Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 847: Forty. Cheap

Chapter 847: Forty. Cheap

The hyena with a boy’s freckled face squatted down, complaining, "Some idiot coming down here for the first time must have angered the Weaving Machine again."

"The Weaving Machine?"

Lu Li gazed toward the hole in the ground, the eerie vibrations never ceasing, and rolling dust flowed into the old sewer.

"It’s the thing inside. We also call it the stationmaster of Ghost Town Station."

Lu Li lowered his head to observe his left hand, uncertain if the anger of the Weaving Machine had anything to do with him.

The hyena with a human face continued to chat actively, saying, "I can smell something from you, sir. It smells nice... Are you humans from the surface?"

"Yes." Lu Li nodded.

Katerina didn’t respond. She was a bit nervous, unsure if "smells nice" referred to humanity, worried that Lu Li’s pure human identity had been detected.

"That’s great... I’ve never been to the surface."

Having received confirmation, the boy’s face on the hyena revealed excitement and a certain anticipation, looking forward to Lu Li continuing the topic.

"Why?" Lu Li, knowing little about the old sewer, didn’t mind chatting.

"Because the surface towns wouldn’t allow me to enter... Despite my appearance, I am also human. My name is Prometheus Gold, you may call me Gold or Prometheus."

The hyena with the human boy’s face spoke rapidly.

"Human?" Katerina doubted.

"Yes!" Prometheus was unable to hold back raising his voice due to Katerina’s skepticism, obviously valuing the identity of a human. "I clearly remember the place I was born! Orca Town, twenty miles east of the Twisted Forest."

The hyena spoke in such detail as if afraid Lu Li and Katerina wouldn’t believe him.

"I know that place." Katerina said.

"Is it your first time coming to the old sewer?"

"What do you want to say?" Katerina brought defensiveness into her voice.

"Don’t, don’t be nervous." Prometheus’ freckled boy’s face showed panic, "I just thought you might need a trustworthy guide."

"A guide?" Lu Li asked.

Prometheus’ human face turned to Lu Li, "Although we’re in the surface, the friendliest region of the old sewer to outsiders, there are still many dangers... If newcomers don’t hire a guide, most never get the chance to return to the surface."

Lu Li thought of the tall woman he encountered coming down and gazed toward the depths of the old sewer.

Was she also a guide?

"The one who stopped you was also a guide. We call it the Model..." Observant, Prometheus said, "It is powerful, able to protect guests, but not trustworthy; many guests end up being eaten by it often..."

"You are trustworthy, but you can’t protect us as a guide." Katerina concluded.

Prometheus appeared embarrassed.

Despite the questionable credibility due to Prometheus’ suspicious identity, they indeed needed a guide.

"How do we confirm you’re a qualified guide?" Katerina asked.

Prometheus sat upright, his tail stood up like a dog’s, "We City Ring Scouts can find out everything you want to know!"

The City Ring referred to the old sewer surrounding Midnight City, and the Scouts were Prometheus’ simple organization — two other Aliens like himself, equally weak and unable to leave the old sewer.

"My two companions are a squirrel and a rat, and they, like me, were transformed by a curse." Prometheus introduced to Lu Li.

"Is that them."

Lu Li looked at the silhouette passing by the wooden shed.

The rampant disturbance in the ground hole gradually ended, with the dust yet to settle, the entities waiting in the old sewer surged in. As if experienced numerous times, they skillfully used intimidation and slaughter in silence to divide the vacated area.

It was a bizarre being with the appearance of a burly man. With each breath, the man’s chest inflated like a balloon, expanding, pulling the skin to semitransparency.

A group of squirming parasites in the chest cavity surfaced as a result.

The worms seemed to control the burly man. His corners of the mouth split, mouth was stuffed, dully chewing on snacks. A fist-sized human head dangled from the mouth, swaying with the chewing.

The chest expanded again, revealing more details—fragments of flesh or blood fell down the throat into the worm-infested hollowed chest cavity.

"Daidai! Oh no..."

Following Lu Li’s gaze, Prometheus tucked his tail, ears pressed against his head, letting out a painful wail.

That was his companion.

Yet Prometheus dared not approach, doing so would only bring the same misfortune as Daidai’s.

"Dear guests, would you like to hire me?" With a plea, Prometheus raised his head to look at Lu Li.

"We want to go to Midnight City."

Lu Li said.

"Thank you so much..." An excited Prometheus even mingled another language. "I mean... you want to go to Midnight City, right? I know a relatively safe path to there."

"How much will you charge?" Katerina suddenly asked.

"10 Shilling... No, 8 Shilling will do." Prometheus cautiously observed Katerina’s expression.

"Alright, then 8 Shilling, but if we’re dissatisfied, it will be deducted—"

Katerina’s words were abruptly cut off because Lu Li was handing over 10 Shilling to Prometheus.

Prometheus looked longingly at that old banknote, resisting its temptation with difficulty, "No... Mr. Luli, according to the rules, I should deliver you to the destination to collect the payment."

Lu Li prepared to put away the money but suddenly Katerina took it from him altogether.

"Can’t let you hold the money, it’s too conspicuous." Katerina said.

Prometheus pulled himself from the sorrow of losing his companion and said to them, "Let’s hurry and leave before the Model notices us."

As the Weaving Machine calmed its anger, order gradually restored at the entrance. Figures coming and going at the edge of the ground hole were either entering or leaving the old sewer.

Among them, a familiar silhouette to Lu Li and Katerina emerged.

A waiter from the Cape of Good Hope Tavern with a barrel of swill, along with the man who stole from Katerina, descended.

The man was unconscious, thrown onto the barrel of swill.

A newly arrived middle-aged man approached the waiter, a yellow-green mottled Mantis Ghost emerged from his spine, deterring other entities resembling dragons. Ultimately, it won the right to this transaction, coming before the waiter.

"Where’s Old O’Rein?"

The waiter conversed with the bizarre being nonchalantly.

"Dead, just now." The Mantis Ghost replied, a bit slurry.

But from its front view alone, no one would associate it with strangeness.

"Because the Weaving Machine got angry? That’s unlucky, heard it just had a brood." The waiter shrugged, patting the adjacent barrel. "A barrel of swill. The usual, 50 Shilling."

"Of course."

The Mantis Ghost signaled acceptance of the price.

Having completed the task assigned, the waiter gestured with a nod towards the unconscious man tied tightly with hemp rope, more concerned about this transaction, "And this, a wretch who angered the boss. How much would you pay for him?"