The Alchemy Workshop in the Ancient Castle

That faint, lingering scent of alchemical potion, which had no place in this ancient castle of death, acted as an invisible trail, pointing Lin Jie and his companions toward the correct path amidst the vast ruins.

Sergeant William, a seasoned veteran, immediately took command of the team. In such a complex environment requiring extreme stealth and reconnaissance, his instincts—no different from those of a leopard—were far more reliable than Lin Jie's tactical brain.

He chose not to walk the wide main paths already buried under weeds and rubble, but instead led Lin Jie and the scholar along the shadows inside the castle walls, blending into the darkness as they silently crept toward the core area of the castle: the main tower that had long since half-collapsed.

Every one of William's movements possessed a textbook beauty: his footsteps fell on the debris without a sound, his body always found the optimal angle for cover, and his eyes, sharp even in the darkness, vigilantly scanned every corner; not a single rustle could escape his perception.

Lin Jie followed closely behind him, striving to mimic his rhythm and pace, greedily absorbing the veteran's stealth techniques and converting them into his own knowledge.

They soon arrived beneath the ruins of the main tower. This magnificent structure, once a symbol of the Urquhart Family's glory and power, was now reduced to a dilapidated foundation and a solitary, ivy-covered stone wall.

A massive, pitch-black hole appeared where the cellar entrance of the tower should have been, and that scent of alchemical potion was drifting out from this opening in a constant stream.

William made a "halt" gesture, then took a small silver mirror with an adjustable handle from the pouch at his waist. He cautiously extended the mirror into the hole, used the reflection of the moonlight to quickly scan the interior, and then pulled it back just as quickly.

In a near-silent whisper, William relayed the intelligence to Lin Jie and the scholar: "Below is a spiral stone staircase. There are at least two people guarding the corner of the stairs. They haven't lit any lamps, but they are equipped with that steam-powered weaponry we saw earlier. They look very focused."

A frontal assault was absolutely impossible. In such a narrow passage, once discovered, they would have no room to dodge and would be instantly riddled with holes by the unknown power of the enemy's steam weapons.

A look of nervousness appeared on the scholar's face; he began to regret not staying on the boat.

Meanwhile, Lin Jie's mind was already racing, thinking of a way to break the deadlock.

However, before he could come up with a perfect plan this time, William had already solved the problem in his own way.

The veteran picked up a stone the size of a fist from the ground, weighed it in his hand, and listened for a moment, as if calculating the wind direction and the acoustics within the tower ruins.

Immediately after, he swung his arm violently, and the stone was thrown with a faint whistling sound, precisely hitting another section of the collapsed wall ruins several meters away from them!

"Clatter--!" The crisp sound of stone striking stone was exceptionally jarring in the night sky.

The two guards at the cellar entrance were both distracted by the sudden noise. They vigilantly raised their weapons and leaned half their bodies out toward the direction of the sound, attempting to see what was happening there.

This was the moment!

William's body tensed like a fully drawn bow and then launched forward. He didn't make much noise; those large, fan-like feet landed on the ground with the lightness of a feline, and he rushed toward the hole at an incredible speed!

By the time the two guards realized the sound was just a feint and turned their attention back, William's figure, carrying the scent of death, was already within arm's reach!

Lin Jie only heard two extremely brief, dull "squelch" sounds, like watermelons being crushed by a heavy blow, followed by the sound of two heavy objects collapsing softly to the ground. Then, everything returned to dead silence.

Clean and efficient, without a hint of hesitation, and without giving the enemy a chance to sound an alarm—this was the terrifying assassination skill possessed by a true veteran who had survived the bloody colonial wars.

When Lin Jie and the scholar followed him down the moss-covered, slippery spiral stone stairs, they saw that the two guards wearing the organization's uniforms had already fallen into a pool of blood.

Their throats had been slit at an extremely tricky angle by the cold-glinting military knife in William's hand.

There was no expression on William's face; he simply wiped the blood from the blade with a cloth, as if he had just casually slaughtered two troublesome chickens.

This was the truest and most cruel side of hunting in the Underworld: no exaggerated, flashy combat, only the most efficient kill.

After dealing with the guards at the entrance, a massive secret base, converted from the castle's original wine cellar, finally revealed its full scope before them.

The scent of alchemical potion in the air became even more intense, mixed with the pungent smell of nitroglycerin. Dozens of steady Carbide Lamps illuminated the entire cellar as bright as day. It looked like a busy secret factory, with seven or eight members in the same uniforms working in their respective areas.

Some were carefully mixing yellow, grease-like nitroglycerin with a certain type of rune-inscribed stone powder on a table, crafting the high-power "alchemical explosives" they had seen on the lake.

Others were gathered around a copper cauldron emitting green steam, seemingly boiling something; Lin Jie noticed that they occasionally tossed pieces of processed, giant fish skin into the cauldron.

What made Lin Jie and William feel most vigilant was the deepest part of the cellar. Hanging there were several giant nets woven from the tendons of some unknown creature, each net painted with dense, ancient runes in golden pigment.

Next to the nets were neatly stacked several iron chains, thicker than an arm and also covered in runes. The end of each chain was connected to a massive anchor head with three barbs, similar to a harpoon.

Without a doubt, these were the true "cages" prepared by this organization for their god-like prey, the guardian of Loch Ness!

The core design philosophy of these items was not for hunting, but for capture. The runes on those nets and chains likely possessed special effects capable of suppressing the spirituality of large UMA, rendering them unable to exert their power.

"They are blaspheming against a god... they actually intend to capture that great existence like livestock using chains and nets!" Alistair trembled with rage upon seeing this. The scholar's composure vanished, and he only wanted to rush up and fight these damned heretics to the death.

Lin Jie grabbed him and made a "calm down" gesture. Now was not the time for impulsiveness; the enemies here were numerous and well-equipped. Once the alarm was raised, the three of them would absolutely not be able to leave this cellar alive.

He needed more information.

His gaze began to search rapidly through the alchemical workshop, which was cluttered with various odds and ends.

Finally, his sight locked onto an isolated desk in the corner of the workshop.

On that table, besides some blueprints and alchemical tools, lay an open, thick logbook with a black leather cover and a lock on its surface.