Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 270 - 270 One hundred and twenty-seven

270: One hundred and twenty-seven.

Coffin 270: One hundred and twenty-seven.

Coffin Lu Li retreated to the edge.

The fish carcasses on the conveyor belt became sparse, and soon a new net would move above the passage and release its catch.

Lu Li knew what he had to do.

The next supply didn’t make Lu Li wait long, a few dozen seconds later, the sound of “whoosh” and the jangling of chains came from above, followed by fish carcasses that fell like torrential rain.

They piled up into a small hill in front of the conveyor belt again, moving continuously towards the “chefs” on the other side.

At this time, Lu Li crawled out from the dark corner beneath the conveyor belt and approached the mountain of accumulated fish carcasses.

Lu Li seemed to be looking for something, his gaze sweeping over the pitch-black fish carcasses on the conveyor belt.

As the conveyor belt loaded with fish carcasses rolled towards the furnace at the end, Lu Li quietly watched for a long while, then suddenly reached out, dragging down a big-bellied fish that weighed five to six pounds.

Lu Li pried open the dead fish’s mouth, approached the edge of Fish Mountain, and poured a viscous black substance into it until the black substance began to overflow.

Dragging this fish along with a slightly smaller dead fish, he returned to his original hiding spot—between the belts of the conveyor.

Once ready, Lu Li began his plan.

He hid under the conveyor belt and forcefully threw the dead fish he had dragged back towards the rear.

Thwack—

The dead fish slapped against the deep black wall, making a crisp sound that could be easily heard.

A “chef” on the side of the door was attracted by the noise, it grabbed a cleaver and walked towards the source of the sound.

Lu Li watched as the misshapen lower limbs passed in front of him, coming to a halt before the fish carcasses.

The “chef” bent down to inspect the fish, paused for a few seconds, picked it up, and threw it back onto the conveyor belt.

At that moment, Lu Li threw the dead fish, which he had filled with black substance, onto the “chef.”

A dark, cold gleam flashed, and the “chef” instantly raised its short arms, the cleaver striking towards the dead fish in mid-air, slicing through it.

The fish split in two, and a large amount of black substance spilled out, drenching the “chef.”

Here, plans and reality diverged.

In Lu Li’s plan, the “chef” soaked in black substance would be immobilized, its companions would come to help, and he could take this opportunity to run towards that door.

But in reality, the remaining seven “chefs” didn’t care about their attacked colleague.

They kept their heads down, chopping fish bones and spines into mincemeat.

The one attacked by Lu Li made an unintelligible, sticky muttering noise, seemingly unaffected as it picked up the fish carcass it had split, put it back on the conveyor belt, and walked past Lu Li.

The distraction had failed.

But it wasn’t entirely fruitless, at least Lu Li noticed that this group of “chefs” might not be very clever.

The failed Lu Li hunkered down in the shadow, preparing a new plan.

The sound of the conveyor belt’s gears turning gave Lu Li some ideas; if he did enough to the conveyor belt, he might attract the “chefs'” attention.

The rolling conveyor belt, the regular chopping sounds, the meat paste entering the furnace.

This scene repeated over and over, as if time had been extracted for a few seconds and then looped infinitely by linking the ends together.

A few minutes later, a figure emerged from under the conveyor belt, breaking this monotonous and numb cycle.

Lu Li returned to the beginning of the conveyor belt, where Fish Mountain had lowered considerably.

Like before, Lu Li started to look for a specific fish carcass on the conveyor belt.

But this time it took longer than before, so long that Fish Mountain was almost gone, and a new batch of foul-smelling fish fell from the passage above.

The lurking Lu Li suddenly sprang out at this moment, pulling a cold, slippery sea serpent from the mountain of constantly sliding fish carcasses.

This sea serpent had long been dead and, like the other fish, its body and even its eyes were covered in the black substance.

This sight made Lu Li frown slightly, as he suddenly wondered if he looked the same.

Casting aside the chaotic thoughts, Lu Li squatted down to observe the side of the conveyor belt.

The conveyor belt lacked any protective device, and its interior was fully exposed to the outside world, the rotation of gears and bearings clear as day.

Just inserting something long and thin into these gear gaps could jam them, leading to a chain reaction…

Lu Li did not act rashly; he hid in the shadows, pondering the potential consequences of such an action.

If the plan failed, the sea snake wouldn’t jam the gears, and the status quo would be maintained.

If the plan succeeded, the sea snake would jam the gears, the “chefs” would be drawn to it, and he could use this opportunity to successfully pass through the door and leave the “kitchen.”

If the plan succeeded, the sea snake would jam the gears, but failed to attract all the “chefs,” who would then fix the conveyor belt and maintain the status quo.

If the plan was a near disaster, the sea snake would jam the gears, causing the entire conveyor belt to malfunction and the noise to attract other members of the ship, making escape difficult.

After contemplating, Lu Li emerged from the shadows, ready to begin his plan.

Regardless, the outcome couldn’t be worse than the current situation.

Gripping the slippery neck of the water snake, Lu Li reached into the interior of the conveyor belt, bringing the snake’s head close to the rotating gears—

Suddenly, a force emerged from the other end of his palm, and the snake’s head became lodged between the gears, churning and grinding the snake’s brain as the body got entangled and crushed bit by bit.

A jam started to occur between the two gears.

Lu Li didn’t stay to observe the effects; he turned and ran towards the middle section of the conveyor belt, sacrificing some of his cover in the process by crouching down and plunging into the darkness beneath.

As Lu Li dove under the conveyor belt, one of the “chefs” sensed something, looked over, but seeing nothing, turned its head back.

Buzzing—

A sound emerged amid the chopping noises, growing clearer and louder.

The conveyor belt began to act up, its previously smooth and steady surface starting to vary in speed with occasional strange bulges and lumps.

The rapid vibrations grew louder, catching the “chefs'” attention; the chopping stopped, and they all looked towards the front of the conveyor belt.

Thump—

A sudden dull sound erupted, and a wisp of pale black smoke billowed from the section of the conveyor belt into which Lu Li had stuffed the water snake.

The entire conveyor belt came to an instantaneous halt.

The kitchen fell into complete silence.

This silence lasted for a good ten seconds before the chaotic, heavy footsteps came from the outside.

On either side of Lu Li, deformed legs walked past, muttering as they headed towards the area of the conveyor belt where the thick smoke was billowing.

The “chefs” were all drawn to the malfunctioning conveyor belt.

And in the shadow under the conveyor belt, Lu Li’s figure silently slipped out, ghostlike in the opposite direction.

As Lu Li neared a door on the wall, he discovered it was not a door at all.

It was a wooden board protruding from the wall, roughly the size and shape of Lu Li’s own body.

Its odd style and material made it look…

like the lid of a coffin.

Without time to speculate, Lu Li attempted to push the wooden board.

The board moved aside, revealing a gap just large enough for a person to slip through and the scene behind it.

A narrow space, just big enough to accommodate one person.

Before Lu Li could act, a gravitational pull suddenly emerged from inside the wooden enclosure, and almost instantly, Lu Li fell into the coffin-like space and landed horizontally inside.

Bang—

The wooden board closed heavily behind him.