Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 578 - 578 Ninety-seven

578: Ninety-seven.

Welcome to hell 578: Ninety-seven.

Welcome to hell “`

Ssshh—

Ssshh—

At the bottom of Meteorite Crater, the sound of heavy dragging echoed.

A Hungry Demon was dragging Lu Li.

It was much thinner than the first demon that had arrived, its lead-gray belly almost fused with its back.

The slight protrusion in its chest area indicated its gender—or rather, the gender it had when it was once human.

In the darkest depths of hell, even fresh souls couldn’t overcome low-level demons whose consciousness had long been obliterated by the relentless scorching of hell, leaving mostly instinct.

They usually became food for slightly more advanced demons, and if they were somewhat fortunate to find a gathering of their own kind, they could live until the day they were eaten by their companions, or until even their instincts were completely worn away.

The burning hells and their devils had always been a place that changed the color of people’s conversations.

This frail demon, on the brink of starvation, did not indulge in the delicious soul nor did it pay any attention to the flesh scattered around the soul.

It was simply dragging Lu Li with difficulty, intending to take him somewhere.

But the steep edge of Meteorite Crater proved challenging for the demon too; after falling several times, and tumbling down with a dirt-covered Lu Li, it abandoned the attempt to leave the place and clumsily dragged Lu Li back to the center of the crater, near a Boulder.

The demon with limbs on the ground circled the Boulder several times, finding no threat, then returned to Lu Li’s side and nudged a mound of earth with its head, dragging out an inheritance of Richard.

It did not mind the gray dirt on it, opening its mouth, which was half the size of its face, it bent down to tear and feed.

Its sharp teeth easily tore open the gray flesh, biting and swallowing the similarly gray flesh, but despite eating much, the demon’s belly remained tight against its spine, showing no sign of swelling.

A few minutes later, the corpse had been mostly devoured.

The demon showed no intention of stopping, continuing to eat insatiably, furiously as if the body could not satisfy its hunger, and the next one might be the unconscious Lu Li beside it.

Soon, the demon swallowed the last leg of the body, tilted its head back, and the contours of the foot bulged under the gray skin of its neck, sliding into its chest.

An entire body didn’t make the demon’s belly swell at all, so it turned its attention to the pile of flesh a few dozen meters away.

The demon’s head turned toward Lu Li, as if to confirm whether Lu Li was safe, then crawled towards the scattered flesh.

As it gradually moved away, the eyelashes of Lu Li beside the giant Boulder began to tremble slightly.

That sensation was indescribable.

It was like someone stuffed a spoon into one’s brain and stirred vigorously, mixing the brain into a mess.

Everything was shattered, spinning, deformed.

Lu Li had not been attacked, not from the beginning.

He had just accidentally entered the domain of some indescribable being, and then briefly came into contact with the trivial wisp of aura that pervaded that domain.

This contact had nearly driven his consciousness insane.

Like a small wooden boat shattered by the waves in a storm at sea.

The storm had nothing to do with the small boat, nor was it targeting the boat; it was just unfortunate to have broken in.

It was a coincidence, it happened to be there, Lu Li just happened to collide with it.

The returning consciousness also brought back those negative effects, such as an unbearable sensation of nausea.

Slowly opening his eyes, those black gem-like eyes were now like a dried-up desert.

His blurry vision gradually restored, first to a demon prostrated not far away, making hyena-like whimpering threats at him.

Or maybe not.

A pair of boots stopped in front of his forehead, then a mocking whisper sounded, “It’s truly a pleasure to witness your pathetic state as soon as I arrive.”

She had consciousness.

She knew me.

She seemed like an enemy.

“`

Still unable to shake off the negative effects, Lu Li had difficulty discerning the other’s identity by voice alone.

He turned his head and with a clearer line of sight, recognized the person as a neat woman dressed in a trench coat, her eyes obscured by a strip of cloth.

Familiar, yet difficult to recall.

“Who are you?”

Lu Li, furrowing his brow due to a headache and dizziness, asked.

“You actually don’t remember me?!”

Her voice, laden with anger, rose, and in a fit of fury, she lifted her boot, kicking towards Lu Li’s abdomen—

Countless phantom arms suddenly emerged from the void, reaching for the woman.

At the sight of them, her expression turned to one of panic and fear, and she screamed, “Wait, I’m like you!

I came to help Lu Li!”

Her words saved her life, and those phantom arms disappeared again, guarding Lu Li from the unseen void.

“Lucky fellow, looks like you’ve saved quite a few people,” the woman muttered under her breath.

“Can you answer my question now?” Lu Li lifted his palm, slowly regaining control over his body.

“Is this how you speak to the first person who rushed to save you?” The woman tilted her chin up, her tone laced with irony and a cold laugh, “Ruth, the poor girl you shot dead.”

Lu Li had not met many people whose names he knew, but it still took him several seconds of recollection, only retrieving her identity from the depths of his memory when the woman’s expression grew increasingly irate—far too long ago, at least in terms of Lu Li’s months’ worth of experiences.

Madam Anne’s Art Gallery, the ghost that was missing an eyeball and had “died” because of Lu Li’s confession.

Lu Li had personally put an end to her, thinking she would become an enemy.

“You were already dead at that time,” Lu Li corrected the error in Ruth’s words, looking towards a demon not far off: “And that one was actually the first.”

His quick awakening was because the demon had been dragging him.

“Just a Hungry Demon left with its instincts,” Ruth said contemptuously.

Lu Li retorted, “Is it like you, once helped by me?”

Ruth seemed impatient with Lu Li but still answered, “That’s the only reason I can think of that it hasn’t attacked us.”

Lu Li silently regarded the demon, completely unable to recognize its identity.

He then thought of those phantom arms that had intercepted the demons approaching and had almost attacked Ruth, who had just shown hostility: “And those arms?”

“Incomplete and broken spirits, or perhaps remnants of souls after death,” Ruth said with a glance towards the demon, baring its teeth, a hint of pity in her voice.

“This demon is about to starve to death.

If it dies, it will become one of those loyal hounds surrounding you.”

“Now tell me how you died.”

Lu Li responded calmly, “I’m not dead.”

“You’re not dead?”

“Hell conjured by a medium.”

“No wonder you don’t seem afraid,” Ruth examined Lu Li from head to toe, her face full of disgust.

“Then why stay in this awful place?

Get out of here.”

“I can’t go back,” Lu Li shook his head slightly.

“There’s an existence beyond Hell itself, blocking my way.

I invaded its Hell, then fell unconscious and ended up back here.

Not sure if it’s still there.”

Lu Li’s condition did not support another attempt to go back.

“Sounds like you can’t return, can you?”

Ruth blew on her mask in good spirits, stretching out a gloved hand towards Lu Li.

“Then welcome to Hell.”