Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 553 - 553 Seventy-two

553: Seventy-two.

Disaster 553: Seventy-two.

Disaster The wooden boat drifted with the waves yet steadily made its way toward a certain direction in the deep sea.

The coastline and the kneeling mermaids slowly faded from sight, becoming a deeper silhouette.

Lu Li did not know what awaited him next.

His hesitation stemmed from their location, ultimately driving him to sea were those two trials: Although they were bizarre and eerie, they seemed more like they were telling Lu Li something, some sort of truth.

The one who had set the trials did not seem to be a perpetrator of evil and terror.

There was just one doubt — how Richard, who was just as mad as him, had passed those trials.

Neither the first trial nor the second seemed like something a psychologically twisted maniac like Richard could pass through smoothly.

Perhaps his trials differed from what he had experienced?

Unfortunately, Lu Li knew too little about the “Ancient God’s Body” to analyze more information.

The vast ocean surface was dimly lit by an oil lamp that enveloped the small boat, which was in turn wrapped in boundless darkness.

An indescribable consciousness had already dissipated, yet there seemed to remain a trace of guidance, leading the surging seawater to escort Lu Li toward the Unknown Lands.

Lu Li slowly scanned the deep sea around him, and when he was two or three miles away from the coast, his peripheral vision caught something unusual.

A blurry image formed in his mind, seemingly a figure shrouded in a black robe sitting on a pitch-black wooden boat.

But when Lu Li looked back in that direction, there were only black waves surging.

It seemed like what he had seen was merely an illusion created by the waves.

Lu Li did not think so.

It might be paranoia, but paranoia could be useful in his current surroundings.

For the time that followed, Lu Li kept an eye on the direction where he had the “illusion.”

Perhaps by coincidence, or perhaps because the previous scene was a sign, after the wooden boat had drifted on its own for several minutes, a wooden boat suddenly emerged from the direction Lu Li was watching.

Unlike the nearly black silhouette that had blended into the sea water he had seen before, the emerging wooden boat was like the one underneath Lu Li, and on it sat Richard.

Richard’s wooden boat approached Lu Li, although “collision” might be a more apt description.

Lu Li subconsciously wanted to steer the boat, then remembered that this boat had no oars and was not under control.

The boat moved much faster than Lu Li had imagined; before he could react, the boat carrying the ferocious Richard crashed harshly into the side of Lu Li’s boat.

The boat beneath him let out a wail, the impact nearly capsizing it, and Lu Li was flung into the seawater.

The oil lamp fell a few meters away, quickly sinking underwater.

The dark seawater enveloped Lu Li, the cold touch instinctively stopping his breath.

Surrounded by a large number of bubbles, Lu Li adjusted his posture and swam toward the surface.

But just as he was about to surface, Lu Li suddenly realized he could breathe in the water.

When he had fallen into the water, Lu Li had inevitably swallowed a gulp of it, a sensation usually painful and uncontrollable.

But at that moment, Lu Li felt no pain or discomfort.

Pausing briefly, Lu Li suppressed his body’s subconscious warnings and began to breathe in the water —

His lungs were not filled with the icy seawater, nor did his trachea violently reject the involuntary intake, Lu Li was truly breathing under this deep and dark ocean.

This scene that defied common sense seemed like a dream.

Thoughtful, Lu Li considered that if the seawater did not hinder breathing, then…

The dark-haired Lu Li gazed downward, his hair swaying in the water.

Beneath the surface, the dark abyss seemed eager to devour.

Lu Li saw the oil lamp, slowly sinking, its glass cover’s light flickering like stars for a few moments, then disappearing into the profound darkness.

The only light beneath the sea was gone.

Meanwhile, the consciousness that had once called out to Lu Li emanated from the deep abyss below.

It was beneath the seawater.

Splash—

Surrounded by bubbles, Richard suddenly fell into the seawater.

He turned his head to glance at Lu Li, his emotions indiscernible, and swam toward the depths of the ocean like a fish.

Richard had felt the same call.

He seemed to have been searching for the source of the call, eager to rush toward it.

About to surface, Lu Li narrowed his black eyes and turned to follow Richard toward the abyss.

There were no signs of life in this deep, secluded sea area.

As they dived deeper, the darkness around them visibly intensified, a purity beyond murkiness.

However, Lu Li could still see; the darkness of the night’s calamity seemed unable to reach this place.

This reminded Lu Li of his experience on the Soul Ferry, somewhat similar, yet he was unsure whether there was any connection.

Richard, who had grown up in Belfast, swam quickly, naturally adept in water.

Lu Li could only swim simply, but the additional weight of his water-logged wool coat enabled him to keep up with Richard’s descending speed.

As time passed, the dark waters around them fell into absolute silence, unreachable by the wind and waves above the surface.

With no points of reference, Lu Li found it hard to judge the depth of their descent—it could be hundreds of meters, perhaps deeper.

In this lifeless sea, all seemed void, rendering depth seemingly meaningless, along with time and meaning itself.

Tirelessly, Richard swam toward the abyss.

The bandages on his gunshot wound on his leg had dispersed minutes ago, allowing streaks of blood to seep from the wound and blend into the seawater.

His speed was becoming slower, and his smoothly moving legs now stiffened, like a rusted machine.

They did not know how far they were from their destination.

Just as Lu Li thought that Richard might not be able to keep up much longer, a strange, mud-covered, cylindrical stone pillar abruptly stood before them in the deep sea.

…

Outside Watch Town, at a temporarily designated rest point, people who had fled from the other side of the mountain crowded together.

Only a small portion remained in Watch Town; more people, caught in fear, dared not stay and continued to flee down the mountain.

At this time, the panicked crowd converged, mothers held their continuously crying children, separated relatives shouted each other’s names,

and there were those loudly recounting what had happened in Belfast.

“Tsunami!

A tsunami struck Belfast!”

“It was terrifying… From ten to several dozen meters high waves…”

“It was a monster!

I saw a monster emerge from the sea and kill people onshore!”

Their varied cries were hard to discern, and it was difficult to tell who spoke the truth.

However, in any case, something indeed had happened in Belfast.

On the perimeter of the rest area, two adjacent police officers were conversing quietly.

“Smoke… it seems to come from the direction of the Asylum?

What’s happening there?” the younger officer said quietly, looking at the black smoke to the west.

“Why are you concerned with an asylum that’s long been abandoned?” scoffed the older officer beside him.

He was right; the younger officer shifted his gaze toward the top of Sugard Mountain: “Could the disaster over there spread here?”

“Who knows… I’ve already gone home and told my wife and kids to pack.”

“Are you planning to flee?” the younger officer frowned.

The older officer nodded, gesturing toward Sugard Mountain: “If Belfast couldn’t contain the ongoing disaster, what could we possibly do?”

On the mountain, the crowd continued to move like ants, swarming down in countless dots.