The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 206: The Eve of Departure

Monday, July 13th.

The Bizarre Detective Agency.

"I'm going too!"

Sensing that Lu Li might not take her with him, Anna snatched the backpack he was packing and hid it behind her back.

"No."

Ignoring the missing backpack, Lu Li headed into the bedroom and pulled a fresh set of clothes from the wardrobe.

"Why not! I'm strong enough now!" Anna protested, her eyes locked on Lu Li as he emerged from the bedroom and approached the table.

Placing the clothes on the table, Lu Li extended a hand to Anna and met her gaze calmly. "If you get lost, you won't find your way back."

"I'll stick right by you," Anna replied, her gaze fixed on Lu Li's hand as she reached out with her own incorporeal one to take his.

Lu Li stared at Anna in silence until she looked away, flustered. Then he held out his other hand.Without a second thought, Anna offered her left hand, the one holding the backpack.

The backpack floated behind her, suspended by her telekinesis.

Anna lifted her chin, her clear eyes shining with triumph.

But in the next instant, her triumph turned to alarm. Lu Li yanked her hands sharply, sending the weightless Anna tumbling toward the living room.

Stabilizing herself in mid-air, Anna ignored her disheveled hair and lunged at Lu Li, shouting:

"I'm not letting this go!" she cried, clamping her hands over his eyes.

Anna knew she was incorporeal, so she used her abilities to make Lu Li sway.

"Hee hee hee..."

Anna giggled, but Lu Li's abrupt silence made her fall quiet.

Unable to see Lu Li's expression, Anna assumed he was angry. She meekly floated off his back and stole a glance at his face.

Lu Li's composure hadn't changed. He picked up the fallen backpack, set it on the table again, and resumed packing.

Displeased, Anna muttered, "So why won't you take me with you...?"

"I already told you. The sea is dangerous."

"And you won't be in danger?"

"Better one person in danger than two. Besides, your powers won't be very effective at sea."

"That's not true! If you fall overboard, I can pull you out!"

"And how long could you hold me up?"

Anna was at a loss for words, watching in silence as Lu Li finished packing his backpack.

A bitter feeling washed over Anna. Like an abandoned puppy, she whispered pitifully, "Why does everyone leave me... You, and Mama..."

"I'm not abandoning you," Lu Li said without turning, placing a kerosene lamp and oil in the backpack's top compartment.

"That's what you all say..." Anna mumbled.

Zipping the backpack shut, Lu Li turned to face her. "I won't be gone long. If everything goes smoothly, I'll be back by tomorrow morning."

Though Lu Li couldn't feel the full depth of Anna's attachment, he could understand it. She was an eighteen-year-old girl who had died of an infectious disease and become a ghost. Her family was gone, and the mother she was closest to had died of grief not long after her death. In this world, Anna was utterly alone.

And then, Lu Li had offered her his hand.

"Huh?" All of Anna's despair seemed to freeze in place. She stared at Lu Li, stunned, tears still shimmering in her eyes. "Wait, just for one day?"

"One hundred and twenty nautical miles, a bit of reconnaissance, and then back," Lu Li said. "How long do you think that would take?"

"Um... I... I thought it would be one day, too!" Anna stammered, her reddening cheeks betraying her lie.

Picking up his backpack, Lu Li glanced around the room one last time to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything, then walked to the door.

"When you come back, I'll make your favorite meal!" Anna suddenly called out, her spirits lifted.

Lu Li paused at the door for a moment, then took his umbrella and opened it.

The door clicked shut, and the detective agency was quiet once more.

Anna's expression grew melancholic.

...

The gloomy weather did little to dampen the bustle of the port.

The scent of sweat and fish hung heavy over the damp wooden planks of the docks, where bare-chested, sweat-slicked workers unloaded ships.

A few hundred meters away, at another pier, stood a snow-white ocean liner. Elegantly dressed gentlemen, ladies on their arms, descended the gangplank.

The ship, it was said, had come from the Kingdom of Ellen.

Leaning on his cane, Tesla stood beside Lu Li and introduced two men. "This is Captain Harvey and his first mate, Louis."

"Get that cargo moving! As soon as the passengers from the Eir disembark, we need to unload it!" a passing foreman bellowed.

"An honor to be of service, sir," Captain Harvey said, removing his cap and holding it to his chest.

He clearly knew who Lu Li and Tesla were.

The dark-skinned Louis stood beside him, still as a bodyguard.

"Let's walk," Tesla said, gesturing forward with his cane and starting down the bustling pier. "Fill us in on the details."

"Louis, tell the gentlemen everything."

Walking beside them, straight as a mast, Louis began his report. "All excess cargo and cannons have been removed, leaving only the harpoon gun and a skeleton crew. At this weight, we can make up to ten knots. If we set sail now, we'll reach Atoll Reef before nightfall."

Tesla nodded and turned to Lu Li. "Do you get seasick?"

"Not unless the sea is rough."

By this time, they had arrived at the sailing ship.

It was a vessel nearly sixty meters long. The faded hull spoke of its venerable age, and its masts stood bare, stripped of their sails.

"You can always trust an old salt," Captain Harvey grinned, quoting a common sailor's saying. "So, when do we cast off?"

"Do you have a pen and paper?"

Lu Li's question was completely unexpected.

...

Anna sat alone on the sofa. The detective agency was just as it always was.

But to her, it felt as though something was missing.

Bored, she looked up and glanced out the window. Suddenly, her eyes caught something. She shot up straight and pressed herself against the windowsill—a tiny green sprout was pushing up through the damp earth in the flowerpot.

...

In the ship's cabin, Lu Li finished the last sentence and sealed the letter in an envelope.

"If I'm not back in three days, please deliver this letter to the detective agency."

Tesla looked as if he wanted to say something, but he remained silent. He simply took the envelope with a smile and, escorted by Lu Li and the captain, disembarked onto the pier.

"Fair winds."

Standing on the pier, Tesla removed his hat and waved to Lu Li, who stood on deck.

"Hoist the sails!"

Louis waved a signal flag, and the sails rose one after another.

The three-masted ship slowly pulled away from Port Roadster, gradually shrinking into a faint speck on the leaden sea.