Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 466 - 466 Three hundred and twenty-three

466: Three hundred and twenty-three.

The whale should return to the sea.

466: Three hundred and twenty-three.

The whale should return to the sea.

Before entering Shadow Town, Jojo thought that only workers and lunatics talked to metal.

Now, she understood and agreed with Lu Li’s actions.

Lu Li’s words echoed down the corridor and gradually faded.

As the echoing hum dissolved, Lu Li still had received no response.

Useless…

Anna’s Soul Projection and abilities were useless on metal, but it seemed they had no choice but to try now.

However, before the fight began, Jojo gently tugged at Lu Li’s sleeve and whispered, “The path ahead has turned into a wall…”

Lu Li’s dark eyes fell on the path ahead, the oil lamp interfering with his vision.

He moved the oil lamp aside and stared into the depths of the corridor.

The thick, viscous darkness pushed back, revealing walls covered in rust and corners barely visible.

Before this, the path was straight and seemingly endless.

The large ship had responded to Lu Li.

Lu Li tilted his head, Anna gave him a slight nod, and they both stepped towards the corner.

The corridor extended forward, the old gear elevator resembling a rusted cage, the cabin door’s plaque was corroded beyond recognition.

The decaying cork-like floor, preserving the traces of their earlier footsteps.

Continuing forward, they would return to the deck.

“Let’s go.”

Lu Li stepped forward, heading toward the exit.

Jojo paused briefly, her gaze sorrowfully fixed on the cabin at the end of the corridor where Oliver was hiding for a few seconds, then turned her head to catch up with the departing Lu Li.

In the damp cabin, water vapor condensed into droplets, which fell and shattered into spray a distance away from Lu Li.

Jojo felt a slight chill strike her cheek, blinked, and looked towards the deck exit a dozen meters ahead.

The blood-red light cast by the sky landed in front of the staircase.

Jojo breathed a sigh of relief, confirming that this living ship had indeed let them go.

Then…

Jojo couldn’t help but look back, gazing into the deep darkness behind her.

What had killed her brother, was it this ship…

or something else…

On the deck, the blood-red light spilled in front of the cabin corridor, where the shadowy edges revealed a pair of rain boots dangling with water droplets.

Lu Li, carrying an oil lamp, came to the stairs and looked up.

The change happened then, amidst unbearable shuffling noises, the dilapidated wooden door leading to the deck suddenly closed on its own, and the last bit of blood-red light that had spilled into the corridor disappeared with the door’s complete closure.

Anna immediately retreated next to Lu Li, opening her protection to encompass Jojo.

She looked up curiously and whispered, “There are many scents of Evil God’s servants approaching…”

“Hmm.”

Lu Li also faintly sensed a threat swiftly approaching.

The ship’s action of sealing the deck seemed to be protecting them.

The dim cabin corridor fell into silence, only punctuated by the distant, dull sounds of the ship’s structure changing, echoing like heavy breaths.

This unsettling silence didn’t last long, just a few minutes later, Anna informed Lu Li, “They’ve left, heading…

deep into the marsh.”

The servants’ unusual behavior corresponded with the whispers of the Mother of the Marsh.

“Whether they are servants of the Mother of the Marsh or some unknown Evil God.”

“Their presence makes me feel uncomfortable…

it’s an unknown Evil God.”

Lu Li nodded and, shifting his gaze to the ship, said, “Thank you for your help.”

The voice slowly opened out towards the deck exit, echoing into the depths.

This time there were no interruptions, and they made it back to the deck smoothly.

The sound of the stream became clear again, as the lifeless Banyan Jungle spread out on both sides.

Lu Li looked towards the distance, where the vast canopy of the banyan trees obscured his view.

Hesitating slightly, Lu Li asked Jojo to stay on the deck while he went to the top deck accompanied by Anna.

With no intention of exploring the tightly shut Captain’s Cabin, Lu Li reached the top and looked again towards the depths of the marsh.

The tree canopies, like waves in a lead-gray ocean, led to a colossal banyan tree at the heart of the marsh, an astonishing spectacle.

Compared to it, the surrounding banyan trees seemed mere saplings.

This massive banyan tree appeared to be the origin of all other banyan trees, with terrifying blood-red lightning spreading in the clouds above it.

That was the center of everything and their next destination, the Matriarch Nest of the Marsh.

Anna couldn’t help but exhale.

From the moment she saw the colossal banyan tree, a continuous oppressive feeling began to invade her soul.

It was as though she wasn’t looking at a tree but was directly facing a sinister and mysterious Evil God.

“Is this the gap between me and an Evil God…”

Anna murmured to herself, following Lu Li back to the lower deck and then leaving the ship with him to land in the stream.

Before leaving, Lu Li did not forget his promise to the ship, mentioning again his commitment to helping it.

The ship remained as cold and lifeless as dead matter, with no response, as if their previous encounters were mere illusions.

No one thought as much.

Lu Li and the others made their way back to shore, stopping at a spot sufficiently distant from both the ship and the banyan trees.

Shadow Figures appeared out of nowhere, lurking in gaps within the banyan jungle a dozen meters away.

Lu Li, noticing Jojo’s low spirits, calmly said, “What follows does not involve you.

I will have the Shadow Figures take you away from the range of Shadow Swamp and Shadow Town.

If possible, wait for us in Rose Town.”

Jojo was stunned, only realizing after a moment what Lu Li meant, but she shook her head and replied, “You’ve helped me.

Now it’s my turn to help you.”

“You can’t help me,” Lu Li answered directly as usual.

It was true; in some ways, Lu Li himself was a burden to Anna.

Without Lu Li, Anna infiltrating the center of the marsh wouldn’t be too troublesome.

But without Lu Li, Anna wouldn’t have needed to infiltrate it in the first place.

“Well, actually, I don’t know where to go…” Jojo squatted down, hugged her knees, still unable to emerge from the sorrow of her brother’s death, and blamed her own uselessness.

She couldn’t even take away her brother’s body.

“I don’t want to leave with a monster… Let me stay with you.

If I face danger, don’t worry about me…”

Having lost the most important person in her life, Jojo seemed to have also lost her expectation for life.

Now, she could face any terror head-on.

“If you don’t want to leave, then follow us,” Lu Li said in a steady tone, not knowing what comfort meant.

“Eat something to regain your strength, then we will head to the giant banyan tree.”

Jojo didn’t feel hungry or thirsty, but still ate the dried meat and drank half the water from the bottle as Lu Li had suggested.

After a brief rest, Anna surveyed the surroundings.

The silent banyan trees, the noisy stream, the huge ship across, and finally, her gaze landed on Lu Li quietly eating.

“You said you would send it to where it belongs.”

She asked Lu Li, looking together at the cruise ship lying across the stream, a few dozen meters away.

“Where is that?”

Lu Li swallowed the last piece of dried meat, washed it down with icy water from the bottle, and answered Anna, “The whale belongs in the sea.”

Anna’s crimson eyes reflected the silhouette of the ship as she muttered softly.

“Whales…”