As he delved deeper into Zion City,
Yi Chen grew increasingly amazed by the astonishing design of the city,
where even just the current section he encountered, the "Street District," was divided into three levels: upper, middle, and lower,
connected by elevators, perimeter stairs, and some indoor staircases.
It should be noted that the area entered from the main gate of the city wall corresponds to the upper street district.
That is to say the middle and lower layers are embedded within the mountain.
In addition,
Due to the district being divided into three levels,
the ground of the upper and middle layers has significant crevices and gaps, connected by circular arch bridges.
The residential architecture of the Street District still mainly follows Gothic style, with tall, slender spires, clear vertical features, vertical long windows, and so on, dark and oppressive.
A few buildings have significant stacked features that penetrate from the lower to the upper layers.
In addition,
most of the street designs are impractical,
lacking convenient access,
and even have iron gates set up at some corners and narrow points, giving a sense of winding and deliberately segmented confusion.
Moreover,
the entire street district lacks a clear main road, resembling more of a multi-layered, nonlinear maze,
where unnoticed building structures occasionally give way to a winding path that might directly lead to the other end of the street,saving dozens of minutes in travel time than other routes.
While observing the complex streets, Yi Chen offered his analysis.
"This street design, I believe, has two reasons.
1. This city is not really a tourist area, open only to internal organization personnel.
No matter how complex the street structure is, as long as internal personnel are familiar enough, it's not a problem, even more convenient at times.
2. If one day, Pathological spreads to the whole world, even reaching Zion.
If the walls are breached causing the Street District to be infected, this complex structure can be used for effective, rapid, and sectional isolation."
In addition,
thanks to enhanced senses,
Yi Chen noticed that the people living in the Street District, one by one, walked with light steps, simple movements, and elegant manners, even full of power in some subtle actions.
Their attire was also quite elaborate, every detail withstand scrutiny.
"Humans living in Zion City must all be personnel who have successfully passed the basic assessment... Even the most ordinary residents may be much stronger than us."
As he walked through the undulating streets,
Yi Chen also noticed many secret shops, with no signs, but obviously doing some business.
Additionally, some small street paths were closed off, guarded by gentlemen in suits, the reasons unknown.
He also observed,
some gentlemen walking in the streets were also carrying relatively special "pets."
Apart from parrots, kitties, and other fairly normal pets,
there were some small creatures that could fit the monster label, such as a 'dog' with its mouth shaped like a chrysanthemum and lacking other facial features, tied with Iron Chains, or a large spider with human legs.
Pet shops which were more mysterious were also set up between the streets, though their doors closed tight, one could still hear strange cries coming from inside.
No wonder then, when Yi Chen met other assessors while carrying the small grape on his shoulder, there was not much surprise from everyone.
It seems that among the organizations,
it's quite common for gentlemen to carry pets to assist in combat.
"Half an hour"
As everyone followed the lead of Mr. Jeff,
they walked across a stone arch bridge connecting to the opposite street, the bridge also met by an individual dressed oddly coming towards them.
Wearing the most iconic bird beak mask of a medieval doctor,
the mask material was very special, faintly showing flowing scars of stardust,
and was also embedded with metal structured eye sockets and nose pieces.
Mysterious yet noble.
However,
on top of wearing the bird beak mask, this individual was also draped in a white coat symbolizing modern medicine, walking barefoot.
Such an image naturally made Yi Chen think of a profession: "Doctor."
When Mr. Jeff, who was leading the way, saw this person, he immediately took off his hat and bowed in a gentleman's salute.
The accompanying assessors also halted and bowed.
However.
This mysterious doctor, as he passed by everyone, suddenly stopped.
Tilting his head,
the metal eye sockets on his bird-beak mask were staring directly at Yi Chen at the end of the line,
his breathing intermittent, releasing a sinister — even somewhat viscous — discourse:
"Death... You have a thin yet real aura of death flowing in you; where does it come from?"
Yi Chen steadied his mind and replied softly, "I am from the cemetery in Easton Town. I've been working in the cemetery prior to this."
"Merely working in a cemetery should not cause death to flow within one's body... What's your name?"
"William Behrens."
Upon receiving the name, the mysterious doctor turned and left without another word.
After this dialogue,
everyone, including Mr. Jeff who was leading the way, cast their gaze towards Yi Chen.
Blond Edmund even clapped him on the shoulder,
"Wow! Mr. William, to think you've captured the Doctor's attention... Such occurrences are rare indeed; truly, it's no wonder it's you."
The word 'Doctor'
immediately made Yi Chen think of the organization name G&D, where Doctor was indeed a significant component.
He didn't continue to feign understanding and tried asking:
"My life in the cemetery was mostly cut off from the outside world, and I'm not very clear on the so-called 'Doctor's' significance. Could you explain it?"
"Gentleman & Doctor,"
if it's to be explained simply, goes like this:
Gentleman refers to spiritual cleanliness, eradicating and rooting out the negative spirits brought about by disease from the world and constantly self-monitoring to ensure the perfection and cleanliness of human nature.
Doctor refers to physical cleanliness, employing the most direct means, using 'medical equipment' to eliminate the sources of disease that pervade the world.
Within the organization,
any gentleman awarded the 'Doctor Certificate' is undoubtedly a true powerhouse in eliminating disease roots.
Of course, some among them are also adept at treating and healing diseases; as long as one isn't completely dead, even if they are half a step into the Nether River, they can still pull you back.
In essence, they are incredibly powerful.
Keep it up, with your talent, William, perhaps one day you can also become a doctor."
"Thank you."
"We are peers after all; we should look out for each other in the future."
After the casual talk, the walk continued.
Zion City isn't very large, but fully exploring every corner is no easy task.
After about an hour and a half of walking,
the architectural density of the street started to thin out,
the winding paths gradually broadening and straightening into a clear main road,
lined on both sides with extravagantly designed 'Stone-statue Ghost Street Lights'—the sculptures of gargoyles stood about five meters tall, each holding a lantern emanating white light from an Everlasting Coal Oil Lamp.
At the end of the main road lay a Black Bridge,
broad, straight, and lengthy,
distinctly different from the previously seen circular arch bridge, not to mention it was of a completely different caliber.
The bridge surface was also covered with a layer of mist.
Clearly,
this bridge served as a 'dividing line' for the Street District, and the other end likely connected to a significant area of Zion.
After crossing the nearly one-kilometer-long Black Bridge,
the gate at the bridgehead was already wide open,
a massive mansion in the style of an Ancient Castle stood erect,
the building blocks used for the structure were large, roughly hewn stones, whose surface somehow gave off a visual impression somewhere between stone and skin.
When Yi Chen gazed at this mansion with a skin-like appearance,
a sensation of palpitation spontaneously arose; for an instant, it reminded him of Fish Scale Abyss he had once mentally visited... The two seemed to possess some profound similarity.
Or perhaps it was a sense of age,
a primal oldness far beyond Yi Chen's understanding.
"Is this the 'Divine Skin Mansion'?"