Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 588 - 588 One Hundred and Seven

588: One Hundred and Seven.

The End of the Journey 588: One Hundred and Seven.

The End of the Journey The base of the chess piece appeared to be carved with an ancient book, climbing with mottled, age-old scratches.

“Do you know it?”

“Heard from that old devil at the tavern,” Ruth stared at the chess piece.

“A strange thing that recently spread among humans, possessing inconceivable, unfathomable powers.

The power of each chess piece varies, some grant its bearer extraordinary abilities, some bring forth terrifying curses, and others summon bizarre and frightful beings.”

“‘It can place the weakest Hungry Demon at the pinnacle of Hell, and turn the mightiest Demon into dust and ashes.

It’s a little trinket of luck and misfortune, opportunity and peril intertwined,'” Ruth imitated the Humanoid Demon’s tone.

“What’s this one called?” Lu Li observed the chess piece, feeling it was somehow connected to a certain knowledge—

Some ethereal arms appeared, gently pushing Lu Li closer to the remains of the Devil’s Son, or rather, the Evil Spirit Chess.

“How could I possibly know…

Don’t touch strange things!”

By the time Ruth let out a scream of alarm, Lu Li, choosing to trust the lingering soul’s guidance, had already reached through the Devil’s Son’s skeleton and touched the chess piece.

“Doomsday Apocalypse.” Lu Li murmured.

“How do you know?” Ruth stared at Lu Li’s face in amazement, observing whether he was still himself.

Ruth indeed noticed a change in Lu Li—his soul was nearly twice as vibrant as before.

She thought Lu Li’s body had been taken over by the Devil’s Son but something puzzled her.

Lu Li did not emanate evil common to Demons.

“Touching it, all the information appeared in my head,” Lu Li said, holding the Evil Spirit Chess and withdrawing his hand.

The Devil’s Son’s skeleton didn’t revive.

If it were in the outside world, with its powerful force, it perhaps wouldn’t have died.

But in the Abyss of Sin, all sins committed come to bear, and there was no possibility of escape.

“So you know what its power is now?”

Lu Li nodded, “After the apocalypse, holding the Doomsday Apocalypse would amplify all abilities by a factor of two.”

Physique, perception, Sanity Value, soul, everything was within its range of enhancement, and there would be no adverse effects.

An odd item that couldn’t be understood by common sense.

As if…

it wasn’t crafted by this world.

Clenching his fists, Lu Li, being only a soul, couldn’t feel changes in physique and Sanity Value.

However, his perception and soul were indeed enhanced—

His perception, like tendrils, stretched far into the depths of the valley, into the darkness beyond sight.

Silent, yet vibrant.

“No wonder that Devil’s Son looked even more arrogant and haughty than a Demon,” Ruth realized, then suddenly something dawned on her, “Wait, apocalypse…?”

“That’s why I can’t return to the human world.”

Lu Li had speculated about why he was unable to return: targeted by an indescribable entity, upheavals above blocked his path.

Now it appeared to be the latter reason.

And the upheaval was far more terrible and despairing than he had imagined.

He even considered that his body might have died, which was why he couldn’t return.

If Ruth knew of Lu Li’s thoughts, she might have mocked him on the surface but actually offered some comfort.

Yet his expression remained calm throughout.

Mishelia’s skull was too large, so Lu Li could only pick up a bone as long as an arm from the end of the skeleton to carry with him, planning to hide them once back on the surface.

The Evil Spirit Chess was placed into an inner pocket.

Acquiring it was Lu Li’s stroke of luck, but despite its strange power, he had no intention of seeking other chess pieces.

Just as the Humanoid Demon said, the chess pieces acquired might not always bring power; they could also mean death.

Bypassing their skeletal remains, Lu Li and Ruth continued forward.

Tranquility and peacefulness lingered in the valley floor, Ruth felt them, a sensation she hadn’t experienced in a long time.

Half an hour later, they crossed the miles-wide Great Rift Valley and arrived beneath the rock walls.

Walking along the rock wall for some distance, the path leading to the ground appeared before them.

Setting foot on the path, the bottom of the valley grew increasingly distant until it, along with Whitely, Mishelia, and the Devil’s Son, was shrouded in darkness.

As the light gradually brightened, the hellish heat that was everywhere began to wrap around them again.

The moment she stepped onto the ground, Ruth thought to herself that she could live in the Great Rift Valley in the future.

It was safe there and would give her the sensations she had as a human.

Then she gently shook her head.

Forget it.

The valley was too dark and quiet, too lonely…

Lu Li was gazing into the distance, reaching the backside of the mountain, where Black Calamity Volcano was still expansive like a mountain range.

His enhanced perception subtly reminded Lu Li that some danger was approaching.

Luckily, it was still far from here.

Withdrawing his gaze, Lu Li went to a patch of gravel, dug out two shallow pits, and placed Whitely’s and Mishelia’s skeletons into them, covering them with sand.

“Life fades like a withering flower, but also blooms like one…”

Ruth’s low prayers came from behind.

“Our fates have already been set on a course, from birth to death…

We come from the earth…

and to the earth we return…

This is the destiny of life.”

“The end does not signify the conclusion…

all that you were will be remembered and passed on.

The body decays with time, but the spirit is immortal…”

“I, Joanna, wish for Oliver’s soul to ascend to a heaven free from pain…”

“May the undead rest in peace…”

Lu Li and Ruth began to make their way, heading towards the general area where “Watch Town” was supposed to be, after waiting in silence for Ruth’s prayers to finish.

The traceless red land stretched like a gobi, with the twisted high temperatures causing the distance to blur.

There was nothing that related to a “passageway.”

“There’s really nothing…” Ruth looked around uneasily, as if entangled by a Nightmare.

At that moment, a hand landed on her shoulder.

“Calm down,” Lu Li said, looking at the cloth covering her eyes.

“The town from the human world might span dozens of miles in hell, and it won’t conspicuously appear on the surface.”

Otherwise, Watch Town would have long been submerged by hell creatures.

“How can you be so calm!” Ruth couldn’t understand how the person involved could be more composed than herself.

“Panic won’t solve anything.” Lu Li moved on towards the distance.

“Pay close attention to our surroundings, if there’s a passageway, it’s on this land.”

Ruth hesitated for a long time before quickly following Lu Li’s retreating figure.

The vast gobi was the same everywhere.

Without the Black Calamity Volcano behind them, they would have already lost their way.

Some Hungry Demons were drawn to Lu Li’s more vigorous soul, drooling at the edges but not daring to approach.

In addition to the Hungry Demons, there were low-level demons that Ruth called Tongueless Demons.

They looked like a spider with only limbs and a tongue that was nothing but a stub found in their mouth.

They were scouts for higher-level demons, and upon seeing one, Ruth did not hesitate to pull out her gun and kill it.

Perhaps by luck, not far from where the Tongueless Demon fell, a tall rock was obliquely inserted into the gobi.

It was a gravestone, scribbled with hardly legible text.

[Hades’ Grave]

The brows that were always furrowed gently smoothed out.

It seemed the rumors were true, he could go back now.