The Gentleman at the End
Chapter 533 - 531 Plague Bed

Chapter 533: Chapter 531 Plague Bed

William gazed at the Tower that only revealed itself amidst darkness, his mind already pondering some matters.

One thing he could be certain of was that if the City Lord was still alive, his strength must be terrifyingly great, possibly even reaching the standard baseline of a Circus Chief.

After all, the other party was a figure from the Ancient Times, who had earned personal recognition from the Lord of the Cancer Palace by slaying Honored Tumor Knights, not to mention the profound association with the moon.

Even if he had been decadent for many years, he wouldn’t have weakened much.

In William’s view, the Tower was currently untouchable, otherwise, one might lose their life before ever reaching the Abyss.

"Keith, has the City Lord never left the Tower since the moon shattered?"

"Ever since I was born, I’ve never seen the City Lord. The rumors say the same... The shattering of the moon completely extinguished the fire in the City Lord’s heart, and he has forever sealed himself in the Dark Moon Tower.

Another rumor says that the City Lord had participated in that war, killing many invaders, and due to severe injuries, he has been resting in the Tower for years.

With the moon’s fall, the City Lord wanted to create a New Moon with his own power, but so far, he hasn’t been able to do so because the rules of the Old World have been sealed, making it impossible to bring forth new things.

That’s why the City Lord has become increasingly despondent, ignoring worldly affairs."

"Hmm."

William then reached out to the creature hiding within him, which had dared not speak since entering the city.

"Little Grape, do you sense plague in this Tower?"

"No... Not in this Tower, it’s to the left.

It should be a rather conspicuous place, considering I am completely concealed right now and can still feel a strong sensation."

Relieved by Little Grape’s response, William took a sigh of relief; anything was manageable as long as it wasn’t this Tower.

"Keith, I think I smell a strong aura of plague, seemingly coming from the left."

"Ah! You can even smell that? As expected of the Boss, the stonework used in the Plague Bed is second only to the Tower, basically fully enclosed; logically, you should not be able to smell anything."

"Plague Bed?"

"Yes... Since the City Lord has secluded himself in the Tower, ignoring worldly affairs,

Rat City slowly became chaotic. In the absence of management, the original deputy officer stepped forward.

He believed that after the war, the Old World was about to undergo transformation, resources would become increasingly scarce, and the Cancer Palace itself was also severely damaged, unable to care for this remote Rat City.

To survive in the post-war world, transformation was necessary, thus he enacted the ’Multiplication and Plague Code’, attempting to build a self-sufficient Plague City with a certain foundation of strength.

The Plague Bed is the central structure in this transformation, built personally by this Deputy Officer, and also his fortress.

It is specifically used for the research and development of plagues, and any rat in Rat City showing potential in ’infectious diseases’ is brought there.

’Potential’ is not merely about having a talent for infectious diseases,

Every month, the ’Quarantine Officer’ of the Plague Bed collects blood samples from each household, and anyone found with a new type of infectious disease in their blood is directly taken to the Plague Bed.

There’s a very small chance that such a rat becomes a Quarantine Officer.

In most cases, however, the selected ones are never seen again.

It is also because of the Plague Bed that Plague Rain falls daily in Rat City, building high walls made of corpses. Even if someone comes to Rat City with the idea of hitting the mines, they ultimately leave unable to bear the plague."

William asked with some confusion:

"Even if the entire city undergoes changes in ecology, governance, and other factors... does the City Lord of the Dark Moon Tower still show no movements? Not even a single verbal directive?"

"No."

"Alright, then. Speaking of which, can we visit this so-called ’Plague Bed’?"

"This... That might not be a good idea. As I mentioned earlier, rats selected by the Plague Bed almost always have no return, and it’s an area second in importance only to the Dark Moon Tower.

I currently don’t have the connections to..."

Seeing Keith’s distressed expression, William did not press further and gently patted his shoulder, "Alright, we won’t go then! Let’s end today’s tour here and head back. I’ll stay at your place tonight."

"No problem, but my home’s conditions are quite poor, and someone like you, a bigshot, might not be used to it."

"It’s okay. When I was young, I had no one to trust, and it was those rats from the dark corners that became my friends. Sometimes, I’d even sleep alongside them."

"Residential Area"

Every ten meters or so along the road near the city wall, there was a hole covered with wooden planks,

Opening one of these planks and following the damp, dark passage downwards led to the home of White Rat Keith, or perhaps it was more appropriate to call it the Rat Nest.

The space was oval-shaped with a height of no more than 2 meters, and the area was around thirty square meters.

What William hadn’t expected was that another white rat was living below, wearing a relatively clean white dress with embroidered patches, cleaner than most of the civilians William had seen along the way.

"Husband, could this be the ’Big Boss’ you spoke of? Teresa has seen the lord."

The middle-aged female rat actually lifted the hem of her skirt with both hands, giving William a curtsy. He instinctively removed his hood and placed his right hand on his chest in return.

"Teresa, hurry and clear out our room. Go buy some fabric to make a bed. The boss will be staying with us tonight."

"Yes!"

Seeing this, William quickly raised his hand to stop them:

"There’s no need to go to such trouble. I don’t want my arrival to disrupt your lives... By the way, is there only your two rooms and the living room here?"

"There’s also a smaller basement, we store some old things down there."

"The basement sounds fine, I’ll stay down there."

"This... It’s been a long time since it was cleaned, and the space is very small. How about you wait, and I’ll go down with Teresa to tidy it up first."

"It doesn’t matter, I can adapt to any place, I could even sleep standing up.

Just don’t disturb me while I’m down there, if there’s anything, I’ll come find you."

"Okay... okay, as long as you can adapt, boss."

At that moment, the female rat Teresa brought over a glass of homemade ’Rat-tail Cocktail,’ which William observed the clear, slightly red color of and politely accepted.

Opening the wooden plank in the corner, without any steps, William leapt down into it.

The basement was indeed pitifully small, but it was well-sealed, perfect for William’s personal needs.

"A nice place!"

With a flick of his finger, William sent ten coins flying upwards as the fee for his stay that night, and the Keith couple asked no further, intentionally placing a red carpet over the entrance to the basement.

What William had to do next wasn’t to rest, but to absorb Apostle Skin and repair his attire.

The memories from last night were still fresh, and moreover, this was his first cooperation with Yellow Skin since the latter had suffered quite severe injuries.

Before William could inquire about Yellow Skin’s condition, yellow text had already appeared on his retina.

≮Quickly absorb the ’Apostle Skin,’ my condition is not good...≯

William first placed his palm against the basement wall, allowing iron chains to spread out, blocking each corner of the room and forming a Sealing structure used by monasteries to guard prisoners.

To ensure the Aura of the Apostle Skin would not leak out.

While taking out the skin,

William also brought out the ’Skin Sack Bible’ he had dyed black,

With the appearance of the Bible, the basement was once again covered with a special skin, further sealing the underground space.

"Yellow Skin, you need to hold on a little longer... Before absorption, I still need to perform a skin transformation, turning it into the ’Black Death Skin’ suitable for me."

≮There’s no bathtub here to soak the skin. If your ’Death Liquid’ seeps out, it will surely attract the attention of the rats, especially after what happened last night.≯

"Don’t worry, I have made preparations."

William took a compressed, folding black box out from deep in his suitcase, which automatically unfolded with a light touch to form a large, black drawer.

This was the magic box William used during his performances in the circus.

The inner wall of this tool from Jian himself was endowed with Abyss Attributes, adequate to serve as a ’Reaction Container.’

William cut open his own head and poured the black liquid into it. After waiting for a while, the magic box made of special material indeed remained intact.

He then carefully stuffed the Apostle Skin inside, gently stirring it with his arm... As the black liquid mixed with the skin, a type of reaction began.

At the distant entrance to the Skin Factory, Gatekeeper Pim, crouched beneath the Blood River, also felt a sharp pain in his body.