1888: Memoirs of an Unconfirmed Creature Hunter

Chapter 233: The Spirit Trigger

Meanwhile, Lin Jie chose a path of inward exploration.

He shut himself inside a meditation and research chamber provided by the Hall of Light.

This quiet room had a simple, ancient structure. Its four walls were made of polished sandstone with no extra carvings or decorations. Only the wall opposite the door was inscribed with a wise aphorism in hieroglyphs.

"Know thyself, and thou shalt know the universe and the gods."

Lin Jie sat cross-legged on a rush mat woven from papyrus in the center of the room. Spread open before him was the papyrus manuscript personally gifted by the High Priest.

This manuscript was extremely ancient. The paper was fragile with age, and the writing was in a set of priestly symbols more primitive and obscure than hieroglyphs. If Julian hadn't translated and annotated it beforehand, Lin Jie probably wouldn't have been able to understand a single character.

Having isolated himself from the outside noise and the anxiety brought by his companion's injuries, Lin Jie could finally immerse his mind in this ancient wisdom from thousands of years ago.

He began to systematically study and research the "mythological variant" of Osiris, the King of the Underworld, whose fate had intersected with his own.

The manuscript's contents overturned his previous understanding of ancient Egyptian mythology.

In the mythological system he was familiar with, Osiris was typically portrayed as a benevolent king and judge of the underworld. He was killed by his brother Set, resurrected by his wife Isis, and ultimately became the ruler of the world of the dead.His story was interwoven with the tragic themes of death, betrayal, and rebirth.

Yet, in this secret text passed down through generations of the Royal Court, Osiris's image was far more complex.

The manuscript recorded that in older, more primitive beliefs unaltered by later priests, Osiris's authority was not limited to "death."

He also symbolized the flooding of the Nile, the fertility of the land, and the growth of plants.

At the very bottom of the text was a crude illustration depicting an ancient Egyptian sacrificial ritual.

In the drawing, priests were offering sacrifices to a plant that had emerged from the ground, resembling a giant root nodule.

Immediately after, Lin Jie saw, in a section of annotations heavily circled in red ink by Julian, a first-person account from a certain first-generation Observer that made his scalp tingle.

"It, which we call Osiris, is neither god nor spirit, but the pulse of the earth."

"Withering and flourishing once a year, in rhythm with the Nile. When the dry season arrives, its form resembles withered wood, lying dormant in the abyssal depths beneath the earth. All things wither and fade with it. This is its 'death'."

"When Sirius rises and the river floods, we take the secretions of the Holy Sand Scarabs and fragments of the Solar Boat, mix them with river water, and pour them into the crevice where it slumbers. Three days later, the earth rumbles. Its new sprouts will inevitably break through the soil, winding around the obelisk as they ascend. The aura it radiates can cause all plants to regrow and grains to flourish abundantly. This is its 'life'."

"Its withered husk is also fertile soil. This cycle repeats, endless and unceasing."

Lin Jie's fingertip lightly traced this translated passage. A new understanding welled up in his heart.

From a UMA biological perspective, the two creatures, Nekhbet and Osiris, formed a relationship of predator and complement.

As the top predator, the existence of the Upper Egyptian White Vulture depended on a prosperous, stable ecosystem to provide prey.

The Osiris UMA maintained the vitality of this land through its cycle of life and death.

On a macroscopic ecological chain, the two formed a tightly closed energy loop.

Osiris was responsible for producing and recycling life force, while the Upper Egyptian White Vulture regulated and maintained the apex balance of this ecosystem through predation.

One sustained the foundation, the other managed and restrained. Together, they served the Pharaoh.

On the surface of mythology, these two creatures seemed barely connected, even belonging to two different domains.

But at the most fundamental level of logic, they together constituted the most important concept in the ancient Egyptian worldview.

That was—the cycle of life.

The two were two sides of the same coin, the alternation of day and night, each indispensable and mutually foundational.

And previously, the spiritual power within him was incomplete. One side of the scale was mountains, the other side was empty.

This significant imbalance was perhaps the root cause of the UMA will's harshness and exclusivity.

Now, those few strands of spiritual essence from the Scales of the Dead within Lin Jie had provided the theoretical foundation for this engine to achieve balance.

But the problem was that he, as the driver of this engine, didn't know how to start it.

Every burst of ability was a passive reaction triggered by external crisis, accompanied by uncontrollability and immense risk.

He needed an "ignition device" that would allow him to actively turn this engine on and off at will.

Carrying this new idea, Lin Jie stood up from the quiet room.

He knew that for a problem involving the precise combination of spirituality and machinery, there might be one person who could give him an answer.

Arthur Conan.

However, the genius craftsman in London couldn't solve the urgent situation at hand. Lin Jie needed a local alternative.

He immediately found Ethan, who was in the operations room, troubled by the flood of intelligence.

"I need an Armament Blacksmith." Lin Jie's opening was direct and blunt. "In Luxor or all of Egypt, is there a trustworthy and sufficiently skilled craftsman?"

Ethan was somewhat confused by this sudden question, but he quickly pulled out a list of "cooperative personnel" from the I.A.R.C. Cairo Branch from the mountain of documents.

"Egypt's native inner world power system leans towards curses and protective talismans. They aren't skilled in mechanical modifications." Ethan's brow furrowed as his eyes scanned the long list. "Most craftsmen can only perform some superficial weapon enchantments. Truly skilled masters are practically non-existent."

Just as he was about to give up, Ethan's finger suddenly stopped on a nearly forgotten name at the very bottom of the list.

"Wait, perhaps there is one person." Ethan's tone carried a hint of uncertainty. "He's not Egyptian, nor is he an official member of the Association. He's an Armenian, a jewelry designer living in seclusion in the Coptic Quarter of Luxor's old city."

"His name is Vahé Manukian." Ethan read out the exotic-sounding name. "The file says he once crafted a protective heart mirror for an Ottoman Sultan that could resist mental impact from assassins. But his temper is strange, and his fees are shockingly high."

"Him, then." Lin Jie made the decision without much hesitation.

That afternoon, deep within the labyrinthine, narrow alleys of the Coptic Quarter in Luxor's old city, Lin Jie and Ethan finally found that jewelry design studio with no sign, disguised as an ordinary silverware shop.

They were greeted by a short, white-bearded Armenian old man with a pair of thick tortoiseshell glasses perched on his nose.

He was Vahé Manukian.

The old man clearly had no goodwill towards the two uninvited "gentlemen."

He scrutinized the two for a long time with a critical gaze like one examining subpar gemstones, then said coldly in stiff English, "This shop only accepts custom orders from royalty. If you two gentlemen just want to buy some cheap tourist souvenirs, please exit and turn left."

Ethan was about to reveal his "Redgrave" surname, but Lin Jie subtly stopped him.

Lin Jie understood that with masters possessing unique skills like this, any display of secular power or wealth was a foolish opening move.

He stepped forward and placed his right hand, covered by the White Vulture's Mark, on the old man's workbench, which was covered with precision tools and gemstone fragments.

That mark instantly captured the old man's full attention.

Master Manukian's breath nearly stopped at that moment.

He had seen this symbol before.

In the oldest Armenian jewelry design secret texts passed down through generations of his family, there had been scattered records about this mark.

"Nekhbet…" He murmured the name with a tone of reverence and disbelief.

"Master," Lin Jie's voice sounded, "I need a switch."

He didn't explain the origin of the mark and directly stated his requirement.

"I need a trigger that allows me to actively mobilize and guide this power."

"It must be small enough to conceal, and its activation mechanism must be simple."

Then, Lin Jie gave a preliminary explanation of his "ignition device" concept to this jewelry master.

After the initial shock, Master Manukian's professional obsession as a top-tier craftsman quickly overwhelmed the reverence born of myth.

He adjusted his glasses, grabbed Lin Jie's right hand, and aimed an engraved magnifying glass at the mark.

A light of obsession, similar to Arthur's, burst forth in his eyes.

"A perfect spiritual structure. This is practically a circuit diagram drawn by God's own hand!"

He muttered to himself while quickly grabbing a piece of parchment and using charcoal to swiftly sketch down the complex spiritual nodes and flow paths he saw under the magnifying glass, invisible to the naked eye.

"A trigger, a physical switch. Interesting, a very interesting idea."

His mind was already immersed in this challenge.

"No, a ring's structure is too simple. It can't bear a sufficiently complex spiritual guidance matrix."

He sketched while rejecting his own ideas.

"A bracelet? No, too bulky and not conducive to instant activation."

Finally, Manukian's gaze settled on Lin Jie's slender, bony fingers.

A bold and ingenious idea took shape in his mind.

"I might have a solution."

He pushed the parchment, covered in sketches and complex data annotations, in front of Lin Jie.

In the center of the parchment, Manukian had drawn, with precise strokes, a "knuckle duster" combining Victorian-era retro aesthetics and Armenian classical jewelry inlay craftsmanship.

Or rather, a "twin knuckle ring" worn on the index and middle fingers.

The main body of the ring was connected by a chain in the middle. Inside the ring was a set of miniature mechanical structures as precise as a clockwork movement.

"Look here." Master Manukian pointed with the tip of his pen at the core part of the drawing.

"When you make a fist with your fingers, it will drive this pressure transmission device hidden inside the ring."

"This device will drive this set of miniature gears, which will then push these two probes…"

He pointed at two probes extending from inside the ring on the drawing, thinner than embroidery needles.

"…to accurately pierce two key spiritual nodes on your palm, thereby connecting the spiritual energy circuit of the mark."

"And when you release your fist," a proud smile appeared on his face, "the entire device automatically resets, cutting off the energy output."

"It is a Spiritual Guidance Trigger that obeys only your muscle commands!"

This design, blending imagination and the beauty of precision mechanics, impressed Lin Jie.

He immediately agreed to the proposal.

For the next two days, Lin Jie witnessed the birth process of an artwork.

Master Manukian first brought a piece of spiritual obsidian said to be from deep within a pharaoh's tomb. Using an ancient, lost cutting technique, he polished it into two ring blanks that fit Lin Jie's knuckles.

Then, he placed a piece of rare Osirian holy gold, provided at high cost by Ethan, into the alchemical furnace.

After several hours of complex smelting involving over a dozen different mineral powders, he finally drew out two slender yet resilient "resonance probes."

The most impressive part was the assembly of the movement.

Even with Lin Jie's dynamic vision enhanced by the Mental Staircase, he could only barely see a blurry afterimage.

Countless tiny gold gears, ruby bearings, and mithril springs were precisely embedded inside the small rings under the nimble operation of Master Manukian's tweezers.

Finally, when the last piece of sapphire crystal protecting the movement was perfectly inlaid.

A masterpiece combining Victorian-era retro aesthetics, Armenian classical jewelry inlay craftsmanship, and top-tier mechanical beauty lay quietly in the old man's palm, stained with grease and metal shavings.

It looked like two slightly exaggerated signet rings connected by a gold chain in the middle.

The entirely black spiritual obsidian was polished to a smooth finish. Mithril inlays formed an abstract totem of the sacred bird of the ancient Egyptian protective goddess Nekhbet—the white vulture.

And at the eyes of the totem, two tiny, dazzling diamonds were set.

Had one not seen it with their own eyes, no one could imagine that beneath this gorgeous and mysterious exterior hid a precision weapon that could be called a "miracle of horology."

"…Try it, young man."

Master Manukian solemnly handed the still-warm Spiritual Guidance Trigger into Lin Jie's hands.

Lin Jie took a deep breath and slipped this "switch" onto his index and middle fingers.

The fit was perfect.

The inner wall of the ring, made of spiritual obsidian, transmitted a cool, smooth sensation, seeming to resonate faintly with the mark on the back of his hand.

He turned his gaze towards a mosquito that had been buzzing incessantly in the corner of the quiet room.

Then, imitating the motion of pulling a trigger.

Slowly, he clenched his right fist.

"Click!"

A spring mechanism sound, audible only to Lin Jie, came from inside the ring.

Immediately after, a faint stinging sensation came from the two energy nodes on his palm pierced by the probes.

In the next second, something incredible happened.

For the first time, without any external stimulus, Lin Jie actively triggered the White Vulture's Mark with a purely physical action.

A visible, soft white light, like living flowing water, slowly streamed out from the mark on the back of his hand.

The light wasn't blinding but carried a powerful presence.

It didn't transform into majestic wing phantoms or spiritual storms sweeping everything away like it had in the Karnak Temple or the Osiris Shrine.

Instead, with Lin Jie's palm as the center, it extended outward, forming a translucent, eggshell-like miniature domain!

This domain hovered quietly and steadily around Lin Jie's body, isolating him from the outside world.

Lin Jie could feel that within this domain, he was the master!

A thought stirred in his heart, and he looked towards the mosquito in the corner of the quiet room.

Just as the thought arose, the mosquito that had just flown into the range of his domain seemed to hit an invisible wall.

Its rapidly vibrating wings instantly lost balance. The entire insect tumbled chaotically in mid-air without direction, eventually fleeing in panic from this bizarre space that made it feel severely uncomfortable.

A look of ecstatic joy appeared on Lin Jie's face.

Within this domain, any biological entity with foreign properties, without his permission, would be affected by an invisible pressure.

To further verify his conjecture, Lin Jie's gaze searched the quiet room for other suitable "test subjects."

Finally, his eyes settled on a forgotten clay jar in the corner.

It was an ordinary jar for pickled olives. At that moment, several large Egyptian black beetles, attracted by the residual food scent, were crawling out of its mouth one by one.

That's it!

Lin Jie approached the clay jar.

The boldest black beetle had just crawled out of the jar's mouth and was preparing to climb down the jar's wall.

When its front legs made contact with Lin Jie's invisible domain, its hard black carapace suddenly stiffened. Its six legs covered in fine bristles began to tremble and twitch uncontrollably.

The black beetle abandoned its downward climb and forgot to turn and flee.

It just stiffened in place, shivering from a pure, biological fear!

After a few seconds, the beetle could no longer withstand the pressure from the "superior being."

Its six legs went limp, and the entire insect lost all strength, flipping over with a soft "plop" onto its back as it fell from the smooth jar wall.

Success!

Lin Jie's heart beat faster.

He had finally directly witnessed this authority from the "Lord of the Sky." He had successfully opened an inviolable wing of feathers around his own body!

Although the range of this domain was currently very small, covering only about three meters around his body.

This was a huge and fundamental improvement in his personal strength since his transmigration!

But this ecstasy didn't last long.

After maintaining it for less than thirty seconds, Lin Jie felt the familiar exhaustion sweep through his body.

Sweat beaded on his forehead, and his complexion began to turn somewhat pale.

The miniature domain surrounding his body finally dissipated silently in the air like a punctured soap bubble.

Panting heavily, Lin Jie plopped back down onto the rush mat.

He somewhat helplessly realized that he seemed… to have celebrated too early.

Actively opening and maintaining this domain was still a huge burden on his current body.

In his current state, at full exertion, he could maintain it for at most… about one minute.

More crucially, the effect this domain currently displayed was merely simple biological pressure.

It could affect mosquitoes and insects, but could it affect more complex creatures? Even someone like Yan Xilou?

All of this was still unknown.

How to efficiently apply this powerful authority in the rapidly changing battlefield of actual combat.

This became the next problem laid before him.