Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 424 - 424 Two hundred and eighty-one

424: Two hundred and eighty-one.

Psychic Talent 424: Two hundred and eighty-one.

Psychic Talent Drip-drip-drip—

The sound of water drops echoed in the hall.

“Is this a good thing or a bad thing for him?”

“Both,” Tesla replied, holding down the brim of his hat.

He picked up the processed firewood by the fireplace, tossing it casually into the blaze.

Sitting up straight, he wiped his fingers with a handkerchief and said, “The good thing is that he survived, the bad thing is that he is no longer human.”

Crackling sounds of burning came from the fireplace.

Lu Li inquired, “Because of resistance?”

“Has anyone ever told you that talking with you can be exhausting?

Your words are always so concise they make one think a bit,” Tesla said with a low chuckle.

“It’s got nothing to do with other people’s resistance.

Most exorcists understand those forced into becoming these peculiar exorcists, and after all, Tristan was one of the heads of Belfast.

The real problem is, as an Evil God’s Follower, Tristan’s thinking will be altered by the relentless aura of the Evil God, like lowering one’s Sanity Value, until he becomes a completely subservient Follower.”

“It’s also an irreversible process, just not as despairing and helpless as having no Sanity Value.

It’s about your mind.”

In other words, the more resolute one’s heart, the slower the transformation.

Lu Li pondered and then had a thought, “You just mentioned ‘these’—are there many such people?”

“There are some, like Tristan, who were forced, or those who chose to…” Tesla didn’t beat around the bush and directly told Lu Li: “Sanity Value is our biggest trouble in combating the bizarre, so of course, there will be exorcists who think of becoming one of the bizarre to escape the constraints of Sanity Value, and they do so.”

“However, their outcomes usually aren’t good.

As I just said, although you no longer possess a Sanity Value, the aura of the Inner World will attack your mind, turning you into a true bizarre.

Thus, only those exorcists who are on the brink of twisting into madness would choose this perilous path.”

Turning into a true bizarre means losing all humanity.

Just like malevolent spirits.

“So,” Lu Li looked at Tesla.

“Yes,” Tesla nodded, knowing what Lu Li wanted to say.

“Some bizarres were once human.”

Lu Li already had similar suspicions, so there was not much of a reaction.

Instead, it was the Alliance Personnel behind the counter who accidentally dropped a cup upon overhearing the conversation.

Turning his head briefly, Tesla then looked back with a smile and said, “What questions did you want to ask me this time?

You know, you’re like my nephew, always full with countless questions.”

“Does Hell really exist?”

Tesla’s expression became odd, “You are an exorcist, yet you ask if Hell exists?”

“You know I was never really a true exorcist.”

Without dwelling on the issue, Tesla continued, “Yes, Hell truly exists.”

His confirmation made the originally clear “Sara’s Book of Death” become mysterious and confusing once again.

If Hell indeed exists, then is there a possibility that the stories in “Sara’s Book of Death” are real?

Afterward, Tesla shared information related to Hell, similar to the information given by the housekeeper Lulu, but more detailed.

For instance, Hell is vast and seemingly boundless, and time there is much longer, with one second on the outside perhaps being ten minutes inside.

Although exorcists discovered Hell hundreds of years ago, their understanding of it is almost nil.

“Because living people can hardly stay in Hell for a long time, and the deceased find it difficult to return to the world of the living.”

“How does one go to Hell?” Lu Li asked a question that most people would be curious about.

“You need to have psychic talent, just like your talent for inspiration,” Tesla answered.

“Then, holding onto an object from the life of the deceased you wish to find, you begin to commune—that is, enter a near-death state.”

“At that moment, your soul will be guided by a force to Hell, but your body has not yet died completely, you are still alive—this is why there are people who claim they saw Hell after being close to death.”

Perhaps thinking Lu Li might try it someday, Tesla was very elaborate, “Therefore, a slow death is the safest way to enter Hell.

Most psychics choose suffocation to journey to Hell.

This process is extremely dangerous, not only because you may indeed suffocate to death but also due to the perils originating from Hell itself.”

The devils and demons of legends, all sorts of confirmed low-level demons, as well as the deceased suffering in Hell and yearning for a return to the human world—the lure of a living soul intruding into their midst is immensely irresistible beyond description.

“So you can hear rumors about the Exorcist everywhere, but you rarely hear about Psychics.”

Lu Li had no interest in going to hell, but that didn’t stop him from asking, “How do you know if you have a Psychic Talent?”

“You already have one,” Tesla said with a meaningful smile.

“After all, you can see them, can’t you?”

Low Sanity Value.

Lu Li’s previous “inspiration” had come from it, and this time it had brought Lu Li a new talent.

“Oh right, Cecilia has been looking for you lately.” It seemed like Tesla thought Lu Li had forgotten who Cecilia was, so he added, “Cecilia Thomas, Thomas’s daughter.”

“I know who she is,” Lu Li looked at Tesla, waiting for him to continue.

But Tesla seemed not to understand and just looked at Lu Li without speaking.

“Why does she want to find me?” Lu Li had to ask.

Tesla continued, “I don’t know, she might want to ask you something, or maybe it’s just…plain admiration.”

It was hard to imagine Tesla showing the expression of someone enjoying a spectacle.

“…Does she know about my Detective Agency?”

Lu Li didn’t think Cecilia Thomas would seek him out just for admiration, but Baron Joseph’s pursuit made it hard for him to be sure—

“Not yet.

Most investigators are very secretive, and you are even more so.”

“Keep it hidden for me, until she reveals her purpose for looking for me,” Lu Li drank his milk as if he intended to down it in one go.

“I will,” Tesla lifted his glass in the air and shook it.

“Are you leaving?”

Thump.

He set the empty cup back on the round table.

Lu Li thought for a moment, then asked, “What’s the headquarters estimation for when the disaster is going to strike?”

As his words fell, the hall fell into deathly silence.

Tesla watched Lu Li quietly.

Lu Li met his gaze.

Behind the counter, Alliance Personnel had picked up the unbroken cup and continued wiping it.

Rumble—

The prolonged, dull sound of thunder came from the ground, echoing in the hall of investigators.

“A storm is coming, head back before everything begins,”

After a moment of silence, Tesla sighed.

There seemed to be some meaning to his words, or perhaps it was just overthinking.

Lu Li didn’t say anything, stood up from his seat, and walked into the passage.

As he was about to enter the elevator and leave, Tesla’s voice came from behind him.

“When the newspapers no longer conceal the truth, when the shelters open, and when the price of Deep Sea Stone skyrockets.”