The Gentleman at the End

Knock knock knock!

Yi Chen took the elevator to the twentieth floor, arriving at the door of Lorrian's room. Since he had already contacted in advance through his wristwatch, the door was unlocked.

After a few knocks, he directly pushed the door open and entered.

The scene inside made Yi Chen feel a bit embarrassed to look, but his gaze steadfastly rested on Lorrian.

Lorrian, with only a towel wrapped around his waist, revealing his v-line abs, was lying on the sofa. Around him were several Blood Cross nurses checking his physical state, and two even holding toothbrush-like tools were cleaning the Red Moon horn representing chaos.

"Is there already news about William again this quickly?"

Yi Chen didn't respond, instead, he tossed over the note he just found under the doormat at the door.

"1910… I just arrived in this world, completely unfamiliar with it~ How would I know what these numbers mean, Mr. Yi, any speculations?"

Yi Chen tapped the metal bracelet he was wearing, using his SSS-level New Recruit authority to call up a simulated world numbered Serial-1910.

This simulated world was special, with a creation age of no more than five hundred years, belonging to the last batch of worlds created, and close to the Main Material Plane.

Even though most lower plane simulated worlds were engulfed by malice, this world barely existed, yet even as a newly created world, close to the Main Material Plane, its malice value reached 51%.

Worlds between 40-60% malice cannot be entered at will, requiring relevant world applications to be filled out.

Yi Chen outright stated, "It's very likely referring to this world, William might be secretly monitoring us."

Lorrian, however, was disdainful, "It's you he's watching~ I didn't receive any notes."

"Are you coming, Lorrian?"

"Why not come~ Anything related to William, I respond actively. I want to see what scheme he's up to… Shall we go now?"

"Yes, the recruitment for the sick focus has ended, we're going directly to meet with the Heavenly Venerate. Since the world's malice value is already above 60%, we need that old guy's guarantee to get over there."

"Let's go."

Lorrian with a gentle gesture switched perfectly from a silver suit to a towel.

Leveraging the Breath Synchronization, Yi Chen naturally 'encountered' the Golden Lung Venerable and five other primary recruits chosen at the sick focus recruitment on the way to the [Detection Building].

"William!"

When someone in the crowd saw Yi Chen's face, they immediately called out William's name and even left the team on their own.

However, upon approaching, they realized this William was not that William.

"You are… the person inside William… I heard the Lord speak of you! Mr. Yi, right?"

This person was none other than [Jin Almeda], whom he hadn't seen in a long time.

She had been studying in the Cancer Palace, and when the Lord himself visited the recruitment site and saw Yi Chen's performance along with other eager Source Epidemic Areas, he directly called her to participate.

Jin's identity was inherently special, akin to early contact with external forces on behalf of the Cancer Palace, with the potential opportunity to plant some cancer cells outside.

The present Jin was already quite different from the past,

not only had she won a High Table Knight seat a year ago through a frontal challenge, but she also achieved an overwhelming victory in the recruitment, earning the Lord significant face.

The Red Lotus Birthmark at the corner of her eye remained, and her reddish single ponytail was tied at the back of her head,

She came specifically dressed in the organization's attire this time, an upper body consisting of a white shirt and deep red leather waistcoat vest, while the lower body sported tight leather shorts and knee-high boots, exposing an almost perfect slender leg shape between the shorts and boots.

Jin's inherently flamboyant and open personality had further amplified during her years at the Cancer Palace. Currently, she directly nosed towards Yi Chen,

"Indeed, there is some William scent… If my guess isn't wrong, are you planning to find William's traces with Lorrian? May I join you?

Besides, why not bring along Reagan and Miss Faye~ Reagan, William, and I were on the same team before."

Reagan was surprisingly among the recruitment team that came over.

Yi Chen was more interested in Reagan than Jin, knowing he had already achieved some kind of ascension transcending the plague, currently lurking among the team but standing out from other personalities.

Yi Chen thought Reagan would stay at the sick focus and live a happy life with Faye, not expecting him to be among the first to be recruited here.

It was likely Reagan had recognized the threat of [Evil] early on, understanding clearly that to live a stable life, the danger must be eliminated.

On Jin's beckoning signal, Reagan also came over.

Reagan, in full metal form, seemed to have already grasped the group's purpose, speaking directly, "I'll move with you all after Jin and I complete the new recruit checks; my technological domain should provide more convenience, allowing us to find William's traces faster."

With a gesture of waving, Jin retreated to the team, "Wait here for us you two!"

Apart from Jin and Reagan in the team, the other three were those 'Under the King', which Yi Chen had never seen before.

Yi Chen slightly regretted that the Circus strongmen, Blood Emperor, and his master White Reaper didn't come, while on the human side, Zede, possibly considering the organization's development, having Reagan go, did not take another spot himself.

When everyone headed for the checkpoint, Yi Chen once again found himself in front of the Golden Lung Venerable.

The latter looked puzzled upon seeing Yi Chen, "Wasn't my avatar chatting with you just now?"

Yi Chen did not explain much, starting directly, "Can we arrange passage for us to the 1910-numbered simulated world?"

"A malice value of 51%, exceeded the regular safety limit~ needs application, you recruits basically can't go? Why suddenly want to visit this place? Give me a convincing reason, and I'll handle all the paperwork for you."

"William might be hanging around there."

"… Are you sure?"

"Not completely sure, but there is a possibility."

Having considered briefly, the Golden Lung Venerable nodded, "Alright then, I'll handle the formalities for you, but one thing needs stating in advance! Evil manifests through various literary forms, but its influence is pervasive. If you enter this world where the malice value exceeds the minimum threshold, even if only for ten seconds, you'll undergo Heart testing upon return.

If it's confirmed you're influenced by evil, even totally enslaved, you will be directly executed."

"Understood."

With a breath, the Golden Lung Venerable vanished upon stepping onto the golden breath released, shortly bringing back the temporary team's deployment document.

With the Golden Lung Venerable personally guaranteeing, the four were to conduct a malice investigation in this world, limited to three days.

Once Jin and Reagan both wore wristbands, they returned to the Plane Gate at the city's edge.

Placing the document on the gate for verification, the portal to Simulated World 1910 temporarily opened, exuding a sense of unspeakable danger visible just through the portal.

"Mr. Yi and Mr. Lorrian both have experience handling malign carriers, so I won't nag further, be cautious of items capable of being 'carriers' within this world.

Of course, in worlds exceeding 40% malice value, malign projections will also directly appear.

Hoping to see you all safely three days from now."

Yi Chen was the first to step in, and everyone quickly followed.

Given the close approximation to the Main Material Plane, there was no sense of transitioning as when heading to the sick focus, and in an instant, the group completed the world traverse.

This corresponded to late night on this side of the world,

The settings in the simulated world were mostly the same as ever,

The bus stop overhead still bore the Chinese characters most familiar to Yi Chen.

The moonlight was entirely obscured, capable of providing illumination, a bus with an empty cabin opened its door right in front of Yi Chen.

"Let's get on and see."

As soon as Yi Chen said this, everyone hurried to follow and took their seats inside.

Footsteps sounded from near the door.

Surprisingly, a fifth person boarded,

an old woman shrouded in black clothing painted with an ashen face, even with a black flower on her head,

Chose a seat closest to the four,

Then, in a peculiar and shrill voice said, "Go up to take a look."

Yi Chen, being the first to step inside, was quickly followed by the others.

There was even a fifth person getting on,

One wrapped in black clothing and wearing a pale face makeup, an old lady, even with a black flower pinned to her head,

She seated herself closest to the four,

Then, in a bizarre and sharp voice said, "It has been so long since I encountered such lovely young people this late. Would you like to hear my story?"