Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 599 - 599 One hundred and eighteen

599: One hundred and eighteen.

Human Nature 599: One hundred and eighteen.

Human Nature Twenty-five boxes of canned goods were placed by Anna in the cleared space of the basement, and the merchant left shortly after.

Lu Li lay in the recliner with “Salvation” resting on his legs.

The worn gun holster blocked the essence of the Inner World that oozed from the Spirit-Calling Gun.

What the Spirit-Calling Gun provided as “vitality” had become clear—what the merchant referred to as “humanity.”

It brought safety and warmth to Lu Li like a bonfire, but also attracted evil beings who coveted the flame.

“It” meant different things to the monsters—for Evil Spirits and Evil Gods, it was sustenance that strengthened them; wraiths ignored it, while monsters that most craved it saw it as fuel.

When the fuel was exhausted, the monsters would be assimilated and devoured by the abyss.

This was why Jimmy was weakening day by day.

The humanity in his soul was fading, and it was only when he killed other monsters or humans…

that he could restore his body.

Although Lu Li hadn’t had the chance to ask the merchant before he left, he knew there must be a connection between “humanity” and “Sanity Value,” similar to the relationship between body and soul.

Enhancing “humanity” might not increase the Sanity Value, but it would boost resistance to monsters, making it harder for them to corrupt the spirit.

Humans were always alien to this path.

They were adept at using tools but could hardly change themselves with them.

Only Lu Li was different; the “Salvation” on his legs brought a glimmer of hope—he could grow, without having to die in despair in the dark, lonely world like others.

“When will you go hunting?”

After listening to Lu Li’s analysis, Anna asked the Jimmy siblings.

“Soon,” Raimy answered, faintly guessing Anna’s intention.

“I will go hunting instead, and you two stay to guard Lu Li.”

Anna wanted to take “Salvation” and help Lu Li plunder “humanity.”

It was a good idea, but there were some conflicts.

Lu Li asked Jimmy, “Can you recover without killing personally?”

“It seems not…

only consuming can restore me.”

So it couldn’t plunder like “Salvation”…

Lu Li thought for a moment, then nodded gently in agreement with Anna’s plan, “Avoid the dangerous areas and don’t go deep into the city.”

Anna answered softly, picked up “Salvation” from Lu Li’s legs, gave a gentle kiss on his forehead, and left the cliff top, flying toward the city to hunt monsters.

Wraiths were enough to deal with those rampaging in the city, with servant-like power.

After Anna left, Raimy frowned and said to Lu Li, “The merchant said improving ‘humanity’ would make you more detectable, I think you are taking some risks.”

“Doing nothing leads only to death,” Lu Li shook his head.

Staying in a corner would not allow Lu Li to hide for long.

As time went on, the infected areas would eventually spread across the entire world.

Humans would then have to hide like rats, struggling to survive, praying at dawn after the nightfall that they were still alive.

Raimy sighed at the dreadful world, wound the clockwork of the radio for her brother Jimmy, and returned to the newly built woodshed to continue repairs.

Lu Li bowed his head and unfolded the folded “Scout Weekly.”

Jimmy shyly asked Lu Li to tell him what it said after reading it—he was illiterate.

[The most prosperous city on Ailen Peninsula, Belfast, fallen!]

As Lu Li had anticipated, the front page of the Investigator’s Weekly was about the Belfast Incident.

The edges were adorned with a black-and-white photograph, surrounded by mist and a blazing fire.

The information recorded in the weekly was even more detailed than what Lu Li knew.

Such as the number of casualties, the survivors, and the news unknown to Lu Li about the Exorcist United Organization sending a search and rescue team into Belfast.

[“It’s been a long while beyond the agreed time, we kept waiting until the fog came in after dark but they never showed…

We don’t know what they have encountered, but surely it must be those terrible creatures.

We hope that they are just temporarily unable to return, rather than having met with an accident,” prayed Soren Mata, the Nightwatch regional head of Belfast.]

[To everyone’s regret, at midnight the scout messenger who went to explore the city ruins returned with bad news: the members of the search and rescue team had all gone missing, and traces of heretics were found at the disappearance site.]

[Search and Rescue Team Members: Demon Slayer Fite Kibi, Nightwatch Sergeant Geoffrey Mata, Nightwatch Isha Guy, Investigator Hubble Lloyd, Nightwatch Jermaine Robinson]

“Heretics…” Lu Li murmured under his breath.

The daytime Belfast was relatively calm, only those mysterious and unpredictable heretics could silently take down an alert Exorcist squad.

Looking at the second piece of news, Lu Li thought it would concern another city that was attacked, but surprisingly, the news was about the Barren Lands.

There, a third catastrophe referred to as ‘disaster’ was brewing.

The newspaper stated that half of humanity’s elite forces: consisting of squads made up of Legendary Scouts, True Vision Nightwatch, and Demon Hunters, had already arrived at the Barren Lands to enter the new hazard zone for exploration and resolution.

“Let’s hope for a good outcome… this world is already so fragile it cannot bear another cough, cough, cough, cough…” A violent coughing fit interrupted Jimmy’s reflection.

He bent over in pain, retching dryly, veins bulging on his forehead, it took him a good while to recover.

The “children” playing not too far away were frightened by it and looked over in stunned silence.

Following that, the news was about attacks on various cities, but one piece caught Lu Li’s attention.

[Exorcist conference scheduled to be held at Arlen Kingdom in the Main Affinity Continent in ten days’ time]

The Exorcist United Organization suggests that all Exorcists attend the meeting at the Royal City of Arlen, if their safety can be assured.

The content of the meeting will relate to how humanity shall survive.

The Royal City of Arlen…

Nearly a thousand miles away from Belfast, taking a horse-drawn carriage would mean at least a week of bumpy travel.

However, if Anna did it, a day would be enough to make the trip there and back.

Yet, the upcoming meeting was shrouded in an unsettling, eerie aura, as if something was going to happen that would ensnare all the Exorcists in attendance.

Lu Li hoped it was just his own misgivings, because he planned to attend this conference.

He had to know the reality of this world and the challenges that humans faced.

It was at this time that Lu Li faintly perceived a change in “human nature”—but the increase was minuscule, probably only one-thousandth, if not less.

If it hadn’t been for the double amplification from the Evil Spirit Chess “Doomsday Apocalypse,” Lu Li wouldn’t have noticed it at all.

Silently finishing the rest of the content, it was after about ten minutes that Anna returned to the cliff top.

Thump.

A dull sound as a mantis-like humanoid monster, covered in sharp bony spikes, landed in the clearing.

Its body was full of pierced holes, but no blood seeped out, only dry and aged flesh that looked like black jerky that had been sun-dried for days.

“I only found two types of monsters with bodies, the other one was bloated like human pus…” Anna said to the approaching Raimy.

“That’s already very good, we had no options before,” Raimy responded with a nonchalant smile.

Anna nodded, her gaze shifting to Lu Li at the edge of the cave.