Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 560 - 560 Seventy-nine

560: Seventy-nine.

Destiny 560: Seventy-nine.

Destiny The space was shrouded in a gray fog, with only the stone bricks underfoot and the figure of Richard charging with his head down distinctly visible.

Thud.

Richard collided firmly against Lu Li’s chest.

Lu Li was forced to take several steps back by the impact and suddenly furrowed his brows.

His back foot stepped into emptiness.

There sounded the Spirit-Calling Gun that Richard had thrown earlier, which had yet to hit the ground.

Lu Li grabbed hold of Richard in front of him to change direction and retreated further from the unknown edge.

Richard failed to notice the issue.

He staggered a few steps following Lu Li, then lunged forward in an attempt to make the retreating Lu Li fall—

His plan succeeded halfway, as the rapid backing away made it difficult for Lu Li to maintain his balance, causing him to fall backward.

Lu Li knew nothing about fighting, but he knew what he should do at that moment.

As he fell, he bent his legs and pushed against Richard’s abdomen, flipping his body away.

Thud—

A dull thump came from overhead.

Lu Li turned and scrambled up, only halfway up when Richard suddenly pounced again, straddling Lu Li and swinging his fists down.

“You should understand me, right?

Only with great power can we protect everyone!” Richard roared, his eyes bloodshot as his fists rained down like a storm.

Lu Li raised his arms to protect his head, his calm black eyes watching Richard through the gaps between his arms, “What you said is right.

But you are doing it wrong.”

Richard’s strength was nearly spent, and his swinging fists only caused Lu Li a slight pain.

Seizing the gap between the punches, Lu Li suddenly exerted force to turn over and pin Richard down, looking down from above at the frenzied Richard: “Power that can be controlled is true power.”

Richard’s head leaned back slightly, then suddenly slammed into Lu Li’s forehead.

It was as if the Deep Sea Ruins themselves were trembling, and his ears were filled with a buzzing noise.

Lu Li had no choice but to fall backward, his head recoiling, as Richard took the chance to break free and get up awkwardly.

Bang!

Richard lifted his leg and kicked at Lu Li’s abdomen, as he lay on the ground.

His face flushed red from exerting too much force as he screamed, “What makes you think I can’t do it!”

“A rabbit cannot understand why a lion doesn’t eat grass like it does.”

The concussion in his head made it difficult for Lu Li to keep his balance, his heart beating wildly, pressing blood towards his head and even to his eyes.

The sensation of swelling was unfamiliar and uncomfortable for Lu Li, but the dizziness was quickly fading.

“What nonsense are you spouting!”

The irrational Richard kicked at Lu Li again, but Lu Li suddenly stretched out a hand to grab his ankle, pulling him over.

One exhausted, one disoriented from the impact to the head, unable to resist; the two rolled about in a primeval brawl within this foggy space.

Nobody noticed they were edging closer to that strange boundary.

Lu Li realized that it was futile to use complex language with the deranged Richard; simplicity might be more effective but could also provoke him, “Do you think you are stronger than me?”

“That’s because you’re a cowardly little mouse!” Richard bit down on Lu Li’s arm, which was shielded by the heavy woolen coat.

While holding Richard at bay, Lu Li replied, “Moths to a flame isn’t bravery, sacrificing others isn’t justice.”

“I would never consider myself righteous like you hypocrites,” Richard growled like a wild beast, persistently biting down on Lu Li’s arm.

“I’m just a despicable, lowly pauper unwilling to accept that, seeking to save many others, to receive the praise and trust of those I protect!”

The resistance from Lu Li suddenly weakened a little.

“Derived from your childhood?”

At the moment Richard’s words fell, he glimpsed a corner of his heart—that seemed to be a ragged, dirty little boy standing on the street corner ignored by everyone, with eyes filled with helplessness and numbness.

The mad often have the misfortune of twisted souls from unhappy childhoods.

This seemed to be the case for Richard, who had been born on the streets and never seen his parents.

Lu Li’s words completely enraged Richard, lifting the final tile that concealed his heart.

“You have no right to know these things.”

His head jerked back, but before he could repeat the trick, Lu Li had already kicked him away.

An object wrapped in cloth fell from his embrace; Richard instinctively reached for it, an action that saved his life.

His body suddenly dropped off the edge, leaving only his outstretched arms struggling to cling onto the edge.

He hadn’t the strength to climb up, fortunately, he also didn’t lose the strength to fall off.

Richard, with a bloodied forehead, squinted through the blood seeping into his left eye, panting as he looked at Lu Li who had caused the object to fall, as if resignedly accepting his fate, “Want to know what it is?”

“A part of an Ancient God,” Lu Li replied.

More specifically, tentacles, eyeballs, flesh.

“Exactly,” said Richard, struggling to curl his lips into a smile, his forehead blood making his expression ferocious.

“Take it, and you who eventually wins will gain the corpse of an Ancient God.”

“Or as you always said, refuse this power…Come on, let me see how you, the hypocrite, will choose.”

Lu Li lowered his head silently to look at the cloth, as Richard’s smile spread while he stooped to pick it up.

“I had once possessed such power,” Lu Li slowly walked toward Richard and whispered, “It came from a weakened Evil God.”

“The feeling is indescribable; it wouldn’t let me fly, nor control objects, it simply filled my soul, making me feel all-powerful.”

Richard listened intently as Lu Li told him, “Yes, as you thought, in the end, I gave it up.”

“Because it wasn’t a good thing, this power was never meant for humans.

Even though it meant me no harm and wanted to protect me, it couldn’t change the fact that it was unravelling my sanity.”

“Fire doesn’t intentionally harm anyone, it just stays there.”

Lu Li stood in front of Richard, eyes downcast, at him and at the dark abyss behind him, as if brushed by a passing wind.

“I stopped you because of everything you’ve done, the people you experimented on in the Asylum, those you parasitized, the thousands of innocent citizens who died at the port—you claim you want to protect the world, forgive me for being blunt.”

“You can’t be trusted.”

With a gentle lift of his hand, the piece of cloth that Richard held dear, along with what was inside it, fell into the abyss.

Richard lowered his head, his expression ashen.

Suddenly, he raised his head and burst into mad laughter, “You’ve won …

but do you think I’ll act like the villains in stories, struggling uselessly for an epic ending for you?

Don’t even think about it!”

Richard suddenly released his grip on the edge.

His figure plummeted quickly, but then stopped abruptly in mid-air.

Lu Li, who had thrown himself forward, grabbed his wrist.

In that moment, Richard lifted his head, looking at Lu Li’s unchanged composure, suddenly dismissed all emotion, and calmly said, “The Blood-Colored Tentacles are the key to entering this place, it had already vanished the moment we reached this shore.

You’re safe.”

Richard lifted his hand, using his last bit of strength to pry open Lu Li’s fingers.

“Now …

I don’t owe you anymore!”

With his final shout, Richard’s body fell into the darkness.

The eerie wind beneath the abyss howled past, as if bidding farewell to the man without a name.