The Gentleman at the End
Chapter 397 - Chapter 397 Chapter 396 Parasite

Chapter 397: Chapter 396 Parasite Chapter 397: Chapter 396 Parasite “The passage has become pathological to this degree?”

“If it were not for the bonfire that Mr. Orman lit at the entrance, those things resembling tentacles would have probably swarmed out and launched an invasion against the entire Holy Grail Mountain and even the nearby Gentlemen’s Transfer Station.”

“That Mr. Orman was able to keep watch alone for an entire year under such pressure, just to give the younger members of the organization more opportunities to travel to the Old World and retrieve relics.”

While Yi Chen felt a sense of awe, he also remained cautious of the completely decayed passageway in front of him, which now bore these strange tentacles,

These tentacles looked more like fleshy lines, primarily black with occasional grey,

They grew from between the decaying walls of the passageway, swaying in the air,

Even if severed, other linear tentacles would quickly grow back, some with a clear tendency to burrow into Yi Chen’s body.

Of course,

Yi Chen’s gentleman’s clothes could completely block these thread-like tentacles from outside.

As for Jin, it was even simpler,

The tentacles seemed to have the ability to recognize flesh, as they could clearly feel Jin, a terrifying human body integrated with cancer cells, and dared not approach, let alone harbor any parasitic desires.

Jin stepped onto the malignant passage,

Swinging his Blood Baby Longsword in hand, he easily cut off a black tentacle, then combined it with the cancer cells in his palm for devouring and analyzing, his face under the mask displaying a curious expression:

“Parasite? It can fully parasitize even the passageway connecting worlds, and even use the ‘membrane’ between two worlds as food–”

“Although this food is harder for them to digest, they rely on rapid reproduction and suicidal consumption to constantly erode the ‘membrane,’ widening the passageway, accelerating the rate of assimilation between both worlds.”

“I can’t yet determine the specific type of this parasite… After reaching the Cancer Palace, I could ask teacher.”

“Parasite–wait, let me ask Little Grape to see if it knows.”

Yi Chen was just pretending to ask Little Grape; in reality, he was asking Yellow Skin,

As far as seniority in the Old World goes, Yellow Skin, an independent entity that had made a big impact in the Skin Factory, must know more.

Soon, yellow linear text appeared on the retina:

?I spent most of my time in the Skin Factory and did not act in other regions of the Old World. After being completely weakened in a sovereignty dispute at the Skin Factory, I escaped the Old World entirely, and I am not particularly familiar with these diverse species of the Old World.?

After Yellow Skin provided an unclear answer, Little Grape immediately jumped out.

“Tch, don’t you also not know?

Let me remind you, although I have no direct connection with the Old World, my ancient memories contain quite a few images about ‘passages.’

I have never seen this kind of parasite capable of changing the size of the passage and using it as their nesting place. Perhaps it’s a troublesome unknown disease source from the temporal regions of the Old World.”

“I suggest you prepare for battle; perhaps the moment you step out of the passage, you will face a large number of parasites and attacks from their hosts, and even more unexpected situations.”

“Hmm.”

Arms activated,

Yi Chen’s entire left arm was quickly covered in metal, gripping the gun tightly, and the backbone in the suitcase was also drawn by the Death Aura.

Click~

The suitcase opened, and ‘Dead Spine Lake’ connected directly to Yi Chen’s tailbone, perfectly interfacing the nerves, hanging behind like a bony tail.

It not only emitted an aura of death from Yi Chen’s body but was also ready to be used at a moment’s notice to deal with potential dangers.

Seeing the posture Yi Chen had adopted, Jin immediately inquired, “William, are you preparing to start a battle as soon as you go over?”

“I’m just showing some ‘fierce appearance’ to avoid some troubles.

We should avoid trouble if we can; after all, those people from the Monastery are still watching me… Let’s first see which forces correspond to these parasites.”

“Okay, then I shall also display a bit of ‘fierce appearance.'”

Jin activated a skill learned from the ‘Swelling Record,’

His back center bulged rapidly, gathering a large mass of cancer cells,

Six fully saturated, smooth, and extremely dangerous flesh-colored tentacles unfolded instantly, swaying eerily behind Jin.

Each tentacle was part of Jin’s own body, no different from his limbs in terms of control, with Red Lotus Roots also growing throughout the tentacles,

Greatly enhancing Jin’s ‘coordination,’ as well as assisting in joint attacks.

Any whipping or piercing from the tentacles could implant cancerous cells into the opponent’s body, thereby inducing explosive cancerous transformations.

Since the passageway had been stretched wide enough by the parasites, the two opted to walk side by side for the last stretch of the journey.

They soon arrived at the other end of the corridor,

where the exit was sealed off by thick, hardened, and entirely black tentacles, resembling some kind of circular mouth.

The tooth-like parasites apparently showed no intention of opening up on their own,

Given their aura, these teeth were of extremely high purity, not at the same level as the tentacles that grew at random in the corridor; some special techniques were needed to force them open.

Just as Yi Chen was about to use his tailbone to slash through these hardened tentacles,

Jin had already stepped forward,

Snap! Six tentacles wound around the exit’s ‘teeth’, prying them open with brute force.

Crack crack crack~

As Jin continued to feed tumor cells to them, the strength of the tentacles grew exponentially, eventually prying the exit open forcibly.

The two also heightened their alertness, preparing for an imminent attack.

However, unexpectedly,

when the exit was pried open, instead of attacks, a noisy clamor poured into their ears,

There were no attacks as anticipated, nor were there any heavy guards outside; rather, what corresponded outside the tunnel was an inn with a partial Chinese-style flair.

Stone tables and benches,

Counters and beverages,

Customers and staff,

Nearly every table was occupied, with all sorts of peculiar dishes continually being served from behind the curtained kitchen, while the patrons ate heartily and drank merrily, seemingly in anticipation of something.

Even stranger,

All the creatures crammed in the inn, whether patrons, innkeeper or wait staff, were all in human form, without any apparent external signs of illness,

This scene and the characters didn’t match the theme of the Old World at all, and for a moment, Yi Chen even thought he might have accidentally transcended to ancient times.

But the vision provided by Vision immediately revealed the abnormalities of these ‘humans’,

Inside their bodies roamed nematode parasites, mainly in the back, lower abdomen, and right shoulder areas.

Perhaps sensing Yi Chen’s scrutiny, the parasites immediately underwent self-dissociation, completely merging with their host’s physical body, vanishing without a trace.

Yi Chen watched silently, then stepped officially out of the corridor with Jin, into the inn.

Crack crack~

The tooth-like corridor closed up again behind them.

“Honored guests from afar, welcome to the Relic Inn. We offer lodging, dining, and live transportation services. Please feel free to make any requests.

Our boss has a particular fondness for guests from afar and is willing to provide you with one day of free lodging and food supply.”

Faced with such a strange and sinister area, Yi Chen should have chosen to leave.

But after some thought, Yi Chen’s eyes suddenly changed, and he wrapped his arm around Jin, “We’ve come from a far place and happen to be quite tired; please arrange a guest room for us.”

“Very well, please follow me!”

The staff led the two to the Second Floor,

A window, a bed, a table, a chair,

The only decor and room accessories were the pitch-black candles on the table.

“The accommodations are modest, but we hope you will get accustomed. As for food, you can choose to dine downstairs or have it delivered to your room.

You must be weary from your travels, so please rest as much as you need.”

“Isn’t there a key?”

“Rest assured, our guests are all very well-behaved; they certainly won’t disturb you.”

“Hmm.”