The Gentleman at the End-Chapter 718 - 716 - : Decision

"Complete Consciousness Projection," "Death Row Inmate."

These were two more keywords unveiling Yi Chen’s origin, but William did not rush to question the elderly man in front of him. It would be better to ask these questions later; moreover, asking now wouldn’t make much sense.

Clinging to William’s back, Yi Chen continued, "Old Bergen, make it clear, I’m not here to assist you... but to follow through with my own obsession.

I’ll execute the "Evil" of this world, then kill myself in the end, and all will be well.

Of course, I don’t mind killing a few extra "Gods" either."

The elderly man, only a pair of purple lungs and a half-dragon, half-human head remaining, was still not angry. In fact, he was happy to meet a "fellow countryman" in such a place, even if this countryman was a uniquely positioned death row inmate.

"No problem, as long as you can kill the thing under the river, I don’t mind offering my incarnation for you to sharpen your blade on. You’re welcome to try killing my true form anytime.

If you are ready, please let me know, and today we will resolve this matter."

Yi Chen said no more, his second body curling back into the space between his vertebrae, beginning to condense death, an otherworldly fierce battle undoubtedly next.

Once Yi Chen had finished speaking,

William began to throw out his long-held questions in order of importance,

"Senior, before we deal with the situation at hand, I have a few questions I can’t wrap my head around. This city and the thing sealed beneath it—are they from our world?"

"No, they were relocated from the Main Material Plane.

Your world is located in the Outer Plane. It’s not even registered with us, nor does it have any concept of a god. A place like this isn’t currently accumulating "Evil," but that doesn’t mean it won’t in the future."

Hearing this, William was even more puzzled,

"Why would the ’Evil Thoughts’ generated in your Material Plane be transferred to our godforsaken edge of the world? Why would such an important incarnation of yours guard this place and even go so far as to modify pathogens to cultivate diseased humans to assist you?

Since you’ve already sealed this thing away, and you can move the entire city here,

why don’t you just move this thing directly to where your gods gather and destroy it?"

Just as William asked this question, even before the old man could answer, he figured it out instantly himself.

"Could it be..."

The elderly man nodded, "It seems you’ve figured it out on your own... Any other questions?"

"Regarding the plague, the sick focus, and the Old World, I’ll trust those to your answers after we’re done. Now, please tell me more about what exactly is sealed under the river, what is its corresponding ’story carrier’? What should we watch out for, and how do we deal with it?"

"Human Body Collector—Daria Miko.

It’s from a short story by a city writer named Seerki, published in the city journals and on local websites—an urban legend story titled ’The Human Body Collector.’

The story is simple. It tells of how in this city, when night falls, those walking in deserted alleys or riding the last bus could encounter a woman in a black coat, wearing a mask and a sun hat.

She would approach and show lone individuals, unbuttoning her coat to reveal her collection of human bodies inside, including stripped skin, organs, fingers, and more.

If a person runs away in fright, or fails to give a satisfactory comment within ten seconds, they will be marked as the next ’collection item.’

The marked individuals would soon be found to be nothing but skeletons, as their body organs would be gathered and collected."

"Is it really that simple?"

"No—it didn’t garner much attention initially.

Until a real killing maniac collector appeared locally. When the police killed the criminal, they discovered that he was actually a well-known affluent heir who had even transformed his suburban mansion into a human body exhibition hall.

With the overwhelming news coverage that followed, that very ordinary ’The Human Body Collector’ story was also dug up.

The author seized the moment to complete the story, adding a backstory named Daria Miko, fleshing out the character of the Human Body Collector, and even a B-grade horror movie director approached the author wanting to adapt it into a killer movie.

As this urban legend heated up,

the malice that had settled beneath the ground, powerful enough to affect the world’s rules, began to surface. Based on the stories told by people, written in books, and depicted in the adapted movie, an otherworldly entity, an ’Evil’ exactly like the story archetype, was born.

In the beginning,

the local police thought it was just a copycat, but as masses of humans were ’collected,’ and even detectives and some devout believers with divinity began to be collected, they truly realized the gravity of the situation."

William stroked his chin, "Is that the story, then... What should I pay attention to when dealing with her?"

"You just need to understand one thing: she is not bound by the rules and can employ surreal, non-rule-based methods.

For instance, if she wants to ’collect’ you, once certain triggering conditions are met, a part of your body will definitely be collected, and no matter what means you use, it cannot regenerate.

Just like my situation now.

I barely managed to retain my core lungs and brain; the rest has already been ’collected.’"

Upon hearing this, William frowned deeply, "What conditions must be met for collection to happen?"

"That’s something you’ll have to figure out in battle... You know why I can’t answer that, don’t you?"

William continued to inquire, "So, I need to figure out how to kill this thing on my own, right?"

"Correct, all I can do is assist you from the side with ’Qi and Sealing’. How to kill this surreal existence is something you need to figure out on your own, perhaps the death row inmate inside you knows the answer.

If you’re ready, then I’m ready to open the coffin."

"Ss~ the risk is so great."

William bit his lower lip, beginning to weigh the benefits of the situation, while also casting his thoughts far to consider his future development and the quest for knowledge of the Madness Brain.

He clearly understood what this rule-impacting ’collection’ implied, just like how Zede’s eyes were erased from the rule level; his soul structure no longer held the concept of vision, and even if he reconstructed the visual system and connected prosthetic eyes, he would not be able to see anything.

Engaging with such an individual, ’trial and error’ was inevitable.

In the end, it was possible that a part of his body would undergo permanent rule erasure that could never be restored.

Just then, the Yi Chen inside him threw a question, "William, are you afraid? Afraid of becoming blind like your teacher Zede, or afraid of ruining a beautiful future here?

This doesn’t sound like you at all, the Chief Actor of the Fear Circus?

If you’re scared just go ahead and leave, just leave me and Nash here."

"Indeed, I am a bit scared, Yi Chen... the unknown is the origin of all fears. But I didn’t say I’d leave. If what this old man says is true, then this accumulation of evil will sooner or later affect our peripheral world.

It’d be better to make contact sooner rather than later, and who knows, we might even gain some unexpected benefits and privileges.

Sigh~ Let’s do this.

Speaking of which, Yi Chen, are you going to separate early, or wait for an opportunity?"

As soon as he spoke, a sound of flesh separating came from his back, the amoeba that was originally parasitic in William’s brain quickly followed suit.

Nash, now two meters long in his adult form, wrapped around the shriveled and withered ’Second Body’.

The moment the two made contact, a strange phenomenon occurred,

Perhaps due to the blending of their killing intent, or perhaps due to the separation of life force, Nash’s translucent, moistly glossy Parasitic Software, when it came into contact with Yi Chen, became crusty and even completely adhered to Yi Chen, becoming one entity,

The shrunken body of the ’Second Body’ upon absorbing the life vitality shared by the giant parasite, immediately plumped up and became whole, even developing additional muscle tissue.

Aside from having no mouth on the face, the entire body now appeared no different from William,

In contrast to the suit worn by William, Yi Chen was wrapped by a terrifying parasite.

"Yi Chen, catch." William immediately threw the Hand Axe and firearms over,

Unexpectedly, Yi Chen sent the firearms back.

"No need for the guns... Nash has something better on him!"

As he spoke, Yi Chen’s other hand directly reached into the mouth of the parasite, pulling out the dagger embedded with hundreds of tiny skulls - ’Hundred-Headed Slayer’.

Right hand holding the axe shaped like an arm’s spine,

Left hand holding the dagger,

And the parasite’s head resting on his shoulder reflected Nash’s face, the entire being brimming with excitement, as if subdued by Yi Chen’s killing intent, viewing it as an idol.

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