The barn wreckage smoldered with residual smoke in the silent night air, the scent of burnt wood shavings and the earthy sll of dust hanging thickly.
That clockwork owl shot down by Serene Heart lay quietly on the grass not far away.
The battle had ended cleanly and neatly, even a bit too quietly.
There was no roar of gunfire, no shriek of bullets tearing through the air, even the faint chanical sound of the hamr striking the prir was absorbed by that piece of throat bone from the South Arican UMA.
"A perfect assassination weapon," Ethan praised sincerely, looking at Serene Heart in Lin Jie's hand.
He couldn't imagine anything more threatening in an area surrounded by enemies than a weapon that was absolutely silent and possessed guaranteed hit capability.
"We must move imdiately," Hawk spoke up. "Its companions will soon realize this is a signal dead zone."
His judgnt was precise.
Although this owl hadn't managed to sound an alarm, its loss of contact itself was the clearest alarm possible.
For a patrol system driven by precise logic, the disappearance of any single node ant an anomaly had occurred.
The four imdiately sprang into action.
Phineas quickly retrieved his precious instrunts, Ethan took responsibility for guarding their rear, while Hawk strode purposefully toward the owl's wreckage, preparing to destroy it with his steel-lting battle axe, leaving no trace.
Lin Jie was responsible for guarding the front, that vast dark forest that stretched before them like the maw of a giant beast.
His nerves were stretched taut, because he understood this mont of peace was rely the calm before the storm.
Just as Hawk's battle axe was about to descend, a sudden voice that didn't belong to any of them sounded from the shadows behind them.
"Please wait, that thing... might still be useful to ."
The voice was clear and calm, carrying a touch of gentleness, but in this dead silent environnt, it rang like a graveyard bell, putting everyone on edge.
Hawk's movent froze, he whirled around, his battle axe tracing an arc through the air, pointing distantly toward the direction the voice ca from.
Ethan reacted just as swiftly, the muzzles of his dual revolvers, Morning Star and Evening Star, were already aid at that patch of darkness.
Phineas jumped in fright, almost dropping the instrunts in his arms.
Lin Jie also turned quickly, aiming his gun at the uninvited guest.
A chill ran up his spine.
Soone had managed to silently infiltrate so close behind them, under the perception of a top hunter like Hawk!
This was truly unbelievable.
From the shadows of the barn ruins, a figure slowly erged.
It was a tall woman, wearing a dark traveling cloak suitable for movent, with a large hood covering her entire face in shadow, making her features indistinguishable.
She raised her hands, palms outward—a universally understood gesture in any culture, indicating she carried no weapons and bore no hostility.
"I repeat, I am not hostile," her voice remained calm, showing no tension despite being aid at by three lethal weapons. "I am rely an investigator who, like you, bears a grudge against this tower."
"Who are you?" Ethan asked coldly. "How did you find us here?"
"I've been here all along," the figure replied. "I've been observing you since you arrived at this farm."
These words made Hawk's expression darken sowhat.
Being monitored the entire ti without detection was a trendous insult to a hunter renowned for his perception and tracking abilities.
"As for who I am..."
Under everyone's wary gazes, the figure slowly raised a hand and removed the hood from her head.
Moonlight like frost illuminated a young, intelligent face.
She appeared to be in her early twenties, with neat, deep brown short hair, a high nose bridge, and tightly pressed lips. Most striking were her deep, pool-like brown eyes—clear and focused, brimming with curiosity and burning intensity.
"My na is Evelyn Marconi," she introduced herself. "A freelance journalist, and... an amateur inventor."
Marconi? This surna stirred sothing in Lin Jie's mind.
In the late 19th century, this was a na closely tied to the epoch-making invention of "radio."
"My father, Guglielmo Marconi, was also a scientist," a flash of pain crossed Evelyn's eyes. "He dedicated his life to the study of radio waves. He firmly believed this invisible power could transmit information to every corner of the world, connecting all of humanity."
"However, his research threatened the interests of a certain 'Light Emperor.'"
Her words carried undisguised hatred.
"Thomas Edison. He slandered my father's research as 'worthless trickery,' using his patent alliance and dia influence to launch a frenzied campaign of suppression and encirclent against my father, ultimately forcing him into bankruptcy and stealing all his research achievents."
"A year ago, my father disappeared after receiving an invitation from Wardenclyffe. I searched everywhere I could, and all clues pointed here."
Evelyn's gaze turned toward the distant, silent giant tower. "I ca here not for so lofty ideal, nor to save the world. I only want to find out what happened to my father, to see him alive or find his body."
"And then, make that butcher who stole his life's work pay the price he deserves."
Her story was concise, but that pure determination for familial revenge was moving.
But Ethan remained cautious: "A sympathetic story, but that doesn't explain how you've survived here, let alone how you evaded those owls' searches and approached us so silently."
"Because I can 'see' them," Evelyn's reply was straightforward.
She didn't elaborate excessively, instead retrieving sothing from the leather bag she carried.
It was a pair of goggles with a complex, steampunk-style construction.
Its main body consisted of precision brass components, tiny gears, and exposed copper coils, while the lenses were polished from at least three layers of crystal of varying thickness and color.
The entire pair of goggles resembled the masterpiece of so mad clockmaker, possessing an unstable, experintal beauty.
"This is my invention," Evelyn held the goggles in her palm, a hint of pride in her tone. "I call it Echo Goggles."
"Grotesque Armant?" Lin Jie imdiately recognized the item's nature.
"You could say that," Evelyn nodded. "Its core is a 'stone' my father obtained early on from an ocean captain in exchange for a crate of whiskey, said to be from the depths of the Mariana Trench."
"Later, I learned it was actually the sonar organ of so deep-sea creature living in absolute darkness and high pressure."
She raised the goggles to her eyes.
"These goggles don't improve my vision, nor do they let see through walls. Their sole function is to let 'see' sound."
"See sound?" Phineas voiced an incredulous question; this concept was beyond his knowledge.
"Exactly," Evelyn affird. "It can present the propagation trajectories of all sounds, including those frequencies our human ears cannot hear, in a visualized form within my field of view."
She looked toward the destroyed clockwork owl.
"Just now, through it, I saw invisible high-frequency ripples being emitted from that chanical bird's eyes. I could even see the subtle vibrations produced by your heartbeats, and the trajectories of sound waves diffusing through the air when you spoke."
"It was precisely by relying on it that I could predict the patrol routes of the clockwork owls in advance and avoid their line of sight."
"In my world, they're no different from extrely loud 'mobile noise sources' constantly shouting their locations."
This explanation left the present individuals sowhat astonished.
A scouting-type Grotesque Armant capable of "visualizing" the abstract concept of "sound"!
Its strategic value in this deathly land shrouded in silence and darkness was imasurable.
Lin Jie's heart raced. "This woman before and her strange invention might just be the key to breaking through on this mission."
"Can I... try it?" Lin Jie suppressed his inner excitent and made the request.
Evelyn hesitated for a mont, but ultimately nodded, handing Echo Goggles over.
She could tell this Eastern youth before her ant no harm.
And to gain their trust, she needed to show corresponding sincerity.
Lin Jie carefully took the heavy goggles and put them on his face.
The mont he donned the glasses, the entire world abruptly changed.
The physical world before his eyes didn't disappear, but a brand-new dynamic layer composed of countless flowing, colorful ripples superimposed itself over reality.
The air was no longer empty.
He could see Ethan's suppressed breathing forming faint, warm-colored ripples before him.
He could see Hawk's strong heart steadily and powerfully beating within his chest, each pulse radiating outward with a dark red shockwave carrying vitality.
This was an entirely new sensory experience, as if the entire world had beco a symphony that could be seen.
Then, Lin Jie turned his gaze toward the direction of the barn ruins.
There, he could still see several sharp energy ripples slowly dissipating. They had a disquieting silvery-white hue, lingering like ghosts around those severed wooden beams.
That was precisely the "reverberation" left behind by the clockwork owl's ultrasonic attack.
Finally, he lifted his head and looked toward the distant, silent Aether Tower.
In his new vision, that giant tower was no longer a dead, silent silhouette.
Powerful, low-frequency ripples, so dense they seed tangible and dark golden in color, were continuously radiating outward in all directions from the enormous mushroom-shaped do at the tower's peak, enveloping the entire sky and earth.
That was precisely the root cause of the Spiritual Silence, and the very source of that "buzzing" sound that made them all so uncomfortable!
"Now, do you believe ?" Evelyn's voice pulled Lin Jie back from his awe.
Lin Jie removed the goggles and returned them to Evelyn.
He let out a long exhale. "Welco to the investigation team, Miss Marconi," he said solemnly, extending his hand to Evelyn.
Evelyn was montarily stunned; she hadn't expected Lin Jie to accept her so quickly. Then she also extended her hand, gripping Lin Jie's firmly.
"We can't stay here any longer," Ethan reminded them. "Other owls could co at any mont."
"I know a place," Evelyn imdiately interjected. "Three miles southeast, there's an abandoned underground air raid shelter left over from the Cold War era."
"The entrance is well hidden, and being deep underground, it can block most ground detection. I've been hiding there for two weeks."
"Lead the way," Lin Jie made the decision.
Under Evelyn's guidance, the party of five quickly dealt with the traces at the scene, then vanished into the dark pine forest under the cover of night.
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