The Last Gentleman

Chapter 300: Trial

In the Dream Arena created by Yi Chen.

The breeder Blanklin, with the character for “Madman” engraved on his brain surface, had reverted from his pig-man state, retracted his Human Pillar Weapon into his body, and returned to his human state, now donning a butcher’s apron.

Indeed,

even Yi Chen, observing this man whose bloated flesh oozed oil between layers of fat and whose facial features were squished together by fat, had a very poor first impression.

But after understanding Blanklin’s mental journey, he could empathize with this death row inmate.

Yi Chen no longer cared much, only needing to know that this guy’s nature wasn’t inherently bad, for in such a world filled with despair and devoid of hope, such a guy could survive longer.

A “scar” formed by a perfect slaughter cut remained on Blanklin’s face,

and when he opened his eyes again to look at the figure in front of him wearing a faceless mask and with six tentacles growing from its back, he no longer harbored any hostility.

He naturally uttered two words, “Teacher.”

When the time comes, I will share some nightmare clues with you, and you can report back once you get out. The organization should fulfill its promise and give you a form of freedom as a prosthetic body. Though it won’t be your original body and will have its limitations, as long as your brain exists, it won’t impede your journey for knowledge.”

“Alright, Teacher… Teacher, why do you speak in the tone of a gentleman?”

“Don’t worry about that, just focus on assisting me earnestly.

Also, your appearance in just an apron isn’t great, and the oil dripping from your body could cause some trouble for me.

Especially in situations where we need to remain silent, it could alert enemies to our presence. Later, I’ll try to find you an outer garment with absorbing capabilities, similar to a gentleman’s clothes.”

“Thank you, Teacher.”

“Follow me.”

As tentacles drew a Black Door on the wall and Yi Chen led Blanklin back to the heart of the nightmare,

Catherine was sitting on the edge of her Hundred Treasure Box, swinging her legs rhythmically and sucking on a lollipop, seemingly having been back for a while.

Upon seeing the young girl, Blanklin’s entire body began to tremble wildly, and the secretion rate of oil in his body reached three times the normal level, a danger signal captured by his ‘Fat Sensing’ warning him of the girl’s ludicrously high level of danger.

“Wow! William, you’ve achieved ‘Perfect Enslavement’.

I was about to deduct a point because you killed a squad member in-game,

but since your purpose in killing was to agitate the other party and achieve perfect enslavement, let’s consider the whole situation. I’ll go ahead and give you an extra point.”

“Catherine, how are the other squads faring?”

“Ah? I’ve already sorted out three squads earning [three points].

Currently, only the last Ordinary Squad is left unhandled… Let me think, I’ll leave it to you for a warm-up since once the Ordinary Squad is cleared, we’ll enter the real game time.

After all, you’ve just become a nightmare; I shouldn’t take too much advantage, right?”

These words made Yi Chen frown; he considered his own processing speed not slow, only the duel with Blanklin took a bit more time,

unexpectedly, Catherine had already sorted out three Ordinary Squads.

However, Yi Chen didn’t see any enslaved gentlemen around Catherine, only she was alone.

“Catherine, didn’t you enslave anyone?”

“These members of the Ordinary Squads aren’t interesting; enslaving them wouldn’t be much help, just a waste of energy and a slave slot.

However, the one you’ve enslaved is of high quality~ William, you’re really lucky.

Alright, no more chitchat! Let’s hurry up~ We mustn’t allow that last Ordinary Squad to delve any deeper. If you don’t set off now, I might just handle it myself.”

However, Yi Chen was not in a hurry and gestured to the man by his side, “Hold on, can we find a decent outfit for Blanklin, preferably one that can absorb the oil from his body?”

Catherine immediately hopped over to Blanklin, inspecting him up and down, “I’m not a ‘Skin Field Connector’ from the human organization, and I don’t have the material [Skin] here, but well~ we can employ our dreaming creativity.”

While speaking,

Catherine gently waved her hand, using the floating black material in the nightmare to create a series of highly flexible tubing devices and two connected metal storage tanks attached to Blanklin’s back.

Thus, all secreted oils were absorbed, circulated, and collected in the tanks, ready to be utilized when needed.

Catherine also considerately created a suit fitting for Blanklin and used all her strength to dress him, forcibly stuffing his entire body’s fat into it.

Last, Catherine dug through her Hundred Treasure Box and pulled out a metal respirator that covered the mouth, slapping it directly onto Blanklin’s face.

She also connected several conduits from the back device to the respirator, allowing him to directly absorb the oil to enhance his combat capabilities.

Having been fully transformed, Blanklin now fit the image of a nightmare creature better, his body fat entirely enclosed within a leather outfit, and his face obscured.

Even though he had helped Yi Chen deal with some gentlemen, they wouldn’t recognize him and wouldn’t report that Blanklin had been serving the nightmare after waking up.

“Done! You should take him to warm up… The more skilled you get, the more interesting the actual game becomes.”

…

[Nightmare — Eighth Layer]

The squad here also adopted a 4+1 formation,

the central brain of this team being[‘Trickster’ Slona], the death row inmate known for her skill in using tricks and deceptions during assignments to mislead her teammates into errors that lead to their deaths.

With blonde hair, blue eyes and a petite, cute appearance, her looks indeed could initially boost others’ trust in her.

But currently, Slona had a special kind of gag fitted,

designed with intricate mechanisms and an explosive device, which allowed her to speak once every ten minutes. Speaking excessively would trigger the device through vocal vibrations, its force capable of blowing her skull ten meters into the air.

The reason was simple; the squad did not need Slona’s verbal suggestions, preemptively preventing verbal deceit and manipulative behaviors, requiring her merely for combat support when necessary.

As they ventured deeper into the eighth layer, the squad gradually got lost, its members unknowingly separated and sequentially attacked in different areas.

Some were bound by tentacles, suspended in the air, then forcefully fed suicidal thoughts of epilepsy face-to-face,

while others encountered the physically immense, nightmare tube-filled pig-headed demons, fixed in a spread-eagled position on a wall, who chose to commit suicide to escape the dream, just before the live slaughter could commence.

‘Trickster’ Slona walked alone through the maze-like corridors,

when she sensed something and tried to retreat. But she heard noises both ahead and behind her,

in front appeared an individual lifted by six tentacles, or rather moving by tentacles, representing a nightmare entity,

and stepping out from behind was a physically massive pig-headed demon, its body filling the entire corridor,

she did not resist, nor did she commit suicide, but stayed in place pretending to be innocently compliant. Moreover, her ability, “Thought Deception,” had already helped her discern that the creature in front, which walked on tentacles, was the one controlling the nightmare.

She showed no fear as the swiftly stabbing tentacles approached,

Smack!

Her facial gag was penetrated and completely dislodged by the tentacles.

“A Sensing Type gentleman?” came a voice from beneath a faceless mask, capable of triggering mental fear.

“Hello, my name is Pansi Slona! I am indeed a Sensing Breakthrough, especially adept at capturing and perceiving individuals. If I can be of assistance in that respect, I’d like to help.”

Words were Slona’s ‘weapon.’

As she spoke these words directly to Yi Chen, threads related to ‘deception’ invisibly transmitted from her.

Once an individual clearly heard her words, these threads would embed into their brain,

harmless and with no immediate effect, completely undetectable, especially by her teammates who trusted Slona completely.

When a certain moment arrived, her words could link these pre-embedded threads within the brain, working together to produce an effect of ‘brain deception,’ severely impairing the individual’s cognitive judgment.

However,

when the invisible threads drilled into Yi Chen’s brain, they were immediately covered and submerged by a dark liquid.

“Sorry, but I’m a Sensing Type gentleman as well.”

“You are… a gentleman!”

As soon as she spoke,

two greasy palms grabbed Slona’s head from behind as if they were splitting an apple, and brutally cracked it open.

Yi Chen leaned forward to brand a ‘mad’ symbol that could not be erased on her, not recruiting her as a student this time, but fully exercising the capabilities of a madman to transform Slona into a thought offering.

His anger was fueled by her obviously ingratiating yet manipulative behavior,

and having seen reports on Slona, Yi Chen detested those who exploited others’ trust to satisfy their own twisted psychology.

Perhaps under the influence of the nightmare transformation, Yi Chen became more irritable than usual, his negative emotions amplifying… the first time using the horrific ability of a madman.

[Power Station – Dream Room]

The liquid container holding Pansi Slona’s brain tissue was completely drained within a short period, turning her entire brain into a dried-out walnut, the death row inmate executed prematurely.