novelraw Chapter 244: The Shadow of Lisbon
Chapter 244: The Shadow of Lisbon
Upon receiving Sir Henderson's explicit instructions, the Queen Victoria immediately adjusted its massive hull, charting a brand new course on the sea map.
It no longer sailed towards the exit of the Strait of Gibraltar, instead turning north and heading at full speed towards the ancient coastline of the Iberian Peninsula.
Two days later, a white city built upon seven hills appeared before the eyes of Lin Jie and Ethan.
Portugal, Lisbon.
This great port city that once launched the Age of Discovery stood in stark contrast to the Cairo they had just left behind, a place of dry yellow sand and scorching sun.
Here, one could feel the salty tang of the ocean, the damp mist, and the slight coolness of moss on ancient stone walls.
A melancholic yet romantic atmosphere enveloped every corner of the city, carrying the lingering sorrow of Fado music.
Ancient trams clattered as they navigated the narrow, steep cobblestone streets. The walls of buildings on both sides were covered in colorful tile paintings depicting the magnificent epics of navigators conquering the seas.
However, those images that once represented glory and pride, after centuries of erosion by sea winds, now carried a layer of desolation and sorrow from a bygone era.
Following the subsequent instructions provided by Sir Henderson in the telegraph, Lin Jie and Ethan did not choose to enter the busy Port of Lisbon via the main channel.Instead, they transferred to a local fishing boat in a hidden bay outside the port, silently entering the city's oldest and most chaotic Alfama port district through a smuggling tunnel.
Here, buildings were stacked layer upon layer on the hillside, with narrow alleys barely wide enough for a single person. The air was thick with the smell of fish, the sourness of cheap wine, and the moldy odor unique to poverty.
As agreed, they arrived outside a filthy tavern named "Seven Hills," hidden in an inconspicuous corner.
The tavern's wooden door bore a faded, crooked anchor symbol painted in chipped paint, the symbol rendered nearly indistinguishable by seagull droppings.
This was the I.A.R.C. Lisbon Branch's contact point.
Looking at this tavern, which was even more dilapidated than the lowest-class dive bar in London's White Church District, Ethan's aristocratic fastidiousness made him frown involuntarily.
"I'm starting to... miss that Persian rug in the Cairo Branch, even if it was worn, at least it was clean," he complained in a low voice.
Lin Jie ignored his complaint, simply stepping forward and knocking on the greasy wooden door with a unique rhythm of three long and two short taps.
From inside came the panicked sound of tables and chairs being knocked over.
A moment later, the wooden door was pulled open a narrow crack, revealing an elderly face etched with fear and nervousness.
It was a Portuguese old man who looked to be at least in his sixties. His hair was sparse and gray, his eye sockets sunken and bloodshot, his brown eyes flashing with vigilance and unease.
"...Password?" His voice was hoarse and trembling slightly.
"The vessel on a distant voyage requires the guidance of a lighthouse," Lin Jie recited the contact code provided by Sir Henderson.
A flicker of relief passed through the old man's eyes. He hurriedly ushered the two inside, then swiftly and firmly bolted the wooden door behind them.
The interior of the tavern was a mess.
The air carried the sour stench of cheap alcohol mixed with vomit. Several overturned tables and chairs seemed to prove that a not insignificant disturbance had occurred here not long ago.
"Praise God... you've finally come..." The old man nervously wiped cold sweat from his forehead with a relatively clean handkerchief. His gaze swept back and forth between the unfamiliar faces of Lin Jie and Ethan, unintentionally revealing doubt and despair.
"Headquarters... only sent two... young men like you?" He sighed.
Clearly, in his view, to face such a bizarre and terrifying incident, headquarters should have sent at least a fully armed elite team, not two "young masters" who looked like they were on holiday in Lisbon.
"The manpower is sufficient," Ethan replied, deeply dissatisfied with this receptionist's attitude.
"Now, tell us everything you know."
The old man was intimidated by Ethan's innate aura of authority. He dared not voice any further doubts, merely fumbling to drag a heavy leather briefcase from under the bar counter.
"All the information is here." He placed the briefcase heavily on a relatively sturdy table, then collapsed into a nearby chair as if relieved of a thousand-pound burden, gasping for breath.
"That thing... that thing is not something we can handle. It's like a shadow from hell, my God. I don't even dare go near that manor again..."
He began to mutter incoherently, the man descending into a state bordering on collapse.
Lin Jie knew he likely wouldn't get any valuable clues from this liaison who had already been scared out of his wits.
He directly walked over and opened the briefcase covered in mold.
Inside was a case file as thick as a dictionary.
Lin Jie took out the file and began to carefully read through it page by page.
As his reading progressed, his expression grew increasingly somber.
This file recorded things in far greater detail, and far more horrifyingly, than Sir Henderson had mentioned in the telegraph.
The first part of the file contained a detailed biography of the deceased, Don Almeida.
This veteran noble hunter, hailed in Lisbon's inner world as the "Last Navigator," had a life that could be called a legendary saga of adventure and glory.
In his youth, he had followed I.A.R.C. expeditions deep into the Amazon rainforest and climbed the snow-capped peaks of the Andes.
The variety of UMA he had hunted was extensive, his battle achievements illustrious, ranging from the "Pisadeira" that spewed strong acid in the Brazilian rainforests to the "Giant Subterranean Earthworm" capable of triggering earthquakes in the Argentine Pampas grasslands.
Such a battle-hardened, experienced investigator could not possibly have died so easily at the hands of a Grotesque Armament he had used for decades.
The second part of the file was the on-site investigation report for the "Silent Manor."
The report was led and completed by this very old investigator now on the verge of collapse.
The descriptions used a large number of subjective, fear-laden terms, but Lin Jie still managed to extract some key objective information.
The entire manor appeared intact from the outside, with no signs of forced entry.
But inside the manor, absolute silence reigned.
Thirty-seven servants, twelve purebred Lusitano horses, and hundreds of poultry had all vanished without a trace.
No bloodstains were found at the scene, nor any signs of struggle.
It was as if an invisible wind had swept through the entire manor, carrying away all life.
And that Grotesque Armament codenamed the Blood Holy Grail had also disappeared without a trace.
The final part of the file consisted of several photographs of the corpse taken by the Association's professional photographer.
In the photos, Don Almeida's desiccated corpse was fixed to an autopsy table.
Every detail was recorded by the dispassionate, colorless lens.
The shriveled skin clung tightly to the bones like a layer of yellowed parchment.
The sunken eye sockets resembled two black holes, frozen with an indescribable horror from the moment of death.
What caught Lin Jie's attention the most was the close-up photograph of the deceased's mouth, specially enlarged by the forensic examiner.
The photo clearly showed that the deceased's tongue had been neatly severed from the root by some sharp instrument.
The cut was smooth as a mirror.
"Blood and the tongue..."
Lin Jie slowly closed the file, muttering these two seemingly unrelated words under his breath.
The vast UMA database in his mind was being searched and cross-referenced at an astonishing speed.
Soon, a long-buried, terrifying name from Karl's diary surfaced in his mind like a bubble from the deep sea.
Lin Jie immediately retrieved the translated diary he had read countless times from his travel bag, then, relying on his incredible memory, quickly flipped to a specific page.
It was a page dedicated to recording Karl's adventures in the Brazilian colony of South America.
On the left side of the page, Karl, with his masterful strokes, had sketched a bizarre UMA.
The creature's form was that of a hairless, pitch-black entity somewhere between human and ape.
Its limbs were long and conveyed a sense of explosive power. The nails on its ten fingers resembled blades polished from obsidian, gleaming with a cold light.
But the most terrifying part was its head.
Its face had no eyes or nose, only a massive slit stretching from the left ear root all the way to the right ear root.
And protruding from that slit was a long tongue covered in countless tiny barbs.
Beside the sketch, Karl had concisely recorded key information about this UMA.
"Codename: Arranca-Línguas (Tongue-Ripper)..."
"Threat Level: Town-class (Highly Dangerous)..."
"Type: Physical Hunter, Blood-sucking Species..."
"Ecological Description: Primarily inhabits rainforests and savanna regions of inland Brazil. Nocturnal, extremely fast-moving, silent, like a 'shadow' walking in darkness. Its vision has degenerated, primarily relying on acute hearing and smell to lock onto prey..."
"Attack Method: Primary attack means is its 'tongue-blade' which can shoot out several meters in an instant. It uses the tongue-blade to precisely slice the prey's throat or aorta, draining its entire blood volume within seconds. Furthermore, it possesses an incomprehensible, ritualistic quirk..."
"It will sever and collect the tongues of all its prey."
All the clues at this moment fit together perfectly like precisely crafted mortise and tenon joints!
The missing blood.
The severed tongues.
Everything matched the description in Karl's diary perfectly!
"I know what that thing is."
Lin Jie's voice became somewhat distant. He looked up at Ethan.
"An ancient 'ghost' from the Brazilian colony."