Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 821 - 14. Events on the Ground

Chapter 821: 14. Events on the Ground

Twenty-four years later, the meaning of being an Exorcist hasn’t changed, and it’s become even more profound.

"Really?"

Katerina never easily trusts people, nor does she make friends. In the wilderness, lies and the bizarre are equally terrifying; making her trust someone is harder than earning a thousand Shillings.

But she can’t resist the immense allure of "Lu Li is a purebred human."

"You better not be lying to me."

"Commoners won’t listen to you quietly saying all this," Lu Li said.

Katerina was half-convinced, and that was enough for her. If it weren’t for Lu Li’s previous help and his status, plus that kind of... trustworthy aura, she would’ve tied him up first before considering whether to believe him.

"I’ve heard Exorcists don’t seek rewards for exterminating the bizarre, helping those in need, and protecting civilians with their lives. Is that true?" Katerina asked.

"Mostly," Lu Li replied. "Are there still Exorcists now?"

"Can’t see them anymore, maybe there are still some in the cities." Katerina reminisced about the past as she thrust the Homogeneous Item into her toe.

The nearly ten-centimeter-long Homogeneous Item was fully inserted into her big toe, strangely not protruding out the other side.

"When I was young, there were Exorcists, but they were short-lived, and most weren’t like you said... they were no different from me, working for money to survive."

"Does the Exorcists Association still exist?"

"Never heard of it."

It might be due to the isolation of information, or perhaps it was obliterated in the wave of the bizarre.

They left behind nothing but the fire.

When wanting to ask why there are still towns on the surface, Lu Li suddenly realized the question couldn’t be fully asked—every minute and second, countless questions arose for him, some of which Katerina could answer, some not even she knew.

So Lu Li asked Katerina to tell him everything she knew about the surface.

"Then you must prepare yourself mentally," Katerina said.

This world has long been in ruins.

Not long after the Third Catastrophe, the Fourth Catastrophe was born.

It seemed to be the cause, as the Lennon Islands, praised as the "Cherished Seas," were inexplicably transformed overnight. Shattered into countless islands, scattered like a puzzle in the surroundings.

The bizarre invaded human settlements in droves, sharply reducing the population. If the lights in the windows of small towns represented humans, the bizarre was the deep night; as time passed, the sleeping people’s lights went out.

During this time, many things happened between the Main Affinity Continent and the shattered Lennon Islands, but Katerina didn’t know about them and wasn’t concerned. It seemed she had experienced many tragedies during that time, not wanting to discuss too much.

Katerina’s knowledge of new changes in the Barren Lands appeared about twenty years ago.

A small town named "Midnight Town" emerged from the wilderness. Its founder was a group of Believers who believed in the "Lady of Midnight."

It miraculously stood in the Dark Wilderness teeming with roaming bizarre and wasn’t attacked by the bizarre.

Nearby people hiding like mice voluntarily drew near, learning the true reason for the town’s safety: the church worshiped their "Divinity," using the power of the "Divinity" to protect the town.

Because only the bizarre can resist the bizarre.

That was the first human town Katerina knew of, but it might not be the first town in this world or on this continent.

As time passed, other small towns began to appear in the Dark Wilderness, and the first to appear, Midnight Town, also became Midnight City.

The farthest city Katerina knew of was across the strait, the Vena Ice-Free Port on the Main Affinity Continent.

Lu Li also knew of that place.

Although the town areas were relatively safe, it didn’t mean humans had found a way to combat the bizarre: they had just found their footing.

Contrary to imagination, Believers usually didn’t force people to believe in their god.

In other words, the threshold for churches in most towns was very high—they didn’t allow heretics to appear among the Believers, striving to keep the power of the "Divinity" pure enough.

However, some churches didn’t care at all, so their "Divinity" turned into something akin to an Evil God, bloody and chaotic. This led to some towns being destroyed and some towns becoming inclined towards chaos.

Although the church was the town’s protector, they were not the rulers: within the town, politics and religion were separated. Just like the relationship between Exorcists and the state in the past—mutually dependent yet independent.

The church ensured the town’s safety and developed the Believers to strengthen the Divinity. Politicians built the town, ensuring stable governance.

Due to the absolute danger of the bizarre zones outside the towns, most churches could only barely protect their own town, so towns scattered across the continent are like isolated islands, each island belonging to different owners. They have different laws, atmospheres, and sometimes even hostility towards each other.

And some islands are unknown to others.

"Unknown" arises from various factors. For example, the people who knew about it are all dead, or they simply couldn’t pass on the information to the outside world. For survivors, unknown towns are just as dangerous as the wilderness.

Just like some islands are lush, some abundant with food, some teeming with ferocious beasts, some flooded by seawater during high tide—

So this also signifies one thing: not all towns are friendly and safe.

And the post-apocalyptic people found their own way to survive: adaptation.

Adapting to the omnipresent contamination.

They rely on towns for survival, farming, working, fishing, hunting, clearing the bizarre, trading for Shillings and food, slowing their infection progression to stay alive, and with luck, gaining residency status before transforming into an aberrant.

Becoming a resident is a distinguished honor, everyone wants to become a resident: it means they can have a house of their own in the town.

But that requires a significant cost or a substantial contribution.

Most who strive to contribute to the town are contaminated into aberrants or bizarre before becoming official residents—pollution from contact with the bizarre is far scarier than that from food and water.

"If I could become a resident, I wouldn’t have to take the risky jobs of clearing the bizarre around the town," Katerina sighed, inserting the Homogeneous Item into her eyeball.

She didn’t seem disheartened, perhaps because of finding Lu Li.

If Lu Li truly was a purebred human, the contribution she would earn was enough to make her a resident.

"Where is the nearest town from here?"

"Thirteen miles away, it’s called Tang Ge Town."

"Does the town have anything to do with Mantis Ghosts?"

"I think it’s a coincidence," Katerina shrugged. "But the church indeed often issues missions to exterminate Mantis Ghosts, maybe there’s a connection?"

"Are Mantis Ghosts aberrants?" Lu Li asked.

"I don’t know... But I’ve never heard rumors of anyone becoming a Mantis Ghost. And those monsters are hard to contaminate people... you either get far away or get killed by it."

Before Lu Li could ask, Katerina voluntarily described the ability of Mantis Ghosts: "Next time you see them, keep your distance, stay silent, they can’t see things that don’t move."

"I was chased because I got too close, you too, they’re not blind."