Chapter 42: Another Group of Hunters?

Lin Jie's unconsciousness didn't last very long.When Sergeant William's fingers precisely pressed on a certain nerve point at the back of his neck, an intense stimulation jolted him awake from the chaotic state following his mental exhaustion.

He coughed several times, feeling as though his head was still stuffed into a roaring steam engine, with each heartbeat bringing sharp, stabbing pains.

"How are you feeling?" William's voice carried concern as he handed over a small metal flask containing extremely high-concentration medicinal brandy that could quickly revive one's spirits.

Lin Jie took a large gulp, the fiery liquid burning down his throat all the way to his stomach, finally bringing some warmth back to his cold body.

"Still alive," he answered hoarsely. "But I don't think I can use that 'perception' ability again for at least twenty-four hours."

He had profoundly experienced the tremendous cost of the Reverberation Touch ability.

It was like a double-edged sword—while cutting through the mist for him, it also mercilessly inflicted deep wounds upon himself.

The scholar's face was full of both fear and reverence.

He looked at Lin Jie's pale complexion as if gazing at a frail prophet who had just returned from divine revelation.

"Child, what you just... what you just experienced should all be recorded! This... this will be humanity's first time 'listening' to an ancient Titan's heartbeat from such close proximity!"

"Not now, Mr. MacDonald," William interrupted his excitement, the veteran's face clouded with a gloom as heavy as the Scottish Highlands sky. "We have guests, and it seems... they don't come with good intentions."

Lin Jie immediately became alert.

He followed William's gaze through the cabin's moisture-covered glass window toward the distant lake surface.

About half a mile away in the waters, another boat had appeared at some point.

It wasn't the common local steam fishing boat, but a more streamlined, obviously more powerful internal combustion engine exploration vessel.

This new type of ship fueled by refined petroleum was absolutely a luxury representing cutting-edge industrial technology in 1888, its cost far beyond what ordinary fishermen or even typical wealthy individuals could afford.

Even more striking was the behavior of the people on board.

Seven or eight burly men stood on that boat, wearing uniforms similar to some kind of exploration team outfit.

Unlike Lin Jie's group who were carefully conducting surveys, they were "provoking" this peaceful lake in a manner overflowing with predation and destruction.

They were lighting fuses on bundles of oilcloth-wrapped objects that looked like cylindrical explosives, then carelessly tossing them one after another into the lake water!

"Boom—! Boom—!"

Moments later, muffled explosions mixed with tremendous water pressure came from the depths of the lake.

Their small fishing boat noticeably rocked from the violent underwater shockwaves.

Clouds of turbid water mixed with sediment shot skyward from the lake surface, with fish killed by the blasts floating belly-up.

"Madmen! Complete and utter madmen!" The scholar trembled with anger at this sight, his scholarly face flushed red. "What are they doing? They're using nitroglycerin explosives! Are they trying to forcibly 'invite' our Guardian Deity out of its bedroom? This is sacrilege! This is the most barbaric violation of this sacred lake!"

Nitroglycerin explosives! Lin Jie's heart also sank.

This powerful explosive invented by Nobel remained strictly controlled by military forces worldwide due to its highly unstable nature.

Yet these people before them could openly toss it into the lake like setting off fireworks.

This sufficiently proved that the forces behind them were anything but simple.

Veteran William had already picked up his monocular telescope, his eyes locked firmly on every detail of that exploration vessel.

"Their equipment is very professional," William's voice was low and dangerous. "Look at that thing mounted on their gunwale—that's not a harpoon, that's a 'whaling gun' specifically designed for whaling, capable of firing heavy harpoons with barbs. And pay attention to their uniforms."

Lin Jie also raised his telescope.

He clearly saw that while the men's uniforms lacked distinctive features, decorative patterns resembling snakes coiled around great swords were embroidered with silver thread on their collars and cuffs.

Their weapons weren't ordinary shotguns or rifles either, but peculiarly shaped "steam weapons" with barrels covered in brass pipes and pressure valves, seemingly capable of firing penetrating high-pressure metal darts.

"Their goal isn't 'research' but 'capture'," Lin Jie lowered his telescope and exchanged glances with William, both seeing gravity in each other's eyes.

They immediately realized they had likely become involved in a "hunting competition" between different organizations targeting the same objective.

"What should we do now?" the scholar asked anxiously. "We must stop them! Otherwise they'll completely enrage the Guardian Deity!"

"No, we can't do anything right now," Lin Jie calmly shook his head, rejecting this impulsive proposal. "There are only three of us, with one rundown fishing boat and a few light weapons, while they have at least seven or eight people, a powerful exploration vessel, and... enough explosives to send us and our boat sky-high. Facing such an absolute power disparity, any form of direct confrontation would be suicide."

His words extinguished Alistair's anger.

Although the scholar was filled with righteous indignation, he understood Lin Jie spoke the truth.

William also nodded in agreement.

"He's right. Our primary task now is observation and intelligence gathering, to figure out these people's origins and their true purpose, and then..." his fingers tightened around his rifle, "...give them a... most unforgettable lesson at the most opportune moment."

So they slowly maneuvered their fishing boat into a concealed area formed by large rocks, dropped anchor, then covered the boat with camouflage netting, completely removing themselves from the visible side of this conflict.

They became observers lurking in the shadows.

The barbaric "fish blasting" operation continued on the lake surface.

These uninvited guests showed remarkable patience.

They had divided Urquhart Bay into several grid sections, then conducted carpet-style "explosive harassment" section by section.

Their actions were like using red-hot iron rods to continuously test and provoke the patience threshold of a slumbering dragon.

"They're forcing it out," Lin Jie had already discerned their tactics. "They don't know the creature's exact location, so they can only use this most clumsy yet effective method to anger it, compelling it to surface voluntarily due to unbearable harassment. Once it surfaces, that whaling gun and the nets they've prepared—perhaps enhanced with alchemy—will come into play."

This was a typical "beast hunting" tactic.

As time passed, the originally peaceful and calm spiritual pulse from the lake depths began to change.

Although Lin Jie could no longer use Reverberation Touch for deep perception, he could still detect, through his keen intuition far surpassing ordinary people, threads of irritation and unease slowly rising from the lake bottom.

The "Guardian Deity" that had slumbered for many years was being forcibly awakened from its dreams by these mortals' ignorance and greed.