Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 676 - 676 One hundred ninety-five

676: One hundred ninety-five.

Enter the secret passage 676: One hundred ninety-five.

Enter the secret passage The shadows that enveloped Valrend had not dissipated until dawn.

Good news had just made its way through layers of Dandelions to the besieged Valrend: the Safe Corridor had reached the edge of the Blood Mists, and although it still had the potential to change direction, the corridor continued to expand, and the evacuation plan could now begin.

The lights in the City Hall gradually dimmed, and the power plant workers and Exorcists began returning to the safe zone.

Everyone was preparing for the most crucial task: evacuation.

The City Lord Valenteel tallied data he had always intended to avoid: the number of survivors in Valrend.

The answer was three hundred thousand, maybe even more.

It was a heavy number, considering Valrend had once housed over a million people.

The Dandelions had killed many of the ignorant citizens as they swept in, and decrepit, leaky Long Houses had killed the remaining citizens.

There were also those who died venturing out due to hunger or trying to escape Valrend.

As Lu Li, Anna, and Dorin walked into the City Hall, Valenteel’s cough echoed in every corner of the hall.

A servant brought medicine and clean water, and after Valenteel took them, he looked up and said, “Now, there’s only one last thing I need your help with.”

It would take a significant amount of time to evacuate three hundred thousand people through a secret passageway, and even by nightfall, only about half could be dispersed.

Blood Dandelions could cover tracks of a few dozen workers, but tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands could not be so easily hidden.

Valenteel needed Lu Li to stay in Valrend during the day to help the last survivors enter the safe zone, and at dusk, pass through the secret passageway to the other end, guarding Anna’s corridor through the night.

Lu Li didn’t let Valenteel’s hopes down and agreed to his request.

The fence at the edge of the City Hall was removed, clearing a corridor that led to the garden’s secret passageway, and several archways in front of the passageway were already completed.

Torches were erected along the corridor, and the ignited archways burst into flames, forming a path of fire.

If the Dandelions entered the secret passage, it would be a disaster—everyone knew this.

Thus, only a small amount of belongings were allowed into the passage, and anyone wearing more than two layers of clothing had to take them off and pass through the flame archways again for disinfection.

The first group of dozens of citizens gradually entered the secret passage through the flaming corridor.

It took them about fifteen minutes, but as they became more familiar with the process, their speed greatly increased.

Endless streams of citizens left the safe zone, disinfected themselves, and entered the secret passage.

“Quickly duck your head when you approach the boarded-up fork in the road.

Quickly duck your head when you approach the boarded-up fork in the road.” Personnel at the entrance of the secret passage reminded each entering citizen, even though the fork was blocked and guarded by Exorcists, there were still dangers.

All Lu Li and Anna needed to do was gather large groups of survivors, herded by the Cleaners every half hour into the infected area, and after a chaotic disinfection, they were placed in the safe zone, waiting to evacuate.

Nearing morning, there had been no bad news from the secret passage, which relieved everyone.

“How much food do we have left?” Valenteel asked his assistant Dom.

“Not much left of vegetables and meat, and only three thousand six hundred cans from collected and confiscated supplies.”

“Keep six hundred cans and whatever the safe zone is using, distribute the rest to the citizens in the infected area, we can’t let them give up before dawn,”

For Valrend, once a city of over a million people, three thousand six hundred cans was a meager number—it wouldn’t even satisfy one-tenth of the citizens—

But in times like these, its symbolic meaning was greater than its actual value.

The cans represented one thing: the City Lord hadn’t given up on you, keep waiting, rescue will eventually come.

Hearing about the start of the evacuation, the agitated citizens in the infected zone calmed down, crowding at their windows, watching the Cleaners repeatedly pass by on the streets outside.

Although there was some bad news, such as restless residents rushing out of their homes and being killed by Dandelions, a Cleaner whose trousers were slashed and possessed by a Dandelion, or the chaos at the entrance of the dark tunnel that wasted over ten minutes.

But the evacuation plan was still proceeding methodically.

As the lights at the power plant gradually turned on, approaching evening, Lu Li, Anna, and Dorin, who were following them, sheltered hundreds of residents one last time as they reached the square and then headed to City Hall.

Dorin walked toward her brother Dom; behind the desk, an even more exhausted City Lord Valenteel thanked them and then updated them about the situation on the safety corridor side.

Saint An Bastion had established a watchtower 20 miles away at Valrend to monitor the wind direction.

They organized scholars to analyze that the air current jumping over the Sielma Mountain Range would move southward in large scale, Valrend need not worry about sudden changes in wind direction, at least not this week.

Meanwhile, Saint An Bastion had sent five teams of Night Watch and dozens of Exorcists to help—this was half of their exorcist power.

They had set out by horse cart this morning and might arrive at the safety corridor by midnight, so by that time, Lu Li would not be fighting alone.

On the other hand, after voicing his concerns, Dom took Dorin back to Lu Li and led them to the dark tunnel, entering through the archway outside the fountain.

The citizens of Valrend were mostly aware of the source of the flames that lit up the sky twice, hence no one was dissatisfied with Lu Li and others cutting in line.

“Please take good care of her…” Dom pleaded as he watched their figures disappear into the dark tunnel.

…

The dark tunnel was more spacious than expected.

Evacuating citizens in pairs, while still allowing the staff maintaining order to pass close to the wall.

It seemed not merely a simple escape route.

However, only City Lord Valenteel could possibly dig out the original reason for the tunnel’s excavation from countless scrolls.

The dark tunnel filled with citizens was filled with low conversation, footsteps, and coughing.

The dust underfoot was pervasive like sandstorms, and the torches hung on the wall took away the scant air, making the murky air suffocating.

The area around Lu Li was an exception; Anna’s invisible protection dispelled the dusty, murky air around them, which made the citizens walking ahead and behind somewhat cautious.

“We should walk on top.” Anna whispered, feeling that going through the dark tunnel may not have been a good choice.

Lu Li agreed with her, but by then, it was too late to turn back.

They followed the surging crowd for about twenty minutes when a staff member squeezed from behind and reminded Lu Li that the disquieting fork in the road was just ahead.

Lu Li looked forward and saw, at the end of a series of backs, two figures guarding something.

He then looked back and saw the bustling crowd surrounding them, forcing them forward.

Lu Li frowned.

He didn’t know if the sudden unease in his heart was because he was trapped in a dark tunnel surrounded by people, or because of the increasingly close fork in the road.

Just then, a commotion suddenly erupted at the fork in the road about twenty meters away.

Amidst the noisy shouts of Exorcists trying to stop them, some citizens, as if crazed, slammed into the fork in the road sealed by wooden planks.

The narrow dark tunnel was suddenly packed with chaos as people screamed and scattered to both sides, spreading fear.

Some fell, and some looked for children who were squeezed away; staff maintaining order quickly rushed over—

Suddenly, Dorin, who was behind Lu Li, rushed out.