After obtaining his desired Grotesque Armant, Lin Jie rested in his room for two days.
Only after completely recovering his ntal 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 aningful 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 an?" 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 so 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 Equipnt Departnt."
"A technological revolution regarding the manufacturing philosophy of 'Grotesque Armants' seems to have begun ahead of schedule because of your appearance."
"And the more direct benefit is," Barton took out a docunt 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 trendous 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 excitent.
This was his greatest acquisition!
He quickly returned ho, 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 imdiately fell on the diary's final few pages, which recorded the Cartographer Karl von Stein's final journey - this ticulous German investigator's last days.
Through his accounts, a massive and bizarre conspiracy hidden behind the "Sea Witch" shipwreck erged 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 rchant ships to secretly transport sothing they call 'Living Holy Embryos' to Europe."
"According to informant intelligence, these so-called Holy Embryos seem to be... 'eggs' of so 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 ford 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 Won'."
"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 madn, they simply don't understand what dangerous power they're playing with."
"May 22, Indian Ocean." Karl's handwriting here began to beco sowhat scribbled - the situation at that ti was probably extrely 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 so 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 ti, his heart filled with the highest respect for this German investigator he had never t.
Karl used his own life to try to stop a massive disaster that could have shocked the world.
And he himself, by coincidence, had beco 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 lifeti accumulation of knowledge about various UMAs, experience in creating Grotesque Armants, and insights about various mysterious phenona 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 deanor 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 recomnded you to take on."
"Oh?" Lin Jie was sowhat surprised.
Barton handed him a new mission docunt marked "Alert-class."
[Commission Number: S-1888-C004]
[Commission Level: Alert-class/Special Attention]
[Commission Location: Scotland, Inverness-shire, Loch Ness area]
[Event Summary: Recently, multiple fishern and local residents have claid 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. anwhile, the Association's 'Aether Fluctuation' monitoring station set up in the lake area has also recorded several weak but highly regular energy anomalies.]
[Mission Objectives: 1. Proceed to the Loch Ness area for field investigation, confirm whether the unknown creature truly exists. 2. If it exists, assess whether it is a UMA, and collect its image data (sketches, photographs) and ecological samples (water samples, scales, secretions, etc.) as much as possible. 3. The creature currently shows no aggressive behavior; actively hunting it without being threatened is strictly prohibited. 'Observation and Research' is the highest priority.]
[Commission Reward: Base bounty 30 gold sovereigns, 30 points. Any valuable image data and ecological samples will receive additional point rewards.]
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 recomnd ?" 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 so reverberations about that creature from that ancient lake that our instrunts cannot detect. Second,"
Barton's eyes beca sowhat playful, "your first creation, the [Cursebreaker Vambrace], its modular concept has greatly interested the Equipnt Departnt masters."
"They very much want to know what effects this equipnt will demonstrate when 'aquatic environnt adaptation' or other environntal 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 equipnt'."
"Of course," Barton added finally, "the Loch Ness area is sparsely populated with complex environnt. 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."
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