William's hoarse confession still echoed, and the pressure brought by the words "Mark of Death" was suffocating.

Lin Jie's gaze locked onto William.

He saw the usually steady veteran subconsciously rubbing his beer mug with his thumb, a gesture that betrayed his anxiety.

For a warrior who viewed death as his final destination, waiting for death was far more cruel than being killed instantly on the battlefield.

Lin Jie spoke, shifting his gaze from William back to the nobleman's face: "Your information is quite thorough, Mr. Redgrave."

"But since you've already voluntarily taken over command, I presume you already have a plan in mind sufficient to 'conquer' this ancient legend?"

He mimicked the other's tone, placing emphasis on the word "conquer"—a verbal counterattack using language as his weapon.

Ethan's eyes flashed with approval.

He hadn't expected this seemingly frail Eastern youth, upon learning his companion was in dire straits, to not only avoid panicking but to quickly regain his composure and steer the conversation back to crucial tactical matters.

This mental fortitude made him discard the contempt born of his elite status.

Ethan elegantly lifted the expensive brandy he had brought, swirling it and watching the liquid trace arcs on the glass: "Naturally, there is a plan."

"In fact, the plan is quite simple, one might even say without suspense."

He brought the glass to his nose, inhaling deeply the fragrance blending fruit notes and oak barrel aromas, then continued in a confident tone: "Although the Black Dog's curse is troublesome, its essence remains a spiritual mark acting on the soul level."

"It needs time to 'ferment,' just like this fine Armagnac."

"And based on the Association's fragmentary records over centuries, the UMA's true form can be confirmed as a high-concentration negative energy spirit that feeds on fear."

"While it may be immune to conventional physical attacks, it shows clear vulnerability to alchemical creations imbued with high-purity order or sacred attributes."

He extended his slender fingers, lightly tapping the ornate Colt pistols on the table: "These two 'lovers' of mine, one is named [Morning Star], the other [Evening Star]."

"Every bullet they use has its tip crafted from powder refined from saintly relics in the Vatican's St. Peter's Basilica catacombs, mixed with holy water stored for over a century and mithril, then cold-forged by top armamentsmiths using alchemy for forty days."

"Each bullet is itself a holy relic possessing annihilation-level lethality against all spiritual-type UMAs."

Though he spoke casually, the extravagance and power implied were unmistakable.

Using saintly relics as bullet materials was an insane, money-burning approach—this wasn't fighting anymore, but conducting a dimensional reduction-style eradication using gold sovereigns and rare resources.

Ethan set down his glass and began issuing orders in his capacity as commander: "So my plan is divided into two steps."

"The first step is large-scale search. Although the Dartmoor plateau is vast, based on the locations of recent death cases, we can roughly outline the UMA's core activity area."

"Starting this afternoon, the three of us will conduct a carpet search of that area in a triangular formation."

"Sergeant William in the center, you and I on his left and right flanks, with intervals not exceeding five hundred yards."

He looked at Lin Jie, his eyes carrying a commanding tone: "Your task is simple, Mr. Lin—keep up with the team, don't fall behind, take care of yourself."

"I don't need you to provide 'plans' or 'interpretations,' because fancy tactics are meaningless against such an enemy."

"Absolute power and absolute precision are the only way to end it. All you need to do is ensure your own safety and not become our burden."

This dismissive and arrogant arrangement essentially stripped Lin Jie of his tactical value as an interpreter, relegating him to a spectator following behind.

Ethan's eyes sharpened, possessing the focus and killing intent of a top predator: "And once one of us encounters the Black Dog, immediately alert the others with a signal flare."

"Then do everything possible to delay it, even if only for ten seconds!"

"Remember, don't attempt to engage it in close combat, and absolutely don't look into its eyes. Your task is to create a crossfire net for me and the other person to conduct saturation shooting simultaneously from two different angles!"

"Although the Black Dog is a spirit, when it materializes to instill fear, its energy core must have a brief stabilization period—and that stabilization period is its most vulnerable moment."

"I need you to create that moment for me, and then I will use my [Morning Star] and [Evening Star] to erase its spirit, along with that damned legend, from this land."

Ethan leaned back in his chair, concluding his elite hunting plan: "This is what I meant by without suspense."

This was a classic textbook I.A.R.C. combat plan—simple, direct, efficient, brimming with confidence in personal capability and top-tier equipment.

It reduced the entire hunting process to a mathematical model: target acquisition, lock-on, fire saturation, elimination.

Every step was filled with powerful individual ability and supreme equipment, leaving almost no room for failure.

But was that truly the case?

Lin Jie, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke.

Lin Jie said calmly: "A seemingly perfect plan, Mr. Redgrave, but it's built on two overly idealized premises."

Ethan's eyebrow twitched slightly;

he hadn't expected this newcomer he'd labeled as "burdensome" to dare question his, an elite from the Hunter Ranking, combat plan to his face.

He elegantly made a "please continue" gesture, but a dangerous chill had appeared deep in his eyes: "I'm all ears."

Lin Jie's voice remained measured: "First, your 'large-scale search' is inefficient and extremely high-risk."

"Dartmoor's terrain is complex, filled with swamps, dense woods, and granite hills. Conducting a carpet search in such an environment is like finding a needle in a haystack."

"More importantly, you're using ourselves as 'bait.' You're gambling that we can detect the Black Dog before it launches its curse gaze at us."

"But the books clearly state it moves silently and excels at ambushes. This gamble might have winning chances for you and me."

"But for Sergeant William, who already bears the Mark of Death, what would happen if he encounters the Black Dog again—I don't think I need to elaborate?"

His words made William, who had been keeping his head down, look up, while Ethan's elegant face stiffened, as if hit where it hurt.

Lin Jie's analysis struck home. Ethan's plan, while appearing to be a joint three-person search, essentially used the already afflicted William as the most effective bait to lure out the UMA!

It was an extremely cold but highly efficient sacrifice tactic.

Ignoring Ethan's increasingly icy gaze, Lin Jie continued: "Second, and most crucially, you've defined this operation as a 'hunt' from start to finish."

"But you've overlooked our core strategic objective, Mr. Redgrave. Our primary mission isn't to kill that Black Dog, but to find a way to remove that damned Mark of Death from Sergeant William's soul!"

Lin Jie's voice suddenly rose, firm and resolute: "What if removing the mark isn't directly causally linked to the UMA's death? What if this curse, once branded, is an irreversible process? Then even if you successfully blast that UMA to spiritual smithereens with your expensive bullets, our mission would still be a complete failure!"

The room fell into silence.

Ethan stared intently at Lin Jie, the unflappable noble composure he'd maintained showing cracks.

The two points Lin Jie raised, especially the second, precisely struck the most vulnerable part of his hunting plan—the Achilles' heel he had deliberately avoided.

Yes, he had never considered the curse removal problem, because in his hunting philosophy, rescue didn't exist—only conquest.

A hunter marked by a UMA had already lost value for salvation, at most becoming a high-value pawn to lure out stronger prey.

Ethan's tone now carried undisguised sarcasm: "So according to your esteemed opinion, Mr. Lin, what should we do?"

"Sit around in this little pub reeking of horse manure, studying those moldy, countryfolk-imagined folk legends, and hope the UMA takes pity on our 'wisdom' and voluntarily lifts its curse?"

Two completely opposite hunting philosophies clashed fiercely at this moment.

One side believed in absolute strength and elitist hunting.

The other believed in information supremacy and tactical planning before action.

Lin Jie shook his head: "No, we won't conduct aimless searches. We need to perform more thorough, detailed targeted intelligence gathering and environmental analysis."

"According to that news report, five people died from the Black Dog's curse in the recent month. I want all information about these five people, including their identities, travel routes, exact death locations and times."

"I want to plot all this information on a sufficiently precise military map. I want to analyze the UMA's movement patterns, predation preferences, and the possible range of its cursed territory through these seemingly unrelated 'points.'"

He turned his gaze to the central figure of the incident: "At the same time, I need William's cooperation."

"I need him to recall in detail everything from the day he encountered the Black Dog, from entering the moor until finally leaving—every path he took, every strangely shaped rock he saw, every change in temperature and wind direction he felt."

"I need to reconstruct that crime scene from his memories. I need to know what triggered that encounter."

Lin Jie looked at Ethan and said word by word: "Until I complete all this, we all stay here and go nowhere."

"I don't want any pieces moving arbitrarily and disrupting all my arrangements before the 'chessboard' is even drawn."

An Eastern freelance hunter who had just joined recently was now openly rejecting an elite Hunter Ranking member's combat plan and attempting to seize control of the entire operation!

After hearing Lin Jie's words, William stood up from his chair and said decisively: "I agree with Lin Jie's plan!"

The situation had become delicate.