Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 275 - 275 One hundred thirty-two

275: One hundred thirty-two.

Midlife period 275: One hundred thirty-two.

Midlife period Hu——

The giant shadow exhaled two streams of hot air, contentedly placing the iron chain with the alarm clock around its wrist.

Although the “wristwatch” wasn’t quite the right size for it, this giant shadow seemed to hold a trace of humanity.

Lu Li’s hair and clothing slowly settled after being blown about, and he was unable to determine what these mysterious creatures might be.

The counter clicked steadily away, not causing any decrease in Lu Li’s Sanity Value upon contact with them.

During his contemplation, a massive shadow loomed overhead.

Lu Li looked up to see the giant shadow’s right claw—adorned with the wristwatch—formed into a fist, hovering over the dining table less than half a meter above his head.

Lu Li remained silent for a few seconds before extending his own fist and bumping it against the other.

“Gurgle…”

The muffled grumble of the giant shadow seemed to carry more cheer, as it withdrew its claw, picked up its wooden bowl, and poured the food into its gaping maw.

Compared to the neighboring Shark Head Shadow and its eyes, the size difference of the giant shadow was even more striking—the wooden bowl wasn’t even as big as one of its teeth.

This scene made Lu Li realize that he might be uncovering some secret messages, and he fell deep into thought.

Octopus Monster Shadow, Shark Head Shadow…

He looked up to examine the giant shadow’s outline.

Like a human, it had four limbs, but also a dauntingly large body, with a flat and broad head that looked…

much like a whale.

Lu Li turned to observe the other shadows.

A hunchbacked one with webbed feet and bulging eyes resembled a frog-like creature, and another with a cylindrical body and head awkwardly possessing a pair of human legs appeared to be a serpent-like creature.

They all shared some fish characteristics, more or less.

Lu Li felt as if he was starting to unravel a corner of the ship’s mysterious veil.

Bang——

The wooden bowl crashed heavily onto the table, eliciting a groan from the overburdened table.

However, it was probably already considered “gentle” for the Whale Monster Shadow.

Suddenly, Lu Li reached out to touch the bowl of food in front of him and pushed it towards the Whale Monster Shadow.

He had no idea if a bowl of food of that size would suffice for the Whale Monster Shadow, but he was certain it wouldn’t be enough to fill it.

Conveniently, he had an extra serving of food to spare.

“Gurgle!”

The Whale Monster Shadow made an upbeat burbling noise that echoed throughout the dining room.

Some other creatures dining there turned to look their way, watching the Whale Monster Shadow raise its claw to slap the unfortunate maintenance worker across the table from Lu Li.

But when it reached a mere half-meter above Lu Li’s head, the claw halted its descent, sparing Lu Li’s head from being crushed into his chest cavity.

The overexcited Whale Monster Shadow suddenly let out an ethereal and melodious sound that was no longer gooey.

The sound was like a whale’s call.

“Gurgle…”

A whisper-like murmur of chatter filled the cafeteria.

After its song, the Whale Monster Shadow took something off its body and spread its claw open in front of Lu Li.

It was a pocket watch, lying serenely in the palm of the Whale Monster Shadow, insignificant as a grain of sand.

But for Lu Li, it was exactly the right size—it was an object made by humans.

Perhaps it was what the creature used as compensation for the exchange with Lu Li, or maybe it was a sign of goodwill.

Lu Li picked up the pocket watch and flipped open its cover, revealing a black substance covering the glass.

Wiping it away revealed the time behind the glass.

The hour hand pointed to 5 and the minute hand to 6, frozen at 5:30.

Lu Li attempted to wind the mechanism on the side, only to find it broken, incapable of adjusting the time.

The pocket watch was broken.

Lu Li nodded at the Whale Monster Shadow and pocketed the pocket watch, which might prove useful at some moment.

The Whale Monster Shadow picked up the wooden bowl Lu Li had pushed towards it and poured it into its gaping maw.

Even though the chefs gave Lu Li twice as much food as they gave to the other creatures, it was still insignificant to the Whale Monster Shadow.

It was merely enough to let it eat a bit more than usual.

The Octopus Monster Shadow put down the wooden bowl and began to emit a sustained, coherent, low muttering sound, as if narrating something to Lu Li.

Lu Li pretended to listen while his gaze fell on a dining table in front of him to the right.

A Deformed Shadow moved slowly, lifting an eyeball from the wooden bowl and bringing it to its mouth.

It had no teeth, and its chewing power was weak.

The eyeball, like a marble, was squeezed back and forth in its oral cavity before it finally slipped into its throat—

The Deformed Shadow clutched at its neck, making a pained, muffled muttering sound, and after a while, coughed up an intact eyeball, which rolled to the ground and stopped at Lu Li’s foot after bumping against it.

The Deformed Shadow that coughed up the eyeball was still looking down, searching for the missing eyeball.

After a long search without success, it turned its attention back to the food in the wooden bowl.

At that moment, Lu Li bent down, picked up the elastic eyeball, and pocketed it.

It needed something to help it chew the food, like a pair of dentures.

And Lu Li knew what to do.

The dining period lasted a total of ten minutes, and as the Octopus Monster Shadow’s “wristwatch” pointed to 11:52, a rapid bell rang out.

The dining time ended.

A series of noises from moving chairs and tables arose as the monsters successively left their seats and headed toward the exit of the dining hall.

“Gululu…”

The Octopus Monster Shadow mumbled something to Lu Li as it headed for the exit, with nearby shadows, especially the seemingly ferocious Shark Monster Shadow, swiftly getting out of its way.

Lu Li watched the just-departed Deformed Shadow and followed behind it.

The monsters left the dining hall, walked through a corridor overgrown with vines bearing eyeballs, and returned to the lower deck cabins.

Lu Li took note of all the rooms the monsters entered, watching as the Deformed Shadow entered a corridor he had not visited before and went through a door.

He memorized its location and followed the now sparse crowd back to the morgue.

In some sense, this place was his office.

Lu Li walked over to the row of morgue drawers by the door, the dentures were still inside.

He picked up the dentures with a crowbar, glanced at a particular drawer that was still locked, and left the room.

Knock, knock, knock—

In front of the door the Deformed Shadow had entered, Lu Li knocked.

After a while, the door opened and the Deformed Shadow appeared behind it.

With a quick sweep of the room, the narrow cabin had only a desk, making it impossible to discern its position.

“Gululu?”

The Deformed Shadow made a strange muttering sound.

The silent Lu Li held up the crowbar, letting the Deformed Shadow see the dentures perched on it.

“Gululu?”

Lu Li pointed to the dentures, then pointed to its mouth, indicating the use of the item.

The Deformed Shadow tentatively took the dentures.

It seemed to recognize the item and, regardless of the black substance on it, directly stuffed the dentures into its mouth.

Lu Li timely took out the eyeball from his pocket and handed it over.

The Deformed Shadow grabbed the eyeball with its flipper-like palm and bit down into it.

Pu-chi—

The eyeball burst under the pressure of the teeth, filling the entire mouth with a viscous fluid.

“Gululu!”

The Deformed Shadow jumped for joy on the spot for a while before remembering Lu Li was still standing by the door.

It then used its flipper to close the door—

It seemed to have no intention of rewarding Lu Li.

Bang!

A fist holding a crowbar pressed against the closing door.

Lu Li extended his other hand, palm open, in front of the Deformed Shadow.