The Last Gentleman
Chapter 513: First Beast

All sorts of indescribable ’beasts’ howled throughout the venue, performing various high-difficulty acts under Zock’s guidance, even selecting lucky audience members to come up on stage for a close-up experience.

It seemed spectacular,

but the actual performance effect, in the eyes of the circus members, was just so-so and even lacking. This beast taming routine was no different from the previous occasions; the only difference might have been the replacement of a couple of beasts.

[Backstage]

This was the preparation area for circus members, located right below the stage,

The clown Art’s outfit today was very strange,

wearing a full-face, even somewhat exaggerated, sunflower head cover, and his overall costume had also become more cumbersome.

Correspondingly, Catherine wore a matching moon head cover, and it was obvious that the two would perform together.

Art looked at the beasts on stage, which had been completely subjugated to standardized performances, and couldn’t help shaking his head.

"Alas, Zock has no creativity. Such quality for an opening act will certainly disappoint the audience... If he doesn’t meet the targets, it might be time to consider removing his chief title,

Although there is currently no suitable alternative beast tamer available, we can’t be lenient with such subpar performances.

You agree, don’t you, Jian?"

"Don’t be hasty in drawing conclusions before the performance is over. I’ve seen Zock’s ambition; he cherishes the circus like a big family. Ever since joining, he has devoted himself wholeheartedly to the construction of the zoo. In terms of loyalty and effort, he should surpass you, Art."

Hearing this, Art burst into laughter, feeling as if something was leaking from beneath his robe.

"Hahaha~ Effort? Loyalty? What the boss needs has never been these superficial things. You should know better than I do what the essence of the circus is, Jian.

Only those who can bring forth fear are qualified to stay here; the useless have no right to any resources and instead need to become resources.

How about we make a bet, Jian? If Zock’s harvest of fear is less than the last performance, then I win; otherwise, you win.

As for the stake, let’s use a ’chance to go out.’

"Agreed."

Just as Art felt almost certain of victory, pulling out a nail clipper sharp enough to decapitate a person and beginning to trim the flesh beneath his clothing,

Yiiiii!!

A ’roar’ that made him, the chief clown, feel uncomfortable all over and even filled with primitive fear, came from above the stage,

not a simple roar voiced by vocal cords, but rather like an ancient sound from the distant past... as if the cries of whales and human infants were mixed together and then transmitted through layers of tunnels hung with blood and flesh limbs before finally reaching their ears.

"What is that?"

Art suddenly looked up, using the see-through floor to observe the stage.

At the center of the stage, Zock, unfolding from within a tree trunk, vomited out a hairless ’beastly infant,’ inheriting Zock’s mask directly as it emerged from his mouth and attached to its slimy white soft head.

While roaring, it completed the final separation from the body, landing on the ground like a baby fish made of white flesh.

Even though it was less than the size of a normal human,

its roar seemed to have tens of thousands of years, or an even older, ancient aura. All the beasts on the field stopped moving, showing absolute fear in their eyes, and even began to exude the essence of fear that should come from the audience.

Following this,

the newly born white-fleshed beast slowly moved, approaching a ’bull demon’ with four bull heads and a massive body that was closest to it.

The bull demon had no chance to react and was immediately torn into pieces.

Before the blood could even spray, the white beast devoured it ravenously, eating so quickly it seemed as if every part of its body could transform into a mouth.

After feeding, the bizarre white beast grew a sturdy horn on the right side of its head, and its body gained a little more muscle texture and grew slightly larger.

Clearly, it was growing.

At that moment, Zock amplified his voice throughout the entire venue.

"Now, please enjoy the final act of the beast taming performance, and witness the growth of the First Beast!

Don’t make any sudden movements, lower your breathing, and try to erase any beast hair or blood you may have on you. That way, you won’t become a target for ’her,’ and you won’t become a delicious ingredient in her growth process."

Just like that,

a beast slaughter officially began, and the audience’s excitement was elevated to its peak.

Backstage,

Magician Jian leaned against the wall, "The original First Beast? Zock really did it, using his own body as a birthing vessel. If there’s any rejection reaction or loss of control resulting in it turning on him, he wouldn’t have any way out.

What a madman. Are all madmen like this?

Art, I’ll take that day off."

Art’s entire body was tense, even the crevices in his flesh emitted numerous moans. He clenched his teeth but soon showed a look of relief.

"I didn’t expect this seemingly useless guy to have an ace up his sleeve. I underestimated him. Well, you win some, you lose some."

Indeed,

the boss rarely chose to start with a beast taming performance. Zock naturally couldn’t let down the trust placed in him and played his real trump card, a true beast that had never formally appeared on stage before.

Zock, based on the deductions of Madness Brain, archaeological explorations, and extensive pathological conjectures about wild beasts, had come up with the concept of the "First Beast," and now he had created it.

Zock himself was quite mad; he had actually chosen to perform the First Beast’s birthing ceremony on stage, using the beast group he had painstakingly cultivated as material to supply the growth of the First Beast and to bring the audience this thrilling predation performance.

At that moment,

William also finally arrived backstage, accompanied by the Poker Face Team from the kitchen, pushing several carts laden with huge containers, the scent wafting deliciously.

"Phew~ Made it in time! Such a strong oppressive force, is this elder Zock’s creation?"

As William looked up, astonished at the white beast on stage, led by Catherine, several performers were drawn by the aroma of the food.

"William, did you come to cook for us? That’s so thoughtful~"

Just as Catherine was about to lift the lid of one pot, William, still looking up, reached out and held it down.

"Catherine, this isn’t for you; it’s my performance tool.

If your interference leads to a failed performance, some of the blame might be placed on your head."

Upon hearing this, Catherine immediately withdrew her hand, pulled a face, and made a silly expression.

She was quite skeptical about William’s chances of success, considering the highly demanding conditions, and she had heard that William had scheduled his act after Mr. Rabbit’s.

With her face back in place, Catherine continued, "What are you going to perform with these dishes? Can you tell me?"

"Can you then tell me, wearing that extravagant moon headgear, what performance are you preparing for?"

"Fine, don’t tell me, why lash out at me! Believe it or not, I’ll curse your performance to fail!"

"Alright, let’s seriously watch elder Zock’s performance... It seems the entire zoo will undergo changes after this performance."

Not far away,

Mr. Rabbit, bare-chested with a tie, also stopped what he was doing, gazing at the pale beast above, nodding in affirmation.

However, he didn’t watch for long before returning to his performance preparations.

The next big act was a performance by the chief acrobatics group, and Mr. Rabbit was clearly making some special preparations himself, the slight nerves causing him to continually comb his tie with his fingers.