Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 675 - 675 194

675: 194.

I will personally let you go free.

675: 194.

I will personally let you go free.

Dorin recalled carefully, gently shaking her head, “I can’t remember clearly, it seemed like just an ordinary dream…”

Nightmares were not always relentless—at least in Dorin’s first two nightmares, the dark figures appeared interspersed with several ordinary dreams.

Dom felt fortunate yet somewhat disappointed, leaving behind some instructions for his sister with a bell before he left with worries.

At such times, someone should have said “Your brother really cares about you” to comfort Dorin, but neither Lu Li nor Anna were the type to do so.

Lu Li only stopped her when Dorin tried to leave the bed, “You might fall asleep at any moment.”

The room was not always quiet and still, aside from the crackling of the firewood in the fireplace and occasional shouts from the square outside the window, sometimes the maids would pass by the corridor talking about something.

“Those foolish nobles actually think they can get carriages in there… How is that possible!”

“When I was cleaning out Valenteel’s trash, I actually saw blood…”

“Why should those nobles go first?

The Cleaners are all complaining about their arrogance and insatiable greed, even speaking ill of Lord Valenteel!”

“They’re everywhere again, I heard a house in the safe zone was infected because a woman had one hidden in her hair…” “Will Lord Valenteel have us cut our hair?” “Who knows… But if Lord Valenteel decrees it, I certainly will.”

Apart from the snippets from the maids, Dom occasionally brought updates about Valenteel’s plans and external news to Lu Li, and also visited Dorin.

On the other end of the “Shelter Corridor,” construction had begun.

This narrow passage, predicted to span thirteen miles and declared a marvel, was divided into several sections, extending outward at a rate of 60 meters every ten minutes toward each other and beyond the Dandelion clusters.

If the night remained relatively safe, they could continue building at an unchanged pace, reaching beyond the range of the Dandelion clusters by the next morning.

But this was the ideal scenario—there was no reason for the creatures to spare the workers in the wilderness, and there was also a possibility that the Dandelion could drift eastward.

At four in the afternoon, Dorin fell asleep again due to narcolepsy, still in the midst of an ordinary dream, only to be awakened by Anna with a bell.

Approaching evening, the area Anna had cleared at noon was once again enveloped by Dandelions, prompting Lu Li to accept City Lord Valenteel’s request to clear them again.

The Blood Dandelions had no collective consciousness and no aberrant aura, appearing just like ordinary dandelions—the only difference was that their breeding ground was flesh, not soil.

The fire that lit the dim sky was even more magnificent than a few hours earlier, and Valenteel’s broadcast encouraging citizens to watch from their windows to lift their spirits allowed even more people to witness this magnificent spectacle.

Perhaps it wouldn’t alter the situation, but it was enough to provide some reassurance to the people during this difficult night.

Besides this symbolic flame show, Valenteel had commissioned Lu Li and Anna to follow a team composed of Exorcists, Cleaners, and workers to clean the suburban power plant.

The streetlights that lit up could not dispel the Dandelions, but they could dispel the unease in people’s hearts and avoid some anomalies.

Anna’s Flame Hurricane first cleared most of the Dandelions occupying the power plant, then the Exorcists and Cleaners dispersed to clear the corners, followed by the workers beginning their tasks.

As night fell gently, the power plant hummed to life; street lamps in the distance lit up faint light spots, gradually strengthening and then radiating toward the deep red mist in the distance.

Lu Li and Anna had completed their task; Valenteel had not.

When Lu Li returned, he was still busy in City Hall, the only difference from the day being that lights were now on in City Hall.

Out of the few Exorcists in Rend, three stayed at the power plant, three remained in the safe zone, and the rest were sent to protect workers at the other end of the Shelter Corridor.

The Cleaners also continuously cleared more safe zones around City Hall day and night, relocating civilians on the city’s edge within them—the large stock of coal at the power plant was not suited for dispelling Dandelions, but it could be used for heating and protecting civilian homes.

After returning, City Lord Valenteel had a maid deliver dinner for them, sending three portions because of Dorin.

Lu Li still ate Anna’s portion, and Dorin found it odd but said nothing.

At seven in the evening, Dorin fell asleep again, undisturbed this time, as it was just an ordinary dream, as if the nightmares brought by the shadows in her dreams were slowly receding with the arrival of Lu Li and Anna.

Time quietly passed, approaching nine o’clock.

Dom once again softly knocked on the door, looked in on the sleeping Dorin, and then told Lu Li and Anna that the progress on the safety corridor on the other side of the secret passage was going smoothly.

The Blood Dandelions might have blocked certain odd prying eyes, preventing the workers from any weird attacks, although they had to slow down because it was getting dark.

There was another piece of good news: the outer observation posts reported that, due to changes in the wind, the edge of the southward-moving dandelion cluster was becoming narrower, which might reduce the distance from the dandelion-covered area from 13 to 12 or even 11 miles.

This could speed up their completion time by several hours.

After delivering the news, an exhilarated Dom left the guest room, and quiet returned to the room.

Anna withdrew her gaze from the busy figures in the square outside the window.

An invisible hand picked up a piece of processed wood and placed it into the fireplace.

Sparks flew up as it returned to crouch beside Lu Li and asked softly, “Aren’t you going to rest yet?”

“I will after I finish this.” Lu Li slightly tilted the book, allowing Anna to see the text illuminated by the fireplace light.

The text told a story of the Mother of the Marsh: setting aside the artistic embellishments, Princess Roland indeed deserved the love of the people.

Helping the elderly and the poor, fighting against villains, approachable, not disliking someone because of their social class, though sometimes disliking someone for no reason due to personality—although the stories of Princess Roland are still full of the limitations and exaggerations of the times, one thing was certain: the Princess was not dark-hearted back then.

It was hard to imagine that now she was mingling with rotten, stinking mud and dead forests, having forgotten all her past memories, including her emotions and humanity.

Could I one day become like that?

Anna couldn’t help but think.

She had no physical body, yet she felt a faint pain where her heart would be.

Anna knew her future—to become an evil spirit devoid of humanity and emotions, even more thoroughly than the Mother of the Marsh, and that was already very near…

“Lu Li…”

Anna softly called to Lu Li, unaware that her voice trembled a little.

Lu Li’s gaze left the page.

“If one day I become an evil spirit, like the Mother of the Marsh…”

Lu Li paused for a moment before answering Anna, “I will personally set you free.”

He gently turned the creased page of the book as if merely replying casually.

However…

Anna tenderly watched the half of Lu Li’s face that the firelight did not reach.

She would never hurt Lu Li.

Absolutely.