The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 1004: In a Dream Again

Silver Cross Elephant and Mildred Humphrey stood before the anomaly pen, their eyes fixed on Lu Li, who had paused in front of the hut.

Silver Cross Elephant opened his hand. On his palm, a small straw doll stood in the exact same pose as Lu Li.

He calmly focused, sensing the emotions emanating from the straw doll.

The faint impression of footsteps, a maze-like confusion, a warmth like the weak midday sun, and a fleeting sweetness, like that of a fine pastry.

After a brief pause, the straw doll suddenly contorted, trembling in agony as it crumpled into a ball of straw. A searing bitterness flooded Silver Cross Elephant’s mind.

"This isn't what we expected—a struggle, or despair?" Mildred Humphrey asked.

"It's pain..."

Silver Cross Elephant glanced at Lu Li, who stood motionless before the hut, a look of disbelief on his face.

"Why pain?"

None of Lu Li's four Cursed Titles—Beacon, Bloodied, Treewhisperer, or Dreamwalker—were associated with the emotion of pain."Just a little longer—"

The moment Mildred Humphrey spoke, the still figure of Lu Li before the hut began to move again.

Silver Cross Elephant sighed.

"Our turn."

Lu Li watched them approach, his expression impassive.

"An Emerald Dream Potion. It's a Sequence Potion that simulates the Emerald Dream," Silver Cross Elephant explained. The straw doll on his palm had already severed its connection to the now-awakened Lu Li.

"It allows you to relive unforgettable moments... Forgive our presumption. If you knew it was a dream, it wouldn't have had any effect."

"Although, by the looks of it, it had no effect anyway," Mildred Humphrey added with a bitter smile.

The result wasn't what they'd hoped for. Lu Li had indeed felt an emotional shift, but it wasn't one that corresponded to any of his four Cursed Titles.

"Was that world real?" Lu Li asked.

"No... it was only a dream. If you'd like, we can—"

"There's no need."

Lu Li calmly cut off Silver Cross Elephant's offer. While the sudden end brought a pang of regret, it was ultimately a meaningless comfort.

"This isn't going to work... We need to find another way," Mildred Humphrey mused.

Stimulation, or amnesia?

The first might work for many, but it was useless on someone as emotionally detached as Lu Li, who neither wept nor laughed. The second carried too many side effects, and they didn't dare try it on him.

"Death."

Silver Cross Elephant murmured.

"Aside from emotion, only death can force a Cursed Title to awaken."

Stunned, Mildred Humphrey started to object, but then she caught the meaningful glance from Silver Cross Elephant. She understood her old friend's reasoning and, after a moment's hesitation, agreed.

"I have no objections."

"Let's deal with our quarry first. It would be a waste to lose them."

Silver Cross Elephant retrieved his weapon and, with a silent Lu Li at his side, approached the enclosure.

The "hunt" proceeded without incident. The silver crossbow, a weapon of pure force, proved its deadly reliability.

However, as he was about to target the second-to-last cicada cocoon, Lu Li paused.

"What is it?" asked Silver Cross Elephant, who had been observing Lu Li intently.

"It was human."

Lu Li stared at the ichor seeping from the hole left by the crossbow bolt.

"I only see the moment of death for the anomalies I kill myself if... if they were once human."

"Don't blame yourself. For them, this is a release..."

Silver Cross Elephant and Mildred Humphrey exchanged a glance. It was Mildred who had spoken.

The few anomalies, seemingly raised for slaughter, yielded less than half a portion of Humanity. Lu Li was still a long way from the thirty-two portions he needed.

"If we're going to use death to force the Cursed Title to awaken, the March Supremacy Tournament is a good opportunity," Silver Cross Elephant said as Lu Li handed back the silver crossbow.

"Is that related to the Tournament of Ten Powers?" Lu Li asked.

"The March Supremacy Tournament is the Tournament of Ten Powers," Silver Cross Elephant explained. "We just got used to calling it the March Supremacy Tournament because the number of participating factions keeps growing."

"Initially, the March Supremacy Tournament was just a competition between the upper and lower levels of the Academy of Giant Trees. But then the Five Knightly Orders, the Midnicht Council of Nobles, and the Pantheon of Blood Frenzy joined in. As more factions participated, it grew increasingly unwieldy..."

Letting a dozen or so factions fight it out in a chaotic free-for-all was clearly a bad idea, especially since some factions, like the Midnicht Council of Nobles and the Pantheon of Blood Frenzy, were obviously stronger than others.

Having the Academy of Giant Trees split in two or the Knightly Orders fight as five separate units to face them would have created an imbalance.

So, a few years ago, the rules of the March Supremacy Tournament were changed. The Academy of Giant Trees no longer split into upper and lower divisions, the Five Knightly Orders competed as one, the Council of Nobles was no longer restricted to just Midnicht, and participation was limited to younger combatants.

Currently, the factions that consistently participate in the annual March Supremacy Tournament are: the Academy of Giant Trees; the Five Knightly Orders; the Council of Nobles; the Pantheon of Blood Frenzy; the Pantheon of the Web of Conspiracies; the Midnight Church; and the Alliance of Bloodline Families.

The Old Sewer Front, which joined last year, will likely participate again this year.

And the fact that it's being called the Tournament of Ten Powers means that two more unknown factions will be joining them.

"I only know a little," Mildred Humphrey said. "One of the new factions is some kind of pantheon."

"The Midnight Church is participating too?"

"Yes, the Midnight Church has participated in the tournament for the last five years, but they always send the fewest people..."

As the ruler of Midnicht and a cornerstone of human civilization, Midnicht became even more prominent after the fall of Winnelag.

If Lu Li hadn't appeared, people would have surely bestowed upon Midnicht the title of "the walking light of hope."

Not that Midnicht or the Midnight Church needed any more accolades.

"There's still a month to go. I can't wait that long."

And he didn't need to participate in the Tournament of Ten Powers to get close to death. Outside Midnicht, even outside the Academy of Giant Trees, death was everywhere.

Lu Li's thoughts turned to something else.

"Is the Emerald Dream Potion connected to the Emerald Dream?"

"They say it's made from captured fragments of the Emerald Dream..."

Mildred Humphrey recalled a rumor: Lu Li's "Beacon" Cursed Title had manifested when he broke free from the Emerald Dream.

Silver Cross Elephant had the same thought.

"Contact with the entity that grants a Cursed Title can indeed unleash its power... Humphrey."

"I have a spare potion."

Although the Emerald Dream Potion was only number twenty-three in the sequence, the costly materials required to make it meant it was as rare as any of the top-ten potions.

Lu Li didn't take the second Emerald Dream Potion; Mildred Humphrey produced it herself—a vial filled with a shimmering, ethereal light-blue mist.

"What are the side effects?" Lu Li asked.

"Practically none, though it can leave you with a sense of disappointment..." Silver Cross Elephant said.

The Emerald Dream Potion creates a true dream. It is like a cruel executioner, severing your connection to that dream the very moment you are about to experience something beautiful.

A nightmare is hard to wake from, but a beautiful dream shatters the very instant it arrives—

Before Lu Li took the second vial of the Emerald Dream Potion, Silver Cross Elephant asked him to truly feel the dream itself. He was to try, if possible, to release the power of his title within the dream, even if it had no effect.

Lu Li gave a calm nod and swallowed the Emerald Dream Potion.

Sweet slumber awaited.