When Lin Jie's hand grasped the metal cable rope, an incredibly complex torrent of sensory information immediately surged through this "solid bridge," nearly overwhelming his consciousness completely.
This experience was completely different from any reverberation he had previously encountered—it wasn't a single emotion or memory fragment, but rather the profound and majestic "soul" voice of an entire lake spanning millions of years.
He "heard" the mournful cries of massive glaciers from the ice age slowly moving and grinding against the lakebed's rock formations.
He "saw" the most primitive joy representing life's revival when the first ray of sunlight pierced through the ice and the first water plant took root in the lakebed.
He "felt" countless schools of fish rushing past his "side" like silver storms, and also sensed the residual warmth of the earth veins after the lakebed volcano's final eruption before falling into eternal silence.
His consciousness seemed to momentarily detach from his insignificant body and become Loch Ness itself—he became the water here, the rocks here, every grain of sediment here, experiencing everything this ancient body of water had undergone since its birth.
This grand experience of connecting with a lake's "memories" made his own soul tremble, feeling as if it would dissolve into this river of time in the next second.
Sergeant William's battle cry-like shout forcibly pulled Lin Jie's nearly scattered consciousness back from the brink of that fatal "assimilation."
Lin Jie jolted sharply, only then realizing with shock that his spiritual energy was being drained at a terrifying rate.
He began filtering out all irrelevant noise—filtering out the glaciers' mournful cries, filtering out the fish schools' clamor, filtering out the earth veins' silence.
His entire will condensed into the finest probe, searching through this abyss composed of countless information for that unique frequency representing a massive "living entity."
In that absolute darkness and cold so profound that even sunlight couldn't reach it, he found a sound.
It wasn't a sound heard through ears, but an ancient, slow yet vibrant grand pulsation perceived through the soul.
Thump... The sound was extremely heavy, with long pauses between each pulsation.
Thump... This pulsation contained no malice—no predator's greed nor guardian's anger—it only contained the most primitive "existence" itself.
It was a tranquility and serenity beyond joy and sorrow, nearly approaching the "Dao," like a high monk who had entered meditation for thousands of years, with every heartbeat perfectly synchronized with Loch Ness's entire breathing.
Lin Jie's consciousness was deeply drawn to this grand "heartbeat," generating an impulse to approach, to merge into that absolute calm.
He could feel that if his will relaxed even slightly, he would be completely "embraced" by that warm and serene pulsation resembling a mother's womb, then fall into a sweet, eternal slumber from which he would never awaken.
Alarm bells rang loudly in Lin Jie's mind: "Danger!"
He immediately realized that this "serenity" itself was a higher-level lethal danger!
It was like a poppy flower—beautiful and fragrant, yet capable of making any mortal creature that touched it lose themselves and become its appendage.
He sharply bit the tip of his tongue, the pain instantly clearing his mind as he desperately began extracting his consciousness from that fatal attraction.
This process was far more difficult than he imagined—that serene pulsation also detected his presence as an outsider, and that gentle force began carrying a trace of undeniable retention.
Lin Jie shouted inwardly: "Serene Heart!"
His right hand gripping the cable rope was almost losing sensation, but his left hand resting at his waist used all its strength to firmly clutch the handle of that Webley Revolver!
A cold spiritual power carrying absolute "reason" and "Zen" surged forth from it!
Though weak, this power's nature was extremely pure.
It didn't confront that grand pulsation, but focused on protecting Lin Jie's own small conscious domain belonging to "self," preventing it from being completely assimilated.
As one waned and the other waxed, Lin Jie finally managed to painfully extract his consciousness inch by inch from the abyss!
The moment his consciousness completely returned to his body, he uncontrollably fell backward, a mouthful of blood spraying from his lips and staining the deck before him.
William and the scholar simultaneously gasped in shock, both immediately rushing forward to support him.
Lin Jie only felt the world spinning, everything swaying, with only buzzing ringing in his ears.
All strength had been drained from his body—he couldn't even move a finger—this spiritual energy depletion was more severe than any previous instance.
But his eyes, appearing somewhat unfocused due to weakness, shone with the brilliant light of discovered truth.
He spoke intermittently: "I... I heard it... it... it's down there... it's alive... it's this lake's... heartbeat..."
Alistair's hands supporting Lin Jie trembled with excitement throughout his body—he didn't know what Lin Jie had just experienced, but he saw the blood at Lin Jie's mouth and felt his weakness.
He knew this young man had definitely used some method they couldn't comprehend, betting his life to touch that ultimate secret they had pursued their entire lives.
He asked in a pleading, trembling tone: "What... what is it like? Did you see it?"
Lin Jie shook his head, struggling to organize words to describe that experience transcending mortal senses: "I... I didn't see its form."
"It's not something... that can be described with shape—it's more like... more like a pure energy aggregate, a living spiritual force field."
"It's ancient, serene, but... also extremely dangerous."
"Any mortal consciousness attempting to approach it will be assimilated by its massive 'calm,' then... completely perish."
He turned to look at Veteran William, stating his final conclusion: "Our mission report must be reevaluated."
"This thing... its threat level is definitely not any Alert-class."
"In terms of power 'magnitude,' it far surpasses that Town-class Mist Walker I encountered before."
"The only reason it hasn't been rated at a higher level is simply because it has no 'malice'."
"It's like the sun hanging high in the sky—it itself has no intention of harming anyone, but any moth attempting to get too close will only be burned to ashes by irresistible light and heat."
These words plunged both William and Alistair into deep shock and silence.
A guardian without malice, yet whose mere "existence" alone posed a lethal threat to mortal creatures?
And after speaking those final words, Lin Jie could no longer hold on, his head tilting to the side as he fell into unconsciousness.
In the final moment before losing consciousness, a satisfied smile hung at the corner of his mouth.
He had finally verified the existence of that massive living energy source at the lake bottom using his own method, with the cost being most of his spiritual energy.
But it was all worth it.
From now on, all mysteries regarding the "Loch Ness Monster" held no more secrets before him.