Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 826 - 19. New Disasters and Moles

Chapter 826: 19. New Disasters and Moles

Crash——

Lu Li stepped out of the wooden tub, water dripping from him, picked up a dry towel to wipe his body, and put on the trousers from twenty-four years ago.

They were almost at the end of their life, worn down by the underground experiences.

"Do you have a dagger?" Lu Li said.

Katerina unclasped a short knife from her waist and tossed it to Lu Li.

Drawing out the short knife, the blade within the dirty leather sheath was unexpectedly sharp and clean. Lu Li simply rinsed the blade with the hot water from the bucket, then carefully shaved off his stubble.

After shaving, Lu Li rinsed the short knife and returned it to its sheath, then handed it back to Katerina.

Katerina whistled lightly and sized up Lu Li’s chiseled body and face, along with those alluring abyss-like eyes: "I should have done something when you were unconscious."

Lu Li ignored her.

Katerina sat on a single bed, leaning against a thin wall as she continued to watch, until suddenly awakening to something, she stood up: "No, you can’t be like this... Even nobles don’t look so clean, and if you’re discovered, it’s trouble for me... and you."

Katerina briefly left the room and returned, cradling a handful of foul-smelling sludge.

"Rub this on your face."

The mud reeking of stench and faint alcohol reminded Lu Li where Katerina had dug it from.

"It’s too deliberate," Lu Li refused, "Find me a black robe."

Katerina thought for a moment: "You’re right."

No one is a fool; applying it on purpose or being inherently dirty is easy to notice, especially in the Wanderer’s Tavern.

Katerina opened the window and flung out the mud, the curses from the street below blocked by the closed window.

Returning to the bucket to wash her hands, wanting only to rinse off the dirt, Katerina’s touch of hot water made her change her mind, and with wet palms, she took off her leather armor.

Lu Li averted his gaze, turning to look at the sky again.

Behind him came the sound of washing, and Katerina, removing her last piece of clothing, stepped into the wooden tub, sighing in comfort.

"I’ve almost forgotten when I last had a hot bath..."

Lu Li quietly gazed at the fiery magma ring, existing in the southern heavens, resembling the once high-hanging Black Ring in both direction and outline.

Could the changes in the sky be related to that Black Ring?

After observing for a few minutes, Lu Li lowered his gaze to the changing street below.

Walking passersby moved to the sides of the road, bowing their heads in reverence.

Six black-robed figures, with unrecognizable emblem badges on their chests, carried a palanquin, crawling along in two rows.

"What does the divinity of Tang Ge Town look like?" Lu Li asked without turning his head.

"No one knows."

From behind came Katerina’s response and the splashing of water.

"The name and appearance of the divinity are secrets."

"No statues?"

"Not in Tang Ge Town. Some must have seen the divinity’s appearance, but only believers know the name," Katerina said.

"Then what do people call it?"

"The divinity of Tang Ge Town, or Tang Ge." Katerina shrugged her shoulders above the water. "Did you see anything?"

"Six Tang Ge believers carrying a wooden frame passed by."

"The followers are warning, a disaster is coming."

The water in the tub grew turbulent, and Katerina no longer took her time enjoying the hot water.

"Disaster?"

"Light Thief, Silent Moments, Fog Tide, stuff like that."

"What are Light Thief and Fog Tide?" Lu Li already knew about Silent Moments: a terrifying disaster lasting half a day.

"You must be familiar with their former selves," Katerina said, glancing back but only seeing Lu Li’s silhouette edged with faint light. "Shadow Thief of Fire and Mist of Strangeness."

"Shadow Thief of Fire became a disaster?"

"Yes, that happened over a decade ago." Katerina then explained to Lu Li the abilities of the Shadow Thief of Fire, or rather, the Light Thief.

Stealing light from the sky.

When the Light Thief appears, the sky darkens, and the world is enveloped in eternal night until it departs.

Sometimes it lasts for several hours, sometimes for days. The longest was seven years ago for fourteen days—the entire world was cloaked in darkness for two weeks.

"The sky hasn’t lit yet, so it could be Silent Moments or Fog Tide."

Katerina explained the origin of the Fog Tide before Lu Li asked.

The Fog Tide is essentially the Mist of Strangeness, but more intense, arriving like a tide every half month or month.

Even towns can’t withstand the Fog Tide, so when it arrives, towns too are engulfed by the Mist of Strangeness.

"By the way, Silent Moments aren’t as terrifying as before. Now it only kills those who speak."

During Silent Moments, people don’t have to suppress sounds; as long as they don’t speak, they’ll be safe.

"Have any other disasters changed?" Lu Li asked.

"Lightless Night and plant disasters? Still the same." The water suddenly roared clearer, as Katerina behind Lu Li stepped out of the tub, drying herself, a rustle echoing as she put on her leather armor.

After washing, Katerina hadn’t changed—she didn’t wash her face clean.

According to Katerina, maintaining some level of dirt makes her appear like an unapproachable Hunter.

Footsteps echoed down the hallway, stopping outside the door. Katerina thought it was the Mole arriving, but outside the door stood only a woman draped in pungent perfume. Katerina unceremoniously shooed her away, waiting a few more minutes for the Mole to come.

Before opening the door, Katerina whispered to Lu Li not to discriminate against the Mole’s physique—he would get angry.

The Mole was a short-statured male resembling a teenage boy, but actually a dwarf unable to grow taller. He wore dirty leather armor, and his voice resembled that of a circus clown, sharp and comical.

This appearance made the Mole inherently unguarded by others, which is why he became an information-broker Hunter instead of a Hunter like Katerina.

Lu Li remained silent, watching the Mole.

Aside from his dwarf appearance, his left eye had mutated.

In addition to his original eyeball, his left eye socket was crowded with a dozen proto-pearls to sand-sized eyeballs, pressing and distorting each other, terrifyingly existing within the socket.

Coincidentally or otherwise, Tang Ge Town had many with deformed eyes. Like Katerina, hyena-like Old Pete, and the Mole right in front.

"I want to know where the people from the sanctuary went some years ago." Katerina asked directly.

"15 Shillings."

The Mole’s pricing made Lu Li think of a merchant.

"That’s not worth 15 Shillings!" Anger flickered across Katerina’s face.

"Bee Sting, my information is always worth its price," the Mole merely answered.

Past collaborations made Katerina suppress her anger at the steep price: "If it’s truly worth 15 Shillings, I’ll give it to you."

"They’re in Vena Ice-Free Port."

"Wait... Vena Ice-Free Port? Weren’t they in Midnight City!"

The Mole replied in that comical sharp voice: "Midnight City churches and nobles don’t value pure humans as much, Vena Ice-Free Port is different, they hope to someday return to the pre-apocalyptic world."