tubes connected various experimental tanks,

Suspended from the walls were life incubation chambers of all sizes,

It resembled an *Abyssal Laboratory*.

At the center of the lab,

A figure of incomprehensible form was recording data,

Its back was turned to Yi Chen’s consciousness.

Dressed in a near-perfect, dark-gold cylindrical robe radiating a force field, a tail covered in black scales extended from it.

Not quite a fish tail—more like a dragon’s.

For some reason,

As Yi Chen gazed at this figure’s back,

Thump, thump, thump.

Epic, layered music suddenly resonated in his mind,

Cello sounds drifting farther away, merging with the lapping of sea waves,

As if to signal that this music originated from the depths of the ocean, heralding the arrival of a terrifying entity.

Along with the music,

A golden-framed health bar appeared above the figure’s head, adorned with a fish-head relief, resembling a health gauge in a game.

It was filled with a dark fish oil, or rather, an ancient ichthyoid essence,

Flowing,

Rolling,

Roaring.

A title and name were displayed atop the frame:

*§ Origin of Fish – Nazjatar (The Primitive Arowana) §*