The Last Gentleman

Crossing the Black Bridge and fully leaving the jurisdiction of the Divine Skin Mansion,

Manager Aiji wanted to say something,

but after glancing at Qian Bosen, he swallowed the words in his mouth, patted Yi Chen heavily on the shoulder, adjusted the tilt of his top hat, and returned alone to the Gentleman Hall.

Qian Bosen then led Yi Chen to a nearby elevator, heading to the lower street district, naturally aiming for the tailor shop.

“Professor, are these skins to be used for upgrading clothes?”

“Since you already have a suitable pair of Casting Gloves, there’s no need to create fabric items.

You haven’t upgraded your clothes since you entered the city, which involves adding extra Gentleman’s Skin to increase the ‘Skin Content’ of the clothing.

Moreover, your clothes were severely damaged in this incident and require some skin for complete repair.”

Since the topic came up, Yi Chen took the opportunity to ask Professor Qian Bosen some questions about ‘clothing.’

It mentioned a very important point—[Skin Content].

Gentlemen accepted by the organization can perform various tasks to earn extra ‘Gentlemen’s Skin’ as a reward, and most people use it to complete their attire, gradually increasing the [Skin Content] between garments to its maximum.

Once the maximum is reached, tailors will refuse to add any more skin.

What happens if it exceeds this so-called maximum Skin Content? That point wasn’t mentioned in the books.”

“It leads to loss of control, allowing the clothing to develop an autonomous consciousness beyond individual control, eventually engulfing the gentleman, a process also known as [Skin Stripping].

In the early days, Zion experienced such incidents due to unfamiliarity with the use of skin.’

One well-known example is the ‘Charles family incident’ that occurred 75 years ago, where the eldest son of the family, Charles Fudier, became obsessed with the power provided by the Gentleman’s Skin, and forcibly inserted an excessive amount of skin into his garments via unconventional methods.

This resulted in his entire family being stripped of their skin overnight,

and when the nearby patrol team noticed abnormalities and broke into the family’s house, they found bodies stripped of skin hanging everywhere,

and a ‘clothing body’ that had devoured the entire family’s skins. Fortunately, a nearby high-ranked gentleman and a doctor jointly suppressed it, managed to subdue the clothing body, disassembled it back into Gentleman’s Skin, and quelled the incident.”

Yi Chen had always been skeptical about ‘Gentlemen’s Skin,’ wondering what exactly these life-connected and ancient system-linked materials were.

“Clothing body? Could it be that the essence of the Gentleman’s Skin is some kind of pathogen?”

“To be precise, it should be called ‘controllable pathogen’ or ‘beneficial pathogen.’

This pathogen can be controlled and utilized by us humans, greatly increasing our survival rate, allowing human civilization to continue in such a world. ꞦáNÒᛒĚș

The development of the organization over hundreds of years proves the stability and controllability of the Gentleman’s Skin.”

“Is that so…” Yi Chen nodded thoughtfully, then continued to inquire, “So, does the existence of the ‘First Gentleman’ underground signify [control over the skin]?”

Professor Qian Bosen answered without hesitation, “Connection, control, and production. His contribution is selfless, great, and incomparable… It is precisely because of such great beings willing to dedicate themselves that the organization and human civilization can continue to develop and prosper.”

“Hmm.”

Yi Chen wasn’t too surprised, or rather, he had expected as much, and simply acknowledged with a sound.

To him, Gentleman’s Skin was like probiotics in the human body, symbiotically living with humans, guarding against invasive pathogens that can induce various diseases.

“Professor, besides the skin directly taken from the ‘First Gentleman,’ where do those ordinary Gentleman’s Skin come from, as well as those carrying the ancient aura?”

“With your observational skills, you must have discovered something in the deep layers of the mansion?

The iron chains used to bind the ‘First Gentleman’ are covered with his derivative skins; these skins continue to grow and spread, transmitting through the chains to the surface, eventually reaching Divine Skin Mansion.

Through special processing by the clergy, these derivative skins are clipped, categorized, and collected.

Different derivative skins carry different amounts of ancient aura.

If the skin of the First Gentleman is considered to have 100% content, these derivative skins will not exceed 50%.”

Skin content of 30% to 50% is defined as skin carrying the aura of the old world.

Skin content of 15% to 30% is defined as the most ordinary Gentleman’s Skin.

Skin with less than 15% content performs very poorly and is often packaged and sent to Organization-affiliated tailor shops to be used as “scraps.”

Yi Chen nodded and then steered the conversation back to clothing:

“I see! Another question, since the ‘maximum skin content’ of gentleman’s clothes varies from person to person.

Could there possibly exist a powerful human who can completely control the Skin, perfectly adapt to the Gentleman’s Skin, and wear clothes with 100% skin content… Wait, no!”

At this point, Yi Chen suddenly realized something,

Qian Bosen, smiling, took over the conversation, “Indeed, such a human exists… and that is the First Gentleman himself.”

By this time, Yi Chen’s expression had changed,

He stared at the ‘First Gentleman’s Skin’ enclosed in the black box, felt the texture of the skin in the Clothing Room, and recalling the state of the First Gentleman, he couldn’t help but shudder.

“If I keep using the First Gentleman’s Skin to supplement the clothing, and one day reach 100% content and I can fully control it, then…”

At this point, Qian Bosen stopped.

“I was just discussing this issue privately with manager Aiji, you might really have this potential.

You must have felt it too, this time your walk in the Divine Skin Mansion attracted more scrutiny and spying than last time; the Clergy’s attention on you has noticeably increased.

And the First Gentleman giving you a 15×15cm patch of skin wasn’t because he felt sorry for the damage to your body, but because you were chosen.”

Such words made Yi Chen stunned, his skin tingled and goosebumps covered his body.

Qian Bosen gently patted his shoulder, comforting:

“Don’t be nervous, it just means you were ‘selected’ as a candidate.

There are at least ten gentlemen in all of Zion who have been chosen… Most of them have already surpassed the Limit of Man; if a choice has to be made, they are the primary considerations.

Moreover, if it really comes to that and you are confirmed by the Divine Skin Mansion as the best candidate, I, as your first tutor, will do everything in my power to ensure your ‘right of choice.’

If you do not wish to become the First Gentleman, I can assure you a way out of Zion.

So don’t worry too much about the issue with the skin, it shouldn’t affect your personal development… Make full use of the resources at hand, follow the most suitable path forward, and reach higher levels.

At this stage, increasing your skin content will only benefit you, and when it reaches its maximum, you might even be able to awaken the ancient powers within it to achieve a deeper combination and greatly improve your disease curing efficiency.”

“Thank you, Professor Qian Bosen.”

Nameless Tailor Shop

When the two returned to the doorway of the Clothing Room, Mr. Ivan was surprisingly at work.

After about an hour of waiting, a familiar figure emerged.

“William, what a coincidence!”

It was Jin, her clothes completely ruined in the church incident and currently she had Mr. Ivan make the same patterned shirt.

“Jin, the skin in your clothes is?”

“Wasn’t a piece issued for the mission? Then, from the Holy Fetus Meat where you minced, many skins from the missing squad were also extracted; isn’t that enough?”

Jin had also noticed the black box in Yi Chen’s hands, stepped closer to him, and whispered, “Are you sure about using such a large piece of skin to increase your skin content? It’s a bit risky.”

“Hmm.”

Seeing Yi Chen’s resolute expression, Jin didn’t say anything more.

“Very confident, huh~ I’m looking forward to it too, wanting to see the reaction of those in charge of the skin in Zion when you fully control this Skin… Go make your clothes, I’ll wait for you outside.”

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