Tactical Deception

When the starry, dazzling elemental being turned its utterly untainted "gaze" toward their tiny fishing boat, Lin Jie and the others felt their hearts skip a beat.

At that moment, they forgot their exhaustion and the danger around them. All that remained was the overwhelming shock of staring directly into the consciousness of a higher-dimensional being.

The great creature seemed to be "assessing" them.

It could tell that the strange power released from an inconspicuous corner of their boat had interrupted the mortals' blasphemous ritual at the most critical moment, giving it a chance to break free.

After staring at them in breathless silence for several minutes, the UMA slowly nodded its head, expressing its silent gratitude.

Then, in a soft blue glow, its mountainous body sank back beneath the dark green waters of Loch Ness.

The enormous whirlpool on the lake's surface subsided as well.

Only the wreckage of the steam launch remained in the distance, still rising and falling on the waves.

"It... it... it was... saluting us..." Alistair, the old scholar, was so moved that tears filled his eyes. He tremblingly removed his hat and bowed deeply toward the center of the lake.

After that tremendous shock, the veteran William was the first to regain his composure and vigilance.

Rather than dwelling on the miraculous events, he immediately turned his attention to the ship that had been torn apart.

"Lin Jie." His voice was low and firm. "There may still be survivors aboard the main vessel."

"If we don't finish them off, word of everything that happened here tonight—including the fact that we were here—will soon reach the Eternal Serpent Cult."

William's words snapped Lin Jie out of his shock.

William was absolutely right.

The battle was far from over.

Securing the scene was always the most important—and most dangerous—part of any victory.

"We have to get over there." Lin Jie made the decision at once, his eyes sharpening again. "Before they can send a distress signal, destroy all their communications equipment and squeeze as much information about their organization as possible out of any survivors."

"How do we get there?" Alistair asked, pointing anxiously toward the waters crowded with reefs and wreckage. "Our boat draws too much water. Getting any closer could be dangerous."

"We don't need the boat." Lin Jie's gaze fell on a spare climbing rope aboard. "Sergeant William, do you still have enough strength for a long swim?"

A veteran's pride surfaced on William's face.

"The wreck's less than two hundred meters away in a straight line. Back when I was taking the Royal Marine Corps tests, that would've been a warm-up."

They settled on a plan immediately.

Lin Jie and William took off their heavy, soaked coats, leaving only their clothes underneath.

William wrapped his Colt Revolver and saber tightly in oiled cloth and strapped them to his back.

Following William's example, Lin Jie also wrapped the [Spellbreaker Bracer] and [Heart of Serenity] in several layers of oiled cloth.

The two of them slipped into Loch Ness like a pair of agile fish.

The icy water stung their skin, quickly cooling their overheated minds.

Under William's lead, they swam toward the wreck using the most efficient, least exhausting technique.

When they finally hauled themselves aboard the steam launch, utterly spent, they found it littered with broken metal and twisted decking where the whirlpool had torn it apart. Corpses were scattered everywhere.

Some had been smashed against the railings by the waves; others had been scalded to death by out-of-control steam pipes.

In the ship's command room, they found their targets: three survivors huddled together, shivering.

One of them was the black-clad leader who had commanded the battle earlier.

They were all injured, and the fanatical madness in their eyes had been replaced by boundless fear.

After witnessing the irresistible "divine punishment," their seemingly unshakable faith had begun to falter.

When the black-clad leader saw Lin Jie and William—two men who shouldn't have been there—standing before him, drenched from head to toe, despair flashed in his eyes.

"Who are..." He started to say something, but William's dark gun barrel was already pressed against his forehead, silencing him.

Under William's murderous interrogation, the survivors, their fighting spirit long gone, spilled everything they knew.

They confirmed that they belonged to the "Eternal Serpent Cult," and that the operation's codename was "Prometheus Extraction." Its purpose was to capture a Primordial Dragon Species and obtain the core divine blood needed for the final ritual in Paris.

However, when William asked about their base in Paris and the specifics of the final ritual, a strange, mocking smile appeared on the black-clad leader's face.

"It's no use... Even if you kill me, you won't find out anything..." he said with a bitter smile. "The great 'Mentor' personally placed a 'Cognitive Shackle' in the mind of every high-ranking member."

"Any attempt to reveal the organization's core secrets will—"

Before he could finish, his pupils suddenly widened, and his face contorted in agony.

A black, serpent-shaped rune rapidly surfaced beneath his skin. Then his head burst apart like a crushed watermelon.

The same thing happened to the other two survivors.

Lin Jie's heart turned cold.

The cult's discipline and cruelty surpassed anything he had imagined.

They had used this method to ensure their secrets remained absolutely secure.

"Damn it!" William muttered.

Their only lead was gone.

Then Lin Jie's attention was drawn to a brass transmitter beside the headless corpse, spattered with blood and brain matter.

The transmitter's panel was flashing a faint green light at regular intervals, apparently receiving an inquiry from somewhere far away.

The three men had been trying to contact their headquarters!

A bold plan for "tactical deception" took shape in Lin Jie's mind.

He couldn't let the enemy know the operation had failed.

On the contrary, he had to make them believe it had succeeded!

That would buy the I.A.R.C. precious time to prepare for its investigation!

But there was a problem.

He didn't know the first thing about operating an alchemical transmitter, let alone the secret code the cult used to communicate.

"Sergeant William, hold him down!" Lin Jie said quickly, pointing to the headless corpse. Though it had triggered its self-destruct mechanism, its body was still twitching faintly.

Lin Jie took a deep breath and pressed his palm directly against the corpse's neck. It still held some warmth, but its brain was gone!

[Touch of Afterimage].

He would search the last memories lingering in the corpse for crucial information!

This time, his perception was flooded with blood and chaos.

But Lin Jie endured the overwhelming discomfort and finally caught fragments of images amid the disorderly afterimages: instructions about "tapping frequencies," "crystal calibration," and "rune responses"!

He jerked his hand back and immediately sat down before the blood-spattered transmitter. His fingers began tapping at the complicated panel in a stiff, awkward rhythm.

He sent a string of meaningless words, but tapped them with the exact rhythm and intervals he had just "read" from the corpse: "Operation successful. Target secured. Returning now."

A moment later, the green light on the transmitter stopped flashing.

Lin Jie knew he might not fool them for long.

But as long as he could buy the Association even a day or two, giving him and William enough time to return safely to London with firsthand intelligence, then their harrowing operation that night would end in victory.