The dim, yellowish light of the gas lamps cast flickering shadows on the walls of the safe house.
Lin Jie sat at the table, holding the slip of paper given by Su Sanniang. On the paper, there was only an address.
Tanjong Pagar Dock, Warehouse No. 4, the rubber storehouse.
"Flying Jiangshi."
Julian pushed his round-frad glasses up the bridge of his nose. Several thick books lay open before him.
They were forbidden manuscripts on South Seas black sorcery that he had dug out from the deepest recesses of the bookshelf.
"In Malay, it's called 'Penanggalan'. Or 'Hantu'."
The scholar flipped through the pages, pointing at one particularly grueso illustration.
It depicted a monster consisting only of a head, with a long string of bloody entrails dangling from its neck. It flew through the night sky, searching for pregnant won or lone travelers.
"The locals believe it's the product of a black sorcerer who lost control during cultivation. I was attacked by one of these things once, almost died in its hands."
Julian said with lingering resentnt.
"Jiangshi masters, in order to gain immortality or power, need to consu human blood and also collect... oil."
"Corpse oil."
Evelyn sat nearby, inspecting her [Tesla Coil Glove].
Hearing this term, she couldn't help but frown.
"That doesn't sound like sothing science can explain."
"Here, the boundaries of science are blurry."
Lin Jie put down the slip of paper.
"Su Sanniang said only black oil was left at the scene, no corpse. If it were a Flying Jiangshi, it should have left behind a drained body."
He looked at Julian.
Julian nodded, flipping a few more pages.
This ti, his finger stopped on an even more grotesque illustration.
It depicted a pitch-black humanoid creature. It had no facial features; its entire body was enveloped in flowing black liquid.
"Orang Minyak."
Julian pronounced this strangely-sounding word.
"It ans... 'Oil Man', or 'Oil Ghost'."
His expression turned sowhat grave.
"This is a type of UMA that is even rarer and more troubleso than the Flying Jiangshi."
"Legend says these are people who, after being rejected in love or to steal wealth, sold their souls to demons."
"They must soak in resentful corpse oil for forty-nine days, until their skin is completely assimilated by the oil."
Julian pointed at the notes on the illustration.
"This oil grants them extrely terrifying properties."
"They can climb walls like geckos, and slip through the smallest cracks like water."
"And." He paused.
"They are impervious to blades and bullets. All physical attacks are either deflected or swallowed by that layer of oil."
"Most crucially."
Julian looked up at Lin Jie.
"They are extrely greedy and lustful."
"They attacked the coolies, possibly to absorb their vital energy, or for so kind of ritual."
"But if they encounter a young woman..."
Evelyn shuddered.
"Sounds like a pervert."
"It is a pervert." Lin Jie stood up. "And a dangerous one."
He checked the holster under his arm.
[Serene Heart] was fully loaded. This ti, he had specifically switched to several large-caliber dum-dum bullets.
"Whether it's a ghost or a monster."
Lin Jie adjusted his collar.
"Since it wants oil, we'll give it so blood."
"Let's go, see what this South Seas specialty is all about."
...
Late at night, Tanjong Pagar Dock.
The dayti clamor had faded. Waves lapped against the pier with a rhythmic splashing sound.
Warehouse No. 4 was located at the very edge of the dock, right next to a dense mangrove forest.
It was a massive brick-and-timber structure with a high roof covered in galvanized iron sheets.
The main doors of the warehouse were tightly shut, leaving only a side door slightly ajar.
Like ghosts, the three of them slipped through the side door.
There were no lights inside the warehouse, only a faint moonlight filtering through a few high ventilation windows.
The air was thick with a strong, nauseating sll, the distinctive odor of raw rubber.
It was like ten thousand dead fish left to rot under the scorching sun for three days, or like burnt plastic.
The vast space was piled high with mountains of rubber bales.
These bales were wrapped in burlap sacks, stacked layer upon layer, forming a complex maze.
"Split up and take cover."
Lin Jie made a hand signal.
He pointed to a pile of cargo on the left, the highest vantage point in the entire warehouse.
Julian nodded, climbing up quietly on tiptoe. Evelyn hid behind an old capstan near the entrance.
She put on her [Echo Goggles], ready to monitor the surroundings at any mont.
Lin Jie himself stood in the very center of the warehouse.
He didn't hide. He simply stood there quietly in an open area.
He was acting as bait.
If this UMA was greedy and lustful, it must be extrely sensitive to the scent of living humans.
Theoretically, using Evelyn as bait would be more effective, but Lin Jie wasn't comfortable with that.
Ti passed second by second. The warehouse was terrifyingly quiet.
The humid, hot air was suffocating. Sweat trickled down Lin Jie's spine.
But he didn't move a muscle.
His breathing beca long and faint, his heartbeat dropping to its lowest.
He was waiting, waiting for the arrival of the uninvited guest.
After an unknown length of ti, Evelyn suddenly made a hand signal, the pre-arranged sign.
It's here. Lin Jie's muscles instantly tensed.
But he didn't turn his head, maintaining his original posture.
His senses, enhanced by the White Vulture, had already detected an anomaly.
It was a sll.
A stench that, even amidst the overpowering rubber odor, could not be masked... the sll of decay.
The sll of aged corpses fernted in oil.
Greasy, slippery, disgusting.
Then ca a sound, very faint.
"Squelch. Squelch."
It was the sticky sound of bare feet on damp ground, or perhaps so mollusk crawling.
The sound ca from above.
Lin Jie looked up sharply. High up on the warehouse's lofty crossbeams, between two thick wooden pillars, a pitch-black shadow was squirming.
It hung upside down from the crossbeam, like a giant bat, or like a puddle of living tar.
It wore no clothes.
Its entire body was covered in a thick layer of oil, black and shiny.
That layer of oil reflected a bizarre glow under the moonlight and dripped continuously.
"Drip."
A drop of black oil landed on the ground beside Lin Jie's foot, emitting a wisp of green smoke.
It was the sound of strong acid corroding the ground. The thing slowly turned its head.
It had no facial features, only a mouth split open to its ears.
The mouth had no teeth, only countless squirming, tentacle-like fleshy buds.
Oil Ghost. It really existed.
"A-wah!"
The monster let out a strange cry. It had spotted Lin Jie.
In this empty warehouse, a lone, vigorous living man was the most delicious feast for it.
It released its grip on the crossbeam, its entire body plunging down like a cannonball from ten ters high!
There was no sound. Its posture in the air was stretched and eerie.
"Now!"
Lin Jie growled.
The mont the monster pounced, he slid back a step.
At the sa ti, [Serene Heart] in his hand spat tongues of fire.
These three shots were all aid at vital points: one at the forehead, two at the chest.
If it were an ordinary creature, it would be a corpse by now. But sothing bizarre happened.
Those three high-velocity dum-dum bullets, upon contacting the monster's skin, didn't penetrate, nor did they explode.
It was as if they had hit a steel plate sared with butter, or entered an extrely viscous non-Newtonian fluid.
The bullet tips skidded on the surface layer of oil. That strange black liquid forcibly altered their trajectory.
"Clink! Clink!"
The bullets grazed the monster's body and shot into the nearby rubber bales.
They only left three shallow dents on the monster's body.
And those dents were rapidly filled in by the surrounding black oil in less than a second.
Completely unhard.
Lin Jie's pupils contracted slightly. What kind of defense chanism was this?
"Physical deflection? Or kinetic energy absorption?"
But he had no ti to think, because the monster had already landed.
Its body underwent a nauseating deformation the mont it touched the ground.
It spread out on the ground like a puddle of rcury, then it slid across the floor towards Lin Jie at an unbelievably fast speed.
That movent completely defied biochanics. It didn't need leg strength; it was "flowing".
"Left!"
Julian shouted from above, firing the borrowed shotgun in his hands.
"Thud!"
This ti the bullet hit, striking what looked like a raised ridge on the monster's back.
But it was still useless.
The bullet sank into the mire, was swallowed by the oil, then slid out from the other side of the body.
The monster had already rushed to Lin Jie's front.
Its smooth arm suddenly elongated, turning into a black tentacle that whipped viciously at Lin Jie's ankle.
Lin Jie leaped upward, avoiding the strike.
The tentacle struck the ground, corroding a deep trench into the hard cent floor.
"Evelyn!" Lin Jie shouted while still in the air.
He didn't need to remind her. Evelyn, who had been hiding in the shadows, had already charged out.
She was on the monster's flank, a perfect position.
She raised her right hand.
The nacing-looking [Tesla Coil Glove] was already fully charged, its Leyden Jars flashing with dangerous blue light.
"Take this!"
Gritting her teeth, Evelyn suddenly clenched her fist.
"Zzzzzz—!!!"
A thick, bluish-purple electric arc erupted from her fingertips.
At such close range, there was no need to aim. The high-voltage current accurately struck the mass of black oil.
Common sense dictates that biological organisms conduct electricity. And in this humid environnt, even an elephant would be instantly paralyzed by such a high-voltage shock.
But reality gave Evelyn a resounding slap.
That violent electric arc, upon contacting the monster's body, didn't burrow inside to damage its nervous system as expected.
Instead, the arc... dispersed across its shiny, oily epidermis.
That layer of black oil was actually a top-tier insulator!
The current traveled along its body surface for a loop, then conducted into the ground.
Only a few wisps of green smoke rose.
The monster turned its head. Though its faceless face showed no expression, Lin Jie could sense a kind of mockery.
It seed angered by Evelyn, or rather, attracted by this female creature who dared to attack it actively.
It abandoned Lin Jie. That puddle of black body suddenly stood up, reforming into a humanoid shape.
It pounced towards Evelyn, its movents faster and more ferocious than before.
Evelyn was completely panicked. Her glove was overheating and cooling down, unable to discharge a second ti.
Faced with this monster immune to both physical attacks and electricity, she had completely lost any ans of resistance.
"Dodge!"
Lin Jie landed, his toes tapping the ground as he charged forward.
He couldn't fire his gun because Evelyn was in the line of fire.
He could only use the knife.
His right wrist flicked, and [Silencer] snapped out.
This scalpel was sharp enough to cut through rock, and it was coated with a potent neurotoxin.
No matter how slippery its skin was, as long as he could cut an opening and let the toxin in, it wouldn't be able to move.
Lin Jie moved at his absolute fastest.
He positioned himself between the two just before the monster could grab Evelyn.
A flash of cold light. The folding knife in Lin Jie's hand slashed viciously at the monster's outstretched arm.
"Shhh!"
This ti, he finally felt resistance. The thick layer of oil was forcibly cut open by the sharp blade, revealing dark red muscle tissue underneath.
That muscle didn't look human; it resembled more like so kind of rotting flesh.
"Got it!"
Lin Jie felt a surge of joy in his heart.
As long as it bled, the toxin would take effect.
However, the mont the blade cut into the flesh, a thick plu of white smoke suddenly erupted from the wound.
"Sizzle sizzle!"
It was the sound of tal being corroded by strong acid. Lin Jie felt the handle in his hand suddenly beco scalding hot.
He looked down and saw that the cut-open black oil was frantically enveloping the blade.
It wasn't just a lubricant; it was a highly concentrated, extrely corrosive acid!
The blade, forged from fine steel, was visibly blackening, softening, dissolving!
Even the composite material of the handle was lting.
If he didn't let go, that acid would imdiately flow down the handle to his hand.
Su Sanniang's warning echoed in his ears.
"Don't let it touch your skin."
Lin Jie made a decisive move. He abruptly released his grip and kicked the monster in the chest.
This kick used a clever force, not ant to cause damage, but to borrow montum to retreat.
Using the recoil, he scooped up the terrified Evelyn and rolled back three or four ters.
"Clatter."
The now half-destroyed [Silencer] fell to the ground.
In re seconds, the blade of this scalpel that had slit countless powerful enemies' throats had vanished, leaving only a puddle of black-smoking molten iron.
Lin Jie looked at the scrap tal on the ground, his expression extrely grim. Fortunately, the core jellyfish venom sac wasn't damaged.
"This UMA is practically a perfect defensive fortress. Ranged attacks ineffective, elental attacks ineffective, close combat corrodes weapons. How are we supposed to fight this?"
The monster didn't pursue.
It glanced at the corroded knife on the ground, then looked at Lin Jie.
It emitted a series of gurgling, strange noises resembling human laughter.
"Gee—"
It was mocking these foolhardy hunters.
Then, its body suddenly began to collapse, turning back into a puddle of black liquid.
This ti, it flowed towards a drain outlet in the corner, moving extrely fast.
"Stop it! It's trying to escape!" Julian shouted from above.
He kept firing shots from his high position.
But the bullets only stirred a few splashes in the flowing liquid, completely unable to hinder its movent.
That puddle of black liquid easily slipped through the gaps of an iron grate no larger than a palm.
"Gulp."
The last bit of black tail disappeared into the drain.
Only a ss on the ground and the nauseating stench filling the room remained.
Lin Jie stood up from the ground. He looked at the dark, gaping drain, then at the remains of [Silencer] on the floor.
His hand was still trembling slightly, not from fear, but from the disgusting sensation of his foot kicking against the oil.
This was the first ti he felt so powerless facing a UMA that wasn't particularly powerful.
This monster wasn't strong. Its strength and speed were inferior to the Black Dog's, but its properties were just too disgusting.
"Is this what South Seas monsters are like?"
Unreasonable, bizarre, unpredictable.
"Lin..." Evelyn's voice was choked with tears.
She looked at Lin Jie's empty right hand.
"Your knife..."
"It's fine."
Lin Jie took a deep breath, calming his emotions.
He turned and walked to the drain outlet. So sticky black liquid remained there, traces left by the monster.
Lin Jie crouched down. He didn't touch it directly with his hand. Instead, he took a glass test tube from his backpack and carefully scraped a bit of the black oil with tweezers.
"Take this back."
Lin Jie handed the test tube to Evelyn, his eyes turning exceptionally cold.
"Analyze its composition."
"I want to know what this thing is actually made of."
"As long as it's matter, it must have a weakness."
"Oil?"
Lin Jie sneered coldly.
"If it's oil, then there must be sothing that can counter it."
"It won't get away."
"Su Sanniang was right. To survive in Borneo, we first need to learn how to deal with these disgusting things."
"This is just the first lesson. Let's head back."
The three of them packed up their equipnt.
Julian climbed down from above. His expression wasn't great either. Lin Jie's return to action had ended in complete failure.
But this didn't dampen their morale. Instead, it ignited the competitive spirit of this new team.
They walked out of the warehouse. Outside, it was still the pitch-black night.
The sea breeze blew. Lin Jie looked back at the silent building.
"Next ti we et." He said in a low voice.
"I'll blow you... to ashes."
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