Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 532 - 532 Fifty-One

532: Fifty-One.

The Coming of the Mist of Strangeness 532: Fifty-One.

The Coming of the Mist of Strangeness Plip plop—plip plop—

The viscous dripping sound intruded upon the slowly awakening consciousness.

Opening his eyes, the oil lamp at his side emitted a faint glow, protecting Lu Li from being invaded by darkness.

Where light met shadow, the illusory figure of a woman in a white dress floated, with a trace of concern residing deep within her indifferent eyes.

Back in the cabin, Lu Li sat on a barstool in front of the dining room bar, appearing there abruptly without any warning, just as Anna had said.

“Is it all over?” Anna asked.

“Yeah, I’ll go back and tell you what happened.”

Picking up the floating oil lamp, Lu Li walked to the edge of the rotting flesh pile where the underground door had once appeared.

The door was open, but just like the first time with the closet, there was only an ordinary storage room beneath the wooden boards.

Suddenly, a remnant shadow darted out of the storage room, merging into Lu Li’s forehead before Anna could intervene.

“Don’t panic.”

When Anna’s breath became agitated, Lu Li soothed her, “Remember the tentacles I mentioned from the first time?

This is the second trial’s lump of flesh.”

Lu Li spoke calmly, as if the lump hadn’t entered his body.

“Will there be any complications?” Anna said, her flying hair gradually settling.

“It is the necessary path.”

Two out of the three trials had now passed, and the third one was very likely to manifest on the “eyeball” medium.

By then, no matter what the trial itself wanted to reveal to Lu Li or whatever plot Richard had, it would all be laid bare.

However, there was another, faster route: capturing Richard.

There was no need to linger in the cabin, so Lu Li and Anna walked up to the deck.

“How much time has passed?”

“Around fifteen minutes.”

The passage of time in the outside world was close to Lu Li’s perception, but the first time he had lain in bed all night…

Perhaps then, he was truly asleep.

Back on the deck, distant Belfast resembled a city from a pencil sketch, enshrouded in lead-colored lines.

The gloomy sky and falling drizzle made Lu Li feel as if he were worlds away.

Tafeng City…

The map of the entire continent was in the Detective Agency’s luggage, and he could check after returning whether it truly existed on the Main Affinity Continent.

Lu Li wanted to know if the story of his experience had truly happened or if it was merely an illusion within a fantastical space.

However, either way, it meant that it might have occurred long ago—a time untouched by undispersable shadows.

The small passenger ship was anchored on the sea surface, and the little wooden boat they had arrived on had long since vanished without a trace.

However, they could use the lifeboat on the passenger ship to sail, but it was destined that Lu Li’s return to the shore couldn’t be as unrestrained and flamboyant as their arrival.

“It stays here?” Anna asked.

“After landing, I’ll contact the United Organization to deal with it,” Lu Li replied.

Even though the trouble was resolved, they couldn’t let a ship full of dead bodies and rotting flesh remain moored a few miles off the coast of Belfast.

“Hmm.”

Anna tossed the lifeboat into the sea, cradled Lu Li as they descended onto it, and, controlling her power, set the little wooden boat in motion toward the shore without making it seem abrupt.

However, if any crew or passengers on nearby ships observed with binoculars, they would see that the figures on the little wooden boat were not rowing.

…

At four-thirty in the afternoon, restlessness was brewing over the port.

The dim sea was left with a few ships that had not yet departed, and the wooden bridge leading to Rodest Port had been closed, with figures in black uniforms moving about.

Something had happened at the port, and the crowd was restless, with the noise blending with the sound of ship horns in the distance.

Swaths of police were evacuating the public from the coastal streets and driving away tourists on the beach.

A lifeboat rushed onto the beach, slid a few meters, and grounded on the dark sand and gravel.

Holding an oil lamp, Lu Li stepped off the wooden boat and looked into the distance.

A few dozen meters away, three police officers were walking towards him.

Lu Li approached them and before the officers could speak said, “About three miles off Crescent Bay there’s an anchored passenger ship.

Earlier, a strangeness killed everyone on board, but I have already eliminated it.

Contact the United Organization to deal with the aftermath.”

After a brief pause, Lu Li added, “Just to be safe, be wary of potential Sanity Value contamination.”

“I… I understand, may I ask for your identity…?” The officer stammered, looking somewhat nervous for some unknown reason.

“Senior Investigator Lu Li.” Lu Li took out his investigator badge and inquired, “What happened at the port?”

“It’s a strange epidemic…” The officer replied subconsciously, then elaborated, “A weird disease is spreading at the port, many people have been infected, and your colleagues are handling it.”

Lu Li nodded, “What’s wrong with you all?”

Beneath those dark eyes, lies had nowhere to hide, and the officer awkwardly said, “I don’t know why, but I feel very relaxed around you…”

The three officers couldn’t describe the feeling, but it was as if the cold winter had receded, and a warm spring breeze was blowing.

“It’s the life force increased by the dawn…” Anna whispered in his ear.

Lu Li said nothing, bid farewell to the officers, and walked toward the coastal street.

At the moment, the increased life force hadn’t shown any obvious benefits, only an obvious drawback—his abundant life force made Lu Li stand out like a firefly in the darkness, easily spotted even from a great distance.

By people, and by monsters.

Leaving a trail of footprints on the beach, Lu Li returned to the street.

On the solemn and desolate street, only police maintaining order and a scattering of distant figures remained.

Looking up towards the mountaintop, at the end of the sprawling buildings, the dark clouds were tinged yellow by the sunset behind them.

The sky was about to darken.

Reclaiming the carriage left at the shop, Lu Li took the reins and headed towards the last hanging Blood-Colored Tentacles.

If its host was the “Eye,” Lu Li would face the third and final ordeal.

As he left the coastal street, the liveliness of the street gradually returned.

The carriage traveled through streets bustling with people, but at a certain moment, commotion once again came from afar.

Horse-drawn carriages and steam carriages were in the middle of the road, with workers shouting at the top of their lungs, their voices spreading across half a block.

“Everyone must hide in their homes before nightfall, light more than three sources of light, for the Mist of Strangeness will envelop the city after dark!”

“People, quickly take refuge in secure houses with light sources, the Mist of Strangeness is surging over from the sea!”

“Everybody go home!

Light all the oil lamps and fireplaces, the strange creatures are about to arrive!”

The previously orderly crowd in the streets panicked, clamoring as they surged into their homes, and the street visibly quieted down before one’s very eyes.

Lu Li pulled the horse to a halt, the brown horse stopped at the crossroads leading to different districts.

Announcements from government officials echoed in the skies of other districts as well, forming unsettling messages.

Looking up towards the western sky, the clouds had turned bleak.

Less than half an hour was left until darkness, and they couldn’t reach the next Blood-Colored Tentacle before night.

After a few seconds of thought, Lu Li pulled the reins.

The carriage turned around in place and sped toward the Detective Agency.