Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 519 - 519 Thirty-Eight

519: Thirty-Eight.

Blood-Colored Tentacles on the Sea Surface 519: Thirty-Eight.

Blood-Colored Tentacles on the Sea Surface “He must have just run off not long ago,” said the officer following behind, who rushed outside to command his subordinates to search the nearby area for Richard’s traces.

Lu Li took down the oil lamp from the wall and walked to the window, extending his arm to light up the dark alley.

The damp walls of the dark alley reflected back the gleam of water, the drizzle had washed away many traces, but had also left some behind.

A clear footprint, deep in mud, extended towards the outside of the alley.

But it was too obvious…

The cunning Richard would have no reason to leave such conspicuous traces.

Lu Li moved away from the window and scanned the cramped, nowhere-to-hide wooden cabin.

“No hidden spaces,” Anna’s voice echoed in his ear.

Lu Li nodded and said to the officer who had returned from outside, “Help me check the recent call records of this phone.”

“Who has he been in contact with?

Alright,” the officer agreed and left the cabin with Lu Li.

Creak—

The wooden door closed, and the oil lamp on the table in the cabin emitted a tranquil halo.

Creak—

The door suddenly opened again, revealing a serene face.

“His Excellency Lulian?” a voice asked from nearby.

“It’s nothing, let’s go,” Lu Li said, closing the wooden door once more.

“I will have someone stay nearby to watch this place,”

the officer said as they walked towards the entrance of the alley.

“Thank you,” Lu Li nodded, looking towards the three officers who were cautiously tracking following the footprints.

Clearly, Lu Li’s status made them apprehensive of approaching the criminal they were pursuing too closely.

“Call them back,” Lu Li said.

The officer beside him explained sheepishly, “I’m sorry… Recently, the city has become increasingly dangerous, and three brothers from the police station have already died…”

“I know,”

Lu Li had them return also because of this reason.

The officers could offer some help, but were not suited to directly apprehend Richard.

Watching the officers return to the carriage and leave, Lu Li, accompanied by Anna, led the carriage along the extending footprints into the Ruins District.

The sound of footsteps echoed emptily among collapsed, burnt-out buildings, and even the time nearing noon could not dissipate the oppressive atmosphere of the Ruins District since their last visit.

Lu Li thought that this might be related to recent rumors and the absence of vagrants.

He hoped those vagrants had simply found a safer place to survive rather than something else.

Following the footprints for less than two hundred meters, the increasingly faint traces completely disappeared in front of a pile of ruins.

Richard might have climbed through the ruins to another place or somehow covered his tracks.

“We could perhaps borrow a hound from the police station,” Anna suggested.

“It’s no use,” Lu Li shook his head gently.

“The pervasive scent in the air will mislead the hound.”

Unable to smell the air, Anna inquired, “What scent?”

Lu Li slightly tilted his head back, gazing at the raindrops meandering on the transparent protective shield, and whispered, “The burning smell in the air.”

And as if it was faintly discernible, the vague scream became gradually clearer as they delved deeper into the district.

“Let’s go back, moving forward might lead us into trouble,” Lu Li said.

“But Richard…”

“He should be too preoccupied to deal with us now, let’s take this opportunity to get rid of all the Blood-Colored Tentacles,” said Lu Li, retracing his steps with Anna.

As they stepped back onto the no longer charred ground, the oppressive feeling looming in the darkness began to fade away.

Upon returning to the carriage, Lu Li approached one of the Blood-Colored Tentacles.

When the carriage briefly stopped on a relatively bustling street, Lu Li had a passing postman deliver information about the condition of the Ruins District to the Anres brothers’ repair station on the coastal street, and he gave him 10 shillings as a reward.

This was much more convenient and cheaper than summoning black ravens with rotten flesh.

However, Lu Li still did something extra—following the Blood-Colored Tentacles, he also arrived at the coastal street.

The bustling port and the lively coastal street persisted, and at the end of the lead-gray sea, Blood-Colored Tentacles hung from the clouds, merging into the blurry sea.

“Has one not reached Belfast yet?” Anna asked Lu Li, who was looking out from the fence.

Lu Li didn’t answer, his brows furrowed as he stared at the oppressive dark sea.

After a moment, he suddenly walked along the street, stopping in front of a telescope set up for viewing the scenery.

The immigration boom had revived this business, and Lu Li spent one shilling to get five minutes with the telescope.

He lowered his head to the eyepiece, turning the lens toward the direction where the Blood-Colored Tentacles fell into the sea.

Through the blurry lens, a small passenger ship was stationed several nautical miles out at sea, with the Blood-Colored Tentacles disappearing behind the vessel.

Disregarding the coincidence that the Blood-Colored Tentacles just so happened to overlay with the small passenger ship on the vast sea, the host of the tentacles could be on that ship.

“It’s not far from us.”

Stepping away from the telescope, it seemed like Lu Li was talking to himself in the eyes of bystanders.

“Should we wait here for it to dock?”

Lu Li’s gaze landed on a small wooden boat overturned on the beach, “It’s better to get closer to it before it docks.”

“We could go look for another host first,” Anna suggested.

Lu Li gently shook his head, “The host on the passenger ship might still be alive; I’m not sure if he can sense me.

Just in case, boarding the ship on the sea would give him no place to escape.”

“Then let’s do as you said and sit…” Anna’s voice trailed off.

Lu Li stepped down the stairs from a gap in the railing, treading toward the darker colored sand and the small wooden boat.

As the lifted wooden boat stirred up the sand and pebbles, Anna let Lu Li sit in the boat, ignoring the surprise and panic of those around enjoying the seaside view.

She pushed the small wooden boat, sliding it over the beach as if sailing on the sea, leaving a trail of trenches rushing into the water, speeding toward the direction pointed out by Lu Li with undiminished pace.

The sea breeze, along with the spray, blew directly in their faces, parting black hair and garments.

The rushing wooden boat indeed gave Lu Li a sense of illusion, as if he was still on the peaceful and tranquil Earth.

Anna directly propelled the wooden boat toward the location indicated by Lu Li, and a just-departed ocean liner crossed their small path.

She only slightly altered the course below the nearly sky-obscuring giant ship, speeding past, and leaving behind the passengers and crew on the deck pointing at the small wooden boat trailing a white wake.

Then suddenly, Anna felt a twinge of annoyance.

She could have just flown Lu Li over there herself.

On the other hand, bound in the small wooden boat to prevent being thrown out, Lu Li squinted his eyes, focusing on the approaching ship now visible as a black dot.

As they drew closer, more details became visible: the slightly peeling paint on the ship’s body, the anchor dropped into the water, the figures moving on the deck, and the Blood-Colored Tentacles hanging onto the side of the ship.

A few minutes later, with only a few hundred meters left to the small passenger ship, Lu Li raised his arm, signaling Anna to stop.

Anna released her power, allowing the small wooden boat to drift forward.

Lu Li stared intently at the figures moving on the deck for a moment, then suddenly muttered to himself in a low voice, “One two three four five six seven eight…

one two three four five six seven eight…

one two three four five…”