The Last Gentleman
Chapter 535: Interrogation

The making of the Apostle Skin’s Black Death Skin had taken William an indeterminate amount of time, even he didn’t know for sure.

Just as he was about to meet Keith to ask about the time after consecutively lifting the seals on the basement,

Tap tap tap~ a series of heavy footsteps echoed down from the floors above. It wasn’t Keith and his wife, but rather an outsider’s arrival, coupled with the distinct sound of heavy metal breathing.

Squabbles quickly ensued as the other party attempted to inspect the basement but Keith adamantly refused.

Just when it seemed like a conflict was about to erupt,

a gust of air burst open the wooden boards of the basement, and with a leap, William landed in front of everyone.

Before him stood a special rat wearing an all-encompassing breathing mask with a black one-piece experimental gown, fingers fused with syringes, and a plague cycle apparatus mounted on its back.

On its chest was the green three-ring seal, symbolizing plague.

"Boss, this ’Quarantine Officer’ comes from the Plague Bed, conducting routine blood sampling, and since you are a visitor, you’re exempted from sampling," Keith seemed to be explaining to William but, in fact, was speaking for the Quarantine Officer’s benefit.

The heavy breathing, resonating through some metal tube, the Quarantine Officer scrutinized the young man before him,

believing that someone who couldn’t afford a hotel and chose to stay in an ordinary rat’s home must either be weak and incapable or deliberately avoiding something, like the Blacktail Hotel incident from a few days prior.

"What’s your name?"

"William Behrens." He didn’t hide his identity and gave his real name.

The Quarantine Officer wielded immense authority in Rat City. With the sound of a whistle coming from beneath the mask, a rat with green eyes brought over a document.

This document corresponded to the Blacktail Hotel’s guest register from the day it collapsed, which also suspiciously listed William’s name for that very day.

"Given that you might be linked to the collapse of Blacktail Hotel, please come with me."

Keith, seeing his boss about to be taken away, knew all too well what such a subtly suspicious removal meant—a nearly 100% chance of not returning.

Just as he was about to give false testimony, asserting that William had been staying at his place all this time and that the register might just be a case of mistaken identity,

William patted him on the shoulder and followed the Quarantine Officer.

Cooling down from that pat on the shoulder,

Keith recalled the hotel that collapsed because of his boss’s stay and the related experiences in the Inner City District, and he began to have a bad feeling.

"Could it be that the boss..."

...

As William left the burrow, he asked the Quarantine Officer walking ahead in a low voice, "Speaking of which, should my Candle Puppet also come along? Otherwise, it’d be tedious if it were stolen, plus I’ll need her help to seek treasure in the ’Extremely Dark Land’ later on."

As soon as the words "Extremely Dark Land" were spoken, the Quarantine Officer paused slightly before looking at the tattered old Candle Puppet that even used ’skull-top burning’ as a rudimentary fuel system.

"Bring it."

Dressed in a gentleman’s clothes to conceal his aura, William looked merely like a harmless newcomer who had just performed Open Source. In the eyes of the Quarantine Officer, bringing along an old Candle Puppet made little difference.

Just as William had expected,

they headed straight for the Plague Bed in the old city district under the guidance of the Quarantine Officer—a massive, jet-black building, second only to the Tower in scale, cubic and completely sealed.

The waste produced inside would be transported through underground pipes to four chimneys situated at the corners of the Inner City District for disposal.

Around the Plague Bed was a ring of flesh tubes flowing with the seventh plague fluid, which was far more secure than electrified wire fences,

Touching the flesh tubes would cause the seventh plague fluid, developed in the Plague Bed, to gush out, and even Open Sourcerers would have to employ life-saving techniques to cleanse the fluids.

Numerous Black Knight rats patrolled the area, and they had been vaccinated to some extent, making them far superior in physique to ordinary rats with a green glint in their eyes.

When the Quarantine Officer arrived, the surveillance eyeballs embedded in the flesh tube network immediately conducted identity verification on the newcomers.

As William followed into the Plague Bed area, the sky seemed to dim, and the cubic Plague Bed building intruded upon his vision, weighing oppressively on his heart, making it somewhat difficult to breathe.

Drip~ A drop of green blood trickled from William’s nose.

Seeing this, the Quarantine Officer made a rough assessment of William’s ’strength’ and explained, "Don’t worry, this is a normal reaction when approaching the Plague Bed. Once our investigation is over, we’ll inject you with an antigen, which will allow you to leave normally without causing any harm to your body."

"Thank you."

Two stood before the steel door of the Plague Bed, marked with the triple ring seal that represented the plague, with dual valves inside and out,

While the Quarantine Officer and the internal staff rotated the valves at the same speed, completing the opening of the door.

Throughout this process, even the Quarantine Officer simultaneously adjusted the knobs on their suit to ensure the filtration was maximized, effectively keeping the pathogens out.

Creak~

The door opened, and due to the pressure difference inside and out, a gust strong enough to send the average person flying rushed out.

Countless pathogens, including some undetected microbes, were blown out, clinging to William’s skin, the mucous membranes of his nose, and the crevices of his scalp.

With William’s first official breath, uncountable pathogens successfully entered his body.

If the air breathed upon setting foot in Rat City was like a gang of riffraff led by rats,

then this time, the pathogen group inhaled was more like a somewhat professional gang encampment, complete with well-trained fighters, bare-chested men brandishing machetes, bandana-wrapped bikers with clubs, and even bombers strapped with explosives.

However, they had arrived at a familiar disco, met the familiar Madman boss, faced the familiar Black Knight bouncers, and were bathed in the familiar light of the Evil Sun Lamp...

The supposed difference between a professional gang and riffraff indeed existed, but the difference wasn’t very significant.

They might let out a few extra cries before dying or last a few seconds longer; their bodies were also somewhat more troublesome to clean up.

In reality,

William had begun to cough violently, spitting out phlegm that was red with streaks of green, hastily tearing off a layer of skin from his body to use as a mask while he followed the other into the Plague Bed.

What lay inside took William by surprise; he expected to find a chaotic lair representing the epitome of filth,

But instead, he found a modern laboratory building that looked neat as new, managed in a standardized manner with designs based mostly on straight lines and right angles, and constructed with mineral metals.

The heavy presence of potent pathogens in the air was intentional; the Plague Bed purposefully channeled the toxic gases produced during experiments through pipes and exhaust fans to the building’s public areas, constructing a "third line of defense" where any intruder would be exposed to a highly lethal plague.

This was why the Quarantine Officers all wore protective suits.

William was quickly taken to a small black room that had been purified and isolated. The Quarantine Officer sitting opposite handed him a glass of water, claiming it was a ’detoxification medicine.’

In reality, it contained a type of parasite that could absorb toxins and which would follow the bloodstream directly to the brain, to some extent influencing the individual’s forthcoming interrogation and ensuring that they spoke as truthfully as possible.

Glug-gluggy~

William quickly downed the drink, and after taking a deep breath of relief, he expressed his gratitude repeatedly.

Such behavior almost made the Quarantine Officer opposite him burst out laughing, and he even wanted to publicly ridicule how such a person was able to achieve Open Source.

Hiss~

The Quarantine Officer turned the hydraulic valve on the surface of their suit, held their head with both hands, and removed the fully encompassing breathing mask,

A horrifying rat head with rotting flesh, 80% skull exposed, and black tentacles writhing in the eye sockets providing a dark vision, emerged and scrutinized the young man before it.

"Please answer the following questions truthfully. Were you staying at the Blacktail Hotel three days ago?"

"Yes."

"Did you have any contact with the hotel owner, Congriff Blacktail, on the night you checked in?"

"Yes."

"How did you come into contact with him? Did you persecute Congriff Blacktail, or did any of your companions secretly cause damage to the hotel?"

"No, it was just me.

I was taken to the world within the walls while I was sleeping, and met a boss stitched together from countless tails. I only learned of his name when you mentioned it.

He wanted to eat me, and I wanted information about the Abyss—quite fair, right?

Just as I tried to ask questions about the Abyss, who would have thought it had self-awareness? It devoured the boss, and I accidentally damaged my clothes.

Such a pity... So, this time I came here, hoping to inquire further about the Abyss, would you or your boss be kind enough to enlighten me?"

The previously unfocused William suddenly appeared normal, placing his clenched fists on the table.

On the contrary, the Quarantine Officer sitting opposite was taken aback, becoming docile and honest.