Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 533 - 533 Fifty-two

533: Fifty-two.

The city sealed by the cunning fog 533: Fifty-two.

The city sealed by the cunning fog Ding—Ding—Ding—

The distant church bells echoed drearily in the murky evening skies.

Children loudly crying were carried back home by their parents, shops closed their wooden doors one after another, and curtains behind the windows were drawn by the panic-stricken populace.

It wasn’t long before pedestrians vanished from the streets, leaving behind only the disarray, the echoing sound of bells, and the government officials’ shouts that were hard to decipher.

Almost every window lit up with bright, strong light, illuminating all of Belfast.

Yet, this bustling nightscape was suppressed by unease and panic.

The entire city fell silent except for the church bells and shouts that resonated everywhere.

…

Rodest Port, shrouded in a drizzle.

Landon withdrew his gaze that had been fixed upon Belfast, and along the increasingly obscure coastline, his eyes landed on a lighthouse among the rocks.

Its intense and bright beam guided homebound ships, but at this time there was no ship outside the bay—except for that one which had been reported as anomalous not long ago.

But there were no living people on it.

The Mist of Strangeness brewing above the sea was hurtling towards Belfast, and the night watchmen left at the port to deal with the strangeness had to confront the third piece of bad news: the incoming Mist of Strangeness was hindering their search for the source of the disease.

The first two pieces of bad news were the failure to find the source and the unnaturally high number of passengers infected by the disease.

However, there was some good news: the disease was contained on the passenger liner that had come from the Main Affinity Continent and it had not spread.

Crew members and passengers from other ships and workers at the port lined up in several long queues, undergoing inspection by the United Organization.

Tap tap tap—

Landon looked toward the sailboat docked in the port, almost hidden in the darkness.

The crisp and hurried sound of the hard soles of his boots reflected his current mood.

The sky grew darker, but the inspections of workers, sailors, and passengers in the port had only been partially completed.

They couldn’t possibly allow the thousands of unchecked potential risks to enter Belfast; that would be a disaster, the ruination of the largest city on the Ailen Peninsula.

Fortunately, the buildings at the port and the docked ships could just about accommodate all these people.

Now, before the arrival of the strange fog, they needed to inspect as many individuals as possible and send them away from Rodest Port.

“Damn this awful weather!”

Landon cursed through gritted teeth, white mist escaping his mouth and nose, bringing a negligible warmth to his frozen red nose.

He could only vent his complaints about everything on the temperature.

This anxious and uneasy waiting, caused by thousands of people at the port, lasted less than ten minutes, maybe even shorter.

Suddenly, the lighthouse beam aimed at the deep sea flickered a few times before gradually dimming.

Above the surface of the sea, the light was steadily retreating while something lurked in the dark, attacking Belfast.

The queues that had barely maintained order started to churn, panicked screams rose, and people surged toward the blockade as cries filled the air—”The fog’s coming!” “Run for your lives!”

Bang!

Bang!

The deafening sound of gunshots briefly silenced the port, and those who had regained their senses finally remembered the United Organization’s instructions, running towards the buildings on the port.

Landon grabbed a sailor who had run smack dab into him in a blind panic and shouted hoarsely, “Strange creatures are approaching, everyone!

Take cover in the buildings!”

Then he pointed to a nearby cabin and yelled at the sailor, “Hide in there!”

Soon, the crowd cramming into the port buildings found there wasn’t enough room, and they began to pour onto the ships anchored at the shore.

The lighthouse on the rocks shone again, its beam revealing at its outskirts, a mile away, a thick fog rolling over the surface like a monster.

Landon, holding his oil lamp, stared blankly at the sea, while the crowd ran past him, standing resolute like a rock in a torrential rain, his mouth moving slightly as he silently counted down the time for the Mist of Strangeness to reach the shore.

When the Mist of Strangeness was less than half a minute away from the port, the crowd had finally been fully evacuated, with only a few scattered figures left on the port who hadn’t taken cover.

Turning his gaze away, Landon quickly walked over to a middle-aged passenger who was dragging his heavy luggage, pulling him away from it, “Forget about your belongings!

They’re not going to eat your luggage!”

After pushing the middle-aged passenger toward the wooden cabin behind him, Landon suddenly looked towards the cordoned-off ship—infected by the contagious disease.

Several figures wearing bird beak masks emerged from the cabin.

Behind them, a thick fog came rolling in.

“This way!

Run!

Come this way!”

Landon shouted at them.

The figures in the bird beak masks turned to look at the Mist of Strangeness closing in and began to run toward Landon.

Landon retreated to the wooden cabin’s door, waiting until his colleagues brushed past him into the cabin, then he finally looked towards the harbor.

The ships anchored were engulfed by the spreading fog, revealing cold, massive, and frightening outlines.

Within the fog, outlines that hadn’t previously existed appeared faintly—

A hand suddenly grabbed Landon’s arm from behind and pulled the stunned man into the cabin.

Bang!

The wooden door closed heavily.

Twenty or thirty figures huddled in the cramped cabin, their oppressive panting sounds echoing everywhere.

They looked like a giant tin of flesh in the worker’s cabin.

The bolt was secured by a figure in a bird beak mask, who then retreated, and suddenly, the windows were shrouded in a dense fog.

Five or six oil lamps, flickering uneasily like unstable electric lights, dimmed and cast an unsettling glow.

Several muffled cries of alarm rose in the wooden cabin.

Landon handed the oil lamp to a colleague, pulled the curtain with a “Whoosh” to block the outside view, and retreated away from the door.

The oil lamp grew dim and dark, as if the sinister fog outside was seeping through the gaps in the planks, veiling everything in front as if with a face covering.

Whoosh—Whoosh—

In the harbor now enveloped by the fog, the eerie sound of chains dragging echoed emptily.

Something was outside near the oil lamp.

“Merciful Father, please protect us…”

Low prayers began to rise in the cabin, infecting many uneasy passengers and crew members, who followed suit, murmuring their chants together in the narrow, crowded cabin, drowning out the creepy sounds from outside.

Landon instinctively felt something was amiss and was about to stop the praying crowd—

…

“Astran” transoceanic liner.

Below deck, third-class cabin.

“Mommy, that house’s lights went out.” A little girl pointed to a cabin in the port that had suddenly gone dark and turned to her mother.

“Shh…”

The startled woman quickly pulled her child away from the porthole, while a passenger lifted a table to block the window.

Only two oil lamps were left in the cabin, giving off a dim glow.

…

Black Gold District.

A drunkard, ignoring the ban and warnings, collapsed on the roadside.

As the thick fog rolled in, a deep unrest woke the drunkard, who weakly opened his eyes.

The fog surrounded him, and a figure stood before him.

The drunkard reached out to grab the figure’s pant leg.

“Hey… you… what time is it…”

The drunkard’s voice suddenly disappeared, and only the faint sound of chewing arose in the deadly silence.

…

Seen from above, across the top of the mountain, the Mist of Strangeness left everything it touched deathly still and devoid of light.

Occasionally a house would go completely dark, occasionally screams cut through the night sky, but all were swiftly muffled by the advancing fog and silenced within the still mist.