The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 427: The Crumbling World

The Trader didn't linger in the first-class carriage, but before he left, Lu Li told him about blood types.

Such knowledge could save many lives.

This time, the Trader didn’t award Lu Li any contribution points; he needed time to verify the information.

"It’s a shame your discovery won't be of much help against anomalies. They rarely give us an opportunity for blood transfusions," Tesla remarked, lifting his coffee cup. He paused as if it were strong liquor before setting it back on the table. "How did you find this out?"

"The Mother of the Swamp told me," Lu Li replied.

No one would bother to confirm information with an Evil Spirit, which made her the perfect cover for the truth.

"An Evil Spirit?"

After hearing Lu Li's story, Tesla's prejudice against the Mother of the Swamp lessened. Still, he couldn't fathom how she would know something that could only be discovered through dedicated research—a breakthrough one would expect from an academy or a hospital.

"Her former followers, the natives, made the discovery," Lu Li explained, his face a mask of indifference, as if he were recounting a simple fact. "They noticed that when they tried giving blood from one person to a wounded another, sometimes the blood would curdle and be rejected. So they began testing the blood of every newborn. That way, when they grew up, they could receive transfusions from a compatible person to speed up their healing."

Tesla had no reason to doubt him. He was just astonished that a tribe of natives had managed to preempt the great minds of the academies.Since they were on the topic, Lu Li asked, "What does the organization plan to do about the Mother of the Swamp?"

"Nothing."

Tesla pulled a folded newspaper from his pocket and handed it over. "Events in the Fallow Lands have drawn the full attention of the United Exorcist Organization. Surely you understand that in the current situation, we lack the resources to deal with her. An Evil Spirit that doesn't actively harm people is, strange as it sounds, a blessing."

Lu Li unfolded the paper. The first thing that caught his eye were the bold headlines of the Investigator Weekly:

[The Arrival of the Nameless Ones in the Fallow Lands Confirmed!]

[Fog Spreading Across the Fallow Lands]

[Team of Senior Investigators Missing Near the Fallow Lands!]

[500-Nautical-Mile Sea Zone Off Fallow Lands Declared Anomalous—Approach Forbidden]

[New Calamity Brewing in the Fallow Lands!]

[Danger on the Open Seas Increasing]

[New Epidemic Spreading Across the Main Continent]

[Tenebrae Destroyed, Two Evil Spirits Battle in Southern Shadow Swamp]

The paper was plastered with alarming headlines, any one of which was enough to chill an investigator to the bone.

"That's why I was the only one sent to handle the Tenebrae affair. Most of our investigators have been redeployed to other regions," Tesla sighed.

Lu Li looked up and gestured toward the newspaper. "Sent to investigate these incidents?"

"No," Tesla answered, his tone laced with sarcasm. "They're helping with the 'minor' incidents, the ones that don't make the headlines."

"I always thought your forecasts were overly pessimistic, even as things were clearly getting worse. But now... it seems we were the ones being too optimistic. This world is heading for..."

"Ahem."

A quiet cough from the corner of the carriage, from behind one of the seats, reminded Tesla they weren't alone. He left his grim thought unfinished, changing his phrasing. "...some very difficult times."

Lu Li remained silent, his attention returning to the newspaper.

Aside from the developments in the Fallow Lands, two other major stories were unfolding: a new epidemic on the Main Continent and a nascent calamity, also originating in the Fallow Lands.

First, a strange epidemic was spreading across the central region of the Main Continent.

The story was buried near the back of the paper, easily overlooked—or, more accurately, only slightly more prominent than the Tenebrae incident, which it was placed just before.

The outbreak originated in Squinn, a small, isolated forest settlement that locals called the "Jungle Town." A few days prior, when residents of Squinn made their customary trip to a nearby town for supplies, those they interacted with became infected. In just two days, the afflicted transformed into creatures resembling ghouls. They lost all signs of life and higher thought, attacking anything that moved.

The infection left them terribly gaunt, and even after turning, their strength was barely that of an average adult. They posed a real danger only to unarmed civilians.

However, the sickness spread through bites and scratches, prompting the count of a neighboring principality to dispatch his soldiers.

Although humanity had not seen a major war for centuries, the soldiers' steel armor and sharp weapons made short work of ghouls armed with nothing but teeth and claws.

The epidemic was swiftly contained to just three towns, and the forest where Squinn was located had been cordoned off.

Local exorcists and authorities believed the outbreak was subsiding, and the United Exorcist Organization had already dispatched the nearest personnel to investigate and neutralize the source of the threat.

The second item, "calamity," was a special term used by exorcists for anomalies capable of annihilating human civilization. These events typically affected all known human territories and resulted in catastrophic losses.

Examples included the Night Calamity, or the recently discovered Evil Spirit "Beginning of the End," also known as the plant calamity.

A third potentially devastating calamity was now brewing in the Fallow Lands.

Locals had discovered "it" a week ago in a desert oasis. "It" would awaken periodically, enveloping the surrounding area. Any living creature that made a sound within its zone of influence was immediately attacked by spawn from the In-Between. Just as the Night Calamity destroyed those who lingered in darkness, "it" destroyed anything that made noise.

The day it was discovered, the oasis was declared a restricted zone, but by the next day, every living thing in a village ten miles away was dead.

In just one week, its sphere of influence had expanded from a few kilometers to a diameter of two hundred and thirty, claiming the lives of over sixty thousand civilians and three investigators sent to probe the phenomenon.

Through the Traders' Guild, the United Exorcist Organization had reached the preliminary conclusion that its zone of influence would expand indefinitely, eventually becoming a new calamity on par with the Night Calamity or the plant calamity, engulfing the entire world.

The paper reported that the United Exorcist Organization had dispatched more than half of its legendary agents, along with the Night's Watch and Spirit Hunters, to the Fallow Lands in a desperate effort to prevent the birth of this third calamity.

After briefly taking in this news, Lu Li shifted his gaze to the top left corner of the paper.

The stories of new calamities and ghoul epidemics, which would normally dominate the front page, had been pushed aside by news from the Fallow Lands—or, more specifically, by the "Nameless Ones" who had appeared there.

As he read, Lu Li asked Tesla, "What exactly has arrived in the Fallow Lands?"