The Gentleman at the End

Chapter 260: Chapter 259 Rank Promotion

Over five thousand ‘patients’ educated as ‘students’ surrounded Yi Chen in eighteen concentric circles, encapsulating him at the very center.

The mental network formed by connecting everyone’s brains began to operate like a giant drilling rig under Yi Chen’s control, constantly penetrating deeper and deeper.

The speed was not fast, and time was measured in days.

As the depth of the drilling increased and the mental burden gradually doubled,

Pop! One of the patients seated in the outer ring suddenly ‘exploded brains,’ with their brain bursting instantaneously and extinguishing, signifying that their mental adaptation had reached its limit.

Seeing this scene, the surrounding patients showed no signs of faltering, still providing Yi Chen with full mental support,

Pop pop pop!

The frequency of brain explosions continued to increase.

Yi Chen was aware of this, knowing that this ‘in-depth’ penetration wasn’t truly happening in the Old World; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so simple.

If they encountered the Source Epidemic Area along the way, this kind of mental infiltration would be instantly shattered, and might even attract the attention of some powerful entity, leading to death.

The Old World that Yi Chen was currently exploring was merely an imaginary world recorded and created by the Artifact – “Box of the Madman,” largely intended to guide Yi Chen to get acquainted with the world where the illness originated, allowing the primary host to achieve an Extreme Breakthrough.

The spiritual penetration currently underway should be understood as the penetrating process of a “Membrane Breakthrough.”

Only, as someone undergoing a Three Attributes Breakthrough, his membrane was much thicker and required particularly deep drilling to fully pierce through it.

Time passed unknown, and,

when the number of educated patients dropped to less than a hundred, the mental drill finally penetrated the deepest part and reached the so-called “Sick Focus.”

This place was not filled with pus, spores, or any malignant phenomena related to illness; rather, it was a center of the world brimming with dazzling luster and expressing the possibilities of all things, where super-gigantic neuron structures were connected.

Merely standing on the surface of one of these giant neurons, Yi Chen could hear countless whispers, as if they were telling him about things related to the Origin.

The scenes depicted by the “Artifact – Box of the Madman” also came to an end here, as the true pathological Origin of the Old World could not be represented by an artifact alone; Yi Chen would have to reach that place himself in the future.

Correspondingly, Yi Chen’s Rank as a “human” underwent changes; he formally broke through the Limit of Man and ascended to a higher Level.

However, the transformations had not yet ended; what followed was the most crucial moment.

A strange sound rang out in Yi Chen’s mind, and as the voice reached him, the Ancient Living Text also simultaneously surfaced in his brain.

≮Do you wish to accept the Pathological Origin?≯

Yi Chen had been clear from the beginning,

that terms like “Membrane,” “Limit of Man,” and others used by the Organization to describe the breakthrough were merely euphemistic embellishments.

The essence of human breakthroughs lay in leveraging the fact of the Old World’s Source Plague.

The so-called breaking through the limit should accurately be called “Open Source” – officially coming into contact with the Pathological Origin of the Old World, unlocking the fundamental power of pathology.

Upon acceptance, the limit constraints of the human shell would be completely shattered, and the individual would rise to a higher plane.

But, the Organization was not wrong in naming it so.

Because as long as the Breakthrough person maintains a gentlemanly character and sustains their humanity, to a certain extent, they can be defined as human, and civilization can thus be passed on.

Listenting to the voice transmitted from the Origin, Yi Chen also conveyed his own intentions.

“Willing!”

Hum!

In an instant, materials related to the ancient Origin were imprinted in Yi Chen’s brain through the form of text, or rather, upon the Emblem of the Book.

…

[D&G Organization Headquarters – Zion]

Any gentleman within the city, and even some coachmen traversing the mountainous roads outside, could see a mass in the sky over a certain part of the city, resembling a brain made of pitch-black clouds.

The cloud-brain became increasingly realistic with time, the lightning rolling inside it like the electrical conduction between neurons.

Even more exaggerated was that this mass of pitch-black clouds was continuously absorbing surrounding clouds, plating its surface with a layer of extravagant muscle tissue and constructing the internal organs of a human body inside it.

This brain is a special independent living entity.

The discomfort that started in the hospital spread throughout the whole of Zion, affecting all gentlemen who had not breached their limit to varying degrees.

“Cesimani”

While Jin was engaged in a one-on-one simulation battle with Instructor Beili, she caught a whiff of a scent that was all too familiar to her. She halted the battle and, together with Instructor Beili, proceeded to the high platform to gaze at the peculiar brain amidst the clouds.

“Has William finally made a breakthrough? No wonder it took so long; he must have wanted to make a big splash,” Jin commented.

Beside her, Instructor Beili slid her dagger back into the sheath strapped to her thigh and crossed her arms over her chest while watching the brain in the sky. “Jin, do you want to go over and check out the situation?”

“There’s bound to be a crowd, right? We wouldn’t be able to squeeze in even if we tried. I’m not fond of bustling scenes. It would be better to wait until William completes his breakthrough and then invite him to Cesimani… Then we can properly have some fun with him,” Jin said, her tongue sliding around the edge of her mouth under the mask before she and Beili returned to the training ground.

[Power Station]

Reagan stood with a stern, square-faced old man in a white uniform, both of them observing the bizarre celestial phenomenon together.

The old man was the current director of the Power Station and the research institute.

“Reagan, the agitation caused by the other party is almost of the same scale as when you made your breakthrough, but the impact seems to be more severe. In the future, if you get the chance, you can bring your friend here to have some fun at the Power Station,” the old man said.

“Okay,” Reagan replied.

Watching such a phenomenon, Reagan couldn’t help but smile genuinely from the heart. He considered William a friend, as it was William’s arrival that led him to choose to go to the Old World and allowed his childhood friend’s consciousness to awaken.

…

In the depths of the hospital’s pathology research building.

The vice-president of the hospital, Visari, stood beside the swimming pool, witnessing an incredible scene,

The exposed brain structure of Yi Chen was undergoing further changes,

The brain tissues began to proliferate unrestrainedly, spreading to every corner of the body, adhering to every muscle fiber and gradually merging, resulting in the surfaces of the muscles also faintly displaying intricate patterns of brain gyrus and sulci.

These patterns were shallow and could only be seen through dissecting the physical body. From the exterior, everything still looked normal.

As the brain cells and the physical body combined, Yi Chen’s physical control increased exponentially, and with the development of the brain, the control over the body was set to elevate in synchrony.

When the physical changes were nearing their end,

The black cloud above the hospital suddenly contracted towards the interior of the building, piercing through the isolation materials to reach the swimming pool area where Yi Chen was located, along with the Death Aura pervasive in the water, all converging into Yi Chen’s brain.

At that moment,

Everything returned to its original state, as if nothing had happened.

Between the bones of Yi Chen’s skull, a new organic brain that transcended human brains, and even in complexity surpassed the Madness Brain, settled into place,

Iron chains wrapped around the outer layer of the brain to enhance its stability, and during special times, could also be stimulated with pain,

Between each brain convolution, a metallic luster black liquid flowed steadily.

The book imprinted on the back of the head remained, recording all the knowledge absorbed from the fictional Old World during the breakthrough; one could even see the precise text registered on it.

Simultaneously, the bond to the Source Plague’s Origin had also been formally established.

The skull cap was replaced,

A pair of murky eyes reopened,

With each breath, black fog was exhaled and inhaled, and all the muscles in the body pulsated in rhythm with the breathing, rapidly reviving the long-seated body.

The retina gradually cleared, displaying corresponding text.

“Individual profession has changed!

Former profession [student] → Current profession [lecturer]

Due to the change in rank, basic attributes have been comprehensively re-rated, related abilities have been reshaped, and new abilities have been developed, please spend enough time for self-inspection and adjustment.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on N𝘰vgo.co