The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 388: The Seduction of the Mother of the Swamp

Frank figured it must have been a person who knocked him out—if it were a monster, he wouldn't be standing here at all.

After that, whoever knocked Frank out dragged his unconscious body three hundred meters through a monster-infested, deserted city, hauled him down into a cellar, tied his hands, stuffed him into a crate, and then, for some reason, left him all alone. And then Lu Li and JoJo showed up, and Frank woke up.

None of it made any sense.

“Where are we? Is the police station above us?” Frank struggled to get his bearings, realizing he was in a cellar.

“In the cellar of Murphy's Restaurant.”

“Murphy's Restaurant... Wait... How is that possible...?” Frank looked completely bewildered.

“So you don't know where Oliver is?” JoJo asked.

“I'm sorry... We never found him,” Frank replied, his voice laced with regret.

Undisguised sorrow washed over JoJo's face. Before all this happened, Frank and his colleagues had been searching for Oliver. In the entire city, they were likely the only ones who knew where her brother might be, and now Frank had no idea...

“We just lost his trail. It doesn't mean Oliver is dead,” Lu Li said.JoJo's head snapped up, her eyes fixed on Lu Li, who spoke with a quiet calm.

He couldn't imagine how much his words meant to the despairing JoJo.

“He's right,” Frank added, trying to encourage her. “I don't know your brother, but I figure you came here because you believe he's alive. Maybe he's holed up somewhere safe, just like I was.”

Frank managed a smile, but it vanished from his face a moment later.

Terror flooded his eyes, their reflection capturing the image of a woman in a white dress.

The Faceless Shadow had appeared right beside Frank.

In a flash, Lu Li drew his Spirit Gun. His finger tightened on the trigger, but he changed his mind at the last second and hurled the weapon.

The Spirit Gun spun like a boomerang, plunging into the Faceless Shadow's back and tearing out through its chest, leaving a trail of white smoke that sizzled like steam. Yet, the creature remained.

This time, Anna didn't catch the slowing Spirit Gun. After piercing the Faceless Shadow, it smacked Frank across the cheek.

Smack!

The Spirit Gun struck with a loud, painful crack. A moment later, the same vapor began to rise from Frank's face.

JoJo froze, her eyes widening at the sight.

The light warped for an instant, followed by a sharp whistling sound. The Faceless Shadow contorted and vanished. Sparks flew from the stone wall opposite, leaving a new, finger-deep hole.

Anna had attacked.

The Faceless Shadow was destroyed, and this time, the kill was Lu Li's.

The world around him dissolved instantly. Lu Li was plunged into the brief, final memories of the Faceless Shadow.

A woman ran in terror down an alley, a vicious Faceless Shadow in pursuit. Her companions scattered. The woman was almost at the alley's end when the Faceless Shadow suddenly materialized behind her. Her face vanished, and her body crumpled to the ground. The vision ended.

Returning to reality, Lu Li was met with Frank's incessant groans.

“That monster almost ripped my face off! Didn't you kill it? Why is it here again?! My face is burning, like it's being digested in a stomach!”

Frank clutched his face, trying to stifle a scream. The Spirit Gun's impact had saved his life—the Faceless Shadow had already begun its attack, but the imprint of the pistol on his cheek had stopped it.

Lu Li walked over to Frank, picked up the Spirit Gun, and thoughtfully brushed off the dust and bits of grass before holstering it.

It seemed the Level 1 “Death Memory” ability couldn't be turned off; it was forcibly activated.

The problem was, in a dangerous situation with multiple enemies, freezing for a few seconds—or even tens of seconds—was a death sentence.

He needed to limit his use of the Level 1 ability, at least by not using it to land the finishing blow.

Frank's groans turned into a hiss. He could feel something was terribly wrong with his face, but there was no blood on his hands. He looked up and asked Lu Li and JoJo, “H-h-h... How bad is it?”

“There's no wound.”

“It looks like you've been branded with a hot iron.”

Lu Li and JoJo answered one after the other.

JoJo's description was accurate. A network of red, swollen veins covered Frank's face, as if he'd been scalded with boiling water. Faintly visible on his left cheek was the imprint of half a rose—yes, the design from the Spirit Gun.

Because the Faceless Shadow had already attacked Frank, he had absorbed part of the Spirit Gun's damage.

“At least I'm alive,” Frank remarked philosophically, taking his hand away from his face when he realized touching it only made the pain worse.

“The church,” Frank said suddenly.

Lu Li and JoJo both looked at him at the same time.

“What did you say?” JoJo asked.

“If there are any other survivors, a good place to hide would be the church,” Frank declared, his eyes gleaming.

“The Church of the Mother of the Swamp?” Lu Li asked.

Frank shook his head. “No one would dare worship that wild thing openly. I'm talking about the church of God.”

“God won't save you,” Lu Li stated bluntly.

“I know, but the believers might,” Frank said. He wasn't a man of faith himself, so Lu Li's words didn't sound blasphemous, just practical. “The church was built decades ago by the first settlers, the faithful ones. It's a stone building, sturdy and imposing. Back in the day, conditions in the Tenebrae Swamp were awful—the mosquitos were worse than wild beasts—so people used to take shelter in the church.”

“But the church couldn't hold everyone, so the priest at the time decided to expand it, digging out a space underground for the settlers to rest. Even though no one used the basement after Tenebrae was built, everyone knows about it. It's possible someone hid down there when the monsters appeared.”

“It's also possible there's no one left there,” Lu Li said.

Putting aside the Faceless Shadows and other monsters, the evil god's followers among the townspeople would hardly have overlooked such “canned goods.”

“It's the only place I can think of,” Frank sighed.

It seemed Lu Li and JoJo had no choice but to head for the church.

“And you?” JoJo asked Frank.

“I'm coming with you,” Frank said, his gaze firm as he looked at JoJo, as if he'd just made a momentous decision.

“But what about your injury?”

“It's fine. It's just my face. My arms and legs are still working,” Frank grinned nonchalantly.

The three of them were about to leave the cellar when Lu Li heard a faint whisper.

“Wait...”

The small wooden statue of the evil god under the stairs was radiating an ominous, deep violet glow.

As Lu Li stared at it, the whisper echoed in his mind again.

“Come... Take it... and you shall have power beyond compare...”

Lu Li stopped. Under the puzzled gazes of JoJo and Frank, he turned, picked up the wooden crate, and walked toward the statue that was whispering only to him.

Clunk.

The statue of the Mother of the Swamp landed in the crate.

Only a fool would fall for the empty promises of an evil god.