Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 278 - 278 One hundred thirty-five

278: One hundred thirty-five.

Unique 278: One hundred thirty-five.

Unique Sticky, disgusting tentacles were fitted into a pair of leather boots.

The slimness of the tentacles contrasted with the bulkiness of the boots, like a young girl forcibly wearing her father’s shoes.

Especially since the rest of its tentacles flared out behind it like a skirt.

Two tentacles awkwardly propped it up, and the surrounding skirt-like tentacles had to wriggle to adjust their balance.

The Octopus Monster Shadow learned quickly, and within minutes it had mastered the skill of walking on two tentacles, particularly over a certain protruding nail.

It walked straight over the nail without feeling any discomfort, so much so that it walked back and forth over it numerous times.

“Gurgle.”

The Octopus Monster Shadow shook its head contentedly.

It didn’t wait for Lu Li to demand it, and returned to the room on its own.

Soon, it extended a tentacle with something for Lu Li: an irregularly shaped piece of metal.

The shape of a shark’s head.

Lu Li had obtained the final seal.

With this seal, Lu Li knocked on the door of the Shark Monster Shadow

“Gurgle!”

Lu Li handed over the seal directly, to avoid getting any new injuries in case the Shark Monster Shadow became too excited.

After a fleeting shadow passed, his hand was empty.

The Shark Monster Shadow rushed to the metal cabinet and stuffed the last yellow seal into the slot.

Click—

The moment the sculpture came together as a whole, a crack opened in the metal cabinet.

The Shark Monster Shadow tore open the metal cabinet and brought out a huddled, indistinct shape which it embraced.

It ignored the other item in the metal cabinet and moved to the porthole, murmuring indistinctly while holding the shape.

Was that its child?

Unable to discern, Lu Li speculated, though he couldn’t understand why the child would be in a metal cabinet.

Knock, knock, knock—

It was then that Lu Li knocked on the door.

The Shark Monster Shadow looked towards the door with an annoyed murmuring sound, glanced up at the metal cabinet as if to signify that whatever was inside was Lu Li’s, then shifted its focus back to its arms.

Lu Li walked into the cabin and crouched in front of the metal cabinet.

A black axe lay quietly inside.

The long and sharp blade and the blood gutter suggested that it was more efficient for chopping flesh than felling trees.

Lu Li picked it up, surprised by its weight.

The rough, savage appearance made Lu Li think that a monster shadow might really like it.

…

The stairs leading to the upper cabin deck.

Lu Li looked up to see the Bull Horn Monster Shadow, constantly changing shape, reappearing at the top of the stairs.

Taking steps, Lu Li climbed the stairs under the watchful gaze of the Bull Horn Monster Shadow.

Just like last time, when Lu Li reached the middle, the shape of the Bull Horn Monster Shadow began to solidify into a burly figure.

At that moment, Lu Li raised the axe so the Bull Horn Monster Shadow could see it clearly.

“Gurgle…”

The eyes of the Bull Horn Monster Shadow narrowed slightly.

A tentacle emerged from its chest, coiling around the axe, and Lu Li’s hand lightened as the Bull Horn Monster Shadow took it and held it in its palm.

“Gurgle…”

A satisfied murmur came from the Bull Horn Monster Shadow, and its shape began to change just as before, constantly transforming.

Only the head with the Bull Horn Helmet hadn’t changed before, but now it had an additional right arm.

The Bull Horn Monster Shadow made no motion to give Lu Li anything.

Or was it to say…

Lu Li tentatively took a step upward, setting foot on a stair.

The Bull Horn Monster Shadow remained motionless, continuing to morph.

Lu Li slowly continued upward, reaching the three-fifths mark of the staircase, then the four-fifths.

It was as if it completely ignored its own existence, allowing Lu Li to approach at will.

Lu Li gathered his courage and ascended the last few steps, his figure passing by the Bull Horn Monster Shadow.

He stepped onto the upper deck.

The straight corridor stretched into the depths, and the oncoming sea breeze was richer with a fishy smell, as if Lu Li was not far from the outer deck.

Taking a few steps forward, Lu Li once again saw the eyeball vines clinging to the wall.

Suddenly, the dozens of eerie vertical pupils looking in all directions simultaneously swiveled, instantly fixing on Lu Li.

At the same time, Lu Li’s footsteps froze.

Lu Li didn’t think they would allow him to continue forward.

To truly set foot on the upper deck, Lu Li still had to deal with these vine eyeballs.

The remaining items he had included a pocket watch, excrement, and water.

Excrement…

Water…

The underground chamber with vine eyeballs…

Lu Li knew their proper use now.

…

The lower deck.

Returning to the entrance of the morgue, Lu Li pushed the door open and entered, scanning the row of body cabinets as he did every time.

There was no change from when he left.

Stepping into the morgue, Lu Li suddenly halted in an instant, his eyes narrowing to pinpoints.

He saw a morgue cabinet door that should have been locked was merely shut normally.

That was the spot next to where Lu Li had been before, and the locking was done by Lu Li himself.

His sharp gaze sweeping across the space behind the door and every corner of the morgue, Lu Li gripped his crowbar tight, his steps silent as he slowly walked into the morgue, approaching the first row of cabinets.

The metal box was still inside; Lu Li grabbed it, keeping alert and facing the morgue, he stepped backward to the door, closing it behind him.

The eerie was blocked behind the door.

Lu Li turned around and walked briskly to the door leading to the basement, pausing briefly before descending the stairs.

Rustle rustle—

From the depths below the stairs came a faint scratching noise.

Holding the water bottle and the metal box in his left arm and the crowbar firmly in his right, Lu Li went down the stairs.

The vines on the walls increased as Lu Li moved deeper, their disorderly tangle covering the wooden surfaces, including the floor, requiring Lu Li to dedicate a part of his attention to the ground.

After descending a few stairs, Lu Li saw vertical pupils appear among the vines.

They, too, saw Lu Li, and the same scene unfolded: all the vertical pupils in the passage sensed the intruder in an instant, swiveling neatly to stare at Lu Li.

This sight was full of strangeness and horror.

Lu Li paused briefly, opened the metal box, and as its foul stench escaped, continued downward.

Amidst the countless intrusive gazes, Lu Li descended calmly.

They wouldn’t harm him.

What assured him of this was that the narrow staircase was crowded with these vine eyeballs, the floor nowhere to be seen, but the vines at his feet moved aside, clearing a space for him to step.

Their regard of Lu Li’s arrival shifted from wariness to a mixture of illusion and anticipation.

Descending the last step, Lu Li saw the main body of these vine eyeballs in the very center of the basement, a giant plant of dark green color.

The plant seemed to breathe, expanding and contracting.

Its body covered every part of the room, with more of it burrowing into the gaps in the ceiling, forming the vine eyeballs that Lu Li had seen in the upper deck.

It was like the massive roots of an ancient tree covered in a layer of black substance, making it look…

quite uncomfortable.

Lu Li approached its roots, and as he drew nearer, he could feel an emotion emanating from it, a feeling tinged with agony and longing.