Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 849 - 42. Main line, side line, hidden line

Chapter 849: 42. Main line, side line, hidden line

Katerina felt she needed to have a good talk with Lu Li.

"You have to get used to life here."

Leaving the bustling entrance, Katerina whispered to Lu Li, "Life here is worthless. You saw it, that guy’s selling price is by the pound."

"Countless people die every day, you can’t afford to be compassionate. He wouldn’t even be grateful to us. He would think it’s what we owe him because I caught him, so it’s my debt to him."

"Have you heard a story before?" Lu Li said calmly. "The stranded little fish."

Katerina and Puxiu quietly listened to Lu Li tell the story. When Lu Li finished explaining how the little boy threw the fish back into the sea, she retorted, "What if the storm has already arrived?"

The storm raged, turning the beach into an island, and the little boy trapped on the island was helping the stranded fish who could be blown away at any moment.

"When everything around you turns bad, you shouldn’t adapt," Lu Li recalled a moment when Tesla calmly explained this sentence.

He finished his last sip of coffee, fastened his hat, picked up his cane, and left the café.

"But change it."

The silent Katerina was filled with conflict and contradiction. She yearned for something that had long disappeared in the Weird Times, yet scoffed at how naive it was.

Only Puxiu, who yearned for the surface, admired it sincerely: "Master Lu Li, you truly are a good person."

"He’s a villain! A villain!"

The leader on the shoulder shouted loudly.

Despite Katerina’s criticism of Lu Li’s kindness, it still brought some obvious benefits.

The old sewage information that should have been bought with shillings was given for free by Puxiu, who admired Lu Li.

The old sewers were a maze, intersections were like rat dens, visible everywhere.

They are usually divided into three types: arched structures for the main line; irregular but extremely wide branches; and the dark lines that expanded wantonly since the old sewers were no man’s land.

The main line is the safest, but only exists around Midnight City and some stations. The branches are the vastest, with a network spreading across the Dark Wilderness from the surface to the depths, the surface being relatively safe. Dark lines are everywhere; some connect the main and branch lines, some are dead ends, inhabited and controlled by the Weird as their lair, and straying into them usually has a bad outcome.

Besides these three lines, there is also something called "fake sewer."

Fake sewers may be a single entity or a group of Weird. They disguise themselves as a main or branch line—usually a branch—and devour any who enter.

The old sewer area, complex and three-dimensional, is extremely difficult to distinguish, and only those who live in a fixed area for a long time won’t get lost underground.

"That is the dark line used as a lair," Puxiu followed on all fours next to Lu Li’s leg, his human face looking towards the left.

A cave embedded with fluorite throughout opened on the main line, winding its way into the depths. Beside the entrance was a wooden sign: [Dream Comes True Cave]

A figure with two lower bodies stitched together passed by the wooden sign, knocking over the [Dream Comes True Cave] sign to reveal another wooden sign that was previously hidden.

[Dangerous Weird Lair, Enter with Caution!]

"Shall we just take the main line to Midnight City?" Katerina asked.

"We can’t do that. The main line at Ghost Town Station is very small, to reach Midnight City Main Station, we need to take a long branch line."

"The branch line isn’t safe..." Katerina frowned and said.

"Actually, it’s not that bad. The powerful weird families controlling the branch lines generally don’t like disturbances on their territory," Puxiu said. "Let’s find Maimai first, then take him together to Midnight City Main Station."

His expression suddenly became downcast.

"And tell him about Daidai’s death..."

"Maimai?" Katerina asked.

Puxiu proudly raised his human face: "A member of my Boy Scout team. It’s a squirrel, a source of Boy Scout intelligence, it should be gathering information in the tavern now."

[Safe Cape Tavern]

Walking a hundred meters along the main line, a sign composed of glowing powder hung in front of a two-story shed house by the roadside.

"Here’s the place!"

Under Puxiu’s guidance, Lu Li and Katerina entered the underground tavern suspected to be related to the Cape of Good Hope Tavern.

The smell of wine and food wafted in the tavern, along with the stench like dead rats. Here, only the fluorite lamps provided illumination, a little dimmer than outside, but also more atmospheric.

Through the gaps in the wooden planks of the shed, one could see figures passing by outside the tavern. There were quite a few patrons, many like Katerina, wearing leather armor as Hunters.

But their leather armor was of a darker color, stained with black-brown dried blood, and their gazes towards Lu Li and the others were full of scrutiny... and covetousness.

Puxiu walked ahead with his tail tucked. The waiter behind the counter, wiping stone cups, leaned out of the counter, mockingly greeting Puxiu: "Our little human is here!"

The patrons erupted in laughter.

"I’m here to find Maimai."

The much more reserved Puxiu walked to the counter, looking up with his human face.

"Of course, but you know what you need to do."

"Yes, I know."

Puxiu left the counter, asking Lu Li and Katerina to wait for him, striding towards the nearest table, jumping onto a wooden chair, then from the chair onto the table.

The patrons cooperatively picked up their cups, giving Puxiu a stage to perform.

Puxiu raised his forelimbs, standing only on his two hind legs atop the table, singing in a crisp, youthful voice: "When we see flowers, we sing loudly; when we see lovers, we whisper softly; when we see enemies, we shout angrily;"

He tried to mimic the dance of stage actors, but with his hyena body, it looked like a comical performance.

But his light, melodious voice covered this up.

"When danger flows from afar, don’t let the flower crown on your lover’s head be stained with blood, raise the long sword, protect our homeland."

The song concluded, and the tavern burst into a frenzy of table-pounding, foot-stomping, and loud cheers.

Puxiu human-like bowed to the "audience," jumped down from the table, and returned to the counter.

"Sung better than last time." The waiter set down the stone cup and said, "It’s upstairs."

"I’ll go get Maimai now," Puxiu told Lu Li, climbing the wooden staircase section by section, disappearing to the second floor.

"What would you like?" the waiter turned to Lu Li and Katerina; he only had half a nose and mouth, but seemed to be observing them.

"Nothing is needed," Katerina replied coldly.

The waiter said nothing, turning away.

The tavern gradually resumed its noise, and during the wait for Puxiu’s return, Lu Li asked, "What is a Curse Hunter."

"A kind of living person not unlike the dead..." Katerina whispered. "Accompanied by venomous insects and curses, I only know they’re dangerous, mastering terrifying curses."

Just then, a scream suddenly came from upstairs.

It was Puxiu’s voice.

"Something’s happened."

Katerina pressed her hand to her eye sockets: "We should probably leave—"

The words abruptly stopped as Lu Li, who had heard the scream, stepped onto the stairs.