Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 316 - 316 One hundred seventy-three

316: One hundred seventy-three.

Bottomless Abyss 316: One hundred seventy-three.

Bottomless Abyss The envelope was kept close by Lu Li.

Now, Lu Li still had six newspapers to read.

Anna was still driving the carriage, her interest in driving not subsided because of the heat.

Lu Li first opened today’s three newspapers, which, without exception, forecast heavy rain for the day after tomorrow.

Unless something unexpected happened, the “Mutant Rain” might refer to Sunday.

Leaving the safety of the Detective Agency under such conditions was not a good idea, but they should be able to return before the day after tomorrow.

“Mutant Rain…”

When Lu Li had been to the investigator base, he had forgotten to ask what Mutant Rain was.

Looking at the main article, the case of Baron Joseph had intensified, becoming the front-page news.

Shockingly, the accused noble’s circle also seemed to have the shadows of other nobles and tycoons, and the Elders’ Council had already dispatched the supervision department to investigate.

The second page was about the missing Immortal Giant vessel, with the situation at Tillage Garden being mentioned, although only in passing.

The rest of the content was mundane affairs, nothing special.

Setting the newspaper aside, Lu Li picked up an issue of Investigator Weekly, dated May 1st, laid it down, and replaced it with the June 1st newspaper.

Skipping two reminders written at the top of the page, Lu Li looked towards the main content.

[The termination of the Bottomless Abyss Nightmare event]

This was last week’s front-page news for June, taking place at Barren Lands, and it was a global event.

[As we explored the Bottomless Abyss to a depth of 1630 meters, the Committee of Investigators decided to terminate the exploration of the Bottomless Abyss, temporarily declaring it 163% complete and handing over the event to the Night Watch for subsequent handling.

We thank the 63 investigators who participated in this event, including: Legendary Scout 1, Legendary Scout 2 (retired), Investigator Stephen (deceased), Investigator Nightingale (deceased), Investigator Reader, Investigator Daylight (deceased), Senior Investigator Vincent (retired), Senior Investigator…]

[You are the heroes who have safeguarded the human world, and future generations will celebrate and remember the contributions you made to the world.]

The death toll of investigators listed above reached thirty-two, with seventeen retired.

The casualty rates were simply unbelievable, the kind of figures usually seen within the Night Watch—it was hard to imagine what they had encountered, and what the Bottomless Abyss really was.

Lu Li would not underestimate any investigator, especially the higher-ranked ones.

Each Senior Investigator had completed more than three events with a 100% completion rate, each Scout had completed more than six events with a 100% completion rate, which was something Lu Li, who had never experienced an event and whose Sanity Value had already decreased to a point of retirement, could not compare with.

Because of this, what they had encountered mattered even more to Lu Li.

He didn’t pay attention to other news for the moment and quickly scanned the content of the single-sheet Investigator Weekly.

But there was no follow-up to the news.

If he wanted to know what had happened, Lu Li would have to look at earlier newspapers.

Lu Li picked up the newspaper from May; the front-page headline featured the Bottomless Abyss.

[The Bottomless Abyss has been explored to a depth of 980 meters]

[Residents within thirty miles have been completely evacuated.

As of the press date, the deepest exploration record was made by Investigator Stephen, but upon returning to the surface, his condition was poor, and before he fell into a coma, he brought back a message: as he approached the depth of 1000 meters, he heard many people howling from below.]

Next to the news, there was a low-resolution black and white photo.

In it, a figure wrapped with ropes around his waist was being helped to stand by several individuals.

Behind them, a well-sized, sinister hole appeared abruptly amidst the flat terrain.

His gaze swept over several blurry faces and came to rest on the equally indistinct sinister hole.

He observed silently for a few seconds when the surrounding light abruptly dimmed, as if the flame of an oil lamp flickered, only to return to normal momentarily.

However, Lu Li noticed that at the edge of the dark hole, the darkness had twisted slightly, as if it had come to life and started crawling on the paper’s surface—

Realizing something was amiss, Lu Li shifted his gaze and discovered a line of annotation below the photo.

*If you experience abnormalities or discomfort after observing the Bottomless Abyss, please immediately look away.

Scanning the Bottomless Abyss again, it had returned to normal, as if what Lu Li had seen was merely an illusion.

This piece of news supplemented the information on the Bottomless Abyss, but Lu Li still had no idea what the Bottomless Abyss was.

She hoped April’s Investigator Weekly would have more detailed content.

Lu Li thought to herself, picking up the third newspaper.

[New Difficult Event in the Barren Lands: Bottomless Abyss]

The newspaper dated April 1st coincided with the start of the event.

[A new fixed event has been discovered at the Looking Up Plains (Discoverer: Investigator Hoarse), with Investigator Nightingale accepting the event for investigation.]

[The depth of the Bottomless Abyss is unknown, estimated to be over three hundred meters, with no airflow circulation at the bottom, posing a risk of contamination.

Those approaching the Bottomless Abyss can’t suppress their desire to enter it.]

[The Bottomless Abyss does not cause a reduction in Sanity Value, tentatively classified as a common event, with Alliance Personnel joining the investigation.]

[After using conventional methods to investigate the Bottomless Abyss, Investigator Nightingale entered the Abyss using a rope.]

[The following content is the exchange recorded when Investigator Nightingale returned to the surface]

Investigator Nightingale: “*breathing heavily* How many meters did I descend?”

Alliance Member: “73 meters.”

Investigator Nightingale: “How many meters was it when I marked it?”

Alliance Member: “50 meters, did you find anything there?”

Investigator Nightingale: “*brief pause* Hmm…

I saw…

strange strata.”

Alliance Member: “Strange strata?

Are you talking about soil strata?”

Investigator Nightingale: “Yes, soil strata.

They—”

Investigator Nightingale: “*yelling* Damn it, don’t get too close to that, your willpower won’t hold out!”

[Some Alliance Personnel who got too close to the Bottomless Abyss while pulling back the rope were contaminated, subsequently pulled away, and everyone retreated to a hundred meters from the Abyss.]

Alliance Member: “What about the rest?”

Investigator Nightingale: “Those soil strata are densely packed together, forming indescribable images.”

Alliance Personnel: “You mean there are murals on the rock wall at 50 meters?”

Investigator Nightingale: “No, those aren’t murals, I can tell the difference between paint and soil strata.

They are layers slathered on the earth, forming images.”

Alliance Personnel: “Do the…

images reduce your Sanity Value?”

Investigator Nightingale: “No, my Sanity Value hasn’t decreased.

The images are of normal human figures, surrounding and very lifelike.”

Alliance Personnel: “You’re referring to them?”

Investigator Nightingale: “Yes, there are several figures on the surrounding rock walls, possibly more below, so I continued to descend.

However, at 73 meters, the oxygen was too scarce, and I had to come up.”

Alliance Personnel: “We will continue to pump oxygen below.”

Investigator Nightingale: “You’d better hurry.”

[During the second exploration of the Bottomless Abyss in the afternoon, Investigator Nightingale’s rope suddenly snapped during a descent to 143 meters, nearby investigators are on their way.]

[The event level has been escalated, tentatively classified as: Difficult]