The Last Gentleman
Chapter 679: 677: Three People Walking
[Zion]
The reconstructed Omphalo-Centric-Academy, within the office of the Principal of the Fetal Heart Church.
Principal Desline was contacting stars, engaging in cross-border communication with the stargazer group of the Old World, sharing her perceptions of the starry sky. Her entire body was radiating a milky-white glow, with brilliant star particles flowing all over her.
Suddenly, a strange shift in the star formation made her body tremble violently, as if something bad was about to happen.
Without hesitation,
her body disassembled into star particles, and her aura vanished within the academy.
...
[Holy Grail Mountain-Entrance]
William stood on the edge of the cliff, his silver hair cascading by his ears.
Due to his perfect fusion experience with Lorrian, the illness related to the moon in William’s body was further purified,
not only turning his hair silver but also whitening his entire skin, and even his pupils slightly changed.
He soon sensed the range of the moon. Indeed, it was on the other side of the world;
a "cross-sea" journey seemed inevitable.
Just as William was about to leap down from the summit of Holy Grail Mountain,
Whirr! A familiar and intimate sensation hit him,
and amidst the gray matter pathogens lingering on the mountaintop, a tall woman wearing a Crying Mask and high heels walked out.
"Principal?"
"Stargazer!" Nash followed by shouting this title.
"William, why have you suddenly come back? Didn’t Reagan and Jin come with you?"
"No~ I came back mainly to deal with a personal matter, so I didn’t call them."
"Personal matter... Is it urgent?"
"It is somewhat urgent, but there’s still time for a private chat with you, Principal."
"Come with me."
The Principal extended her hand and drew a circle, surprisingly mobilized the surrounding gray matter to form a portal in space.
Passing through the portal,
the two directly appeared in an abandoned town thousands of kilometers away, inside a still somewhat clean house.
The Principal also removed her mask, revealing her stunningly beautiful face,
perhaps due to the prolonged interaction with stargazers before, her pupils even displayed cross-shaped starbursts and shimmered with each breath.
Such eyes stared intently at William, detecting something unusual,
besides the intensified abyssal aura that William carried, it seemed that something was parasitizing his brain.
Without waiting for the Principal to question him, William directly had Nash temporarily disengage the parasitic state,
squelch squelch~ an amoeba squeezed out of his ear canal and quickly coalesced into a human form.
"Stargazer, hello! I am the deputy chief, Mahat J. Nash,"
Desline immediately sensed a threat, decisively scrutinizing this unfamiliar illness of the Old World with her stellar gaze,
inside Nash, the Principal saw ancient cells capable of producing various strange proteins indefinitely, efficiently, and unrestrictedly, leading her to an extremely dangerous assessment.
"Deputy chief? What does that mean?"
William also quickly explained, "It’s like this, I serve as the chief actor in the circus, and Nash is the deputy actor. We both run this department, and he is very capable.
By the way, Principal, what brought you here proactively? Is there an urgent matter in Zion needing attention?"
"The blood citizens have been cleared, and Zion has basically returned to normal. I came because you... are very dangerous."
"I am very dangerous?" William’s eyes widened in confusion.
Desline snapped her fingers directly in front of William.
From her fingertips, star particles burst out, merging with the ’aura’ surrounding William, rapidly forming a star map above his head.
"Look up and see for yourself, what a mess your star chart has become?"
"Ah?"
William looked up to see a bunch of strange star systems right above his head, moving irregularly,
Some star domains were still shrouded in dense fog, making them unclear, and some planets were strangely shaped and even undergoing intense magnetic storms;
some planets were even stuck together.
"What is this?"
"Everyone has a corresponding future star map;
most people’s star systems are very regular. But yours is utterly chaotic, and some planets have even exploded.
This suggests that you might experience very dangerous things in the future... What exactly are you planning to do this time you’ve come back?"
William didn’t hide anything, telling her all about the circus’s split-up and his desire to go to the Moon, and inviting Lorrian to join the theater.
Principal Daislin knit her brows as if she were a fool watching William,
"Are you low in emotional intelligence? The way you trick people in Zion, you even almost killed someone, and now you want to ask for their help? Aren’t you afraid they might turn around and kill you?
No wonder your future star map is a mess. But there’s something strange... your level is higher than when you fought the blood citizens, and you’re bringing such a deputy.
Even if Moon Scar intends to kill you, it won’t be that easy, not enough to cause such chaotic star formations."
While talking about this, Principal Daislin and William’s thoughts suddenly converged, leading to a key point.
"Galon!"
Principal Daislin pondered, "Galon was taken away by the Moon, and there has been no news of him since.
We need to consider the possibility that Galon has been assimilated by the moonlight... If Galon’s power is utilized by the Moon, it certainly poses a threat to your lives.
I’m coming with you on this mission!"
"Principal, don’t you need to stay in Zion?"
"Don’t underestimate the other Prophets;
as soon as I leave, a Prophet will immediately take over my duties. Moreover, since this matter involves the First Gentleman, I’m also obligated to handle it.
Plus, if there’s any danger, I can help you all escape quickly."
At this moment, Nash suddenly interjected, "The prophecy of the Stargazer can’t be wrong;
if it’s really that dangerous, having a Stargazer accompany us will significantly reduce the risk."
"We appreciate your trouble, Principal."
"How about we return to Zion and bring more people, like your teacher Zede?"
"No... I still plan to resolve this peacefully. Teacher Zede is not entirely stable, and both Lorrian and Galon are very good at targeting psychology. If out of control, the situation can become extremely complicated.
Just the three of us, and if we can’t agree, we choose to escape.
The only thing is, the location of the Moon seems to be across another sea;
Principal, do you have any good way to cross the ocean?"
"Cross the sea? The ocean was the first place where the infection appeared. The current ocean is no different from that of the Old World, falling within the highest ’Dead Zone’ category in the Grey Zone that we define.
However, these grades are only for reference by Open Source Gentlemen;
we might as well ignore them."
"We’ll first head to the coastal areas, searching for those decayed cities deeply infected.
Considering the connections either you, I, or this Parasite hold, we should be able to borrow or buy a vessel sufficient to cross the sea."
"Can’t we travel there via star transmission?"
"Why don’t you ask the stargazers of the Old World if they can directly traverse the Arc Sea? Such a foolish question, William, I can’t believe you’d even ask,
Come on, if we’re in a hurry, we can leave now."
Principal Daislin stepped outside, drawing a starry Array in the middle of the road.
White light sparkled... Buzz!
An automatically advanced carriage, newly developed by Zion, appeared before them,
The black horses pulling the carriage displayed evident signs of modification,
Besides the exoskeleton armor and the electric core embedded in their backs, there were clear signs of skull surgery on the horses’ heads.
William noticed the clues right away, "Is this... stuffing the skulls of death row inmates into the horses’ skulls?"
"They are tampered with, death row inmates with beast-like illnesses."
"Interesting."
William walked towards the carriage, lightly tapped his finger on an earhole, and Nash swiftly caught on, burrowing into the brain to maintain the Parasite state.
Watching this, Principal Daislin couldn’t help feeling some discomfort, "Hey! Can the parasite in your head sense the outside situation?"
"If needed, I can directly block his perception, like during the upcoming drive."
"That’s good~"
At last, Principal Daislin showed a gentle smile that only appeared when she was with William, stepping into the carriage with her long strides. Inside, she faced a luxurious double bed.
The horses galloped, the power activated, and where the main roads were clear, they could reach speeds up to 200 km/h, greatly reducing the travel time.