Another Band of Hunters?

Lin Jie's unconsciousness didn't last long.

When Sergeant William's fingers pressed precisely on a nerve point at the back of his neck, the sharp jolt snapped him awake from the haze of mental exhaustion.

He coughed a few times. His head still felt as if it had been shoved into a roaring steam engine, and every heartbeat brought a fresh stab of pain.

"How do you feel?" William asked with concern, handing him a small metal flask filled with highly concentrated medicinal brandy to quickly revive the spirits.

Lin Jie took a long drink. The fiery liquid burned all the way down his throat and into his stomach, finally bringing a little warmth back to his chilled body.

"Still alive," he rasped. "But I don't think I'll be able to use that 'perception' ability again for at least twenty-four hours."

He had learned firsthand the enormous price of using Touch of Afterimage.

It was like a double-edged sword: it cut through the fog for him, but just as mercilessly carved deep wounds into him in the process.

The scholar's face was filled with lingering fear and awe.

He looked at Lin Jie's pallid face as though he were a frail prophet who had just returned from a divine revelation.

"My boy, what you just—everything you experienced—we must record it! This... this will be the first time humanity has ever 'heard' the heartbeat of an ancient Titan from such close range!"

"Now's not the time, Mr. MacDonald," William interrupted, his excitement. A grim weight, as dark as the sky over the Scottish Highlands, clouded the old soldier's face. "We have company, and it looks like... they're not here on friendly terms."

Lin Jie immediately tensed.

Following William's gaze, he looked out across the lake through the condensation-covered cabin window.

A ship had appeared on the water about half a mile away.

It wasn't one of the local steam fishing boats, but a more streamlined vessel, powered by a far stronger internal-combustion engine: an exploration ship.

In 1888, these new ships, fueled by refined petroleum, were luxuries that represented the pinnacle of industrial technology. Their cost was beyond the means of ordinary fishermen and even most wealthy men.

More striking was the behavior of the people aboard.

Seven or eight burly men stood on the ship, all wearing what looked like matching exploration uniforms.

Unlike Lin Jie and the others, who were carrying out their survey with care, they were "provoking" the tranquil lake in a way that was both destructive and predatory.

They lit the fuses on bundles of oilcloth-wrapped objects that looked like cylindrical explosives, then tossed them into the lake one after another without a second thought!

"Boom! Boom!"

Moments later, muffled blasts and powerful shock waves surged up from the depths of the lake.

The small fishing boat rocked violently from the underwater impact.

Murky plumes of water mixed with silt shot into the air, and dead fish floated to the surface, their bellies turned up.

"Madmen! A pack of utter madmen!" The scholar trembled with rage. His academic face flushed red. "What are they doing? They're using Nitroglycerin Explosive! Are they trying to drag our Guardian Deity out of its bedroom by force? This is blasphemy! A savage violation of this sacred lake!"

Nitroglycerin Explosive! Lin Jie's heart sank.

Invented by Nobel, this powerful explosive was still strictly controlled by the military forces of various countries because of its extreme instability.

Yet these people were tossing it into the lake as casually as fireworks.

That was proof enough that the force behind them was no ordinary one.

Old soldier William had already raised his monocular telescope, his eyes fixed on every detail of the exploration ship.

"They're professionals," William said in a low, dangerous voice. "Look at that thing mounted on their gunwale. It's not a harpoon. It's a Whaling Cannon, made specifically for whaling and able to fire heavy barbed harpoons. And take a good look at their uniforms."

Lin Jie raised his own telescope.

He could clearly see that although the men's uniforms bore no obvious insignia, silver thread had been used to embroider decorative patterns at the collars and cuffs—something like a snake coiled around a greatsword.

The weapons in their hands weren't ordinary shotguns or rifles, either. They were bizarre-looking Steam Weapons, their bodies covered in brass pipes and pressure valves, apparently capable of firing high-pressure metal bolts with penetrating force.

"They're not here to 'study' it. They're here to 'capture' it." Lin Jie lowered his telescope and exchanged a glance with William. Both men saw a trace of gravity in the other's eyes.

They immediately realized they might have been caught up in a "hunting contest" between different organizations, all after the same target.

"What should we do?" the scholar asked anxiously. "We have to stop them! Otherwise, they'll completely enrage the Guardian Deity!"

"No. We can't do anything right now." Lin Jie shook his head calmly, rejecting the impulsive suggestion. "There are only three of us, with a battered fishing boat and a few light weapons. They have at least seven or eight men, a powerful exploration ship, and... enough explosives to blow us and our boat sky-high. With that kind of disparity in strength, any direct confrontation would be suicide."

His words doused Alistair's anger.

Though the scholar was indignant, he understood that Lin Jie was right.

William nodded in agreement.

"He's right. Our priority is to observe and gather intelligence, find out who these people are and what they really want, and then..." His fingers tightened around his rifle. "At the right moment, teach them a lesson they'll never forget."

They quietly steered their fishing boat into a sheltered area among huge rocks and dropped anchor. Then they covered the boat with camouflage netting, concealing themselves from the conflict.

They became observers, lying in wait in the shadows.

The brutal "blast-fishing" continued across the lake.

The intruders showed considerable patience.

They divided Urquhart Bay into several grid sections, then methodically bombarded them one by one.

Their actions were like repeatedly prodding a sleeping dragon with red-hot iron rods, testing and provoking the limits of its patience.

"They're forcing it to come out," Lin Jie said, seeing through their tactics. "They don't know exactly where the creature is, so they're using the clumsiest but most effective method: provoking it until it can no longer endure the disturbance and surfaces. Once it does, that Whaling Cannon and the fishing nets they've prepared—perhaps reinforced with alchemy—will come in handy."

It was a typical "beast-hunting" tactic.

As time passed, the peaceful, steady pulse of spiritual energy deep beneath the lake began to change.

Lin Jie could no longer use Touch of Afterimage to sense the depths, but his extraordinary instincts still picked up faint traces of agitation and unease slowly rising from the lakebed.

The "Guardian Deity," asleep for many years, was being forced from its dreams by the ignorance and greed of these mortals.