The Last Gentleman
Chapter 581: 579: 7 Marquises

The message to William was not only a voice but also a sensation of the starry sky.

"Principal..."

In an instant, William made a decision, fully activating the ’Platinum Blood’ flowing within his veins to try and establish contact with the messenger, who seemed prepared to accept the connection.

Hum~ A gate constructed of platinum blood appeared behind him.

Without waiting for Jin to react, William grabbed her shoulder and pulled her into it with pure brute force, planning to explain later.

The effect was similar to a teleportation gate,

Not only did it make the two disappear instantly, but it also erased their footprints on the ground and the residues of their aura in the air, with the gate dissipating into star particles without leaving a trace.

However, shortly after the two had left,

A man wearing a white wig and dressed in medieval nobleman’s attire arrived at the scene, flapping his unique insect wings, accompanied by hundreds of blood citizens with torn faces and yellow teeth.

"Just now two faint auras appeared outside the city, and the Skin Factory’s pulse signal also responded... Did they retreat after a failed infiltration?"

"Search the entire mountain area and the surrounding five kilometers thoroughly, do not let even a single insect escape."

"Yes."

The blood citizens scattered, sniffing the blood scent in the air to conduct a search akin to combing through the area.

The nobleman with the wig didn’t immediately leave but squatted at the corner of the mountain pass where the aura had vanished, scraping the gravel and dust on the ground with his finger and then eagerly tasting it with his tongue.

The taste buds on his tongue protruded, taking on a small umbrella-like shape, clinging to the surface of his finger, sucking on each piece of gravel.

"You left nothing behind? A very fine escape tactic... These humans are indeed capable, I cannot afford to take them lightly.

Call some more hands over here. Who knows when these guys might launch a suicide attack and have a direct impact on the construction of our new manor," he said.

...

[William’s Perspective]

The teleportation gate was not created by William alone, the other side, hundreds of kilometers apart, had already drawn the transmission array as if they knew in advance that William and his companions would return.

Hum!

In the blink of an eye, William and the other stood atop an old bell tower, where various delicate brass gears worked in unison, pushing a large pendulum.

The floor was drawn with a transmission array using milk-white blood mixed with star particles,

A woman wearing a ’Crying Mask’ on her face and a long robe black with dark gold trim silently emerged from the shadows, her every step seemingly on the ground yet without a sound.

"Principal!"

"William, Jin, welcome to the organization’s temporary safe house, the [Sanctuary] remodeled from the former first city – Flumouth, specifically for the transfer of gentlemen in the event of major catastrophes in Zion.

Congratulations to you both for completing your journeys and for not coming back too late."

Jin looked around while holding a woven bag containing her knight armor, "William, you dragged me here without saying anything, right? If this is a transfer location, does that mean Zion has already..."

Before she could finish, William covered her mouth.

"Principal Daislin communicated with me through the stars; it was my decision to teleport, given that your knight armor also malfunctioned, and a frontal assault would have been very risky.

It might be better to communicate with the principal first to understand Zion’s specific situation," William said.

"Well alright~ If Principal Daislin requested it, I won’t make a fuss."

Jin had once studied the Plague Book with William, and considering the book’s impact on the outside world, Principal Daislin had set up an independent space for the two of them,

And also had private interactions with Jin, which he still remembered.

"Principal, has Cesimani been transferred over? Are Yuri and Instructor Beili still here?" Jin showed a rare concern for the others.

"Because Prophet Yuri oversaw the relocation process, the evacuation of Cesimani was relatively smooth, and almost all the instructors made it. The problem is, Yuri isn’t in good shape..."

William was suddenly alarmed. "What happened to Prophet Yuri?"

"That guy ensured Cesimani’s evacuation by completely indulging in slaughter, and in the end, one hand was utterly destroyed, and it’s a rule-level abolition.

One of the invaders had an ability that could erase the concept of the flesh through ’Blood Sucking,’ which was quite terrifying."

"What? But Prophet Yuri is of the Silver Circle level, aren’t there strict restrictions for the powerful from the Old World who come here?"

"That’s exactly why we chose to evacuate everyone... The opponent has some special means, even some kind of superpower or technology that doesn’t belong to the Old World, which can greatly increase the stability and connection of the ’Channel,’ allowing the Silver Circle levels to teleport freely within a certain area.

If it weren’t for Galon, we might have lost more than 80% of our number."

"What exactly happened?"

"It all started when Galon became the First Gentleman. Not long after you left Zion, the new Skin that came from the Skin Factory was detected to contain blood from the Old World.

Gentlemen who use this kind of Skin seem normal on the surface and even feel better than the previous Gentleman’s Skin, with better fit and even assisting in physical regeneration.

However, Gentlemen using the new Skins are more prone to aggression during missions, and in extreme cases, the flesh can evolve into some special pathologic tissues, leading to instances of comrades killing each other. Even within Zion, ’Vampiric Gentlemen’ began to surface.

As a Prophet and a Principal, I proposed a meeting with the First Gentleman but was refused.

Realizing something was wrong, under the leadership of the organization’s Founder, Doctor Gregory Alaus, we forcefully breached the Divine Skin Mansion.

In the basement, we discovered the ongoing construction of the Skin Tower and a ’Transmission Array’ that had already been opened, its aperture far larger than normal, with its walls smeared with a substance akin to lubricant."

"The First Gentleman, Galon, had been restrained, wrapped in a special blood bag."

"Just as we were preparing to launch a comprehensive assault to forcibly block the passage and sever the connection with the Skin Factory, the ’First Impact’ was unleashed from a tower not yet completed.

The gentleman’s clothes of all present were rendered ineffectual, and all skin-related illnesses were completely sealed."

At the same time, countless Blood Citizens, as well as four distinctly different Silver Circle cancer patients resembling medieval nobles, flew out from the passage."

"And the aura of the Silver Circle cancer patients wasn’t limited to just those four; there was a flood of presence beneath the passage, ready to spill over."

"In a critical moment, Galon broke free from his restraints using his willpower and turned himself into a ’World Plane’ to forcefully block the passage, buying us time... time to flee."

"But some Gentlemen were not intending to retreat, after all, only four of the Silver Circle cancer patients had appeared so far, and our organization’s Special Record Combat Power put together was more than four.

"However, my Stargazer constitution captured an extremely dangerous signal the instant it happened.

"One of the Silver Circle cancer patients was clearly different, and even the other three bowed to him in submission.

"Under my perception, this person emitted a tremendously terrifying and ancient aura, stronger than any Silver Circle cancer patient I’ve ever seen, an ancient patient who has survived from the Ancient Era and participated in the wars of the Old World."

"One of the Seven Marquis?"

Jin suddenly interjected, offering a specific term.

"What Seven Marquis?" William had never heard of it, but as a member of the Stargazer Alliance, Desline nodded in acknowledgment.

"William, you don’t know about this?

"Each Source Plague area corresponds to a strong and loyal force, mainly consisting of Silver Circle illness bearers. For instance, the Venerable Tumor Knight Order where I am from, the Death Plague Knights from the Original Tomb, or the Skin Bag Apostles from the Skin Factory.

"And the ’Blood-colored Manor,’ once a Source Plague area, also has such a group, known as ’Crimson Nobles.’

"Inside such organizations, there are also differences in strength. Those who possess unique illnesses and outstanding strength are singled out to manage and represent the group."

"In our Cancer Palace, they are called ’Round Table Knights,’ who are directly under the Lord and are the strongest cancer patients.

"And within the Blood-colored Manor, the strongest are the Seven Marquis... wow! I never imagined such powerful beings would attack Zion, quite an honor for us!

"I’ve always wanted to measure myself against such beings. When do we set out?"