novelraw Chapter 249: Tranquil Heart - Type III
Chapter 249: Tranquil Heart - Type III
The name "The Butcher Ricardo" slowly rolled off the Latin man's pale teeth. Ethan's fingers gripping his twin guns instinctively tightened. The instinctive hostility between predators put his body into a combat-ready state.
Elite hunter ranking, forty-eighth.
This ranking might not sound particularly high, but both Lin Jie and Ethan understood it represented a fearsome level of strength behind it.
Hunters capable of making it onto the Record of Elite Investigators were all powerhouses who had fought their way out of countless battles.
Especially those in the top fifty positions;
each one of them possessed the formidable strength to independently resolve Town-class or even Kingdom-class UMA incidents.
The man named Ricardo standing before them possessed strength that exceeded any colleague they had encountered before.
Facing Ethan's undisguised hostility, Ricardo showed no trace of tension on his face.
He examined the two exquisitely crafted silver-white revolvers in Ethan's hands with great interest, his eyes gleaming with the fervor of a butcher beholding a prime cut of marbled pork.
"Morning Star and Evening Star," his tone carried a hint of disdain. "Hmph, flashy and impractical, just like you British fellows. Even your fighting reeks of powder and perfume."
This scornful and provocative remark ignited the pride inherent to Ethan's noble blood."What did you say?" His voice turned icy. "Would you like to personally experience whether these 'flashy' toys can blast that stinking hide of yours into two pieces?"
"Oh?" Ricardo smiled slightly. "Anytime, kid of the Redgrave family! It just so happens my Flesh and Blood Wail hasn't tasted the flavor of a pure-blooded British noble in a long time!"
As his words fell.
A dense, almost tangible bloody killing intent erupted from his body.
The two crimson scimitars at his waist, sensing their master's fighting spirit, began to pulse with eerie, vein-like patterns along their blades.
The temperature in the entire study dropped several degrees.
An internal war among I.A.R.C. hunters was on the verge of breaking out.
"Enough!"
At this tense, sword-drawn moment, Lin Jie's voice suddenly rang out.
He stood up from the ground and then, neither subservient nor arrogant, positioned himself between Ethan and Ricardo.
"Mr. Ricardo," he met the other's aggressive gaze. "We have no intention of contesting ownership of the prey with you."
"We came here solely to execute the retrieval mission assigned by Sir Henderson."
As he spoke, he pointed to the Blood Holy Grail still resting quietly on the mantelpiece.
"That is our mission objective."
Then, he pointed at the Tongue-Ripper corpse on the floor.
"As for this UMA, it was merely an unexpected encounter."
This logical and orderly explanation doused much of the combat intent about to erupt from Ricardo.
His dark eyes narrowed as he began to re-examine the seemingly ordinary Eastern youth before him.
He could sense this young man lacked the sharp, overt edge Ethan possessed, nor did he carry the bloody killing aura Ricardo himself exuded.
What he had was a kind of calm, deep as an abyss, impossible to see through.
And this kind of calm was often more dangerous than any outwardly displayed power.
"Interesting." Ricardo withdrew his oppressive aura, his hand resting on the hilt also lowered.
He wasn't actually here to pick a fight either.
He was simply a pure battle maniac.
His combat instincts told him these two newcomers, who had cleanly dealt with the Tongue-Ripper, were strong.
And towards the strong, he was accustomed to expressing his "respect" in the most direct way possible.
That was through combat.
"Alright, rookies." He grinned, showing an approving smile. "Since you were the ones who took it down."
Saying this, he walked straight to the Tongue-Ripper's corpse and nudged the massive head, already blown apart by Lin Jie's shot, with the tip of his boot.
"Speak, which parts do you want?" he said in a casual tone, as if discussing how to divide pork at a market. "This thing's hide and flesh are tough, can make decent stab-resistant armor. The claws are sharp too, can be ground into good arrowheads."
"As for... the rest, in my view, it's all just... useless garbage."
This statement, full of "muscle" and "pragmatism," made the corner of Ethan's mouth twitch slightly.
Lin Jie didn't stand on ceremony.
Faced with a battle maniac like Ricardo, whose personality was straightforward, even somewhat crude, any hypocritical modesty would only invite his contempt.
He directly walked forward, crouched down, and reached his hand into the massive gash on the UMA's body, the one he himself had blasted open.
Amidst the sound of flesh and blood rubbing, Lin Jie carefully extracted the remaining fragments of throat bone, shattered by the bullet, piece by piece.
"... I'll take these."
Lin Jie wrapped the blood-stained bone fragments in a clean piece of linen cloth, as if they were some rare treasure.
Watching Lin Jie's extremely peculiar behavior, genuine confusion surfaced in Ricardo's eyes.
He couldn't understand why this seemingly intelligent Easterner would pass over the tough hide and sharp claws, yet treasure these shattered, utterly non-lethal pieces of garbage so dearly.
"Kid, you sure?" He looked at Lin Jie as if seeing a weirdo. "Just... these?"
"Yes." Lin Jie nodded, a hint of an inscrutable smile on his face. "Just these. It's enough."
Ricardo gave Lin Jie a deep look, trying to discern something from his expression.
But in the end, he just shrugged indifferently.
Though Ricardo couldn't understand, the "eccentricities" of the strong were always worthy of respect.
Since the other party had already chosen the part they wanted.
Then the "leftovers" were his turn.
Ricardo also crouched down, then used his powerful, vise-like hands to grip the root of the tongue-blade, sharper than a surgical scalpel.
Then, with a forceful pull outward!
The most essential trophy, brimming with a sense of power, was cleanly and efficiently detached by him.
After doing this, he even brought the tongue-blade, dripping with black blood, to his nose and took a deep sniff, like a gourmet.
A look of utter intoxication appeared on his face.
"Mmm... the scent of the wild, with a hint of sunlight crossing the Atlantic. Not bad, prime ingredient."
This savage and bloody scene churned Ethan's stomach, nearly making him vomit on the spot.
And so, a conflict that should have been filled with gunpowder ultimately concluded peacefully.
Ricardo, thoroughly satisfied, swiftly disappeared into the estate's night with his "ingredient."
But before he left, this unruly Butcher, perhaps out of a pleasant mood from "sharing the spoils," or perhaps out of appreciation for Lin Jie, this interesting rookie.
He actually proactively offered Lin Jie a piece of valuable intelligence.
"... I can tell you're very interested in that material." He pointed at the pile of blood-stained bone fragments in Lin Jie's hand. "Alfama port district, the clock shop of Navigator Santiago. Look for an old fellow called 'The Pendulum'."
"Just say Ricardo sent you to get your watch fixed."
Lin Jie silently committed this name and address, which carried the flavor of underworld slang, to memory.
When they returned to the Seven Hills tavern with the Blood Holy Grail and the bone fragments, the old investigator looked at their slightly weary but completely unharmed state with an expression of disbelief.
He couldn't believe these two excessively young rookies had resolved that terrifying ghost which had stumped the Lisbon Branch, all in just one night.
After sending the telegram to Sir Henderson reporting mission completion.
Lin Jie, following the clue provided by Ricardo, came alone to the Alfama port district, to that oldest and most dilapidated "Clockmaker's Street."
He easily found the clock shop named "Navigator Santiago."
It was an inconspicuous little shop, its door adorned with an old-fashioned, rusted ship's pendulum clock.
Lin Jie pushed the door open. The interior space was cramped, the walls on all sides covered with clocks of various kinds emitting crisp "tick-tock" sounds.
Behind a mountain of piled-up clock parts, a thin, elderly man with graying hair was intently repairing the movement of a pocket watch.
"Out." His voice was aged and impatient. "This shop only accepts appointments."
Lin Jie stepped forward and gently placed the leather pouch containing the throat bone fragments on the old man's workbench.
"A friend named Ricardo referred me here to get my watch fixed."
The old man's hands, working on the movement, paused.
He lifted his head, scrutinizing Lin Jie for a full half-minute.
Then, he slowly shifted his gaze to the leather pouch.
He untied the pouch's drawstring and poured the bone fragments inside onto the table.
He picked up the largest piece and examined it closely under a magnifying glass.
"... Honeycomb structure... porous vibration absorption..."
He muttered obsessively under his breath.
"Interesting..."
"Speak, kid," he finally put down the bone fragment and looked up at Lin Jie again. "How do you want to 'fix' it?"
Lin Jie wasted no words. He directly took out Serene Heart from his waist and placed it on the workbench.
Then, he detailed his bold, almost fantastical "Absolute Silence" modification concept to this temperamental "Pendulum" master.
At first, the old man listened half-heartedly.
But as Lin Jie's explanation delved deeper, theoretically combining the three major sources of sound—"mechanical impact," "gunpowder explosion," and "sonic shockwave"—with the "porous vibration absorption" property of the roar bone.
The old man's eyes gradually began to shine.
"Fascinating! Absolutely fascinating!"
He stood up from his chair and, in one motion, gathered both Serene Heart and the pile of throat bones into his arms, as if afraid Lin Jie might change his mind.
"Kid! I'll take this job!"
"Three days! No! Two days! Come back in two days to collect your new toy!"
Having said that, he paid no further attention to Lin Jie, turning and walking into the even dimmer "operating room" behind the shop.
Leaving Lin Jie standing there, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
He realized all the world's top craftsmen seemed to be cut from the same mold of madness.
Two days later, when Lin Jie returned to the clock shop.
He was greeted by the "Pendulum" master, his eyes bloodshot but his face radiating a satisfied smile.
And a new gun, displayed on a velvet cushion.
The gun's appearance hadn't changed drastically from before.
It still had the same classic, mysteriously beautiful silver-black body.
But the moment Lin Jie took it into his hand, he immediately sensed a distinctly different "texture."
The entire gun had become more "serene."
It was like a black hole capable of absorbing all surrounding sound and restlessness.
"Go test it." The master opened a hidden door in the shop floor, revealing a narrow stone staircase leading underground.
At the end of the stairs was an underground shooting range constructed from thick granite.
Lin Jie took a deep breath. Holding the newly born Serene Heart, he walked step by step down the stairs.
He stood at the firing line, raised the gun, and aimed at the bullseye ten meters away.
Then he pulled the trigger.
"Click."
A barely noticeable sound of the mechanism engaging.
And then...
There was no "then."
No muzzle flash.
No roar.
No sound of a bullet cutting through the air.
One might have thought he had just dry-fired the gun.
At the very moment this thought crossed his mind.
On the distant target made of high-strength steel, a bullet hole, wisps of smoke curling from it, had silently appeared.
Lin Jie was stunned.
He stared in disbelief at the revolver in his hand, from which nothing seemed to have happened, then looked at the bullet hole that had materialized out of thin air in the distance.
The entire process, from pulling the trigger to the bullet striking the target.
Had achieved an absolute, pure, eerily spine-chilling...
Silence!