The Gentleman at the End-Chapter 744 - 742: Landing on the Moon

[Outside Lu Pu City]

The bustling moon-viewing area outside the city, which had been abuzz with activity, now only 188 people possessed the advanced qualifications.

Inside the cabin,

When Catherine awoke, her flower wheel pupils also spun along,

She completed her role-play and corresponding tasks with a remaining fear value of[8.5], finding the entire experience not only exciting but also a bit bizarre.

She could sense that the game scenario had a high degree of similarity to the otherworld she had previously visited with William, yet the expressions of fear within were different, and there were even several moments that genuinely startled Catherine.

She glanced at Art, who was beside her sporting a strange smile and quickly elbowed him, "Hey! Boss, were you scared at all?"

Art had no interest in answering such a dull question, "It was quite interesting, just a shame the danger was a bit on the low side~ I hope the performance after the lunar ascent will be more entertaining... Though it was rather nice to see some new things."

Catherine purposefully cupped her hands into a flower shape and rested her chin on them, "Wow! Your fear value didn’t drop at all, I guess that’s only possible for a boss like you... Ah! It really shows the gap between us, I wonder when I’ll be able to knock you off the top spot."

"When you can kill me, Catherine, the chief position is yours," Art replied.

Another topic came to Catherine’s mind, "What are we going to do if, after we ascend to the moon, we encounter that moon boy? Are you going to kill him?

This performance is overseen by the Duke, after all. If New Moon Origin is involved, it’s likely under the Duke’s protection and possibly even a ’premier customer’."

Art quickly waved his hand, "I never said I’d kill him... I’m representing the clown department of the Circus~ It wouldn’t look good if we went about killing people indiscriminately.

If we meet, deepening his ’fear’ would be okay.

The tumors inside him aren’t so easy to truly excise."

While the two conversed, the ’Yin Head’ hanging in the sky had already finished absorbing the fear of all the preliminary contestants, and a voice came out from its tooth-filled maw;

while processed, Catherine could instantly tell it was William’s voice.

"Congratulations to everyone for passing the preliminary round! Next, please continue to gaze at the Yin Head, and follow its breathing to complete the lunar ascent."

The mouth of the Yin Head slowly opened, revealing the structure inside its oral cavity, which bore a strange spiral configuration at the throat,

As the Yin Head inhaled, a pulling force immediately acted upon everyone, causing them to drift towards its mouth in succession.

While many were somewhat apprehensive, Art was the first to relax his body and let the sensation of attraction work on the infinite tumors hidden beneath his clown outfit, floating over like a balloon.

Catherine, on the other hand, reached out her hand as if she was grabbing a balloon,

She grasped the thread or, more accurately, some sort of desiccated blood intestine, dangling from the bottom of Art’s costume, cheerily waving goodbye to the other moon-viewers, especially towards that group of ’mother-daughter pairs’ from the Arc Sea.

"Catherine!!"

Lia Roman, the ’Ancestor Primordial Body’ adorned with a red droplet on her forehead, immediately spotted the floating Catherine, her long-lost daughter.

But as she attempted to exert control over her through their maternal genes, she was repelled by a mysterious force, which even caused flowers to bloom below her.

And not only that,

Lia’s gaze gradually shifted to the object Catherine was pulling,

When she saw Art’s true form, as an entity second only to the Plague Master of Arc Sea, she actually felt a hint of threat, even sensing her eyeballs swelling as she stared.

"Cancer Palace... No~ That doesn’t feel like the Honored Tumor Knights. Has Catherine fallen to such depths to associate with a guy like that, turned to evil?"

Lia looked at her daughters beside her,

All nine of her daughters brought along had passed the preliminaries without exception, although a few were experiencing physiological discomfort and were currently vomiting.

As most of them looked up at the sky, they also murmured in a hushed voice: "Sister Catherine!"

"Let’s go, we should head up too."

Under Lia’s lead, all nine daughters followed her towards the False Moon.

Upon seeing this, many moon admirers at the scene followed suit. Although they experienced real fear during the initial selection, they also wanted to gain the power that did not belong to the Old World.

Thus, only six of the selected participants who were overly frightened gave up on the moon ascent.

The rest of the chosen were invaded by the "Mouth" of the False Moon’s Yin Head,

falling through the multi-layered ring structures of the cave, ultimately landing in the core area of the Yin Head. In front of them was a completely dark crossroad, with a left and right path each marked by a signpost.

"Left, Clinic, Transformation, Audience"

"Right, Backstage, Selection, Actor"

Just when everyone was feeling puzzled, the master of the theater, who was also the chief director of this performance, William Y. Behrens, emerged from the darkness attired in a magnificent night costume.

"I’m very thankful for everyone’s support of my performance, especially grateful that Art and Miss Catherine could come ’visit the set’ and even willingly use their own time to join in.

My name is William Behrens, and I am the head of the Fear Circus Theater Department.

As you’ve seen, the selected ones will face two choices."

William gestured elegantly towards the left,

"First, as I’ve promised everyone before, the moon admirers who successfully passed the initial selection will come into contact with and obtain a power not from the Old World.

But getting this power is not simple; it might even impact your life form, with severe cases possibly endangering your lives.

But don’t worry, if you choose to go left, someone will first take you to see the transformation model, and the final decision to undergo the transformation is yours to make.

It’s certain that, taking the patients who have successfully embraced this power as an example, they have all broken free from their past fetters. Even the lower Non-Normality patients have already completed the path.

Once you choose to go to the Clinic, whether you accept the transformation or not, you can only become an "Audience" and cannot participate in the final performance as an actor.

At that time, you will enter the "Theater" through the main entrance, take your seat in the audience, and enjoy the ultimate performance brought to you by me and the other performers."

Furthermore, our current transformation technology has not been applied to Silver Circle patients, nor is it recommended for patients who have completed the path and embraced the Ancient Gene to undergo transformation."

William then pointed to the right,

"The path to the right is the actors’ corridor, where you will obtain the qualification to participate in the final performance, but of course, there are conditions.

1. A fear value above 7.5 remaining during the initial selection,

2. The standard reached must be from the later phase of Open Source, but the final performance carries significant risks, and only Silver Circle standards can provide the most basic safety guarantee.

3. The prospective actors who opt for the right side will be unable to accept the transformation and will also undergo an ’audition’ backstage. Only those who pass the audition can officially participate in the performance. The eliminated ones can choose to take a seat in the audience and watch the performance."

Actors who get to participate in the final performance will receive a grand gift package, and in the end, we will also select the best actor who will receive a shopping voucher worth fifty thousand Ancient Coins to use at the Duke’s Chamber of Commerce."

Last but not least, the final performance will officially start in 12 hours. I hope to leave a deep impression on everyone and that you might gain something from such a performance afterward.

Please make your choice."

However, Art was the first to close in, leaning close to William with his exaggerated hawk-like nose pressing against the cheek mask, sniffing as he spoke:

"Hey! The final performance won’t be playing house like the initial selection, right? Got anything real, William?"

"Certainly, there is! I guarantee you’ll be satisfied, Art."

"That’s good to hear. By the way, is that moon kid around here? Will he be participating in the final performance?"

"Lorrian is here, but he needs to maintain the operation of the entire False Moon. He won’t participate in the final performance. However, among those participating will be some who might give you a headache."

"Oh! Well then, I have no choice but to join... Hey! Since we’re all chiefs here, can you give a sneak peek if it’s possible to kill in the final performance?"

"Under special circumstances, it is possible."

A tongue covered in tumors licked between Art’s yellow teeth, "Then that’s good, I’m going to sign up now~ Don’t let me down, otherwise..." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Art suddenly stretched the corners of his mouth, pulling a grimace, with the opened cavity filled with painfully swollen tumors resembling human faces.