Lin Jie and the other person left Weston's ho without returning to their respective residences. Marcus naturally grabbed Lin Jie's shoulder with his large hand: "Co on, kid, let's go to my place for a drink. This matter needs a proper conclusion."
So they wordlessly crossed several blocks, eventually stopping before a heavy iron door welded with several massive rivets, its appearance resembling a vault door.
This was Marcus's intensely personal private dorm room.
The interior of the room was surprisingly tidy, completely mismatched with Marcus's rugged exterior.
No decorative paintings hung on the walls, instead there was a massive world map marked with various colored pins indicating military symbols Lin Jie couldn't understand.
The most prominent furniture in the room wasn't the bed, but a steel weapons cabinet that occupied almost an entire wall.
Inside were neatly displayed firearms of various calibers, an array of special ammunition, and several oddly shaped Grotesque Armant components.
This place didn't resemble a dorm, but rather a small frontline arsenal.
Marcus didn't bother with formalities, walking directly to an ammunition crate and digging out a bottle of strong whiskey with slightly yellowed labels from deep within the box.
"Laphroaig from Islay." Marcus wiped dust from the bottle mouth with his rough thumb, speaking in a proud tone. "Left behind by my friend 'Iron Fist' Ronnie."
"He said the taste of this stuff is like drinking a mix of bonfire, sea, and hospital disinfectant, sothing only true warriors can appreciate."
"We always said we'd open it after completing our next Kingdom-class mission, but now it seems we can't wait that long."
He found two sowhat shabby pewter cups and poured the amber liquid emitting intense peat and smoky aromas into them.
Then he pushed one of the cups in front of Lin Jie.
This was a "victory celebration" for just two people, with no dals or awards.
Only a glass of strong liquor full of stories, and a shared secret that would never be officially recorded.
"To us still being alive." Marcus raised his glass and said solemnly.
"And to those who didn't make it." Lin Jie raised his cup in response.
With a crisp "clink," two rough cups collided, also sounding the final rest for this private operation.
"Knock knock knock."
At that mont, a polite yet ill-tid knocking sound ca from outside the iron door.
Both Lin Jie and Marcus's bodies tensed simultaneously.
The number of people who would visit Marcus at this hour could be counted on one hand.
Marcus signaled with his eyes for Lin Jie to remain quiet, then walked forward and pulled open the iron door.
Standing outside was his old partner—Barton Chris.
Barton still maintained his ticulous British gentleman appearance.
He wore a well-tailored dark gray suit, carrying an exquisite paper box from a high-end pastry shop on Regent Street.
"Good afternoon, Marcus. Oh, Mr. Lin, you're here too. That's quite a coincidence." Barton wore an impeccable smile on his face.
He ignored the whiskey scent in the room strong enough to ignite, walking in as if it were his own place.
"I just finished work and brought along so black tea I personally enjoy, along with so scones to pair with it."
His elegant upper-class "afternoon tea" style created an absurd contrast with the rugged "post-war whiskey" atmosphere in the room.
"You..." Marcus looked at his elusive partner, a helpless bitter smile appearing on his face. "Your nose is sharper than Scotland Yard's police dogs."
Barton simply smiled, quite skillfully finding a relatively clean tea set from Marcus's ssy cabinet, then began brewing black tea for himself and the other two.
"Speaking of which, it's really strange." Barton said while elegantly stirring the black tea in his cup with a silver spoon, seemingly casual in his chatter. "I heard an interesting rumor at the intelligence departnt's morning eting today. Apparently, two 'unknown civilian heroes' perford quite a 'spectacle' in the eastern outskirts of the White Church District last night."
Barton slowly raised his head, his eyes carrying a hint of "teasing" amusent as he looked at Marcus.
"Marcus, weren't you slightly excessive last night?"
Facing Barton's inquiry carrying undertones of "concern," Lin Jie and Marcus exchanged a silent glance, knowing that continuing to conceal things was aningless.
He chose partial confession.
He omitted all information about "the Weston family," only telling a carefully re-edited and rearranged "simplified version" of the story.
He attributed the story's origin to accidentally discovering legends about the "Twisted Man" and "cursed architect" while researching ancient docunts about "London folklore."
Out of "academic curiosity" and "hunter instinct," he decided to conduct field investigation, while Marcus, upon learning about this risky "private research," voluntarily accompanied him out of responsibility for a friend.
He described in detail the Twisted Man's bizarre abilities, and honestly admitted the predicant they faced initially when confronting this "unhittable" enemy.
Finally, he credited their victory to Marcus's 【Unshakable Bedrock】's powerful defense, and his own 【Serene Heart】's sowhat fortunate and gamble-like long-range resolution.
Barton quietly listened to Lin Jie's entire account.
As an elite also renowned for "tactical planning," he instantly realized the catastrophic potential threat such a UMA capable of distorting "laws" and ignoring "physical attacks" would pose to London, this densely populated modern tropolis, if it went out of control.
He expressed sincere admiration for Lin Jie and Marcus's courage and responsibility in daring to eliminate this major "public safety hazard" missed by the Association without backup.
"Although Marcus, your actions violated all Association operational guidelines regarding 'independent operations,'" Barton smiled as he stood up from his chair, "I personally believe you and Lin did the right thing."
He stood up, pushing the box of pastries in front of the two n.
"I have other matters to attend to. Consider these my personal token of appreciation." He said with a smile.
Lin Jie and Marcus looked at the box of cookies on the table and shared a knowing smile.
After leaving Marcus's dorm, Lin Jie didn't imdiately return to Baker Street.
He went to the Fourth Equipnt Laboratory and found Arthur Conan, who had just finished a failed experint and was on the verge of manic frustration.
Contrary to Arthur's expectations, Lin Jie didn't bring out any fantastical design blueprints this ti.
He simply conducted a purely academic review with Arthur, detailing his combat experience in the Twisted Man incident regarding "sniper killing of law anchor points from a distance," as well as tactical operations like "borrowing hands to shoot" and "reverberation empowernt."
He hoped to get so suggestions from this technical master about standardizing and weaponizing such tactics.
However, Arthur's reaction differed from what Lin Jie had anticipated.
After listening to Lin Jie's review full of wisdom and ingenious ideas, this weaponsmith didn't show great excitent and fervor like last ti, instead falling into a long, cold silence.
His brown eyes, which always burned with insane flas, revealed disappointnt.
Finally, Arthur spoke to Lin Jie in a serious, lecturing tone: "Lin, you're a genius, an unparalleled genius in the fields of 'tactics' and 'deception.'"
"But all your victories rely excessively on external factors." Arthur pointed out the core issue with piercing accuracy.
"You rely on your teammates' coordination, you rely on those plans that flash into your mind during combat."
"Your approach is like that of a 'puppeteer.'" Arthur's words cruelly dissected Lin Jie.
"Your battles all involve manipulating every 'puppet' around you that can be utilized—your teammates are your puppets, your enemies' weaknesses are your puppets, even your own weapons are, to so extent, puppets you use to leverage victory."
"You've indeed won battle after battle, but I ask you—"
Arthur suddenly leaned forward, his eyes fixed intently on Lin Jie, "What if one day all your strings break? When you're facing pure power that completely ignores all your sches!"
"What will you, a master who has lost all puppets, do then?!"
"True strength doesn't co from how many things you can utilize." Arthur revealed his own simple and pure "philosophy of power" to Lin Jie.
"It cos from what you yourself can beco!"
"My belief is to forge myself into the sharpest hamr, the most solid anvil! My power cos from absolute confidence in my own thousand-tis refined skills!"
"And you, what you need to find is your own true core!"
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