Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 361 - 361 2181 Dream

361: 218.1 Dream 361: 218.1 Dream The steady rise and fall of the man’s chest indicated that he had entered the realm of dreams.

He slept as peacefully as most people do, making it difficult to connect the stories he had told earlier to his current state.

Lu Li tilted his head, looking at Anna, who had materialized beside him.

She shook her head gently; she hadn’t sensed anything appearing after the man fell asleep.

Neither had Lu Li.

Lu Li tried calling out to him but received no response.

Pushing on the man’s arm only squeezed a damp patch from his body-warmed wet clothes.

Lu Li used some other methods to wake him, like splashing water and shaking him, but the man was as unresponsive as if he had taken a potent sleeping pill.

Opening his eyelids revealed rapidly moving eyeballs, bloodshot.

The man had begun to delve into his dreamscape.

And considering the stark disparity between his reality and dreams, the few minutes he had been asleep might have spanned several months in his dreams.

Checking the man’s pockets again revealed nothing but a waterproof bag containing shillings and matches.

The man had also told Lu Li when he was awake that he hadn’t come into contact with anything unusual.

Lu Li stepped back and said to Anna, “Try waking him up.”

Anna’s method of awakening was very direct; she manipulated the man, causing him to float up, then he began to spin like the hour hand on an alarm clock.

But he still did not wake up.

Lu Li had Anna put him down and said, “It seems his dreams cannot be forcefully awakened.”

“Can’t we help him at all?” Anna sighed softly.

The man was truly pitiful, trapped in his despairing dreamscape, unable to break free.

“Perhaps,” Lu Li answered ambiguously, looking towards the footsteps heard outside the hallway.

Traders were supposed to come by today; they might know something.

After confirming the man could not be awakened, Anna returned to the kitchen to prepare food, while Lu Li opened the newspaper to check the weather for the past three days.

The good news was, the heavy rain would briefly stop tomorrow, with only some light rain the day after, providing the public some reprieve.

The news about the Terrifying Faceless Giant over Zainster Port had not yet appeared in the newspapers; it might take a few days to reach Belfast.

However, some well-informed individuals had already started making preparations.

Returning in the morning, Lu Li saw a tycoon moving his wealth, fleeing Belfast.

His carriages lined up one after another on the street.

Of course, it could just be a coincidence.

Half an hour later, Anna placed a pot steaming with rich aroma on the table and asked Lu Li, “How much longer will he sleep?”

The man continued to lie flat, sleeping without any movement.

“Perhaps five or six hours until he wakes up,” Lu Li said as he walked around the desk to sit at the table.

Anna, puzzled, said, “It’s already been several days since he slept.”

“So he won’t be able to sleep much longer.”

Anna was still somewhat confused but nodded in her muddled understanding.

Seeing she had never seen Lu Li be wrong, she accepted this.

It was just past eight in the morning, and after eating his brunch and waiting a while longer, the traders arrived as expected.

Lu Li thought the traders would use some tool to transport the Deep Sea Stones, now cut into numerous small cubes, or carry them in their unusually large backpacks; however, the reality was mundane.

The trader who appeared at the door simply brought two one-cubic-meter wooden crates filled with kilos of cut Deep Sea Stones and some scraps.

Lu Li picked up a Deep Sea Stone.

It was heavy in his hand, a 10 cubic centimeter piece weighing about two to three pounds.

The cut surfaces were smooth and even, resembling uncolored Rubik’s cubes, exuding an inexplicable sense of artistry.

The Deep Sea Stones were heavier than imagined, Lu Li reasoned.

Lining the bedroom walls with these stones would certainly make the room feel cramped.

But it would be safe.

Setting down the Deep Sea Stone, Lu Li first asked about its current price.

“10,100 shillings,” the trader answered coldly.

“Just a few days ago, it was only 8,800 shillings,” Lu Li remarked.

The trader did not respond, and Lu Li calmly said, “It appears I won’t be able to afford a third stone anytime soon.”

[The Cry for Help from the Alley]The reward for the incident was exchanged for 3+1+1 boxes of canned food and some supplies prepared for the rainy season, leaving him with just over a thousand shillings—700 of which had been delivered by Alliance Personnel as a weekly salary for investigators on Monday.

“It can be bought,” the merchant said at that moment.

Lu Li looked up at him and saw the merchant turn his head, his gaze beneath the hood shifting towards the window outside.

A black crow landed in front of the window, tilting its head to observe the figures inside the house.

“Excuse me for a moment,”

Lu Li told the merchant, going outside to retrieve the note from the messenger crow’s leg and returning to the Detective Agency.

“How many investigation points do I have now?”

“960 contribution points,” the merchant replied.

The same as the reward written on the note.

Due to the harm posed by [The Cannibal House], the difficulty-free event was ultimately rated as simple.

This meant that the progress Lu Li made in the event would be multiplied fivefold as a reward.

The source of the event was discovered and resolved, bringing Lu Li a 100% information gain reward.

The spread of ancient books and the digging of clues such as dangers and hidden times brought another 92% information gain reward.

Adding them together and multiplying by five ultimately brought Lu Li 960 investigation points.

At the same time, this was the first time Lu Li had completed a simple event with over 100% progress.

If Lu Li completed two more events of simple or greater difficulty with over 100% completeness, he would be promoted to Senior Investigator.

“Then, bring me the third piece of Deep Sea Stone next time.”

“Can do, is there anything else you want to trade?”

“There’s more.”

Lu Li turned his body, allowing the merchant to see the figure sleeping on the sofa: “I want to know his condition.”

The merchant named a figure: “1750 contribution points.”

“The solution?”

“His problem.”

This meant that if Lu Li wanted to know the man’s ailment instead of a solution, he would have to pay 1750 contribution points.

Lu Li couldn’t even afford to know the man’s ailment.

In a way, this was also a message: what entangled the man was an extremely terrifying entity.

Anna looked at the man with a trace of pity in her eyes.

“Then, that’s all, please make sure the third piece of Deep Sea Stone is cut well and delivered.”

“Mhm.”

With the deal concluded, the merchant left the Detective Agency.

While the man was asleep, Lu Li went out once to a few bookstores to find and purchase a book on planting and cultivation.

It might be useful for either Annie or Elm Forest.

As time passed, at three in the afternoon, some movement suddenly came from the figure on the sofa.

“Where is this…”

A hoarse, muffled voice came forth as the man propped himself up on the sofa, looking around confused.

He stared at Lu Li, who returned the gaze, seemingly recalling for a long time, “After so long, you’re still so young…”

His memory seemed a bit disordered, and after a while, he rubbed his forehead and muttered, “I remember now, you’re the Exorcist.”

“How long did the dream last?” Lu Li asked him.

The man looked up again, his eyes deep with the weight of years.

“Twenty-three years,”

the man said hoarsely.