The Gentleman at the End
Chapter 527 - 525: The Newcomer on the Sacred Tree

Chapter 527: Chapter 525: The Newcomer on the Sacred Tree

[Cancer Palace - Upper District]

This area is unlike other regions of the Cancer Palace with obvious hierarchical demarcations and a structure similar to human streets.

The entire Upper District is no longer bound by rigid frameworks,

the "architectural cells" here undergo more random differentiation, forming chaotic branches interwoven like nerve cells, resembling a giant blood and flesh tree with lush branches.

Accordingly, the Upper District has another name.

"Original Cancer Holy Tree."

This is the dwelling of the Honored Tumor Knights and the Nobles.

Lady Oreina, as a top-tier noble, had property here, but she didn’t like to dwell in this place and had moved away a long time ago—for a simple reason... it was too noisy.

Knights with "Feathered Wing Back Tumors" could freely move between different trunks, and due to their inherently combative traits, Honored Tumor Knights might challenge each other upon any encounter.

Even if they were severely injured during a challenge, they could quickly recover by connecting with the Holy Tree Trunk and absorbing the primary cancer within.

Furthermore, duels on the Holy Tree were counted as ’battle achievements.’

The battle-embracing Cancer Palace also had internal rankings, with knights ranked at different intervals enjoying varying treatments.

Recently, in the Holy Tree District, a rigid and even somewhat insane newcomer knight had emerged, who, regardless of his own state, appropriateness, or the strength of others, would issue challenges upon sight.

Such reckless dueling doomed the newcomer to a dismal record,

With barely 7 wins and 3 draws in nearly a hundred challenges, the rest were defeats.

The knight armor she wore was also quite special,

made with soft and fewer metal plates, making the entire armor appear delicate, soft, and hugging the body. Rather than armor, it was more akin to a battle garment.

The skirt of flesh pieces was shortened to the extreme,

and the helmet, adorned with dual wings and covering the entire face, left only breath holes at the lower jaw,

Today, as usual, without relying on wings but solely on physical leaps between Holy Tree branches, she was searching for any knight available to challenge.

Those Honored Tumor Knights strolling in the Holy Tree district would avoid her aura as if it were the plague,

for a simple reason, her rank was almost at the bottom of the Knight Order, defeating her wouldn’t bring much ranking advancement.

Moreover, the newcomer’s ability was quite troublesome, like a small indestructible pest; even if one eventually won, it would surely come at a significant cost and waste a lot of time.

Just as the newcomer had locked onto a target, attempting to chase with a large leap and issue a challenge,

Buzz! A sudden oppressive force descended, causing her to stagger and nearly fall from the branch.

A strange figure, almost without interval, directly appeared in front of her,

The newcomer was a woman not in armor, but clad in a deep red dress that flowed to the ground, her head crowned with what looked like a blooming flower, also known as the "Queen’s Messenger."

Subordinate to the highest ruler of the Cancer Palace, she was responsible for the supervision and message delivery in the Holy Tree District. Even the Honored Tumor Knights had to behave properly upon seeing her.

"Jin Almeda, there’s a matter I need to confirm with you. Do you recognize this person?"

The Messenger unfolded the long dress used for conveying commands and messages, and on the inside of the gown emerged an image of a young man with a hooded cloak and a masked face, holding an axe in one hand and a firearm in the other.

Though there had been significant changes in appearance, and the axe was a new weapon, Jin recognized him at a glance.

"William! What did he do?"

The Messenger didn’t respond to Jin’s question, only mumbled to herself: "William Behrens... The name has appeared in the Cancer Palace’s registry. He had once won a championship with you in the Underground Arena in the trading district, and then left the Cancer Palace.

"Thank you for the information,"

The messenger wrapped his cloak around him, his body sinking into the trunk like a liquid.

At this moment, Jin had completely lost the thought of finding someone else to deal with matters and left the Holy Tree District at top speed to find Lady Oreina’s mansion.

"Master!"

Jin had just called out when a cat’s paw landed on her shoulder. Before she could even ask a question, Lady Oreina spoke ahead of her:

"Something big happened yesterday. A Venerable Tumor Knight Squad that went to handle an unknown event in Water Tumor City encountered the ’Fear Circus’."

"The Circus? I know about that. I’ve dealt with a nightmare incident with Zion."

"Because they didn’t make a retreat decision in time, the leader, Mammoth Yuno, was killed, and two others escaped back to Cancer Palace.

Strangely, one of the escapees was not injured... because the Circus member she encountered was William."

"What!? William joined the Circus?"

"Didn’t a messenger look for you before? Who else could it be with so many illness traits apparent on their appearance, not to mention someone who knows both of us?"

"Is the Circus still there? I’m going to take a look!"

"They’ve long gone, otherwise the Lord would not be standing idly by... I didn’t expect William, that boy, to have gotten involved with the Circus, and to have even become one of its members, especially appearing alongside troublemakers like Art.

I hope that when we next see him, his changes are not too severe. If he is deeply influenced by Art’s evil nature, Jin, you must be prepared to sever ties with him."

"Evil nature... Heh, maybe William will be even more interesting once he’s influenced by it."

"Jin, never underestimate Art’s ’Evil nature’.

That clown is one of the best among the exiles in the historical Cancer Palace, unmatched in spreading malignancy.

All those in Cancer Palace who spoke with Art eventually developed some degree of malignant cancer transformation, with some directly becoming malignant tumor patients and being forced into exile."

"I get it, Master... Lately, it’s been a bit boring playing around in the Holy Tree, those knights, as soon as they sense my aura, they act like they’ve seen a ghost.

How about I take a long vacation for some tough experience? Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll run into William and see for myself how he’s doing."

"You are now part of the Venerable Tumor Knight Order, you don’t need to report these things to me.

Also, once you choose to join the Circus, you’ll be breaking ties with Cancer Palace and even branded a ’Betrayer Knight,’ subject to permanent hostility."

"You worry too much, Master, I’m just going out for some experience, and I wouldn’t want to leave you~"

As Jin departed, Lady Oreina leapt back to her cat nest, actually having some more details about the incident she hadn’t shared with Jin.

That was, William, appearing from the Circus, still in his Open Source prime, on an unfinished path. In such a state, he was able to duel with a Venerable Tumor Knight and fake a fall down the valley.

...

The "Black Worm Train" was temporarily parked on an open area outside the Maggot Forest.

The highest-ranking attendant on this trip was communicating with William, a special passenger,

because William’s requested destination had recently been marked by the company as a "restricted area," even forbidding approach within a hundred kilometers.

"We’re not quite clear on why the company marked the area as restricted... If you want to know more, I suggest going to the closest Neutral City to the restricted area or visiting the company’s headquarters for detailed information."

"Then take me to the Neutral City closest to the restricted area."

"Okay, we will confirm that we are heading to ’Rat City - Pestis,’ a rather small city among Neutral Cities with somewhat chaotic rules and regulations, rampant with contagious diseases and no restrictions, but with your abilities, that should not be a problem."