The Last Gentleman

“Mr. Reagan, have you ever been to a ‘Cemetery’ under the organization?”

When Yi Chen, who had paused in front of the door, asked this question, the atmosphere in the ordinary room suddenly changed.

Clack!

The iron door of the rental closed on its own without any contact.

Yi Chen also noticed that this seemed to be caused by some kind of psychic power, “Just like when the button fell off before, could this be the influence of the mind over reality? Is this what Sensing 7 is like?”

Just then,

Reagan, who had been too lazy to get up, actually started to clear the tableware. After tidying up the living room, he sat back down in his original seat.

His fingers interlocked and rested on the tabletop as he gazed at Yi Chen with a seriousness he had never shown before, “If you don’t mind, shall we talk some more?”

“Sure.”

As soon as Yi Chen sat back down in his original seat, he could feel a sense of suppression on a mental level.

Such a sense of oppression could never belong to an idler who was content with just getting by.

Even a real genius would have to have experienced killing and life-and-death situations to give off such a sensation.

In fact, Yi Chen had felt a dissonance from the moment he arrived at the underground rental place. Why would a formal employee of the Power Station live in such cheap accommodation, and choose to just get by despite having such high Attributes?

As Yi Chen pointed out the keyword ‘Cemetery’, the purposely hidden false surface began to peel away on its own.

Ludwig Reagan started to reveal his true face willingly.

Reagan gazed into Yi Chen’s eyes and asked in a low voice, “Do you… see it?”

“I can see it… or more accurately, she intentionally let me see it.

Perhaps this lady sensed the residual aura of the Cemetery on me, after all, I too emerged from a ‘Cemetery’ under the organization.”

As Yi Chen spoke, he deliberately shifted his gaze behind Reagan, nodding in acknowledgement at the ghostly image of the woman’s corpse.

“You were a Tomb Guardian? Which Cemetery was it?”

“The Seven-Day Cemetery.”

“I’ve heard of it; it seems to be a relatively small and special Cemetery.”

As he spoke, Reagan seemed to realize something and shook his head with resignation, continuing,

“Is it really such a coincidence? Since I dropped out, I’ve never had underclassmen come looking for me at the Power Station… You’re the first, and you’re connected to the Cemetery, no less.

If I’m not mistaken, it must have been Principal Desline who sent you, right?”

Yi Chen did not hide the fact and placed the principal’s business card on the table, starting to recount the events briefly.

“… That’s roughly it. Although it’s a referral from the principal, it’s mainly because I need something from you, an improvement in Perception.”

At that moment,

Yi Chen suddenly leaned forward, his right forearm moving atop the wooden table, rhythmically tapping his fingers on the surface, trying to take control of the conversation:

“If I’m not wrong, Mr. Reagan, you dropped out and came to the Power Station, perhaps also guided by the principal.

The reason she was willing to let go of a talented student like you could very well be because you met the ‘requirements’ she set early on.

For example, achieving a ‘Transcend’ level of Sensing within a short time… what you call easily reaching Sensing 7 is not actually easy; you must have paid an extraordinary price and made considerable effort.

Or to put it another way, from the moment you stepped into Zion, you have been striving, using every minute to grow.”

Hearing this, Reagan smiled faintly, not denying Yi Chen’s conjecture, “Is there more?”

Since the other party didn’t seem to mind, Yi Chen continued:

“Mr. Reagan, you have been ceaselessly improving your ‘Perception,’ and you gave up the resources from Principal Desline, even abandoning your status as a student to come to the Power Station.

It has never been because you wanted to take it easy; rather, only the Power Station could possibly help you achieve your ‘Purpose,’ a goal of extremely high difficulty and almost without precedent.

You’re trying to resurrect the lady behind you through ‘technological’ means related to ‘electricity.’

Clearly, you’ve made some progress,

enabling her to exist in a special state between tangible and intangible. Without relying on any power-generating device, just by drawing on the ‘Biological Electricity’ generated by your body, she can continue to exist.

She has even regained a certain level of consciousness and can respond to the aura of the Cemetery on me.

But to fully restore her consciousness is still far from enough.”

“Before you achieve that purpose, you’ll continue your research at the power station,”

Hearing such a detailed hypothesis, Reagan couldn’t help but smile faintly, slowly reverting to his usual couch potato demeanor,

“Just as you’ve said, until Faye regains full consciousness, I must stay at the power station and continue my research on the ‘Consciousness Circuit Diagram.'”

“Could you tell me more about Miss Faye’s situation? Maybe I can help.”

“If anyone in Zion could help, Principal Daislin wouldn’t have directed me to find a solution at the power station by myself… However, Faye seems to like your aura, so it doesn’t hurt to talk about it.

I am deeply grateful to the organization and for the cemetery it has established, which allowed me to glimpse hope amid utter despair.

About ten years ago, I carried the remaining half of Faye’s spine alone to a large cemetery that required five Tomb Guardians—Camberley Cemetery.

Just as the cemetery was hiring, my exceptional Perception Ability helped me easily pass the interview to become a Tomb Guardian… and then I made a request to the manager there.

During my employment, Faye’s spine needed to be buried in a special grave site with a ‘resurrection effect.’

The manager agreed, but in exchange, I had to take on the workload of two people, work continuously for nine years without any salary.

Perhaps the manager never believed I could work for nine years and leave alive, but I did.

After nine years,

I dug up Faye’s grave, and she ‘grew into a person’ as she wished. From the remaining spine, she grew into a complete human body, with all dimensions and facial features the same as before, and she was even growing.

Unfortunately, her brain was destroyed, and the cemetery couldn’t form her consciousness.

Following the chief’s advice, I dragged her body, participated in the organization’s assessment and passed, then brought her to Zion City seeking a way to restore her consciousness.

Just as you guessed,

the principal made a bet with me, if I could reach [7] in Sensing within six months, she would write me a letter of recommendation to the power station.

It would allow me to become an exceptional researcher, borrow Zion’s scientific achievements and the Power Station’s equipment, to reshape consciousness from scratch.

However,

this process is more complex than I had imagined.

Even though I’ve been researching day and night, combining my own ability with the resources of the research institute,

I’ve only managed to make her a semi-entity through the ‘Virtual Grid,’ capable of the simplest forms of consciousness via electrical conduction.

This level of consciousness is far from enough; I still need a greater technological breakthrough.

It might happen tomorrow, or maybe in ten, twenty years.”

Yi Chen nodded silently, delving further into his thoughts before suggesting:

“Your Sensing has already reached a transcendent value like [7]. If you can make a breakthrough with a Relic, your ability as a Prototype Master will undergo a qualitative change, and you might quickly achieve a technical breakthrough, or perhaps even create consciousness yourself.”

Reagan, however, shook his head,

“Faye lost everything in the Grey Zone, and with great effort, I only brought out her spine. Now she is slowly recovering, and through the ‘Virtual Grid,’ she is completely tied to me. I don’t want to take such risks again, nor do I want to awaken her nightmare memories from the Grey Zone.

Let’s leave it at that, I’m glad to have talked so much with you, and Faye is happy too… Thank you, Mr. William!

I’ll take the time to write down my experiences with Sensing in detail and mail them to you.”

“Alright.”

Seeing his firm resolve, Yi Chen didn’t linger.

After Yi Chen, an unexpected visitor related to the cemetery, left,

Miss Faye, who should have turned into a microcurrent and returned to Reagan’s body, showed no signs of disappearing.

Suddenly, she moved her body, leaned into Reagan’s ear, and with her tongue full of small holes, she emitted bursts of electromagnetic sound… expressing some kind of desire with simple words.

“Follow… go.” After saying that, she disappeared.

Reagan sat for a long while, then walked to the bedroom,

and rummaged through a drawer under a stack of girl figurines with identical faces to find a metal cigarette case.

He took out a cigarette, placed it in his mouth,

ignited the tip with a spark from his snapping fingers,

and as he blew out a smoke ring, he pulled out an old photo hidden in the cigarette case—[A ten-year-old girl dressed as an electrician, hitting a handsome young boy’s head with a wrench]

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