After touring the core area of the Underground City, Barton didn't give Lin Jie much time to process the shock.
The efficient investigator seemed intent on striking while the iron was hot, completing all the preparations before Lin Jie officially joined in one go.
He led Lin Jie through corridor after corridor lined with precision brass pipes and wiring, until they reached a heavy metal door marked "Fourth Equipment Laboratory—Precision Machinery and Alchemy Integration Division."
"Before we officially register your identity and issue your starting resources, there's one last thing to do." Barton's expression turned a little peculiar, tinged with sympathy and resignation.
"You need to meet someone. It's a 'rite of passage' every new hunter has to go through, whether they're a full member or a freelance hunter like you. He'll inspect and register your starting equipment, then assess its value and potential."
Lin Jie noticed that even Marcus, the burly man who usually feared nothing, wore an instinctively reluctant expression at the thought of meeting this person. It only made him more curious about the man behind the door.
Barton entered a string of commands into a keypad beside the door. With a hiss of venting pressure, the metal door slid aside.
Unlike the futuristic metal corridor outside, the space beyond had the air of an old-fashioned workshop: chaotic, yet possessed of a peculiar, obsessive beauty.
Design blueprints covered every corner of the room, from the tables and floor to the walls.
Enormous lathes, drill presses, and all manner of precision machinery Lin Jie couldn't name occupied most of the space.
Amid the massive machines stood alchemists' crucibles and crystal distillers, along with glass cabinets full of minerals and biological specimens, creating an eerie harmony between industry and magic.
At the very back of the vast workshop, a tall, thin figure had his back to them, hunched over a huge workbench.
He wore a pair of bulky goggles and was carefully using tweezers to fit a grain-of-rice-sized red crystal into what looked like the mechanism of a pocket watch.
He was so absorbed in his work that the three people behind him might as well not have been there.
Barton seemed accustomed to being ignored. He walked up to the workbench, cleared his throat, and said in as even a tone as he could manage, "Arthur Conan, I've brought a new friend. He needs to have his starting equipment registered."
The man called "Arthur" still didn't turn around.
He merely waved a hand impatiently. His voice came from behind the goggles, raspy and hurried, almost neurotic. "Can't you see I'm in the final stage of 'spiritual coupling' for the Scarlet Earl's power core?"
"This Eye of the Fire Salamander from the Arizona Desert only has to shift by another hundredth of a micron, and the last seventy-two hours of work will be wasted! Whatever it is, wait five minutes!"
Barton gave a rueful smile, as if this was exactly what he'd expected, and spread his hands at Lin Jie to show that all they could do was wait.
Lin Jie studied the craftsman with curiosity.
Given his surname and the era they were in, Lin Jie immediately thought of a famous name. But looking at the man's deranged absorption in his own world, he felt the association didn't quite fit.
Exactly five minutes passed.
Arthur Conan lowered the tweezers in his hand, having placed the last tiny screw.
He let out a satisfied breath, then slowly turned around.
He took off the complicated goggles, revealing a young face that didn't match his age.
His hair was a little messy, and his eyes were sharp, but the heavy bags beneath them betrayed his long-term lack of sleep.
His whole bearing radiated the neurotic, "stay away from me" arrogance of an intellectual.
"All right, tell me—which clueless newcomer had to interrupt me at the most critical moment?" Arthur's gaze swept over Barton and Marcus, then settled on Lin Jie, whom he regarded with a distinctly critical eye.
"This is Mr. Lin Jie, a newly certified freelance hunter with the Association," Barton introduced him. "He needs to register his starting weapon."
At Barton's gesture, Lin Jie placed the Webley revolver, Heart of Serenity, on the workbench, along with the core crystal he'd obtained from the Mist Walker.
The moment Arthur's gaze landed on the revolver, his impatience gave way to a flicker of interest.
Ignoring the UMA crystal, which was clearly more valuable for research, he picked up the revolver instead.
Rather than inspecting the barrel and mechanism like an ordinary gunsmith, he brought the grip right up to his eyes.
He repeatedly ran his fingers over the embedded scale, closed his eyes, and seemed to "listen" to it with his fingertips.
"Hmm... Interesting texture," Arthur murmured. "It's been given a basic polish, but the workmanship is crude. They just shoved it in there."
"The scale came from cold waters, but not entirely. This steady mental frequency, with its touch of Zen... It didn't come from the Deep Sea Resentful Woman herself. She's nothing but pure malice and madness."
He suddenly opened his eyes, a feverish gleam in them. Looking at Lin Jie, he fired off a question. "When you hunted the Deep Sea Resentful Woman, did you notice a companion UMA, something like a monk or an ascetic? They're rare and don't attack on their own. They just gather around the 'Grudge Woman Queen' and perform some kind of spiritual chorus?"
Lin Jie was completely stunned.
He recalled the scene aboard the Sea Witch, but all he could remember was being beset by countless Grudge Women. He had no memory at all of any "companion creatures."
All he could do was shake his head in confusion.
"Useless!" Arthur declared without a shred of courtesy. "You missed such a precious chance to observe them! Cartographer Karl's an idiot, too. I bet he didn't write down a single detail about them in his diary!"
Barton gave an awkward cough. "Arthur, watch your language."
Arthur completely ignored him. He stroked the scale as though it were a lover, his face rapturous. "Perfect material! This mutated biological tissue, created when a 'companion vengeful spirit' resonates spiritually with its 'host,' is the best choice for making a 'spiritual stability anchor'!"
"Karl may be an idiot who knows nothing about material science, but he got lucky. Too bad... he used it in the most wasteful way possible!"
He looked at the revolver with contempt. "Embedding it in a gun's grip? That's an insult to art! It's like using a Rembrandt canvas to wrap a stinking salted fish!"
"How could a crude physical weapon like a firearm deserve such a delicate 'spiritual medium,' capable of soothing the soul? From the moment it was made, this weapon was a failure!"
Hearing the neurotic craftsman dismiss the weapon he treasured as worthless left Lin Jie with mixed feelings.
But what mattered more to him was the wealth of information Arthur had revealed.
For the first time, he learned the true origins of the gun in his hand and the source of its abilities.
"Then... In your opinion, what should it be used for?" Lin Jie couldn't help asking.
Arthur looked up and glanced at him as if to say, At least you've got a little sense.
"Of course it should be embedded in defensive or support equipment! A talisman, a shield, even the lining of a helmet!"
"Put it as close as possible to the brain or heart, and that's how you get the most out of its ability to 'soothe the mind and resist lesser mental influences'! On your hand? Your hand needs dexterity and steadiness, not to be fucking calm!"
His rapid-fire scolding left Lin Jie enlightened.
This was expertise.
This was the vast gulf in understanding between him and the I.A.R.C.
He had only thought the gun could help him stay calm, while this craftsman had already seen through the material's nature, its best use, and every possibility it held.
"So..." Arthur tossed the revolver back to Lin Jie with obvious distaste. "I've registered this failure. Assessment: high-quality material, idiotic design, limited potential. As for this..."
At last, he turned to the black crystal. Putting his goggles back on, he leaned close as if admiring a priceless diamond.
"Oh... Oh! A perfect Condensed Shadow Crystal! This is the Mist Walker's core! Look at its purity, its stable energy structure... Use it to make a cloak that can 'turn optically invisible,' or a dagger that can silently pierce physical defenses, and it would be... It would be... A work of God!"
Arthur sank completely into a feverish excitement only he could understand. Clutching the crystal, he began frantically searching through the piles of blueprints, muttering to himself and paying no further attention to the three people standing beside him.
Barton had long since gotten used to this. He shrugged at Lin Jie.
"Welcome to the I.A.R.C., Mr. Lin. I hope you've gotten used to dealing with artists like these."
Before you continue