The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 380: Mental Projection

Lightning flashed deep within the clouds.

Standing at the mouth of the alley, JoJo blinked a few times as she watched Lu Li return. "Is it over?"

She could already see the streetlights gradually flickering back to life, along with the lights in the windows of the surrounding buildings.

The alley had once again become an ordinary, dark, and deserted passage.

"It's over."

Lu Li retrieved his Spirit Gun from a puddle, holstered it, and turned to Anna, who was floating slowly toward him. "Are you all right?"

"Not really... Her memories and emotions... it's like they belong to a madwoman..." Anna frowned. The distorted fragments of consciousness had not yet dissipated, and it seemed it would take some time for them to fade.

Anna drifted back to Lu Li’s side. "And you? Are you okay?"

Neither Anna nor JoJo had seen what had transpired earlier.

"I'm fine."Lu Li looked at her in silence, then turned to JoJo. "How about you?"

JoJo sighed and said mournfully, "I'm fine too, but the food is gone..."

"It's not too late to buy more."

JoJo said quickly, "I'll go!"

"Let's go together."

Anna vanished into the In-Between, while Lu Li and JoJo headed for "Huntly's Delicious Steak" restaurant.

Along the way, JoJo thanked Lu Li and asked how he had found her. "Did you see the newspaper I threw?"

"Yes."

JoJo sighed in relief.

Back at the restaurant, JoJo ordered the same meal as before. For Mary's Aunt's sake, the younger Huntly, who was just hanging a "Closed" sign in the window, made an exception for them and even prepared the food with a ten percent discount.

Half an hour later, Lu Li and JoJo returned to Mary's Aunt's house with the food.

Mary's Aunt had been extremely worried that Anna and Lu Li were taking so long to return, and she breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing them safe and sound.

Her relief, however, was tinged with sadness at the news that Anna and Lu Li would soon have to leave.

After arranging to head for the Lennon Archipelago once the case of the missing people in Tenebrae was investigated, Lu Li and JoJo returned to the carriage.

Mary's Aunt stood at the door, her gaze following them until the carriage slowly disappeared into the rain.

...

The carriage traveled west, away from Khimfast.

The fragrant food was laid out on a newspaper inside the carriage.

In the gently swaying carriage, they sat before the spread of food and ate their dinner, almost as if on a picnic.

A few minutes later, the carriage left Khimfast behind, and impenetrable darkness once again reigned outside. JoJo packed away the leftover food and refilled the kerosene lamp hanging on the carriage's exterior.

Finished with her task, she curled up in a corner of the carriage, wrapping herself in her coat.

"When will we get to Roostown?" JoJo asked.

"If we don't have to take any detours, tomorrow morning."

JoJo glanced at her watch. It was still a few minutes before nine.

But it was already time to sleep.

"I'm going to bed. Good night," JoJo said, pulling her coat over her head.

Once JoJo had fallen asleep, Anna materialized beside Lu Li.

She looked unwell, her scarlet eyes resembling dark red magma, flickering with an unsteady light.

"Did you see what happened to her?"

Anna chose her words carefully. "And all those emotions... it was like she had eaten a handful of colorful, poisonous mushrooms... utter chaos..."

These chaotic, distorted remnants of memory constantly assaulted Anna's consciousness. They didn't cause her pain, but they did produce a sickening sensation, much like seasickness.

"Here."

Lu Li took the romance novel JoJo had been reading from his satchel and handed it to Anna.

"Find something to occupy your mind, to distract yourself."

Lu Li wasn't worried that Anna couldn't handle the vengeful spirit's memories. The essence of Radiance, as a mental projection, was to seize the bodies and consciousness of other beings. This was her inevitable path.

What did worry him were the potential consequences: the more projections Anna seized, the more foreign experiences would accumulate in her consciousness.

It was somewhat reminiscent of the man with the endlessly lengthening dreams, yet it was different. That man, no matter who he was in his dreams, always knew who he was.

But Anna could not. All her memories were foreign. If she couldn't maintain a clear sense of self, those other memories could fill the void and consume her.

If Lu Li hadn't dispersed the image and interrupted Anna's possession, she might have been drastically changed after absorbing all the vengeful spirit's memories. Then, Anna would have been both Anna... and that woman.

"Alright."

Anna answered softly, took the book Lu Li offered, sat beside him, opened it to the page where she'd left off, and began to read.

Lu Li used a cloth to wipe the mud and water from his second, third, and fourth pistols, loaded them with silver bullets, holstered them, and then placed them in his suitcase.

After sliding the suitcase back under the seat, Lu Li removed his holster and began to meticulously clean the First Pistol.

The second rose on the Spirit Gun had silently bloomed a little more.

The scene in the reality-warping alley had revealed to Lu Li the ability of the first rose: "Memory of Death." It awakens the deepest memories of a slain creature's soul, just as it had with the vengeful spirit.

Each rose on the Spirit Gun grants a specific ability, and these abilities appear at random—usually related to the creatures killed by the pistol.

However, this ability wasn't particularly useful. "Memory of Death" only activated when a creature was on the brink of demise. In other words, its only function was to show Lu Li the reason for the creature's existence.

After cleaning the Spirit Gun, Lu Li silently clipped the holster to his belt, unbuttoned his shirt, and inspected the wound on his abdomen.

The wound wasn't bleeding or open, and Lu Li simply ignored the itching from the dampness and the healing scab.

Having checked the wound, Lu Li, not yet ready for sleep, unfolded a map and reviewed his route by the dim light of the lamp in the swaying carriage.

He had chosen the main roads of the Allen Peninsula. Though they weren't paved with cobblestones like in the city, the packed gravel would prevent them from getting stuck in the mud.

A cluster of black dots, like snowflakes, appeared on the map. Like a school of fish in the ocean, they drifted apart and then came together again, wandering across the map for a moment before gradually vanishing.

They were just hallucinations, caused by his low Mind Level. Lu Li had grown almost accustomed to these sudden visions: malevolent glares flitting between the rungs of a ladder, the sound of countless tiny feet scrambling under a sofa, or enormous silhouettes suddenly materializing on the road.

They had become a part of his life.

After reviewing the route, Lu Li put the map away and prepared for sleep.

Placing a blanket behind his back, Lu Li leaned against the carriage wall and closed his eyes.

The gently swaying carriage grew quiet. Outside, only the sound of the storm could be heard.

"Thank you for saving me."

At some point, Anna, who had been reading quietly, suddenly whispered.

"What?" Lu Li opened his eyes.

"What?" Anna looked up from her book, a puzzled expression on her face as she looked at Lu Li.

Anna didn't remember what she had just said.