1888: Memoirs of an Unconfirmed Creature Hunter

Chapter 359: The Century Plan

It was a stiflingly hot South Seas night, the kind that could jolt one awake from sleep.

The main hall doors of Guangfu Funeral Parlor were tightly shut.

Lin Jie sat alone by the altar table dedicated to Ksitigarbha (Earth Store Bodhisattva) in the main hall, idly playing with the Round Table insignia he had retrieved from the Giant Nabau Serpent's belly.

William was still asleep on the Cold Jade Bed in the rear hall, consolidating his newly reshaped foundation. Julian and Evelyn had also retired early due to days of exhaustion. Even the usually vigilant Su Sanniang seemed absent tonight, likely busy handling Hongmen affairs.

The only conscious breathing in the entire funeral parlor belonged to Lin Jie.

He was thinking.

Thinking about the prophecy Yan Xilou left regarding the "cage," and also thinking about the bloody, erased history represented by this insignia.

*Tap, tap, tap.*

A series of extremely faint, yet peculiarly rhythmic knocks suddenly shattered the deathly silence within the funeral parlor.

Lin Jie's fingers paused on the insignia.His gaze shifted towards the main door.

At this hour, in this place, no ordinary visitor would come calling.

If it were a Hongmen brother, they would use the side door and give the passphrase. If it were the police or enemies, they would kick the door down or scale the walls.

Lin Jie put away the insignia, loaded [Serene Heart], and slipped it back into the holster under his arm.

He walked to the door and peered out through a crack.

Outside, there was no murderous assassin, nor any fully armed military force.

There was only a figure standing at the foot of the steps who looked utterly ordinary, even somewhat humble.

It was a dock coolie wearing a tattered coarse cloth jacket, a bamboo hat with a frayed rim, his pant legs rolled high to reveal bare feet caked in mud.

A sweat towel, blackened beyond recognition of its original color, was draped over his shoulder. In his hand, he carried a bamboo basket common for the era.

He looked exactly like the kind of bottom-tier laborer found everywhere along the Singapore River, selling their strength for a few copper coins.

But his eyes lacked the numbness and dullness typical of coolies; they held only a calm and profound light.

"The door isn't locked."

Lin Jie's voice pierced through the wooden door.

*Creak—*

The coolie pushed the door open.

A humid night breeze swirled into the chilly funeral parlor with his movement.

He first stomped his feet at the threshold, shaking off the mud, then carefully stepped over the doorstep, as if genuinely concerned about dirtying this domain of the dead.

"Disturbing you so late at night is truly presumptuous."

The coolie removed his hat, revealing a weathered, wrinkled face that didn't appear old.

He spoke in impeccably standard Chinese, even carrying a touch of classical elegance, creating a stark contrast with his coolie attire.

"I've come to deliver something."

He stopped three paces away from Lin Jie, placed the bamboo basket on the ground, and took out a small object wrapped in damp cotton cloth.

Holding the object in both hands, he offered it to Lin Jie.

Lin Jie's gaze fell upon the object.

It was a leaf.

A leaf with serrated edges, clear veins, and a vibrant emerald green color... an oak leaf.

Lin Jie's pupils contracted slightly.

On this tropical island located near the equator, such a plant belonging to temperate deciduous broadleaf forests couldn't possibly grow, let alone be so fresh.

Unless it had been preserved by some special means.

Oak.

The sacred tree of the Druids.

Also the source of the codename for that "Oak Sage."

"Who are you?" Lin Jie's right hand remained hidden in his sleeve, gripping a knife handle.

"Who I am is not important."

The coolie gently placed the leaf on the nearby incense altar table.

"On this dock, I might be a coolie carrying heavy sacks. In that bustling Tanglin district, I might be a gardener trimming lawns. In the slums of London, I might be a chimney sweep."

He looked up, meeting Lin Jie's eyes directly.

"We are the roots in the soil, the screws in the machinery, the insignificant numbers seen as mere grass by the powerful."

"But we are also... the Watchers of Avalon."

Avalon.

When this name was spoken by this seemingly humble coolie, it carried a moving sense of solemnity and sanctity.

Lin Jie wasn't surprised.

After hearing Merlin's message from the Round Table insignia, he knew this organization would seek him out sooner or later.

But he hadn't expected it to be so soon, and in this manner.

"Since you are Watchers, why come to me?" Lin Jie asked coldly. "I am not one of your kind. I am merely a hunter who works for money."

"Hunter?"

The coolie smiled, a smile tinged with mockery and a trace of sorrow.

"Do you truly believe you are just a hunter? Mr. Lin."

"For whom are you hunting? For those directors hiding in villas by Lake Geneva? Or for those bankers sitting in Wall Street offices manipulating the stock market?"

He pointed towards the dark world outside the door.

"Look at this world."

"The original purpose of I.A.R.C.'s establishment was to protect humanity from supernatural forces. But now? What has it become?"

"It has become the private army of royal families, a tool for major conglomerates to monopolize resources."

"They suppress information, monopolize technology, hoarding the knowledge and power gained from UMAs for themselves. They use this power to consolidate their rule, suppress dissent, and wage wars."

The coolie's voice gradually grew impassioned.

"In London, those child laborers who lost limbs to factory machines—they are also human. Why is no one protecting them? In the South Seas, those coolies forced to swallow red pills and turned into desiccated corpses—they are also human. Why does the Association turn a blind eye?"

"Because in the eyes of those council lords, these people are not 'human.' They are merely resources, fuel."

"You destroyed Edison's Aether Tower at Wardenclyffe, thwarted Black Lotus's god-making plan in Borneo. Do you think that was victory?"

"No."

The coolie shook his head.

"You were merely helping the old tyrant eliminate new competitors."

Lin Jie fell silent.

"So, what do you want?" Lin Jie asked. "To overthrow the Association? Establish a new order?"

"We want... to break down that wall."

The coolie pulled out a neatly folded leaflet from his chest, printed with a pattern of a sword piercing a crown.

"We not only want to overthrow that corrupt council, we want to completely shatter the boundary between the Surface World and the inner world."

"We want to make all knowledge about UMAs, about Alchemy, about spiritual nature, completely public."

"We want every ordinary person, whether worker or farmer, to possess the power to fight monsters."

"When everyone possesses power, no one can enslave anyone else."

Lin Jie looked at the leaflet, a slight ripple in his eyes.

This was an extremely radical, even fanatical idealism.

It reminded him of certain political ideologies sweeping across Europe in that era, except here, what they wanted to distribute wasn't the means of production, but supernatural power.

"You want the entire populace to become soldiers?"

Lin Jie sneered.

"Do you know what that means?"

"It means chaos. It means destruction."

"The minds of ordinary people cannot withstand the erosion of foreign spiritual nature. If everyone could create alchemical bombs, if everyone could summon demons, this world would turn into hell overnight."

"Order may be cruel, but at least it ensures survival."

"Your ideals are plump, but reality will be far more gaunt than you imagine."

Lin Jie pushed the leaflet back.

"I refuse."

"I will not join your revolution. Nor am I interested in being any savior."

The coolie didn't show disappointment at Lin Jie's refusal; he seemed to have anticipated this outcome.

He still maintained that respectful posture.

"We don't expect you to immediately understand our philosophy. After all, you are a powerful individual accustomed to working alone; you don't need this kind of fairness."

"But."

The coolie's tone shifted, his eyes becoming extremely profound.

"We know what you are searching for."

"You don't care about the fate of this world, nor who rules it. What you care about is yourself."

"You want to know... why you came here."

Lin Jie's body stiffened abruptly.

"What are you talking about?" Lin Jie's hand was already gripping the knife handle in his sleeve, a hint of killing intent entering his voice.

"Don't be tense, Mr. Lin."

The coolie waved a hand, indicating he meant no harm.

"We are not investigating you, but rather... waiting for you."

"Over a year ago, in Guangdong."

"When you first opened your eyes in this world, when you were still wearing those strange clothes, wandering bewildered on the docks of Guangzhou's Thirteen Factories."

"We had already noticed you."

A chill shot up Lin Jie's spine, straight to the crown of his head.

That was the scene from when he had first crossed over.

Back then, he didn't know what kind of world this was, nor what vortex he would be drawn into.

He thought he was just an ordinary passerby.

But he hadn't expected.

That from the very first second he appeared in this world, a pair of eyes had been watching him from the shadows.

"You were spying on me?" Lin Jie's voice turned icy.

"No, observing."

The coolie corrected.

"Because your appearance itself is a... miracle."

"Or rather, a Correction of an error."

"We observed you for a long time. From Guangdong to London, from Scotland to Egypt, to the South Seas now."

"We discovered you possess an extremely unique trait. You seem not bound by certain fundamental rules of this world."

"You can see things others cannot. You can understand logic that even the most erudite scholars cannot grasp."

"Your soul comes from the 'other side of the wall.'"

The coolie's words struck like a heavy hammer, pounding against Lin Jie's psychological defenses.

They knew something.

"What exactly are you people?" Lin Jie stared fixedly at the coolie. "Your leader... that Oak Sage, who exactly is he?"

"The Mentor is not the omniscient, omnipotent god you imagine."

The coolie's tone was filled with reverence when mentioning "Mentor."

"He is merely an old man who has lived longer and seen more clearly than anyone else."

"He foresaw your arrival long ago."

"He asked me to relay a message to you."

The coolie pulled out another item from his chest.

It was a torn page that looked like it came from an ancient book.

On it was drawn an extremely complex star chart composed of countless concentric circles and geometric lines.

But the center of that star chart wasn't the sun, nor Earth.

It was a massive, shattered void.

"When the outsider returns, the stars will align, and the world will awaken."

The coolie recited the prophecy written on the edge of the torn page.

"The Round Table insignia in your hand is the key to opening the gates of Avalon."

"But to find that gate, you need this map."

"The Mentor says, if you want to know the truth."

"Then go see him."

"He awaits you at the end of the world."

Lin Jie looked at the torn page.

He finally understood why Avalon was interested in him.

Not because of his combat prowess.

But because of his identity.

"I can go see him."

After a long silence, Lin Jie finally spoke.

He put away the torn page and retracted his killing intent.

"But I will not join you, nor will I help you overthrow the Association."

"I only do what I believe is right."

"That is enough."

The coolie smiled and nodded.

He had long known Lin Jie would make this choice.

"The Mentor said you are a lone wolf. A lone wolf cannot be collared."

"As long as you are willing to take this step, we are already allies."

The coolie put his worn-out hat back on.

He picked up the empty bamboo basket and turned towards the door.

"Then, good luck, Mr. Lin."

"Before you head to Europe, please be careful."

"The Association's nose is keen. The hive you stirred in Borneo has already begun to buzz."

"Especially those... janitors specifically tasked with cleaning up internal trash."

After saying this, the coolie's figure vanished into the night outside the door.

Just as he had arrived, silently.

Only the still-emerald oak leaf remained, lying quietly on the incense altar table, emanating a cool, crisp scent that didn't belong to this tropical island.

Lin Jie stood in place, motionless for a long time.

He looked at the leaf, then touched the insignia and the star chart fragment in his chest.

Tonight's information overload was immense.

So immense it felt difficult to digest.

He originally thought he was just an accidental passerby who had stumbled in.

He never imagined he was actually a crucial piece in some grand, centuries-spanning plan.

From the moment he landed, the gears of fate had already meshed together.

"Guangdong..."

Lin Jie murmured the place name softly.

That starting point of his crossing, that place he had deliberately avoided recalling.

"This trip to Europe is unavoidable."

Lin Jie picked up the oak leaf and slipped it into his diary.