Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 564 - 564 Eighty-three

564: Eighty-three.

Home of the Little Adults 564: Eighty-three.

Home of the Little Adults “Can you see it?”

Lu Li tilted his head towards Anna, who was holding an oil lamp.

The “gate” should have transitioned from “listening” to “seeing” in its second phase, but just to be sure, Lu Li still needed to confirm.

Anna nodded slightly, and Lu Li continued reading the content behind.

[The flames of revenge are about to sweep through, and you and your closest ones will be burned by the hellfire—just kidding.]

Upon reading this, he could confirm that the letter was indeed from Richard.

[Just scaring you a bit.

If you see this message, I should have been killed by you, the executioner, but maybe the merciful savior, Richard, spared you, you despicable thief.]

[Either way, I have something I need you to do.

You can consider this an order, although if that term offends your delicate sensibilities, treat it as a plea instead.]

[First, I must clarify.

How could I, aiming to be a savior, be troubled by money?

Don’t underestimate me.

When I’m hungry, I can totally steal food from my neighbors or rummage through the trash!

Any money you gave went to the orphans.]

[But as we both know, that’s hardly enough.

Poor Little Jimmy, when I last visited him, he was actually licking rocks scraped from the seaside, his stomach rumbling louder than the waves.]

[I need you to bring some food for them and take care of them as much as possible.

With your evil heart, shedding a bit of kindness won’t alter your overall disposition.]

[You can find them beneath Tail Alley, enter through the sewer access on the beach, and don’t enter the wrong sewer.

The place they live has a sign called “Home of the Little Adults”.]

[Take good care of them for me.

If you can’t manage that…]

[Then I can only blame this damned world.]

[Don’t forget to do it—from Richard, not minding that you killed me before.]

Turning over the filled letter, there was nothing else on the back.

“Could it be a trap?” Anna looked up and asked.

“I don’t know.”

This madman was full of uncertainties, and this letter intensified that, making Richard’s character even more contradictory: a madman trying to stop thousands of innocent citizens from becoming Human Pus, yet showing a burst of kindness for some homeless orphans.

But calling him a madman was enough to explain it all.

“Should we go after dinner or now?” Anna knew Lu Li would go, even if it might be a trap.

Lu Li looked up at the window, the mist dimming the desolate streets even more than before.

“Let’s go now.”

A group of hungry, weak children would hardly safely survive the night in the Mist of Strangeness.

Leaving an oil lamp for the statue and the still-sleeping black cat, Lu Li and Anna left the Long House, leaping across rooftops towards the coastal streets.

Before going to the sewer and the grocery store, Lu Li went to the investigator’s base to exchange some shillings, see if Tesla had sent any messages, and figure out what was in the sea.

The disorienting fog enveloped Belfast, making anything beyond ten meters hard to see.

Ignoring the various emotions of pedestrians during low-altitude flight, Lu Li arrived at the maintenance station about ten minutes later.

Unfortunately, Tesla had not sent any letters, and the member of the United Organization left in charge of the base knew nothing about the strangeness emerging above the sea, telling Lu Li that the United Organization was at the port, preparing to investigate and eliminate the strangeness.

The earlier the Mist of Strangeness causing fog was resolved, the longer Belfast could linger on.

Fortunately, investigation points were exchangeable.

Lu Li exchanged 5000 shillings at the normal rate of 1:10.

Leaving the base, Lu Li headed to the grocery store he had frequented several times before.

The grocery store was the only shop allowed to operate in Belfast because it was indispensable.

Canned goods and some inventory remained, but civilians usually only ate black bread and dried salted fish; canned goods, a “luxury,” were unaffordable for most people.

Lu Li had bought two cases of pork cans at a price of 20 Shillings each.

Compared to 12 Shillings half a month ago, the price had nearly doubled.

During the waiting period for stock replenishment, Lu Li paid attention to the eaves outside the store, where the wild cat he had seen before had disappeared.

Or it had died somewhere.

The Mist of Strangeness was indiscriminate, although it preferred to attack humans, but other creatures were usually not spared.

After the calamity of the dark night, countless lives were lost in the long nights.

It was hard to say whether animals were fortunate or unfortunate—they couldn’t understand what killed them.

However, there were exceptions; some small animals like mice and flies survived the ordeal, but with the collapse of the food chain, the latter were seldom seen, and the former barely survived by relying on the cities built by humans.

The store clerk, struggling with two cases of cans, returned to the store from the back door and asked Lu Li where to put these items.

“Just drop them here,” Lu Li said.

Anna had already taken over, and the two cases of cans floated next to Lu Li like balloons.

The expressions of the clerk and other customers transitioned from astonishment to exclamation, as Lu Li did not linger, walked out of the store, flew into the fog, and headed towards Tail Alley at the edge of Crescent Bay.

…

The incessant sound of waves hitting the beach accompanied the deep-sea breeze which carried an obscure and ominous air.

Anna sensed this too, so she floated on the outside, completely protecting Lu Li.

The beach beneath their feet gradually mixed with brown soil as they neared the edge of Crescent Bay, not too far from Elm Forest, with the lighthouse of the rocky area just on the periphery.

At the entrance of a long-abandoned sewer, Lu Li saw the entrance with the wooden sign that Richard had mentioned.

It was crudely marked with “Home of the Little Grown-ups.”

“Stop!”

As they approached the entrance, a sharp cry of a child rang out, and a frail little girl wielding a makeshift spear made from a branch emerged from the depths of the sewer.

In the dim light, her large eyes reflected the light of the oil lamp, looking at Lu Li and the floating wooden box next to him, “Are you here to eat us?”

“Richard sent me,” Lu Li said.

The little girl didn’t seem afraid of Lu Li’s revealed supernatural power.

Her dusty yet clear eyes blinked and she asked again, “Did Brother Richard send you to eat us?”

Lu Li’s eyes slightly drooped, “No, I brought food.”

Click—

The lid of the wooden box was lifted, revealing neatly arranged cans that, at this moment, were more uplifting than any wealth.

The little girl swallowed her saliva, and speaking solemnly like an adult, she said, “Thank you, come with me.”

Saying this, she picked up the candle lantern at her feet, blew it out, and walked at the edge of the light from Lu Li’s oil lamp, leading the way for him.

Despite being abandoned and no longer in use for water flow, the sewer was still damp due to its proximity to the coast.

As they went deeper, colorful graffiti drawn by children began to appear on the walls.

Most of it depicted food and family, and there were images that looked like Richard—their faces smeared with white chalk, representing Richard’s pale complexion.