Guardian's Warning

The barbaric and arrogant blasting harassment lasted from dawn until dusk, churning the calm, clear waters of Urquhart Bay into a muddy mess.

Countless corpses of innocent fish bobbed on the surface of the lake, and the air was thick with the acrid smell of nitroglycerin and the stench of death.

That advanced exploration ship, like a tireless iron beast, flaunted the crudest desire for conquest of industrial civilization across this ancient lake without restraint.

Lin Jie, William, and Alistair sat quietly in their disguised fishing boat, monitoring the situation for the entire day.

During this time, Lin Jie's mental energy was slowly recovering, but the splitting headache remained, preventing him from attempting to use the Touch of Afterimage again. Instead, he poured all his energy into observing and recording the operational patterns of these "uninvited guests."

He discovered that this group operated with extreme method and purpose. They showed no regard for the common fish blasted to the surface, instead using a prototype sonar-like detector hanging off the side of the ship to listen for movements beneath the water over and over again.

"They are mapping the spiritual force field," Lin Jie quickly recorded his judgment in his notebook. "Every explosion is not just harassment, but a 'probe.' They are using the spiritual echoes triggered by the blasts to reverse-engineer the approximate outline and location of that massive energy source at the bottom of the lake. This method is crude, but effective."

William's expression was grave, and a hint of killing intent colored the veteran's voice: "I smell the scent of war. These people are not ordinary explorers or hunters; every step they take carries military-like discipline and absolute indifference toward their targets."

"They don't care how many innocent creatures they kill, nor do they care if they completely destroy the lake's ecosystem. In their eyes, there is only that final goal."

Night finally descended slowly.

But tonight, Loch Ness appeared exceptionally eerie. There was not a breath of wind in the sky, and the lake surface was so calm that not a single ripple could be seen. The absolute silence did not bring a sense of tranquility, but rather the suffocating tension that precedes a massive storm.

Just then, a thin layer of white mist began to rise slowly from the center of the lake.

At first, it was just wisps of thin fog drifting quietly across the water, but within minutes, the mist thickened at an incredible speed, eventually forming a massive wall of fog so dense one could not see their own fingers, shrouding the entire Urquhart Bay in a world of isolated white.

"It is 'it'..." the scholar's voice was filled with awe and excitement. "It is the Guardian Deity! It is recorded in ancient Celtic legends! Whenever an evil foreign enemy invades the sacred lake, the Spirit of the Lake summons the Mist of Lost Paths, causing the invaders to lose their way within it, only to be swallowed by the lake!"

Lin Jie's heart pounded violently as well. He felt that with the appearance of this thick fog, the massive spiritual pulse deep within the lake—which had previously been merely "irritable"—was awakening with unprecedented intensity!

It was no longer the heartbeat of a gentle slumber, but the majestic eyes of an ancient behemoth, thoroughly enraged, snapping open!

A grand and sacred force field expanded from the center of the lake toward the surroundings!

"En--!"

This was not a sound, but a mental pressure acting upon the soul level!

Lin Jie felt as if his brain had been gripped by an invisible giant hand. The cold, Zen-like clarity emanating from the hilt of the Heart of Serenity felt ineffective against this force field, which was as grand as the might of heaven, and it was on the verge of being crushed.

William and the scholar were faring no better, both clutching their heads and trembling slightly.

Lin Jie forced himself to look through the binoculars at the exploration ship, now wrapped in the thick fog.

The moment the fog rose, panicked shouts and curses erupted from the ship. The beams from the searchlights could only illuminate less than three meters ahead in the thick mist, forming futile halos of light.

Their advanced internal combustion engine also seemed to be interfered with by the mysterious force field, emitting unstable sputtering sounds before finally "poofing" and dying out completely!

"Their compasses have failed! All directional alchemical instruments are being shielded by this powerful spiritual force field!" Lin Jie immediately deduced their predicament from the way the crew was frantically and futilely pounding on various instruments.

In this thick fog filled with ancient magic, the exploration ship, representing the pinnacle of industrial technology, had become a helpless iron coffin that had lost its eyes and ears.

Then, something even more bizarre occurred.

The mirror-like surface of the lake began to surge irregularly within the fog!

Undercurrents generated out of thin air beneath the ship's hull, as if possessing a will of their own, pushing and pulling at the powerless exploration vessel.

The burly men on the ship fell into a panic, running about aimlessly and shouting loudly, while some fired their guns wildly into the fog-shrouded lake.

However, the small, disguised fishing boat carrying Lin Jie and his companions experienced a completely different treatment.

When that grand spiritual force field swept over them, it seemed to recognize the pure, inquisitive aura they carried, devoid of malice. The mental pressure that had nearly crushed the three of them softened.

Then, a gentle current—equally powerful but filled only with "goodwill"—arrived from nowhere, steadily supporting the hull of their small fishing boat.

This current held no violence; like the gentle hand of a giant, it pushed the small boat, unhurriedly, toward the safety of the shore, far away from the center of the chaos.

Lin Jie, William, and Alistair lost the ability to speak in the face of this miraculous experience; they could only sit in a daze, feeling themselves being escorted by a benevolent power beyond their comprehension.

This was the warning from the "Guardian Deity."

It had demonstrated its absolute will to the two ships intruding upon its territory in the most direct manner possible.

For those blasphemers harboring malice and greed, it had unleashed the Mist of Lost Paths and the Currents of Chaos, enough to render advanced technology useless.

For those who had disturbed its peace but remained filled with awe, it offered a "safe escort," much like a mother shooing away mischievous children.

"Boom!"

Just as their small boat was about to be pushed into the shallows near the shore, a deafening crash of metal colliding with rock echoed from deep within the fog!

This was followed by a series of screams that were quickly swallowed by the lake water.

"They... they hit the reef..." William said, his voice raspy. He knew that in this impenetrable fog and amidst the erratic undercurrents, any ship would meet only one fate: being smashed violently against the ancient reefs hidden beneath the waters of Urquhart Bay.

A "divine punishment" personally delivered by the mysterious guardian had drawn to a close, manifesting through the power of nature and mysticism.

When their small boat was finally pushed by the gentle force to a hidden part of the shore, the massive fog that had shrouded the entire lake dissipated as abruptly as it had appeared.

Moonlight spilled across the lake once more, and the water remained calm; the thrilling divine punishment from moments ago felt like nothing more than a fleeting dream.

Only the faint, lingering scent of blood in the air served as proof that everything that had just occurred was real.