The Last Gentleman

Chapter 37

Books.

The thing Yi Chen was best at in his previous life.

With the new profession of [Student], he didn't even realize how quickly he was turning the pages. He spent no more than a second on each page, flipping through them as quickly as drinking water.

It only took him about ten minutes to finish reading the entire "World History" book. His mind became refreshed, experiencing an unprecedented sense of intellectual satisfaction from reading.

All the information about the world's tectonic structure was now stored in his brain.

This world has certain similarities to Yi Chen's previous world, [Earth]. It is primarily divided into land and oceans, which make up 37.1% and 62.9% of the planet, respectively.

The land is made up of one supercontinent and five surrounding continents.

*Supercontinent - Middle-Earth*

Huge, nearly equivalent to the combined area of all the continents.

The continent with the most suitable climate for life, where livestock farming is most developed, and meat export is the highest. The shape of the continent even resembles a steak on the map.

2. *Everglade*

A continent mostly covered by rainforests, home to the world's largest rainforest. It nurtures many ancient civilizations, and numerous primitive tribes live there, disconnected from the modern world.

The coastal areas have been severely industrialized, with many port cities focusing on fishing and lumber.

3. *San-Carlos*

A continent dominated by plains, appearing square on the map, with many rivers. It is the second most populous continent after Middle-Earth, and its developed nations are also second only to those in Middle-Earth.

4. *Quechua*

A continent of mountains and valleys, with a rich vertical structure. The continent has abundant mineral veins, attracting large investments. Almost every city has massive factories and long rows of giant chimneys.

The land extends vertically with snowy mountains near the poles.

It is worth mentioning that this is the continent where Yi Chen is located.

The G&D headquarters in Zion City is located on one of the peaks close to the central mountain range, surrounded by mountains and situated at a high and relatively secretive location.

5. *Broken Islands*

The only continent in the Southern Hemisphere, it was split into thirteen islands due to a massive earthquake tens of thousands of years ago. Each island has its own nation and is underdeveloped.

---

This is the general overview of the world. It’s worth noting that at the bottom right corner of the world map, there is a star marking with a small inscription:

*"This map was drawn fifty years before the onset of the Pathogenesis Era."*

The Pathogenesis Era... Does this mean that when the "Pathogenic Symptoms" began to appear worldwide, threatening human society with irreversible damage, people started a new era of counting years?

By the way, what year is it now?

---

Little Grape answered:

"According to the integrated memory in my head, it should be the 371st year of the Pathogenesis Era."

"The continent we are on, Quechua, and its connection with other continents and Middle-Earth was severed about two hundred years ago."

"As I’ve mentioned before, the spread of the Gray zone forced an end to the electrical age, causing a technological regression. All the infrastructure built by human society was abandoned."

"No one knows what’s happening in the other continents. No one knows whether Quechua is the only continent with survivors."

"So, how does it feel? A bit hopeless, right?"

---

"No… it's quite interesting! This is what adventure feels like, right?"

"By the way, aren’t our clothes designed to resist the Disease and explore the Gray Zone?"

"The organization has so many capable individuals. If we prepare thoroughly and send out strong teams like Chamberlain's, or even large military expeditions, we might be able to make contact with other continents, right?"

"Don’t think it’s that simple.

The [Gray Zone] is extremely dangerous, and there are varying levels of threat.

The most terrifying Gray Zone contain pathogenic organisms of catastrophic proportions. Even just getting close could turn you to dust.

The Gray Zone you passed through in the carriage was just the lowest, newly formed level.

Your carriage had resistance properties, and you passed through quickly as mere travelers... but real exploration is incredibly dangerous.”

"Little Grape, it seems like your memory has expanded?"

"Huh? It might be related to swallowing that giant eye. It seems like more fragmented memories in my brain have pieced together. In the future, you should feed me more of those delicious grapes. Maybe I'll remember more useful things."

"Hurry up and talk about the gradient issues with the [Gray Zones]."

At Yi Chen's request, Little Grape directly transmitted this memory file through consciousness.

Different Gray Zones are divided into five levels based on their degree of pathogenicity, the time they’ve existed, and certain unknown factors.

*[Thin]*

*[Middling]*

*[Severe]*

*[Forbidden]*

*[Dead]*

Regions covered by Gray Zones may experience changes in species composition, landforms, and even the very structure of space, hiding unpredictable dangers.

Members of the organization often explore the first three levels of Gray Zones. However, it is nearly impossible to fully explore the fourth level. Successfully obtaining some items and information from a fourth-level Gray Zone and escaping intact is already quite impressive.

As for the fifth level, Little Grape’s fragmented memories contain little information—only that entering it means there’s no chance of coming out.

Oceans between various continents contain high-level Gray Zones scattered at random.

This is the main reason why there is no communication between continents; rashly setting out to sea is a dead-end.

…

After learning the basic situation of the world and the Gray Zones, Yi Chen’s curiosity grew immensely. He wanted to know more, especially about the [Origin of Disease].

Unfortunately, despite searching the entire bookshelf, he couldn't find any books related to diseases.

And Little Grape’s memory fragments had no information about the origin of disease either.

Hoo-hoo!

The white owl that had been perched in the corner was now on a closer branch, without anyone noticing when it moved.

From its beak came a voice—a dignified, slightly old-sounding male tone: "Books about [Disease] cannot be written.

Even a seemingly harmless association in text could transform a book into a 'pathogenic medium,' potentially transmitting unknown pathogens.

What you wish to learn can be studied in the 'Pathology' course.

However, even the most distinguished professors in this academy or the most learned gentlemen in Zion City have only a surface-level or slightly deeper understanding of [Disease].

If you want to know more, then become stronger."

With that, the owl turned and flew back to its original spot.

"Understood."

Yi Chen wasn't surprised by this talking owl; after all, there was an even stranger little creature on his shoulder.

Since he was bored and had just had such a thrilling time reading, Yi Chen decided to go through every book in the bookshelf... The dopamine surge from reading made him increasingly excited.

His basic attribute of [Intelligence] even slightly improved (<0.1).

Before he knew it, two hours had passed, and Professor Chamberlain finally completed the detailed special training schedule. Every time slot was filled with no time wasted.

When he looked up, he saw Yi Chen putting a book back on the shelf.

"Reading? You look rather excited… How’s it going?"

"Finished."

"Which book did you finish?"

"All of them."

"What?"

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