Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 543 - 543 62

543: 62.

Ringleader and chief instigator 543: 62.

Ringleader and chief instigator Benedict George, the first passenger to be detected as infected.

Soon after the United Organization got involved, they gathered information on this youth from Limsdale City, Arlenbeth County.

Like the other passengers who were at Belfast at this moment, Benedict George’s destination was mankind’s new sanctuary, the Lennon Islands.

Unfortunately, before reaching the islands on the other side of the ocean, this young life was extinguished by the epidemic.

The United Organization’s final investigation pointed to something strange — Benedict George had followed a convoy, but he was the only one who developed a problem.

It was still uncertain whether the source of the epidemic was a contaminant or an unknown weirdness.

Stopping in front of the Granrite, the lit bonfires and torches dispersed all the fog around the ship, with Exorcists standing guard around the quarantined area, preventing the Human Pus from escaping.

Almost all of the Human Pus on the harbor had been cleared, with only the Granrite left untouched on purpose.

Inside, there were most likely a dozen or so Human Pus survivors.

“Please be careful of the flesh stuck to the walls; contact with it may lead to infection,” a member from the United Organization reminded Lu Li.

Apart from those killed by the Human Pus attacks, there were quite a few who became infected due to accidentally touching fluids from the decaying flesh.

The harbor was a bit safer; one only needed to be cautious of the worker’s huts and the ground.

But on the ship, the narrow and enclosed environment was brimming with factors that could cause infections.

“Thank you for the warning,”

Under the watchful eyes of the United Organization and hired Exorcists, Lu Li and Anna flew toward the deck and disappeared from view.

…

As the source and unhandled infected area of the Human Pus incident, disgusting fluids and pieces of flesh were scattered all over the deck, forming a thin layer.

Just to be safe, Anna simply didn’t let Lu Li touch the deck anymore and instead hovered about one meter above, waiting.

The scent from Lu Li that drove them crazy would soon lure out the Human Pus hiding in the cabins; there was no need to actively search for them.

The Human Pus didn’t keep Lu Li and Anna waiting long; after a few dozen seconds, grotesque roars emerged from the fog blanketing the deck.

Everyone at the harbor below, on hearing the cries of the Human Pus, became alert.

A thick, squirming noise arose from the edge of the fog, and a Human Pus appeared in the light of the oil lamp, then was immediately immobilized by Anna’s control.

Without hesitation, Lu Li took out “Salvation” and aimed at the congealed head of the Human Pus below, pulling the trigger.

The head riddled with indiscernible abscesses exploded, and the scene around Lu Li shifted, entering the Death Retrace scene.

In the second-class cabin, an elderly man limping with a cane walked towards a constantly battered door, grumbling about something before opening it, then was knocked down by the Human Pus behind the door, engulfed by the chilling sounds of swallowing and chewing as the death fragment ended.

This particular Human Pus had not been in contact with the source before its transformation.

And Lu Li’s life force rose by a nearly imperceptible margin once again.

Lu Li looked at the next Human Pus drawn in and immobilized by Anna, inserted “Salvation” back into the holster to reload, then drew it out again and pulled the trigger.

Five consecutive Human Pus transformations were due to infections by other Human Pus.

Considering that there had been at least hundreds of passengers and crew aboard the Granrite before, Lu Lili, who had only glimpsed the memories of five Human Pus before death, still had a long way to go before touching the truth.

Given the few remaining Human Pus on the ship, that distance might be forever.

The sixth Human Pus lunged forward, frozen three meters from Lu Li’s feet.

The screams on the ship had ceased to be continuous; there might have been fewer than three Human Pus left.

Thinking this, Lu Li pulled the trigger once more, entering the death memory of the sixth Human Pus.

Screams and cries filled his ears.

A chaotic crowd ran past him.

Desperate people jumped off the ship’s railings.

Some stumbled and got up by luck, while the unlucky ones were swallowed by the rushing crowd.

The noisy, chaotic deck was filled with passengers and crew running in all directions, passing right through Lu Li’s body.

This scene was the deck after the outbreak started, still unrelated to the source.

His gaze swept over the crowd, the fleeing people making it hard for Lu Li to identify the sixth Human Pus.

His eyes jumped over them, resting on the passage leading to the cabins—that was the source of the chaos.

When he looked away, Lu Li suddenly noticed an out-of-place flash pass by his vision.

He looked at the crowd again and found the presence that had felt so strange.

It was a young man with a sickly pale complexion, standing quietly by the railings, erect and still, utterly unlike the screams and terror of those around him, as if enjoying the scene.

His gaze solidified on the man’s face, and a moment later, the fragment of death ended, and Lu Li’s consciousness returned to the fog-enshrouded deck.

Lu Li put back Redemption into its holster, and stood silently in contemplation.

“Did you find anything?” Anna noticed the change in Lu Li.

Those black eyes turned towards Anna, “Richard was on this ship when Human Pus broke out.”

Lu Li had only met Richard once, but it was enough to make a strong impression on each other.

The young man at the railings was Richard.

It was unlikely that Richard wanted to leave Belfast.

Perhaps they had been wrong from the start.

Human Pus was not attracted to the strong life force of Lu Li, but to the Blood-Colored Tentacles.

Richard wanted to use Human Pus to entangle Lu Li.

In a sense, Richard had succeeded.

Even though Lu Li neither left nor returned through the port, his goodness made him choose to get involved anyway.

“Let’s kill it, and then we can leave,” Lu Li said.

With the culprit identified, there was no point in looking for the source anymore.

“Yeah.”

Anna broke the neck of the next Human Pus, carrying Lu Li as they floated back to the port.

After some thought, Lu Li told the waiting Deputy Mayor Gerard and others about Richard, omitting some details they didn’t need to know, only retaining that Richard was the murderer and that Lu Li was capturing him.

To be honest, a comfortable Richard lurking in the shadows would definitely wait for an opportunity to cause trouble again.

The United Organization of Exorcists might find it hard to catch him, but it would be enough to distract Richard from causing more trouble for Lu Li.

That was enough.

When Lu Li had dealt with the last tentacle, whatever conspiracy Richard was brewing would become impossible to carry out.

Having learned that the United Organization would pursue Richard, Lu Li left the port.

At this moment, less than half an hour remained until dawn, and the fog was vaguely turning to deep grey.

Yet the Mist of Strangeness showed no sign of dissipating.

“Thank you for your help,” Rachel and Gerard said, bidding farewell to Lu Li, who was about to leave, from the carriage provided by the United Organization.

Lu Li nodded to them, pulled the reins, and the crisp sound of horse hooves gradually disappeared into the fog.

The blood-colored tentacles on the horizon were hazy and illusory, and just before the break of dawn, Lu Li drove towards the last Blood-Colored Tentacle.

However, during a brief stop at the Longhouse Detective Agency, the “Sailor” on watch told Lu Li that a letter for him had arrived not long ago.