novelraw Chapter 272: Evelyn
Chapter 272: Evelyn
The chess game with Morgan had reached its conclusion, the threat of the Brotherhood of Light was temporarily contained, and Julian's operation in the East had entered its critical countdown.
After a series of heart-pounding adventures, Lin Jie's North American journey finally ushered in a brief yet precious period of respite.
He did not choose to stay in the safe house studying the Ghost Jellyfish neurotoxin sac he had just acquired. Instead, as an ordinary tourist, he truly went to see this city flourishing at the end of the nineteenth century and hailed as the heart of the "New World."
This was both a form of relaxation and a form of learning.
Lin Jie needed to personally feel the pulse of this land, to understand the way of thinking of its people.
Ethan, needing to manage his family's vast business interests in North America and raise an astronomical sum of money for Julian's auction in Saigon, was busy all day with various commercial meetings.
Phineas and Upton were invited back to the North American branch headquarters by Morgan. They needed to conduct a thorough and meticulous "reverse engineering" study of that invaluable blueprint.
In the end, the person willing and with the time to accompany Lin Jie on this "city stroll" was the man everyone least expected, the one who seemed utterly incompatible with the very word "city"—Hawk Hawkeye.
Contrary to Lin Jie's expectations, this wild Native American warrior, once out of combat mode, was not as difficult to approach as he had imagined.
Hawk was simply taciturn, but his eyes often revealed curiosity and scrutiny towards this steel jungle.They did not take a carriage, choosing the method best suited to experiencing the city's pulse—walking.
Lin Jie changed into an outfit commonly seen on the streets of New York, consisting of a tweed suit and a bowler hat, submerging his Eastern face within this enormous melting pot composed of immigrants from all over the world.
Hawk, however, remained true to himself as always. He wore his simple vest sewn from animal hide, wrapped his massive battle axe in coarse canvas, and swaggered down the bustling streets of Fifth Avenue as if carrying a giant totem pole.
His burly physique and primitive attire drew looks of astonishment, fear, and even contempt from passersby.
But he paid no mind to this, silently surveying everything around him.
"What a peculiar combination. A final warrior from the end of the 19th century, an era of raw meat and blood, walking side by side with a pretender from the 21st century, an era of information explosion, through the heart of the Gilded Age."
Watching Hawk's back, so out of place in the surroundings, and then glancing at the still-wet ink on the newspapers in the hands of the newsboys on the street, a strange sense of detachment flickered in Lin Jie's heart.
He led Hawk onto the Brooklyn Bridge, which was undergoing its final stages of construction.
They stood on the massive deck suspended by steel cables, the rushing East River beneath their feet, the already emerging and jagged skyline of Manhattan's skyscrapers in the distance.
Many steamships shuttled across the river, sounding their long steam whistles, proclaiming this nation's unstoppable industrial ambition.
"Quite spectacular, isn't it?" Lin Jie leaned against the railing, feeling the salty, fishy wind blowing from the river.
"It's just a rather large bridge built of steel and stone." Hawk's reply was simple and direct. "In our tribe, the vine bridges spanning canyons are more thrilling than this."
Lin Jie smiled, offering no rebuttal.
He knew that in Hawk's world, true "spectacle" came from the might of nature, not human creations.
Subsequently, Lin Jie experienced the most cutting-edge "black technology" of this era—the "payphone booth," which had only recently emerged on the streets of New York.
He exchanged for coins in a general store, entered that narrow little booth smelling of wood and electricity, clumsily cranked the handle following the complex steps on the instruction manual, and finally successfully connected to the main switchboard of the Waldorf Astoria, where Ethan was staying.
This was an era where miracles happened every day, an era where ambition could be amplified to its limit.
However, when night fell, another side of the city unfolded before Lin Jie's eyes.
Hawk declined Lin Jie's suggestion to go to Broadway to watch an opera. Instead, he led Lin Jie northward, passing through the bustling Midtown and entering that chaotic and impoverished area known as "Harlem."
Finally, in a back alley reeking of cheap gin, they stopped before a worn, unmarked wooden door leading to a basement.
Hawk knocked on the wooden door with a rhythm of three long and two short knocks.
The door opened, revealing a burly man with Native American features and a scarred face. Upon seeing Hawk, a genuine smile spread across his face.
"Chief Hawkeye!" He greeted Hawk warmly in a tribal language with rolled Rs that Lin Jie couldn't understand at all, then gave him a solid embrace.
The burly man's gaze turned to Lin Jie, his eyes revealing vigilance and scrutiny.
Hawk explained briefly in the same language.
The vigilance on the burly man's face immediately dissipated, transforming into a complex mix of curiosity and respect.
He nodded to Lin Jie, then stepped aside to make way.
"Welcome to the 'Thunderbird's Nest,'" Hawk said to Lin Jie in English. "This is our true home in New York."
Lin Jie followed Hawk down the narrow stairs. A strong smell, a mixture of tobacco, spirits, and roasted meat, assailed his senses.
This was an underground bar. The space was not large, the lighting dim, the decor extremely simple.
But unlike the desolation of the streets outside, this place brimmed with vibrant life.
The bar was filled with patrons, without exception, all hunters with Native American ancestry like Hawk.
Some were conversing in low voices, some were arm wrestling, others were carving wooden pieces with mysterious, totemic-style patterns with small knives.
Hawk's arrival immediately drew everyone's attention.
They stood up one after another, paying their highest respects to this ace of the North American branch in various different tribal languages.
Here, Lin Jie saw another side of this "Skullcrusher."
He was not just a silent, bloodthirsty battle maniac.
Hawk was more like a respected tribal leader, a guardian of his own culture.
He patiently responded to every clansman's greeting, patted their shoulders, listened to their complaints and boasts.
A truly relaxed smile appeared on his face.
Hawk got Lin Jie a glass of the local specialty, a spirit brewed from corn and some kind of wild fruit, then sat down in a relatively quiet corner.
"They are all hunters from different tribes living in New York," Hawk said slowly after taking a big gulp of his drink.
"Some are formal members of the Association. More are 'contract hunters' like me."
"We work for the Association in exchange for money and the right to survive. But our hearts will always belong to that land taken from us by the white men."
His voice carried a sorrow woven into his very blood.
"Those European hunters like to treat UMAs as specimens to be studied." He looked at Lin Jie, his gaze deepening.
"But in our view, most of them are like us, natives of this ancient land."
"We never exterminate, we only take what we need. Because we know that making an enemy of nature will only destroy us in the end."
Hawk told Lin Jie the legend of the "Thunderbird" from his tribe.
In his version, the image of the Thunderbird was somewhat different from the cold "Calamity-class UMA" designation in the Association's archives.
It was a spirit of the sky, the embodiment of storms.
Each beat of its wings brought thunder and lightning, capable of both destruction and life-giving rain.
Legend said that the first Native American hunter passed the Thunderbird's trial and gained the power to command lightning from it.
This was a philosophy rich in mythology and animism.
"I have a sister. Her codename is 'Thunderbird Arrow,'" Hawk suddenly mentioned a name, a rare hint of gentleness appearing on his face.
"She understands these ancient principles better than I do. Her arrows are never loosed lightly."
"But once loosed, even the wind makes way for her. She should be ranked quite high on that Rookie Ranking of yours."
Thunderbird Arrow.
Lin Jie's heart stirred.
He remembered now.
While reviewing the *Rookie Hunter Observation Roster* earlier, he had indeed seen this name. Back then, he was just a rookie fresh in the business, while this Thunderbird Arrow was already somewhat famous.
The evaluation of her in the archives was—"A once-in-a-century top-tier talent marksman of the North American branch."
So, she was Hawk's sister.
Just as Lin Jie and Hawk's conversation, fueled by that spicy corn liquor, was delving deeper, the bar's door was suddenly pushed open violently from the outside, shattering the rare tranquility.
"Hey! Lady! This isn't a place for you!" A heated argument erupted at the entrance.
The scar-faced Native American man guarding the door had spread his arms, trying to block a figure attempting to force their way in.
"Let me in! I'm looking for Mr. Lin! I have something very important!" A clear, anxious voice rang out from the stairwell.
"We don't have any 'Mr. Lin' here!" The burly man clearly wasn't buying it, his tone growing increasingly hostile. "If you don't leave, don't blame me for being rude!"
All the Native American hunters in the bar stopped what they were doing, casting unfriendly glances towards the clueless outsider.
Lin Jie and Hawk also looked towards the commotion, both showing a hint of surprise.
The intruder was actually Evelyn Marconi.
She still wore that dark travel cloak suited for action, but the hood had slipped back now, revealing a face flushed with exertion.
"Stop, Kanu."
Hawk timely prevented the conflict from escalating.
He stood up and shook his head at the doorman.
The burly man called "Kanu," upon seeing Hawk's signal, immediately let the hostility fade from his face.
He nodded respectfully to Hawk, then reluctantly stepped aside to clear the path.
Evelyn practically jogged to Lin Jie's table. She glanced at the tall Native American warrior beside him, but ultimately focused her gaze on Lin Jie.
"Mr. Lin," she got straight to the point, her tone urgent, "I heard... I heard from Phineas that you... you're leaving here soon, heading to the East?"
Her sudden appearance and this blunt question took Lin Jie somewhat by surprise.
"I do have that plan," Lin Jie nodded, not denying it. "How did you find this place?"
"I went to the safe house, couldn't find you there," Evelyn explained. "I looked for Phineas, and he told me Mr. Hawk and you might be here tonight. He said... your ship is about to set sail soon."
She spoke quickly, as if afraid of missing this opportunity.
"Please take me with you," Evelyn's eyes were filled with earnest fire. "Please, you must take me to the East."
"Why?" Lin Jie asked. "I'm going to the East to handle some very personal and quite dangerous matters. And your enemy, Edison, is here."
"I know," Evelyn took a deep breath, trying to steady her emotions. "In the short term, I can't possibly topple Edison. That requires a long-term, meticulous plan."
"Right now, staying here, aside from hiding in the safe house analyzing those captured documents, I can't do much more."
She placed that notebook, filled with her father's messy handwriting, which she never parted with, on the table and flipped it to a specific page.
That page had a very complex circular symbol of a "Bagua diagram." Around the symbol were scribbled various mad scientific conjectures that were ahead of their time, about "life energy," "genetic sequences," and "living alchemy."
"But, my father, he pointed me towards another path," Evelyn's voice became especially solemn at this moment. "While organizing his notes, I discovered what fascinated him most in his later years was... this."
She pointed at that symbol rich with mysterious Eastern charm.
"He believed that Eastern alchemy was different from our Western focus on 'transmuting base metals into gold' and transforming inorganic matter. Eastern sages seemed to have embarked on a bolder, more mysterious path thousands of years ago—a path concerning the 'transformation of life' itself."
"He believed that there might be hidden there the fundamental knowledge to truly understand the essence of life. He even made a crazy speculation in his notes—through this technology, humans might... be able to escape the decay and constraints of the flesh, achieving a form of immortality in a new form, in a certain sense."
Lin Jie listened quietly, but waves churned in his heart.
"Transforming life? Immortality? How similar this sounds to the Black Lotus Sect's 'Living Holy Embryo' project?"
"What does this have to do with you?" Lin Jie asked without changing his expression.
"Because of this."
Evelyn didn't explain further.
She then flipped the diary to the newest page.
That page didn't have any complex symbols or conjectures drawn like before.
There were only a few sparse words, the handwriting extremely messy, as if written in extreme haste or under tremendous pressure.
That sentence was written in Latin.
"Ex Oriente Lux… Inveni viam ad Cor Draconis… Si non revertar…"
(Light comes from the East… I have found the path to the 'Heart of the Dragon'…)
Following that, there was also a crude star chart drawn in ink, and a circled... Chinese character.
—"Wu."
"This is... the last passage my father left," Evelyn's voice trembled slightly. "Only after reorganizing the entire notebook dozens of times did I discover it, hidden in a concealed layer written with a special solution."
"I don't know what the 'Heart of the Dragon' is, nor do I know what that character represents." Her gaze fixed tightly on Lin Jie. "But Mr. Lin, you are from the East. You must know, right? This might be the clue to finding my father's whereabouts!"