The Gentleman at the End

Chapter 196: Chapter 195: Splitting Up

The elevator opened.

Before them was a long corridor resembling an exhibition hall, with various samples on either side, each containing the “human” attribute.

This included the first “watchdogs” they had encountered.

As the two left, the elevator attendant, amid their black hair, emitted a strange noise, “Director Cao has been waiting for your arrival for a long time. Just go straight along the exhibition corridor, and good luck to you.”

As the elevator doors closed, the attendant kindly waved goodbye with a smile.

Walking along this peculiar corridor, Yi Chen unconsciously turned down the music, his thoughts drifting back to the past, recalling his ‘day-to-day’ interactions with Director Cao.

Director Cao, whose real name was Cao Zhenghong.

The director of the administrative office of the Black Mountain Orphanage and the head of Research Institute No. 1, the latter identity was something Yi Chen had gradually learned as he grew up.

In Director Cao’s eyes, apart from students who met Yi Chen’s standard and were qualified to retain their human bodies, the inferior students were better suited for modification, often referred to as “recycling waste.”

Those orphans who made serious mistakes in class or daily life, not worth the teaching resources, would become materials for research, and the unluckiest among them would be sent to Director Cao’s research institute.

They would face a series of inhuman experiments where their personalities would completely collapse, eventually turning into a kind of creature entirely obedient to Director Cao.

Products such as the watchdog, mop-face, and night duty teacher all originated from Research Institute No. 1.

Director Cao’s vision also permeated every corner of the orphanage, and even though she rarely showed herself, she could observe Yi Chen’s every move from the shadows.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on ɴονǤο.ƈο

Whenever Yi Chen made a slight mistake, he would be invited to become an ‘observer’ to witness and feel the emotional changes of the experimentees.

It was clear why Director Cao did this; she was grooming Yi Chen as her successor, getting him accustomed to these experiments early on and instilling in him the concept that life was not equivalent.

Beyond the experiments that fused animals, there were also developments on the human body itself.

For example, the young lady in the elevator was also a product of an experiment, one that Yi Chen had personally witnessed involving ‘hair.’

To achieve control over hair, researchers would cut open the skull of a living subject, sow hair into the cerebral cortex, and promote nerve growth towards the hair strands with appropriate microbial infections.

Many subjects died during the experiment, and until Yi Chen escaped from the orphanage, there seemed to be no successful cases.

Currently, this gamble was made possible by the Duke’s creativity.

The special education within the orphanage, the strict training in a competitive format, and the modification of the unqualified—all served the ultimate purpose of the Black Mountain Orphanage.

The initial intent to create the orphanage was to nurture higher, more perfect forms of life.

“Human Completion”

This was the title of the document Yi Chen had stumbled upon in Director Cao’s office, a title that was gradually substantiated as Yi Chen delved deeper into the orphanage, revealing the fundamental purpose behind its establishment.

Beyond selecting inherently ‘perfect’ humans like Yi Chen, it could also include monsters cultivated through experimental modifications.

As long as a ‘qualified’ life form could be nurtured, it would receive accolades from above and secure more research funding.

What would these qualified lives be used for? Some of the outstanding ones would stay at the orphanage to become teachers, and others would be sent somewhere else—Yi Chen, as an escapee, had no way of knowing.

…

By the time Yi Chen snapped back to his surroundings from the bizarre specimens, he found himself standing at the end of the corridor, facing an iron door he was all too familiar with, leading to Director Cao’s private office.

This was where Yi Chen had spent most of his life before the age of five.

“Lorrian, this must be Director Cao’s residence, we…”

Before he could finish, Yi Chen suddenly realized he was alone in the corridor, Lorrian, who should have been with him, had completely disappeared. In fact, he might never have left the elevator.

Recalling the farewell with the elevator attendant, she had only said ‘you ‘ and not ‘you both’.

[Switch Scene]

The elevator continued to descend, seemingly headed for the deepest part of the orphanage.

Lorrian and the elevator attendant were alone together.

A puzzled voice came from beneath the black hair:

“You two should be partners, assigned to live in the same dormitory,” he said. “Previously, the killing of Teacher Fang and Coach Pang was also a joint operation. Why then do you split up in such a dangerous area?”

Moon Scar replied, “William, or the guy you call Yi Chen, has his demons here, and they are deeply entrenched, impossible to unravel. They can only be cut through forcefully.

When he walked out of the elevator just now, he didn’t even notice whether I followed, and his emotions were also noticeably fluctuating.

Thus I decided not to provide direct assistance anymore and let him confront the past in his heart alone.

In this way, he could become even more perfect.”

“Heeheehee~” A strange laughter emanated from beneath the black hair, “How nice it is to have such a considerate friend as you.

However, there is a specially prepared performance contest for you below. If you can win in the arena, you will spare your friend a lot of trouble.”

“Oh~”

Lorrian was not worried at all about what he would encounter,

Instead, he quickly stepped close to the elevator lady, reaching out to embrace her… face to face.

He gently pushed aside her black hair, carefully examining the lady’s face, marred by a huge hole, and her special brain, continuously growing black hair.

“Such a beautiful structure~ Could I observe you more closely?”

Faced with the moon-like handsome silver-haired young man, the elevator lady couldn’t refuse and even shyly nodded her head a little.

Moon Scar, holding the lady with his left arm,

produced a surgical knife with his right hand and performed an on-site craniotomy, to closely observe the internal structure and interaction with the growing black hair.

“Very good~ The hair can actually be used like this, a clever biological design. I can apply it to my nurse group when I return, if they can also utilize their hair, the efficiency would double.

Thank you very much for your cooperation.”

After stitching the elevator lady’s skull, Moon Scar tenderly kissed her face, filled with strands of hair.

Such contact made her body tingle all over, her arms shaking, and her thighs clenching tightly.

Ding-dong~ The elevator just happened to reach the bottom floor.

Before them lay a tunnel full of biopunk style, with cheers echoing from its end, seeming to host a grand party.

Just as Moon Scar made two steps out, the elevator lady suddenly spoke:

“Umm… May I join you? I think I saw a kind of moon in the books just now, one I have never truly seen before, and somehow, I want to leave this place with you, even if it means dying.”

Walking through the corridors, Moon Scar didn’t turn back, but just casually waved with his naturally hanging left hand~

The elevator lady, no longer confined by subservient thoughts, took small, quick steps like a wild horse breaking free, stepping out of the elevator she had been in for decades.

She caught up with Moon Scar and took the initiative to hold hands.

As the two of them walked hand in hand out of the corridor, they were met by an arena resembling those of ancient Rome, its surrounding tiers formed by giant ribs and blood and flesh.

Directly opposite in the central spectator seats, sat Director Cao, constructed from various mechanical and biological tubes.

All the interfaces of the tubes connected to her back, delivering the essence of the research facility and providing neural connections that controlled the entire field and even the whole underground experiment area.

Besides, sitting in the surrounding stands were orphanage teachers who paid to watch.

And in the VIP seats, wearing black hoods, were the “Councilmen,” all high-ranking officials of the orphanage, deciding on various funding flows and important decisions within the orphanage.

“Just the time it took to ride the elevator, and you’ve turned my qualified creation against me? Truly worthy of being the top student who killed Fang Qiong.

Next, you need to pass the real battle test against my carefully nurtured and selected ‘Qualified’ in the final quality inspection, I hope you manage to survive.”

As soon as the words were spoken, ten monsters, each confined within iron cages, were successively pushed out.

But Lorrian remained unfazed, one arm around his beauty, the other pointing at Director Cao on the high platform.

“May I quality check you?”

After a moment of silence, the response came: “Of course… If you can pass all the quality checks and survive, I will personally entertain you.”