The Last Gentleman
Chapter 512: Opening Ceremony

Timi, as the only chef in charge, was responsible for the kitchen and the boss’s health issues. The circus performances had nothing to do with him directly,

but as a member of the circus, he was still very concerned about whether the performances could proceed smoothly. Only by continuously collecting fear could the circus keep running and expanding.

Timi trusted all the main members recognized by the boss,

but found it hard to trust newcomers who were temporarily added, let alone William who, after taking on a heavy burden, actually used the mere two days available to sleep in. Not even the four chiefs would dare to do such a thing.

Timi had not slept at all, waiting until the wee hours of the morning.

[00:00]

William, who had slept on the cutting board all day, suddenly opened his eyes,

The Poker Face Team had already, four hours earlier, according to William’s request, finished all the cutting and packaging of the ingredients, and even assembled several large pots, waiting for him, the ’Chef’, to start working.

The moment William sat up, he slapped himself on the ears with both hands, snap!

The piercing pain through the eardrums made him feel much more awake, while prompting his Madness Brain to send an urging signal to the hypothalamus. After many transmissions, the signal finally reached the adrenal glands, causing the secretion of adrenaline to be several times, even more than a dozen times the normal amount.

He became exhilarated,

William picked up an iron pot and kicked open the collective resting room of the Poker Face Team with one foot.

Clang clang clang! The loud knocking woke up all the Poker Faces,

"Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you can get excited with me with the remaining time and assist me in completing the most urgent and thrilling interactive halftime performance in the history of the circus.

Given your excellent preparation work in the kitchen, this is a small token of my appreciation, everyone. Take your time! You just need to insert it into your carotid artery and inject it.

This is an essence liquid extracted from my brain marrow, which can directly dispense with your need for sleep today and cleanse your entire brain."

William displayed a plate in his other hand, filled with black, sparkling syringes,

One of the Poker Faces who greatly admired William, ’Plum Blossom Three’, was the first to step forward and inject himself, his body twitching in extreme comfort. Following that, the other Poker Faces successively did the same,

each of them rejuvenated and falling into an unprecedented state of excitement.

The stove was lit, and the whole team set to cooking.

Upon seeing this scene, Chef Timi felt somewhat reassured, but he quickly noticed the abnormality in the image,

In the surveillance footage, William seemed to have a dual identity,

At times similar to when he previously made Red Oil Dumplings, he would create fire with his palms and use the Evil Sun to heat the vessels, achieving a long-lasting warming effect.

At other times, he became unusually bizarre, even slicing off his own blood and flesh to add to the pot, the whole person even emitting a deathly and gloomy aura.

In addition, he coordinated with the little grape on his shoulder to monitor the entire situation. As soon as any black hairs appeared in the kitchen, the black axe imbued with Death Aura would chop down,

When Timi watched the dishes coming out one after another, his expression went from puzzled to shocked, then to curious,

"There’s clearly something wrong with this dish~ Ah, I see! I know what that kid William is trying to do. Although it’s a bit opportunistic, it’s indeed the best way to achieve the effect of the show given the limited time.

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. I look forward to your performance tomorrow.

I haven’t been to the scene for a long time, but tomorrow I will go and see how you, kid, will blend the dishes, your own traits, the performance, and fear together."

Watching this scene, Timi was able to go to sleep at ease.

...

The performance was scheduled to officially start at noon and last for 24 hours.

The size of the venue would be much larger than during the trial operation phase, with the Circus Tent growing to five times the size it was then and featuring eight ’Audience Entrances’, corresponding to the sequence numbers on their tickets, allowing for quick admission.

Moreover, as long as the audience completed the verification of their identity and tickets, they would receive a ’greeting gift’ from the circus, an ’Audience Card’ crafted from Old World gold.

The front was emblazoned with the circus’s new emblem—a circle made of hair, with icons corresponding to a rabbit, a hat, a balloon, and a beast’s skull at the top, bottom, left, and right respectively.

On the back, the audience’s name was embossed in the circus’s proprietary shallow relief slanted font, along with a long series of numbers at the bottom right corner representing entry gates and seat numbers.

Such an exquisite personal card held a rich collectible value; even if one were to sell it, it would fetch at least a hundred, if not thousands, of ancient coins.

This kind of welcome gift kindled even more interest among the group of selectively chosen audience members who were already here with various purposes.

The audience seating was arranged in a circular structure around the central massive stage, with a total capacity of 800 people.

Each seat had been handcrafted by the master carvers of the Poker Face Team, spacious and comfortable, providing calm and concentration, such that even if one sat all day, one would feel no fatigue.

When the audience was seated, the receptionist would begin to distribute the [Rulebook] for the circus’s performances.

This set of rules seemed much more humane during trial operation, providing more preferential treatment, and many in the audience were already eager to witness the so-called fear performances.

1. When the performance began, the minimum attention threshold for the stage was reduced to 80%. If the audience really couldn’t hold on, they could choose to close their eyes and rest,

However, during the intermission at the end of the performance, those with an attention rate of 95% or higher could enjoy supreme services, including the supply of various nutritional products, medical services, and the like.

Those with over 90% received ordinary nutrition and food supplies, while those below 90% would not receive any services.

2. For every large segment of the show that one endured, one would receive a ’Courage Gift’ carefully prepared by the circus, worth at least a thousand ancient coins.

If one could endure for a day and a night, completing the viewing of all segments while still retaining Self-awareness, one would receive the circus’s grand prize and could even get personal guidance from the boss, as well as an unimaginable amount of wealth.

One could also choose to stay and become a member of the circus.

3. During the performance period, one must strictly adhere to the rules. Any actions that might affect the performance would be met with a ’Fear Mark’.

Overall, the audience members who made it here were selected through Catherine’s nightmare realities, and they were well aware beforehand that the Fear Circus was not a charitable organization and was quite dangerous.

But many of them had been stuck in an illness phase for a long time, unable to break through, and due to the rules of the Old World, they were mostly waiting for aging and Death. Some were even oppressed in their daily lives.

The arrival of the circus added a different kind of luster to their bleak lives, and even if this luster wasn’t bright and dazzling, even if filled with darkness, they still wanted to try.

Failure would only mean welcoming their own end a bit earlier, which might even be much better than dying of old age. They could witness, before their death, what kind of performances the circus, feared by many powers of the Old World, would present.

Of course,

Some patients came with the confident Thought of conquering Fear or even challenging the circus.

It was time.

Two hosts, a man and a woman wearing the poker face masks of the Ace of Spades and the Ace of Diamonds, took to the stage.

The lights converged from all around the venue, focusing on the two hosts, while the Audience maintained a high level of etiquette, not a single person making a noise.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for spending a whole day searching for the entrance to our circus. We have duly received your sincerity.

In return, the circus will showcase performances never-seen in the history of the Old World, adding unique and intense colors to your Life and your illness journey.

The opening act of this performance is brought to you by the infamous Beast Madman, the most creative Chief Beast Tamer in the history of the circus, Zock Atkins.

"Deep in the Cave"

No sooner had the words been spoken,

The entire performance area began sprouting various formations of rocks from the walls, and stalactites even hung down from above.

Strange and raucous noises of Beasts echoed through the darkness, roaring and bellowing.

They stepped through the aisles or crawled out from beneath the seats of the audience,

And even gigantic beasts raised their feet over the heads of the crowd, with a group of skulls hanging from their underbellies, smiling and greeting the audience below.

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