The Last Gentleman

Chapter 41

The so-called "free activity time" is as literal as it sounds.

Except for regular classes and occasional free time, Hogni Zed is entirely confined within this sealed school building. All his meals and any needs for experiments or daily life will be provided by the school as best as they can.

…

"Are his outdoor hours strictly limited? Is the academy treating him like a usable ‘prisoner’? Just how dangerous is this guy for the academy to make such a decision?"

Yi Chen sensed an even greater hidden danger surrounding Teacher Zed. Yet, he felt no fear nor any urge to escape; instead, he was even more intrigued and looked forward to physical training.

In class, he had witnessed firsthand how Zed dissected nearly every part of his own body, even displaying his organs. Such actions, enough to kill someone a hundred times over, seemed like child's play to Zed.

Moreover, he appeared to have a "super-fast, targeted healing" ability. For instance, cut body parts would immediately heal once he no longer needed them on display. For areas that needed to remain exposed, he could keep wounds open or even halt his blood flow, manipulating his circulation.

He controlled every inch of his body with precision.

Learning something real from him would surely be immensely beneficial for his own physical development.

As he followed Zed toward his "office," Yi Chen glanced at the classroom filled with corpses. "What will you do with those bodies?"

"Don't worry. They were created for class purposes.

Their bodies are preserved with a special preservative and have a shelf life of over three months.

Since next week's classes will use them, we’ll just leave them here."

"Understood."

Following Zed down the narrow staircase of the sealed school building, they descended further… down even below the first floor into a deeper level.

Click~ The hidden door opened.

Below, there was a small elevator leading further down.

"Are we still going down?"

"Yes~ Ever since my misconduct, my title was stripped, and my original office was repurposed. The folks at the academy specially customized an underground office for me."

"Mr. Zed, were you a professor at the academy?"

"More like an assistant professor at best. I’m not very skilled in socializing or writing… and I actually don’t even enjoy teaching students.

It’s only because when I exhibit and dissect my own body in front of you newcomers, I feel a sense of satisfaction on a psychological level. It probably has a lot to do with the peculiar structure of my hypothalamus.

That’s why I chose to teach here."

"Oh…"

Hearing this, Yi Chen roughly understood Zed's "quirk"… Of course, ‘displaying his body’ might just be one of his quirks.

While riding the elevator, Yi Chen glanced a few times at the black cloth covering Zed’s eyes. From earlier details in class, it was evident that Mr. Zed had an issue with his vision.

Yi Chen was quite curious about how someone as resilient as Zed could be blind… Even if his eyes were damaged, wouldn’t they just heal? But such a sensitive question was better saved for when they were more familiar.

At that moment, Little Grape's voice sounded:

"His 'eyes' have been taken."

"Taken? Can’t they regenerate?"

"I can’t sense the concept of 'eyes' on him at all; it’s entirely different from damaged or missing eyeballs… It’s as if, fundamentally, as a biological entity, the 'eye' organ doesn’t exist for him.

Naturally, he can’t regenerate them, nor is there any method to repair them.

But judging by his daily actions, he’s long accustomed to life without vision, and his other senses completely replace the function of sight."

"Is this natural?"

"Maybe… or perhaps he lost them conceptually while exploring the Grey Zone."

"I see."

Clang!

The elevator descended to the very bottom.

Only a narrow arched passage lay ahead, barely wide enough for a single adult to pass through. At the end of the corridor was a fully sealed iron door with no windows, equipped with a hydraulic valve.

Embedded on the door was a clock-like timer, showing only one minute left.

Each time Zed leaves, the clock begins counting down. If he doesn't return before the timer ends, the alarm will sound across the entire building, and a wave of gentlemen will immediately rush to capture and subdue him.

If he's deemed to be escaping with malicious intent, execution would follow.

Buzz! The iron door opened.

With mere seconds left, Zed stepped into his office.

The hydraulic valve rotated, and three cylindrical locks emerged from the two-meter-thick iron door, embedding into the wall and sealing it entirely.

As the door shut, Yi Chen felt a complete disconnection from the outside world.

The office itself was quite spacious, with several rooms dedicated to Zed's daily needs, storage, corpse preservation, personal experiments, and some rooms with unknown purposes.

However, each room was equipped with a "live surveillance eye."

Yes, a real, living eyeball, suspended in the corner of each wall and connected by numerous nerves, constantly monitoring everything within Zed's office.

If anyone needed anything, a simple gesture towards the eye would summon an attendant to inquire about the specifics after a while.

"This isn't an office; it's essentially a glorified 'private prison.'

Just how dangerous is this Zed, or what kinds of terrible things has he done for them to establish an underground prison just for him and monitor him around the clock?"

---

*Upper Floor of the Wilsterman Teaching Building - Monitoring Room*

This room was filled with brain tissue and nerve connections and also 'installed' numerous heads of reanimated corpses.

These heads were sourced from the organization’s cemetery and represented the better-developed zombie products.

Each head had a 'data port' smashed into the back, with nerve lines inserted.

The other end of these connections linked to the "surveillance eyeballs" throughout the building, allowing the staff in the monitoring room to view real-time "surveillance footage" by examining the pupils of these reanimated heads through magnifying glasses.

Such 'improper' facilities would never appear on Zion's surface.

Gurgle~

Professor Chamberlain had arrived here an hour earlier for one reason only: to observe the initial meeting between Yi Chen and Hogni Zed.

After learning about Yi Chen's excellent classroom performance and watching him peacefully ride the elevator with Zed to the office on the surveillance feed, he felt reassured.

"It's rare, Professor Chamberlain, for you to be so concerned about a new student, and to even introduce him to Zed, that twisted freak.

I'm curious. Could you share the reason?"

The question came from the head of the surveillance area—a tall woman in high heels, a black dress, and a mask with a dark gold brain pattern.

"Zed has unmatched physical abilities in this academy… My student's career is associated with intelligence yet wishes to develop in physique as well.

I approved of his aspiration, but to achieve such multi-attribute limit, he must seek the best possible mentor.

That's the reason."

The head questioned back, "Even if he risks death and the loss of valuable talent, does that not concern you?"

"Better to die at Zed's hands than outside..."

"Interesting. I’ll keep an eye on this student and do my best to prevent his death."

"Thank you, Ms. Oressa."

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