Chapter 36: The Truth in the Diary and the New Mission

After obtaining his desired Grotesque Armament, Lin Jie rested in his room for two days.Only after completely recovering his mental energy did he once again step into the Underground City to plan his next course of action.

Just as Lin Jie was standing before the massive Mission Board browsing the bizarre commissions from around the world, a familiar voice sounded behind him.

Lin Jie turned to see it was Barton.

This shrewd elite investigator wore a meaningful smile on his face.

"Your performance has far exceeded headquarters' expectations. As your guide, I share in this honor," Barton said. "Moreover, the 'chain reaction' you brought about has also surpassed our imagination."

"What do you mean?" Lin Jie asked.

"Because of the portion of high-quality Chaos Brass you submitted, along with your revolutionary design drawings, that madman Arthur has fallen into some kind of frenzied creative period."

Barton's tone was filled with helplessness. "Yesterday he submitted a thirty-page research report to headquarters overnight about 'improving the utilization rate of low-grade Spiritual Materials,' which reportedly attracted high-level attention from several master-level elders in the Geneva Equipment Department."

"A technological revolution regarding the manufacturing philosophy of 'Grotesque Armaments' seems to have begun ahead of schedule because of your appearance."

"And the more direct benefit is," Barton took out a document from his chest that emitted the fresh scent of printing ink and handed it to Lin Jie, "this is what you wanted. Headquarters mobilized three linguistic masters proficient in ancient Germanic script to translate a copy of the Cartographer Karl's diary overnight. Given your tremendous contributions, headquarters specially approved that this copy... is the complete version without any deletions."

Lin Jie took the diary translation that contained knowledge and secrets, his hand trembling slightly with excitement.

This was his greatest acquisition!

He quickly returned home, locked his door securely, brewed himself a steaming cup of black tea, and then under the gas lamp, like a devout believer, slowly opened this "bible" leading to the truth of the inner world.

The translated text was in elegant English handwriting, clear and beautiful, obviously from a highly learned translation master.

Lin Jie's gaze immediately fell on the diary's final few pages, which recorded the Cartographer Karl von Stein's final journey - this meticulous German investigator's last days.

Through his accounts, a massive and bizarre conspiracy hidden behind the "Sea Witch" shipwreck emerged before Lin Jie's eyes.

"May 11, 1888, Singapore." Karl wrote in his diary. "I have finally tracked the traces of that batch of 'cargo.' An ancient mysterious organization from Qing China called 'Black Lotus' is using British merchant ships to secretly transport something they call 'Living Holy Embryos' to Europe."

"According to informant intelligence, these so-called Holy Embryos seem to be... 'eggs' of some UMA that underwent special rituals and are worshipped as deities by Black Lotus."

"Their purpose is to use the massive spiritual energy field generated when millions of tourists gather at the upcoming Paris World Exposition to complete a horrifying large-scale incubation and deity summoning ritual."

Lin Jie's heart suddenly tightened.

Black Lotus, Paris World Exposition, UMA eggs!

These words connected formed a picture of madness and disaster.

"May 18, Malacca Strait." The diary continued. "I successfully disguised myself as a botanist and boarded the freighter responsible for transporting the 'Living Holy Embryos' - the 'Sea Witch'."

"The captain and first mate have clearly been bribed by Black Lotus. They deliberately deviated from the main shipping lane and sailed into a forbidden waters locals call the 'Sea of Resentful Women'."

"I understand their intention now. They want to use the powerful spiritual energy field of the 'Deep Sea Sirens' inhabiting that sea area to prematurely 'ripen' those eggs. These madmen, they simply don't understand what dangerous power they're playing with."

"May 22, Indian Ocean." Karl's handwriting here began to become somewhat scribbled - the situation at that time was probably extremely critical. "The Deep Sea Sirens have been provoked. The aura emitted by that batch of 'Living Holy Embryos' seems to be highly toxic to them, like some kind of desecration. A bloody hunt has begun."

"I hope this can stop the coming disaster..."

The diary ended abruptly here.

Lin Jie closed the translation for a long time, his heart filled with the highest respect for this German investigator he had never met.

Karl used his own life to try to stop a massive disaster that could have shocked the world.

And he himself, by coincidence, had become the inheritor of Karl's final words.

He spent an entire day hungrily reading the other parts of the translation, greedily absorbing the Cartographer Karl's lifetime accumulation of knowledge about various UMAs, experience in creating Grotesque Armaments, and insights about various mysterious phenomena in the inner world, transforming them into the most precious knowledge reserves in his mind.

The next day, when Lin Jie once again stepped energetically into the Underground City, his demeanor was completely different from a few days before.

He habitually walked to the massive "Record of Elite Investigators."

Just as he was studying the Hunter Ranking, a hand gently patted his shoulder.

It was Barton.

"It seems you've recovered," Barton said with a smile. "Perfect timing, I have a new commission here that headquarters specifically recommended you to take on."

"Oh?" Lin Jie was somewhat surprised.

Barton handed him a new mission document marked "Alert-class."

[Event Summary: Recently, multiple fishermen and local residents have claimed to have witnessed an "unknown aquatic creature with long neck, humped back, and body size as large as a whale" in the waters near Urquhart Bay of Loch Ness.

The local "Inverness Courier" has reported on this matter, attracting small-scale attention. Meanwhile, the Association's 'Aether Fluctuation' monitoring station set up in the lake area has also recorded several weak but highly regular energy anomalies.]

Loch Ness Monster!

Lin Jie's heart surged with waves.

This famous legend that was almost universally known in his previous life actually existed in this world too?

And its threat level was only Alert-class?

"Why recommend me?" Lin Jie asked.

The core of this mission was "observation and research," which didn't seem to require high combat capability.

"Because the two traits you've demonstrated perfectly match this mission."

Barton explained, "First, your interpretive ability might allow you to perceive some reverberations about that creature from that ancient lake that our instruments cannot detect. Second,"

Barton's eyes became somewhat playful, "your first creation, the , its modular concept has greatly interested the Equipment Department masters."

"They very much want to know what effects this equipment will demonstrate when 'aquatic environment adaptation' or other environmental modules are added to it. So, this mission can also be seen as an opportunity the Association is providing you for... 'field testing of new equipment'."

"Of course," Barton added finally, "the Loch Ness area is sparsely populated with complex environment. For your safety, the Association will still assign you a partner."

"Sergeant William speaks highly of you. He actively applied for this opportunity to accompany you."