Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 245 - 245 102

245: 102.

The Storm Room 245: 102.

The Storm Room The wooden door once again materialized before everyone’s eyes.

“Doma?

You go open it…”

Owen didn’t dare to face what might be a harsh reality.

To this point, the only one who firmly believed in himself was probably Frank.

Doma could endure all this simply because she had no other ideas.

As for Lu Li and Daniel?

These two were always the ones who cast abstention votes in every decision.

Unable to contain herself any longer, Doma charged toward the wooden door, and if the weapon in her hand had been an axe rather than a blunt instrument, she might have just chopped the door down too.

Creak——

The wooden door was yanked open by Doma without any preamble.

Behind the thick door of deep night, a boat in a storm churned through the towering waves of the deep sea under flashes of lightning and peals of thunder.

Frank exclaimed excitedly, “We’ve reached the next stage!

Owen, you were right!”

“Tch…

What’s there to be excited about?

We would’ve already gotten out if it weren’t for having to turn back.” Owen wasn’t too pleased as he walked up to the door.

“Why aren’t you going in?”

Uncharacteristically, Doma refrained from barging into the room.

“Betawu people will not leave the land!” Doma bellowed.

Owen said helplessly, “This is fake, you surely can’t insist on the rules even now.”

“But I can’t swim!” Doma declared righteously.

“We just have to stay on the ship.

My grandfather was once a first mate and I was exposed to ships when I was a child, so…” Owen bypassed Doma and took the lead towards the small boat behind the door.

“Let me be the first this time.”

Even if it meant making up for the mistake in the last stage.

That’s what he thought to himself.

The next moment, the tumult that nearly threw him overboard and the cold spray that lashed against him snapped all his thoughts back to reality, and he had no choice but to cling to the boat’s railing, lying flat on the deck that pitched and rolled with the waves, to prevent himself from being flung out to sea.

He wasn’t sure if he would drown, but he knew that such an outcome would be far from pleasant.

Owen managed to shift from lying prone to sitting up and saw that the little boat was still in front of the wooden door.

He shouted hoarsely, “Everyone get on board quickly, it might require all of us—”

A wave hit him mid-sentence, and the drenched Owen gasped a few times, “Everybody on board will trigger this stage!”

“Betawu people fear nothing!”

Doma was the first to leap onto the wooden boat, where Owen pulled her down to sit.

Frank and Daniel followed closely behind, leaving only Lu Li standing in the calm and soothing maze room, not boarding the boat.

“Lu Li, hurry up and get on the boat!” Frank turned his head and urged, his curly hair plastered against his forehead at the moment.

“…”

Lu Li silently watched this scene.

Also observing were corner office Alliance Personnel, working at a desk.

His gaze, over the top of his glasses, fell on several people seated in a row at the doorway, swaying and shouting on the ground.

This scene was clearly seen by Lu Li.

Perhaps due to the limited number of rooms, or maybe because of some perverse pleasure, or it was unnecessary, or it could be based on the effects of “Ghost’s Intent”—this room was the Alliance Personnel’s office.

Six desks were neatly arranged on both sides of the room, suggesting that the office should have six people.

However, the slight consolation was that now there was only one person working behind a desk.

“Lu Li, you’re not afraid of the water, are you?

You can hold on to me!” yelled Frank again, his voice raised because of the storm, loud enough that it made the employee frown.

This scene was like a group of children playing house in an adult’s office.

Unfortunately, it seemed Lu Li had to join them.

Alerted by Frank’s shouting, the Alliance Personnel who had been standing outside without entering took notice of Lu Li.

He thought for a moment, put down his pen, left his seat, and walked over.

At the same time, Lu Li also took a step forward, walked behind Daniel, and sat down imitating the others.

This time, Lu Li did not close the door, nor was he able to.

After all, he was on the “Lone Boat in the Deep Sea.”

[You are lost in the deep sea, with no rescue and no lighthouse in sight.

Perhaps the chance of survival is slim, but will you calmly accept the looming death, or will you fight back?]

The narration, too loud to be masked by the thunder, resounded in everyone’s ears.

“Of course we’ll fight back!” Owen yelled, drenched and bedraggled by the rain and seawater.

“If we give up, we will definitely fail!

Everyone, row with your hands!

Frank!

You’re in charge of bailing the water flooding into the boat!”

“Understood!

Captain Owen!” Frank’s face lit up with excitement.

This scene was somewhat similar to what he had dreamed of.

Sailing with a group of friends, struggling against the storm and massive waves—only the boat was a bit too small.

So, on the office carpet, four young people sitting in a row waved their hands and fluttered in place with indescribable motions.

Daniel was doing the same, which seemed to rule out the possibility that he could see through the illusion.

Perhaps in their senses, this moment was thrilling and dangerous, but Lu Li did not see it that way at all.

But then, since they kept rowing in the same spot, how were they supposed to reach the next wooden door?

The Alliance Personnel, who had stopped halfway because of Lu Li’s boarding the “small boat,” gave them a skeptical glance, made a gesture like patting his chest and letting out a sigh of relief, and tiptoed back to sit down at his desk.

“You don’t have to whisper, they can’t hear our voices.”

A relaxed voice suddenly sounded from behind Lu Li, accompanied by a breeze as a figure passed by Lu Li and the four continuously rowing and wobbling men.

“Why’s the path set up here?” the middle-aged man frowned and asked after a moment’s hesitation.

“The managers decided,”

the young man shrugged and stood in front of the next door.

“These guys might become big shots in the future, and having seen them like this, we’ll feel natural when encountering them again.

Just like the investigators often say, don’t be in awe of anyone.”

He squatted by the door and grabbed the edge of the carpet, starting to pull.

The carpet under Lu Li and the others began to slowly inch toward the next door.

So this was the way to move…

“I need help, there’s too much water leaking into the boat!” Frank suddenly shouted.

“I’ll do it.”

Lu Li said, scooping the air beneath him and then pouring it back into the outside air.

He needed to find something to do that didn’t look too stupid, so as not to give himself away.

The young man and the middle-aged man chatted occasionally, pulling the carpet forward every few minutes.

This continued for about fifteen minutes until he saw that the newcomers were nearly exhausted, at which point he pulled a large section of the carpet towards them in one go, bringing them close to the door.

…

The storm was subsiding.

Unbeknownst to them, Frank noticed there was no longer any water accumulating in the cabin.

He stopped what he was doing and looked up in astonishment ahead.

Behind them, dark clouds churned and waves towered.

In front, the sky cleared and the sea calmed.

Light spilled out from the edges of the dark clouds, showering the entire expanse of blue sea, and a beautiful rainbow hung in the sky.

The few who had been rowing vigorously stopped their movements, leaned on each other, and caught their breath in big gulps.

“Did we make it out…?”

A solitary little boat drifted with the waves on the calm sea, and right in front of it, a wooden door stood quietly on the water.

Owen replied with a relieved smile,

“Yes, the door is right ahead.”