The Last Gentleman
Chapter 546: Dining Car

Stepping out of the Fog Gate, he walked out of the Tower.

Taking his first breath of the outside air, Sleip paused slightly.

It was not that he was particularly moved, but he felt an instant grounding in reality, which prompted him to scrutinize his body, which had been in a deep slumber and had even been near death.

Although kept alive by "Pathogen," the physical body was in fact hollow, with all the organs on the verge of withering away. His stomach pouch was almost degenerating, relying entirely on his hair to absorb moisture from the air for that minuscule bit of nutrition.

Gulp—Price’s stomach made a thunderous noise.

But he wasn’t embarrassed and planned to find a restaurant in Rat City to fill the hunger and rapidly recover his body.

However, William suddenly had a flash of insight and hurriedly said,

"Sleip, during your slumber, the layout of Rat City has completely changed. All the restaurants here sell plague-related food, which is impure and not suitable for your first nutritional meal after waking.

Follow me, we also need to have a meal before taking action."

William called everyone to head out of the city, and as the Rat citizens saw the former City Lord appear, they bowed down to the ground.

However, Sleip didn’t show much reaction to the people and just walked on silently.

Upon reaching a clearing several kilometers away from Rat City and confirming that they were free from the darkness, William threw down a Black Ascaris Company card, and soon a Black Worm Train arrived.

The conductor, upon seeing Sleip in his silver Beast Armor exuding dominance, was also a bit frightened and insisted on the rules of the train.

"Where would you like to go?"

"We don’t need to travel this time, we’d like to go to the [Dining Car]; my friend here hasn’t eaten in a long time."

"One moment, I am checking for the nearest dining car for you."

Unlike the dining cars in human society, which are just one carriage of a train, Black Ascaris Company’s dining cars exist independently and are even of a higher grade than most trains.

This is the secondary industry—[Global Food Chain]—developed by Black Ascaris Company after the transition of business matured.

The dining car’s facilities are quite luxurious, and the chefs are among the best of the Old World, specializing in gourmet meals. When the conductors notice that the passengers have a high status or wealth, they will inform them about the dining car.

Dining cars often wander in densely populated areas and occasionally visit the outskirts.

"We have located Dining Car No. 7 for you, 271km away, with an estimated journey time of one and a half hours.

If your consumption in the dining car exceeds six hundred, the round-trip journey will be completely free.

Would you like to go to the [Dining Car]?"

"Let’s go."

William didn’t mind the time; with Price’s assistance as part of the team, the efficiency of exploring the Abyss would significantly increase.

Moreover, this trip to the dining car had another purpose for William.

"Very well, please take your seats! We are about to head to Dining Car No. 7, and during the journey, enjoy the complimentary massage service brought to you by the conductors."

"Jin, Sleip, relax; the service of the Black Ascaris Company is very good."

Jin was very relaxed; his armor did not need to be removed but was directly retracted into his skin, leaving only a thin leather corset, even slightly loosening the laces on the corset to give constrained parts of his body a temporary release.

William, sitting next to Jin, watched the process and said softly,

"Indeed, Jin, you didn’t discard the gentleman’s clothes, but you integrated them into your armor, didn’t you?"

"What a waste it would have been to discard them—though I feel nothing for the physical body, this convenience is still excellent."

As the two enjoyed the massage, suddenly there was a shout from a conductor at another seat.

The conductor massaging Sleip was wide-eyed, unable to believe what his fingers were feeling.

After professional massage training, he could detect the general state of the body through parasites with just a touch of his fingers and provide targeted massages.

Upon touching Sleip, he felt like he was massaging a completely aged body that should have died hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago, almost as if massaging an ancient corpse.

William said, "It’s okay, Mr. Sleip just woke from a hibernation state, and his body hasn’t fully recovered... Just proceed with the massage as you would normally do."

"Yes, yes..."

After a while, another conductor came up with a beautifully packaged menu to William’s side.

"Respected Mr. William, you may place your orders in advance, and when you arrive, the dining car will have your meals prepared perfectly on time, eliminating any wait."

"Alright, let me have a look."

As the menu unfolded in his hands, William’s brow furrowed.

He had only heard of the dining car, and this was his first visit, not to mention he was unaware of the prices. The prices listed before him were slightly unsettling, especially considering he was still pondering how to repay the hundred-thousand debt regarding the Candle Puppet.

"Ordering à la carte might be a bit pricier. I would recommend trying one of our set meals, the cheapest is 188 per person, but of course, for the most luxurious individual banquet, we currently have a tier at 3888.

Rest assured, Mr. William, the quality of our dishes will definitely be worth the price."

"Let me think about it."

William was torn. Price, the City Lord of Rat City, had just awakened and was willing to join the exploration team into the Abyss; he couldn’t be treated indifferently, but the prices exceeding thousands were indeed too expensive.

Just as William gritted his teeth, preparing to select the set meal priced at 1888, Price, who was enjoying a massage, also noticed they were discussing the issue of pricing.

"Are the numbers you’re discussing in ’Ancient Coins’? I assume such currency is still in circulation in the Old World now, right?"

"That’s correct."

"Indeed, such coins are hard to replace. But isn’t the price you mentioned a bit cheap? The most expensive is only 3888 per person?"

"Yes, the highest tier we can offer with our currently employed chefs and available ingredients is 3888."

"That’s really cheap~ I suppose the value of money has increased quite a bit while I was asleep, probably due to the Old World’s blockade. Currency that links the World’s center like this must have become difficult to produce.

This time, let me treat. If it weren’t for your arrival, I might not have awakened and could have even died completely."

"Ah? That doesn’t seem right."

"There’s nothing wrong with it. You haven’t completed your Path yet, and there are many places where you need money. This small amount, I can cover it, and if you need money later on, you can also come to me."

"Alright... Can I ask how much money you currently have, Price?"

Price indicated seven with his fingers, "Roughly this much."

"Seventy thousand?"

"No, I mean seven figures."

At this revelation, even the train attendants froze for a moment, and the masseur working on Price hesitated, fearing he might make the Big Boss uncomfortable.

"That much!?"

"Is that a significant sum in the current Old World? I once had a total asset of nine figures at most, but I spent the majority on acquiring precious materials to create the moon, leaving only a little with me."

"Ah?!"

"That mine was very profitable. At the time, half of the ores mined were channeled to Cancer Palace, and the other half was handled by the Rat Brigades I established to supply goods worldwide, quickly forming a nice business network.

Thirty percent of the income would go directly into my pocket, and the remaining seventy percent was used to improve the living conditions of the Rat people and city construction.

And we had a lot of currency back then too."

"Ah, right."

"If you need money for anything, William, just come to me."

"Okay." For some reason, William felt even more amicable towards the City Lord of Sleip when he looked at him again, and the heavy stone of debt in his heart also seemed to lighten.

It wasn’t long before they reached the area where Dining Car No.7 was located.

A black Parasite with eight legs and a Physique reaching a hundred meters in length appeared outside the window, also known as the ’World Black Tick,’ a special Parasite native to the Old World.

It served as Black Ascaris Company’s advanced transportation unit and had been transformed into a "Dining Car."

As the Black Worm Train drew close to the slowly moving Black Tick, it was immediately seized by the front two legs and the entire train compartment was swallowed into its mouth.

One would expect the interior to be a disgusting cavity full of Blood and Flesh,

but to their surprise, the insides of the Black Tick had been completely transformed, fitted with grey and white clean wall tiles, crafted into a dining space that catered to human taste, with even a pleasing fragrance lingering in the air that quickly filled one with the desire to eat.

The waitstaff all maintained human forms, dressed impeccably, and William even felt as though he had returned to the human world.

It must be said, the emerging Black Ascaris Company had achieved integration with the world. Their development was squarely aimed at the human world they were parasitizing, and once the "World Infection" was complete, their transport business would bridge the present and the past in an instant.