Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 272 - 272 One hundred and twenty-nine

272: One hundred and twenty-nine.

Old age.

272: One hundred and twenty-nine.

Old age.

The door latch, emitting a musty and moldy smell, fell to the floor.

The carved wooden door was now passable.

Lu Li grasped the doorknob and gently pulled.

The bottom of the wooden door scraped against the floor, revealing a crack.

A pair of deep black eyes peered through the gap, looking outside.

The dark wooden corridor was filled with a fishy smell from the sea breeze, several times stronger than during the day, wafting from the other end of the corridor.

The oil lamps on the walls swayed in the wind, casting a faint black glow.

Is this a cabin hallway?

The gap in the door widened, and Lu Li poked his head outside.

There was no one in the corridor, and the sea breeze carried indistinguishable noises of clutter.

Lu Li hid behind the door and observed for a few minutes; there were no signs of anyone appearing in the corridor.

He turned his head to look at the morgue, which had now quieted down, clutched the crowbar, and sidled out of the door.

The door closed gently behind him.

Lu Li leaned against the edge of the dim corridor, silently walking toward the direction from which the sea breeze was coming.

Every so often along the cabin corridor, there were wooden doors whose purpose was unclear—they were tightly closed at this time—

Creak—

Suddenly, a door a few meters in front of Lu Li was pulled open, and a strange shadow emerged from the room onto the corridor.

It was a creature with a lower body filled with tentacles like an octopus, the Octopus Monster Shadow.

It noticed Lu Li and made an unintelligible, urgent muttering sound towards him.

Lu Li, hand reaching behind his waist on guard, stopped his next move in an instant.

The Octopus Monster Shadow opposite him did not intend to attack.

Its muttering sound also seemed more like an urge, rather than a warning of attack.

A sticky tentacle from the Octopus Monster Shadow’s lower limbs rose, closed the door, and then gestured towards Lu Li with a hooked motion before moving forward.

After moving a distance, the Octopus Monster Shadow stopped and turned its head to find Lu Li still standing in place.

Gurgle gurgle…

It uttered a disgruntled, sticky muttering sound.

Lu Li frowned and took a few steps forward; the Octopus Monster Shadow’s head shook slightly before it turned to continue forward.

It wanted Lu Li to follow it.

Unable to comprehend the scene, Lu Li reached up to touch his face, thinking of something.

Slippery and cold to the touch, his face was smeared with a black substance.

Apart from his physique, there wasn’t much difference between Lu Li and them.

Thoughtfully, Lu Li followed behind the Octopus Monster Shadow.

After moving about ten meters, a new corridor appeared on the left; the Octopus Monster Shadow turned, entering the left aisle.

Lu Li’s pace slowed down, then a few seconds later he resumed speed, following the Octopus Monster Shadow into the left corridor.

This corridor was like the previous one, with wooden doors appearing every so often along the wall.

The Octopus Monster Shadow passed the first door and stopped in front of the second wooden door.

Gurgle gurgle…

One of its tentacles pulled open the door, its head turned towards Lu Li, urging him to come quickly.

Lu Li moved next to the Octopus Monster Shadow, his right hand never leaving the gun handle.

Gurgle gurgle…

The tentacle gestured to the inside of the door, as the Octopus Monster Shadow jumped in behind the door.

Lu Li remained still; a conveyor belt was presented before him.

This door led to the kitchen, and the exit of the door turned out to be the “kitchen’s” ceiling.

No wonder Lu Li hadn’t found the other exits of the “kitchen.”

The Octopus Monster Shadow once again made an urging mutter.

Lu Li took a deep breath, stepped back twice, then sped up his footsteps, kicking towards the back of the door—

Just as Lu Li had predicted, the moment he stepped through the door, gravity shifted, pulling him from his back to his feet.

He tumblingly fell through the door, landing with a thud on the “kitchen” floor, splashing a patch of black substance.

Clang—

The crowbar fell beside him.

The height of nearly three meters combined with the speed at which he rushed through the door made it unbearable for Lu Li.

Lu Li bent his legs, but failed to absorb the force of the fall.

His knees knocked against the floor, emitting a thud.

Under the urging of the Octopus Monster Shadow, Lu Li struggled to his feet, his eyebrows furrowed from the numbness and intense pain in his knees and feet, but it was just pain, no injury.

If the floor had been solid, he might have fractured something.

Lu Li picked up the crowbar and looked up at the “chefs” gathered around him, clutching cleavers, who were making sticky muttering sounds while communicating with the Octopus Monster Shadow.

The Octopus Monster Shadow appeared to be their superior, the vast spines of the “chefs” slightly hunched, their muttering imbued with distinguishable submissiveness.

Lu Li quietly observed from the side until their communication ended; the “chefs” and the Octopus Monster Shadow turned their heads towards the crowbar in Lu Li’s hand.

Lu Li instantly understood what they wanted him to do.

Because he was the root cause of the malfunction that had caused all this.

Under the gaze of the monsters, Lu Li walked to the conveyer belt where he had crammed the sea serpent, crouched down, an action that caused pain in his knee, but still within a bearable range.

The conveyer belt had stopped, the gears clogged with black and red chunks of meat and serpent remains.

Lu Li spent several minutes using the crowbar to clear the debris from between the gears, discretely covering his knee as he stood up, nodding to the monsters.

Understanding his gesture, one of the “chefs” returned to the stove to turn on the conveyer belt switch.

Whirr—

The conveyer belt resumed operation, the gears turning smoothly.

That was partly because Lu Li had filled it with some of the black substance as a lubricant.

The fish carcasses on the conveyer belt were once again transported towards the furnace, the “chefs” returning to their positions, the sound of chopping meat overriding the hum of the conveyer belt.

Gurgle—

The Octopus Monster Shadow seemed to say something to Lu Li, its muttering filled with satisfaction.

It moved to the trapdoor in the ceiling, its tentacles suddenly coiling, then snapping straight, leaving behind a pool of thick black substance as it shot towards the door in the ceiling.

“…”

Lu Li silently watched the ceiling.

Would he have to leave the morgue again?

Although this time, Lu Li didn’t need to break the conveyer belt again to escape.

Now, these monstrous entities might already regard him as one of their own and as crew.

The work of these monstrous entities seemed related to their body size, or perhaps their roles were determined by their size.

Lu Li’s human shape, though novel, wasn’t special.

So his current job…

was he a repairman?

“Gurgle…”

Muffled muttering sounded behind him; one of the chefs stood behind Lu Li, saying something to him, and at the end raised a short, deformed arm, pointing to the door in the ceiling.

Lu Li understood the gesture and nodded.

“Gurgle…”

The chef muttered as it hoisted Lu Li up, utilizing the strength in its arms to throw him towards the door.

Using just the right amount of force, Lu Li flew towards the ceiling, passing through the door, where the shift in gravity caught him, tumbling to the floor.

His knees accidentally knocked against something, bringing a piercing surge of pain.

Lu Li slowly got up; in the kitchen beyond the door, the “chef” who had thrown him up was already back at the stove, resuming work.

Apart from nearly chopping Lu Li into pieces, they were quite friendly.