The afternoon sunlight in Munich seed congealed and heavy.
Countless tiny dust particles were performing their slow Brownian motion within the beams of light.
Lin Jie sat within this amber-like, tranquil stretch of ti.
His mind was completely subrged in Karl's legacy spread open on the desk before him.
This was already the third day the Iron Triangle team had been resting and recuperating in the capital of Bavaria.
Lin Jie chose to imrse himself in the soul remnants of this "spiritual ntor" he had t only once.
With the rigor of a dissection, he systematically recompiled the diaries and sketchbooks docunting Karl's transformation from a teenage prodigy to a cold-blooded hunter, organizing them according to tiline and event relevance.
He ticulously discerned the changes in Karl's artistic style across different periods.
The style shifted from the bright, lively agility of early Bavarian pastoral idylls to the cold, hard, precise lines of the later period.
The later artworks were filled with a utilitarian coldness analyzing the structural weaknesses of UMA.
The ntal toll of this work was imnse, far exceeding the strain of direct combat with UMA.
He was retracing Karl's path of thorns and solitude, starting from the strange encounter in the Black Forest, to his sister Lina buying his chance to escape with her life, to the cruel "first lesson" taught by that mysterious first-generation hunter ntor.
Lin Jie felt his own soul being tempered by this belated dialogue.
Just as Lin Jie was imrsed in this cross-temporal exchange, a restrained and polite knock on the door shattered the stagnant air within the room.
"Tap, tap-tap."
The sound pulled Lin Jie from the Black Forest of the 1860s back to Munich in 1888.
He raised his head, his eyes still clouded with the confusion of deep thought.
It took him a few seconds to reconnect with reality.
"Co in," he said.
A hotel waiter in a crisp uniform pushed the door open, bowed respectfully, and handed over a hard envelope wrapped in waterproof oilcloth.
The envelope bore no writing, only a complex seal pressed into wax. The seal's pattern was an open Eye of Horus encircled by a compass, a set of scales, and a sword.
This was the symbol of I.A.R.C.
"Mr. Lin, this was just delivered by a ssenger, addressed specifically to you."
Lin Jie calmly took the envelope, gave the man a few Marks as a tip, and then closed the door.
His heart began to beat uncontrollably faster the mont he saw the seal.
This was not a mission assignnt.
Mission assignnts were typically sent encrypted via telegraph from the London Branch.
This thod of physical letter delivery signified a certain level of ergency and importance.
He used a paper knife to slice open the wax seal and pulled out a sheet of stiff cardstock from inside.
On the cardstock were rows of encrypted characters printed in German Gothic typeface. There was no signature, no date, only pure information.
Lin Jie retrieved the cipher page from his hunter's manual and began swiftly and skillfully deciphering it.
A few minutes later, the final character was translated, revealing a command brief to the point of brutality.
"To all Association mbers active within the state of Bavaria: By order, all personnel must report to the I.A.R.C. Munich Branch (coordinates: 17 Red Swallow Road, cover identity: 'Bavarian Precision Gears and Power Core Factory') by 19:00 hours today."
"An A-level ergency mission briefing will be issued. Mission codena: 'Silent Avalanche.'"
"This is a high-priority directive. No delays, no inquiries. End of directive."
Lin Jie's brow furrowed tightly.
"Silent Avalanche." The codena itself was contradictory and eerie.
An avalanche implied violence, ferocity, and deafening destruction.
Yet "Silent" pointed to a phenonon defying the laws of physics.
It didn't sound like a routine UMA hunt. It sounded more like dealing with an unknown, large-scale disaster.
As he prepared to put the telegram away and notify William and Julian, his gaze was drawn to a line of writing at the very bottom of the cardstock.
It wasn't printed Gothic type. It was a line of handwritten script in Inknn ink, penned with a fountain pen, the strokes carrying a sense of force and personal style.
This line of handwriting had been added later.
It disrupted the icy, official feel of the entire telegram, injecting a subtle, personal ssage.
"We greatly need the Interpreter's perspective. Barton highly recomnded you. K"
Lin Jie's pupils contracted.
And this mysterious person signed "K" not only knew about them but also had a direct communication channel with Barton at the London Branch.
This indicated they had been specially "invited" into this situation by soone in a high position within the Munich Branch.
This thin sheet of cardstock suddenly felt heavy.
Lin Jie delayed no further.
He locked Karl's diaries and sketchbooks back into the leather case and left his room.
He first knocked on Julian's door, only to find it empty.
He guessed this scholar with an insatiable thirst for knowledge was probably currently lost in the National Library.
He turned and headed for William's room.
The door was slightly ajar, and a sll mixing tallic scents with gun oil wafted through the crack.
Lin Jie gently pushed the door open and saw the expected scene.
William sat at a small table covered with a white linen cloth.
He wore only a singlet on his upper body, his expression focused as he ticulously cleaned a rifle barrel with a cleaning rod and a small piece of flannel soaked in gun oil.
His Colt revolver, the Zulu's Gaze telescope, and several rows of special alchemical ammunition of different colors were all within easy reach beside him.
The old soldier didn't look up, rely speaking in his gravelly voice, "There's a mission."
It wasn't a question. It was a statent.
Lin Jie handed over the letter in his hand, once again marveling at his partner's beast-like intuition.
William didn't look at the encrypted characters. His gaze went directly to the few lines of instructions Lin Jie had translated.
After reading them, he simply gave a slight nod and then continued his gun-cleaning ritual that seed like it could last until the end of ti.
His silence was the most reliable answer.
Lin Jie returned to the lobby. While waiting for Julian, his mind operated at high speed, analyzing the limited intelligence they currently possessed.
The I.A.R.C. Munich Branch was a completely unfamiliar territory to him.
"Silent Avalanche" was an ergency mission of unknown nature.
And that mysterious "K" was a local power who knew his background, with unclear intentions.
This trip to Germany seed destined not to be peaceful.
Half an hour later, Julian finally hurried back from outside, covered in the dust of travel.
The French scholar didn't even have ti to take a drink of water before eagerly presenting the results of his "field research" at the library.
"My friend, I must say, compared to the historically rich atmosphere of the London Branch, the Munich Branch's reputation within the Association is like a Prussian military factory!" Julian exclaid, waving his arms exaggeratedly.
"I consulted so informal hunter's notes. They describe this place as a 'fortress'! Absolute efficiency, absolute discipline, and a deep-rooted suspicion of all non-German mbers!"
He lowered his voice, his eyes sparkling with schadenfreude and wariness. "It is said the hunters of the Munich Branch are known for their tough style, strict hierarchy, and extre exclusivity."
"They revere frontal firepower and team coordination. They hold a structural disdain for semi-independent 'roving' squads like ours, especially for 'non-combatants' like . If we want to earn respect there, I'm afraid we'll have to show so real capability."
Lin Jie listened quietly to Julian's intelligence briefing, then pushed the encrypted letter in front of him.
The expression on Julian's face instantly froze.
He only needed a glance at the mission codena and the A-level designation to imdiately drop his playful deanor.
When he saw the final handwritten note from "K," his eyebrows shot up. He glanced at Lin Jie, his eyes questioning.
"It seems," Lin Jie said, "we are making our entrance this ti as 'specially invited guests.'"
"Guests anticipated by one part of the host, yet viewed with caution by another," Julian added precisely, having fully shifted into work mode.
"This performance is likely to be far more interesting than we imagined."
The decision was made. No further discussion was needed.
The three mbers of the Iron Triangle each returned to their rooms and completed all pre-departure preparations in the shortest ti possible.
After all three had completed their respective internal preparations.
Lin Jie glanced at the ti on the wall clock.
There was still an hour and a half before the stipulated deadline.
Ti was still relatively ample.
"We still need a bit of external supplentation."
Imdiately after, a "pre-battle procurent" operation unfolded in the Bavarian capital as night was about to descend.
They did not head for the opulent-scented Royal Avenue.
Instead, guided by Julian's all-encompassing "Munich Traveler's Guide," they dove straight into the city's complex, interwoven backstreets and alleys, brimming with the scent of daily life.
Their first stop was an inconspicuous "mountaineering supplies" shop, catering to Alpine climbers and local hunters.
Here, Lin Jie, with a discerning eye, selected a pair of high-top mountaineering boots for each team mber. The boots were made of thick German cowhide with anti-slip copper studs embedded in the soles.
He also procured high-calorie food capable of sustaining them for at least seventy-two hours in frigid environnts, and several rolls of special-purpose rope woven using Swiss military technology.
Their second stop was a more professional and more dangerous-slling miner's supply specialty store.
Here they purchased several flare sticks capable of burning steadily even in damp and oxygen-deprived environnts.
And the newest model of "miner's lamp," the latest invention by German engineers, capable of producing a bright, stable acetylene fla through the chemical reaction of high-purity calcium carbide with water.
At 6:30 PM, half an hour before the final deadline stipulated in the telegram, an unremarkable black carriage stopped at the rear entrance of the King Ludwig I Hotel.
Lin Jie, William, and Julian, dressed in dark, practical clothing, boarded the carriage one after another.
The coachman asked no questions. He rely confird the discreet Association pin on their chests and gave a sharp crack of the whip.
The carriage smoothly and swiftly rged into Munich's dusk-ti traffic, heading towards the unknown location nad the "Bavarian Precision Gears and Power Core Factory."
Outside the window, the city gradually lit up with gas lamps in the twilight, the architectural outlines tinged with a layer of warm gold.
But this peaceful glow of lights could not dispel the cold atmosphere of the unknown mission that perated the carriage interior.
What exactly was "Silent Avalanche"?
Who was the mysterious "K"?
Lin Jie leaned against the carriage window, watching the scenery flash by outside. His hand unconsciously rested on the grip of the Serene Heart.
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