Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 685 - 685 Reports from 2044 Lands

685: Reports from 204.4 Lands 685: Reports from 204.4 Lands A land untouched by grotesqueries, a warm and dry safety house, neighbors symbolizing one’s loneliness is not exclusive, ample food and abundant water sources, books to while away the idle time.

Life atop the Elm Forest cliffs met all people’s longings.

But all these were mere illusions, like the shimmering sky as night approached, the calm before the storm at sea, the sudden silence in a bustling forest.

A veil of illusion draped over reality.

“Inscribed bullets, more effective against intangible monsters,” he said.

The merchant, holding a copper bullet in his worn leather gloves, introduced the new item for the first time willingly.

The bullet, covered in inscriptions, looked like a piece of art.

Correspondingly, it had a higher price than silver-plated bullets: 20 survey points.

Under the steady pricing of the days before, this bullet was worth 300 pounds of pumpernickel bread.

But it also increased the chances of an exorcist surviving an encounter with monsters.

Lu Li bought 25 inscribed bullets and asked, “I need today’s newspapers from different regions.

Arlen Peninsula, Main Affinity Continent, Barren Lands, Lennon Islands… and Tillage Garden.”

The latter was a subtle test for the merchant.

The merchant paused to think—or perhaps he was listening to something—before replying to Lu Li, “There’s no newspaper agency in Tillage Garden, it will cost an additional 10 survey points for the others.”

These were rather cost-effective in those times.

After arranging for the newspapers to be delivered 2 to 3 times a week, the merchant left the cliff top, his tall figure disappearing among the tree shadows.

Watching the merchant leave, Lu Li looked up.

More green buds hidden under the dried branches, like trees awakening from their dormancy due to the gentle spring breeze after a harsh winter.

Annie’s day of renewal wasn’t too far off.

However, the weather was growing colder day by day, and the time giant had only just stepped into autumn…

This greatly worried Raimy, as continued drops in temperature would no longer be suitable for crops.

Anna returned from hunting in the afternoon, accompanying Lu Li as usual for a stroll around the clifftop to visit their tree neighbors.

It took time for their moods to change, but Lu Li had plenty of spare time and moving around could prevent rust on his body.

Aside from bringing food for Jimmy, Amber, and the children, Anna also found neglected tea leaves in a corner of a looted grocery store.

Thus, the residents had their afternoon tea time.

The timing wasn’t fixed, but it usually depended on when Anna or Raimy brewed the tea.

They would gather in front of the cave in the morning light or inside the cave after dark, congregating to talk and read books.

Despite this, only Lu Li and Jimmy could enjoy the fragrant tea.

Three days later, in the early morning, the merchant reaching the clifftop brought today’s four newspapers: one each from Arlen Peninsula, Main Affinity Continent, Barren Lands, and Lennon Islands.

The newspaper from Arlen Peninsula, the “Arlen Peninsula Survey Report,” focused on Himfast: “Mist of Strangeness, having crossed Sugard Mountain, reached five miles from Himfast last night!”

The content was dramatically portrayed as if unafraid to incite panic, openly revealing eerie phenomena encountered by soldiers sent to investigate the Mist of Strangeness, such as church bells ringing in the fog, figures traversing through the thick mist, and the eerie sound of rattling chains, as if they had witnessed it themselves.

In the end, the news claimed that Himfast was fully prepared.

The newspaper’s vast majority of pages discussed matters related to Himfast.

After all, to a certain extent, Himfast was the only city on Arlen Peninsula nowadays.

The newspaper office was right there.

Construction within Himfast was nearing completion, and although the throng of refugees had to squeeze into the Long House, at least no one was forced to sleep on the streets.

The population of Himfast, soon to surpass the former Belfast, was facing a food crisis, but the newspapers reassured people not to worry—City Hall had established a fishing port fifty miles to the south at the bay, and fresh fish were continually being sent to the city.

However, among these were some mutated, bizarre fish, such as those with hind legs, rotting-like scales that were muddy, or fish with several eyes crammed into their eye sockets.

The newspapers reported that the Exorcists had checked them over and, aside from being twisted, ugly, nauseating, and frightening, eating them seemed to have no adverse effects.

Of course, to avoid causing panic among the populace with the influx of mutated fish into the market, they would be sent to canneries to be made into fish meat cans—

Main Affinity Continent was no longer immersed in the pain of losing Arlen Kingdom and other cities.

“The Sun Daily” was celebrating the success of the rain clouds crossing the mountains in catching up with the ravaging dandelions on the Tranquil Plains, extinguishing them outside the city.

The content of the “Sun Daily” from the Barren Lands was similar to the “Arlen Peninsula Survey Report.” Plant disasters forced the already sparse settlements to migrate, whether leaving the Barren Lands or going to former oasis cities or coastal cities.

Although it had not been attacked by the strange phenomena as extensively as Arlen Peninsula and Main Affinity Continent, people had already claimed to have discovered the spreading Mist of Strangeness in the deep sea.

With a new disaster brewing there…

the fate of the Barren Lands was foreseeable.

If the first three places were shrouded in an atmosphere of suppression and despair, the Lennon Islands was an entirely different atmosphere…

like Belfast before the strangeness had appeared.

Their news was even still dominated by entertainment news and boasts.

[The Lennon Islands have become the region most aspired to by people everywhere, and there’s none other!]

It looks like there’s no need to worry about Aunt Mary and Jojo’s safety, for now.

After reading through four newspapers, Lu Li handed them to Jimmy, who along with his Monster Avatar, walked with a dull step to find his sister to read them to him.

Anna came back from hunting, bringing half a bag of spices this time.

She would always bring new things back to the cliff’s edge.

Sometimes it was a few books found in the Ruins of Belfast, sometimes ornaments or toys for the children; one time she even brought back a bookshelf—

The makeshift bookshelf was temporarily discarded, but still placed beside the new bookshelf.

The number of books at the cliff’s edge was soon to need the second bookshelf.

Apart from new things, there were new messages.

New footprints were added daily on the beach, and Anna had finally found the right words to describe them: vortical.

The older the footprint, the more it resembled charred, curled hair.

The tips and heels of the shoes joined together, forming a circle.

This was not the end of the change; they continued endlessly curling inward, forming a spiral pattern like a vortex.

These snail-like spirals densely covered the sand; if it weren’t for those gradually transforming footprints, no one could associate them with human tracks.

However, they had no influence on the Elm Forest, a city’s distance away.

The atmosphere at the cliff’s edge grew increasingly harmonious, and the initially cold and distant Anna quickly became friends with Raimy and Aidanvoya—

Only Lu Li was calmly watching all of this.

He knew this scene would not last long.