novelraw Chapter 328: Landing on Borneo
Chapter 328: Landing on Borneo
December 14, 1889.
The southernmost tip of the South China Sea.
As that blood-red sun struggled to pierce the thick cumulonimbus clouds, attempting to cast a faint glimmer of light onto this sea region known as the "Land Below the Wind," the deck of the cargo ship Messenger was already saturated with a humidity so thick it felt like it could be wrung out.
The air here was a mixture of the sour stench of decaying, fermenting vegetation and the age-old miasma rising from thousands of square kilometers of swampland.
Lin Jie stood by the railing at the ship's bow, holding a brass monocular telescope, quietly watching the winding, serpentine coastline at the horizon's edge, which displayed an unsettling ink-green hue.
That was Borneo.
The world's third-largest island.
Also one of the oldest, densest, and most civilization-resistant tropical rainforests on Earth.
In the circular view of the telescope, it appeared as a towering green wall, seemingly propping up the entire sky, woven together by countless giant trees and intertwining vines.
The massive root systems of the mangrove forest plunged deep into the seawater like twisted, convulsing octopus tentacles, densely crowding the coastline.There were no cries of seagulls, no signs of fishing boats, only that boundless expanse of green.
"That is where we are going."
Nadia had walked up behind Lin Jie without him noticing. She had already changed into traditional Dayak hunting attire suitable for movement in the jungle, and the parang at her waist was polished to a gleaming shine.
"My people call it the 'Giant Lung,' because it breathes," Nadia's voice was somewhat low. "But for outsiders, it is more like a giant stomach, because it digests everything that dares to intrude."
Lin Jie lowered the telescope.
"It certainly doesn't look like a good vacation spot," he said, turning to look at his busy teammates on the aft deck.
Julian was inspecting the sealed, waterproof canvas bundles containing the supplies they would rely on for survival in the jungle over the coming weeks.
Evelyn was squatting in front of a functioning radio transmitter, making final frequency adjustments, trying to establish an unstable communication link in this sea area with its abnormally chaotic magnetic field.
"Captain," Lin Jie called out towards the bridge.
The bearded British captain immediately stuck his head out of the window. A trace of nervousness was on his face; this sea area, filled with reefs and pirate legends, made him uneasy.
"Shut down the engines," Lin Jie ordered. "Maintain silent drift. No black smoke from the funnels, and no mechanical noise that could be detected."
As the engine's roar gradually subsided, the Messenger quietly drifted in the deep-water area about five nautical miles from the coastline.
Waves gently lapped against the hull.
"Position confirmed?" Lin Jie looked at Nadia.
Nadia nodded. She pulled a hand-drawn parchment map from her bosom and pointed to a gap in the mangrove forest along the coastline that looked no different from any other spot.
"Right there," her finger traced a winding red line on the map. "The entrance to Crocodile Road."
"It's a natural tidal channel hidden deep within the mangrove maze, only navigable during high tide. It's completely obscured by dense tree canopies, impossible to spot from the air, and its depth is just enough for shallow-draft flat-bottomed boats to pass through."
"It will take us around the main channel of the Rajang River, directly into the inland midstream area."
It sounded like a perfect smuggling route.
But Lin Jie did not immediately order action.
He raised the telescope again, this time adjusting the focus to maximum, locking firmly onto the estuary position Nadia had indicated.
At first, it looked like just an ordinary patch of mangrove shadow.
But as the morning mist over the sea dispersed slightly, some man-made outlines, unnatural to the wilderness, began to appear in the lens.
It was a ship.
A not-very-large, shallow-draft gunboat armed with firepower completely disproportionate to its tonnage.
Its entire body was painted in a camouflage green suitable for concealment in jungle rivers. A Hotchkiss rapid-fire cannon, covered with a canvas tarp, was mounted at the bow, while terrifying Gatling guns were mounted on both sides of the ship's railings.
This gunboat used steam power to slowly perform a zigzag patrol maneuver in the waters near the estuary.
Not much black smoke came from its funnel, clearly indicating the use of some smokeless coal or a specially modified power system.
And on the water surface behind the gunboat floated several black spheres that looked like discarded barrels.
The surfaces of these spheres were covered in rust and seaweed, bobbing up and down with the waves, appearing utterly unremarkable.
But Lin Jie recognized them at a glance.
Contact mines.
And not just any mines, but the oldest, most uncontrollable type—horned contact mines that would blow everything in the vicinity sky-high with the slightest external impact.
They were connected by chains hidden underwater, stretching across the entire estuary's shipping lane, forming an invisible yet deadly blockade line.
"Your secret passage is no longer a secret."
Lin Jie handed the telescope to Nadia.
Nadia took the telescope, looked, and her face instantly turned grim.
"Black Ghosts..." she cursed through gritted teeth. "They won't even let go of this muddy bog only crocodiles would use."
"That gunboat is the 'Prince William' patrol boat lost by the Dutch colonial government a few years ago," Julian walked over. "It seems the Black Lotus Sect acquired it through some channel. If we engage head-on with that firepower, our Messenger, despite its larger tonnage, would just be a sitting duck in these narrow, shallow waters."
"And there are mines underwater," Evelyn added. The metal detector in her hand was emitting a faint but rapid beeping sound. "With that density of metal reactions, if we rashly charge in, not just one ship, even an entire fleet would sink."
The situation had become tricky.
Yan Xilou had not only blockaded the main river channel but had even stationed heavy defenses at such a remote backdoor.
"Should we launch a frontal assault?" Nadia's hand rested on her knife hilt. "If we use the cover of night, I'm confident I can swim over, board that ship, and kill all the guards."
"No," Lin Jie immediately vetoed the suggestion. "That ship definitely has high-power searchlights, and the mine triggers are very sensitive. Once gunfire or an explosion occurs, the massive sound will travel dozens of kilometers over the water, activating the entire Black Lotus Sect's defense network."
"Our mission this time is infiltration," Lin Jie emphasized. "We need to go in like ghosts, not like bandits."
He turned and looked at the local longboat on the aft deck, covered with canvas and prepared for them by Su Sanniang.
It was a traditional Southeast Asian sampan boat.
Its hull was narrow, long, and low, made of hard teakwood, with an extremely shallow draft. The only modern equipment was the sound-suppressed engine installed at the stern.
"Change boats."
Lin Jie made the decision.
"The Messenger is too big a target and can't pass through that minefield. We'll leave it here as a sea relay station and escape route."
"The four of us will take the necessary equipment and go in on that sampan."
"But those mines..." Evelyn looked worriedly towards the distant estuary.
"The mines are meant for large ships," Lin Jie explained. "The sensitivity of those contact horns is typically calibrated for impacts from hundreds of tons of steel. As long as we are careful enough and light enough, the sampan's draft might not even touch those chains."
It was an extremely risky decision.
It meant abandoning all the logistical support and firepower provided by the large ship, entrusting their lives to a small, unprotected wooden boat to traverse a death zone filled with explosives and enemies.
But it was also the only feasible plan.
"Prepare to move," Lin Jie began unbuttoning his trench coat, checking the weapons inside. "When it's completely dark and the tide is at its highest, we depart."
Night fell.
Thick clouds obscured the moon and stars, reducing visibility over the sea to almost zero.
The Messenger extinguished all its lights, melting into the darkness.
With the faint sound of a winch turning, the sampan, painted gray-green, was slowly lowered into the sea.
The four climbed down a rope ladder, their movements so light they made no sound.
Nadia sat at the bow, holding a black short oar.
Her eyes shimmered with a faint, feline-like glow in the dark, a special night vision talent she possessed as a jungle hunter.
Lin Jie sat at the stern, holding a simple tiller.
He didn't plan to start the gasoline engine because, at this distance, even a suppressed engine sound could be amplified infinitely over the water.
They chose the most primitive and quietest method—rowing.
Four wooden oars, wrapped in thick cotton cloth, gently cut into the water. Each stroke was meticulously controlled in angle and force to ensure no extra splashing sound.
The small boat glided silently towards the dangerous estuary like a leaf floating on mercury.
As the distance closed, the outline of the gunboat anchored in the middle of the estuary became increasingly clear.
Although the searchlights on both sides of the ship were not on, the occasional flicker of cigarette light from the bridge and the faint sound of conversation indicated the guards on board were not asleep.
"Attention."
Lin Jie lowered his voice, issuing a warning to Nadia at the bow through a simple speaking tube.
"We're entering the minefield."
Actually, he didn't need to remind her; Nadia's movements had already become extremely slow.
She lay prone on the deck at the bow, her face almost touching the water's surface, using her sharp eyes to stare intently into the dark water ahead.
Here, the seawater's flow became slow and viscous.
Black, spike-covered iron spheres bobbed up and down with the tide's movement, appearing and disappearing less than half a meter below the water's surface.
They were like a group of sleeping water ghosts, quietly waiting for the moment to be awakened.
"Port side... three degrees," Nadia's voice was as light as wind through leaves. "There's a chain."
Lin Jie turned the tiller ever so slightly.
The bow of the small boat veered a tiny angle to the right, narrowly skimming past that taut mine mooring chain.
Lin Jie could feel an extremely subtle tremor transmitted through the hull, a disturbance of the water flow.
Cold sweat dripped from Evelyn's forehead onto the back of her hand.
She clutched the equipment case in her arms tightly, not daring to breathe heavily.
She knew that if the hull even slightly brushed against that rust-covered contact horn, all four of them would instantly become scattered pieces of flesh.
It was like dancing in a dark room filled with bear traps.
Every second was agony.
The small boat continued winding its way through the minefield.
Fifty meters.
Thirty meters.
Ten meters.
They were getting closer and closer to that gunboat.
So close that Lin Jie could smell the burning coal drifting from that ship, could hear the crew complaining in heavily accented Malay about the stifling heat and mosquito bites.
Suddenly.
A piercing white beam of light shot out from above the gunboat's bridge without warning!
It was a searchlight.
The guard on duty had routinely turned on the light, wanting to scan the surrounding waters.
The beam of light split the dark sea surface, slowly sweeping towards the direction where Lin Jie and the others were.
"Get down!"
Lin Jie hissed.
All four reacted simultaneously, quickly lying flat on the boat's bottom planks, pressing their bodies as close to the hull as possible, and pulling over a piece of dark camouflage netting, prepared in advance and colored very close to the seawater, to cover themselves.
The intense beam of light swept over their heads.
The light was extremely bright, piercing through gaps in the camouflage netting, stinging their eyes.
Lin Jie held his breath. His hand still tightly gripped the tiller, controlling the boat to prevent noticeable rocking from the waves.
His other hand had already reached for the Serene Heart in his coat.
If they were discovered.
He would have to, within the fraction of a second before the searchlight operator sounded the alarm or opened fire, shoot the other's head off from this distance of dozens of meters, and then shoot out that damned light.
But then, the infiltration plan would be completely ruined, followed by a surely fatal forced breakout.
Time froze in that moment.
The searchlight beam lingered over their patch of water for several seconds.
The guard on the ship seemed to be observing something.
Perhaps a piece of floating wood? Perhaps a fish jumping out of the water?
Or perhaps he was just daydreaming?
Finally.
That deadly beam of light slowly moved away.
It continued sweeping in another direction, eventually extinguishing in the darkness.
"Clear."
Lin Jie let out a long, slow exhale.
He felt the sweat soaking through the back of his shirt.
"Proceed."
Taking advantage of the searchlight's pause, the four sat up again and increased the frequency of their rowing.
The small boat quickly passed through the final section of the minefield and slipped into the shadows obscured by the mangrove forest.
When the gunboat completely disappeared into the darkness behind them, when the surroundings were once again enveloped by that suffocating silence, everyone felt a sense of exhaustion.
They had passed the first checkpoint.
They had officially entered Crocodile Road, where the environment became even more oppressive.
The waterway was very narrow. The towering mangrove canopies on both sides intertwined overhead, blocking out all sky, turning this place into a seemingly endless green tunnel.
The air was filled with the smell of rotting earth and the pungent scent released by plants.
The water surface became extremely turbid, taking on an ominous yellowish-brown hue.
Massive buttress roots and aerial roots protruded from the water like twisted sculptures.
Lin Jie started the small gasoline engine.
The specially modified exhaust pipe was submerged underwater, producing an extremely low, deep sound, like the wing-beating of some large insect, not out of place amidst the noisy rainforest.
The small boat began to accelerate.
Nadia sat at the bow, but her posture had changed.
She turned her gaze towards the dense thickets on either side and the vines hanging from the trees.
Her parang was already drawn, laid across her knees.
"We're here."
Nadia's voice held both the excitement of returning home and the vigilance of facing an old enemy.
"This is the edge of the Heart of the World."
"Here, mines and guns are no longer the most dangerous things."
As her words fell, the bow of the small boat gently bumped against a muddy riverbank filled with silt.
This was their first landing point after entering the inland.
Lin Jie jumped off the boat.
When his tactical boots sank into the thick, foul-smelling, rotting mud, an extremely sticky sensation traveled up from the soles of his feet.
A rustling sound came from the surrounding mangrove forest.
It was countless crabs crawling on the mudflats, insects moving through the leaves, and also something larger watching from the darkness.
"ROAR—"
A low, hoarse, beastly roar, as if from ancient primordial times, suddenly came from deep within the jungle.
The sound penetrated the layers of trees, shaking the surrounding leaves into a fluttering cascade.
It was a roar Lin Jie had never heard before, filled with savagery and hunger.
Evelyn's body visibly trembled.
Julian also instinctively tightened his grip on Discipline.
Lin Jie looked up.
He gazed into that deep jungle.
Behind that endless green Veil, countless pairs of eyes were watching them.
Some were greedy, some curious, and some... waiting to kill.
This was Borneo, this was the green hell that had consumed countless explorers.
Lin Jie glanced back, in the direction they had come from.
"Let's go."
Lin Jie turned around, tightened the collar of his Black Mercury trench coat, and cocked the Serene Heart.
"Let's go see."
"What kind of monsters Yan Xilou has been raising in his Garden of Eden."
He took the lead, stepping into that suffocating green darkness.