The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 444: Farewell... to the Lennon Archipelago

During the day, in the bay, vessels bobbed on the leaden-gray surface of the placid sea, awaiting entry into the port.

A colossal ship was moored at the third pier, and Lu Li and his friends arrived just in time.

The mail liner "Avitanis" was one of the best options for transcontinental travel. Its massive, sturdy steel hull inspired an unparalleled sense of security in all who saw it, a feeling of conquering the boundless ocean.

"Damn it! Chris, tell that blockhead to move his carriage! The beast can't come aboard!"

The port was teeming with people waiting their turn. A crew member, holding onto his hat, shouted as he squeezed through the crowd, passing by Lu Li's carriage.

JoJo, sitting by the window, turned to look. The sailor had stopped a passenger leading a horse toward the loading area and was saying something to him.

"So lively..." JoJo murmured. The last time she'd seen anything like this was years ago, when the queen of the Lennon Archipelago had visited the Allen Peninsula. People had poured into the streets back then, enthusiastically greeting a lavish carriage drawn by eight snow-white horses.

Lu Li scanned the churning crowd and noticed the figures of the Night's Watch at the edge.

In places with large gatherings, they were tasked with preventing the emergence of anomalies.

Averting his gaze, Lu Li took the carriage to a rental office and, along with his friends, joined the crowd waiting for their tickets to be checked.Passengers were divided into three groups based on their ticket class. Lu Li had purchased second-class tickets, located on the upper deck. It was a step down from first class, but significantly better than third.

First class was the only choice for aristocrats and the wealthy. They had priority boarding, and their luggage was carried to the cargo hold by servants.

Third-class passengers made up the vast majority of those waiting in the port. They would be housed in cramped, enclosed multi-person cabins below deck.

Second-class passengers, like Lu Li, consisted mainly of the middle class: doctors, lawyers, or merchants who couldn't afford first class. Though some deliberately chose third class—the price of a ticket there had soared to nearly a thousand shillings in recent days.

"We don't have tickets yet... Will that be okay?" JoJo asked, a little nervously, as she stood in line.

"Second-class cabins allow family members, but for an additional fee," Lu Li replied. He had three tickets—one he planned to give to Daisy, Anna's friend.

"I'll pay for the tickets..." JoJo took off her backpack, preparing to pay the fare for herself and Frank.

She had a rough idea of how much tickets cost now, and all her money should have been enough.

Mery gently stopped her with a shake of her head. JoJo froze, then, glancing understandingly at Lu Li, who hadn't even turned around, she slowly put her backpack on again.

After the shelters were abandoned, shillings had become mere numbers to Lu Li.

Especially after the events in Tenebrae, where the investigation points he had accumulated, if exchanged for shillings, could have turned his fortune into tens of thousands overnight.

As they stood in the noisy crowd waiting for their turn, a gust of sea wind carried fragments of a familiar conversation to them.

"...Captain Rolin regretfully informed me that there are no more first-class tickets. He said Viscount Stan was willing to share a cabin with me, but how could I accept such an offer from that disgusting fat pig? But there haven't been any first-class tickets to the Lennon Archipelago for days, so I had to buy a second-class ticket and shove around here with these... commoners."

Lu Li, who had been looking at the Avitanis, turned around.

The lady he had met in Himpfast and at Baroness Joseph's estate was standing a few steps behind him, complaining to her butler.

It seemed to help her cope with the awkwardness of such a noble personage being forced to stand in this queue.

"It's her..." Anna recognized the woman they had already met three times.

"Yes," Lu Li nodded curtly, turning away to look back at the great ship in the port.

The complainer didn't notice the man she had crossed paths with several times.

After a while, a gangway was lowered from the ship, and the ticket inspection began.

"You only have three tickets?" a crew member asked politely, glancing at the three people behind Lu Li.

"We'll pay for the extra passengers separately."

"Very well, welcome aboard the Avitanis," the sailor returned the tickets and, watching them go, continued checking the documents of the next passenger.

The teak deck, slick with a light drizzle, had taken on a dark brown hue. The quiet on deck was soon broken by the passengers who had come aboard. They left their luggage and returned to the deck to say goodbye to the family and friends seeing them off on the shore.

After leaving their things in the second-class cabin, JoJo looked at Lu Li.

"Go on, take a walk," Lu Li said, understanding her thoughts.

"I'll be back before we sail!" JoJo eagerly threw open the door and rushed out, only to apparently bump into someone. Apologies could be heard from the corridor.

Click—the door closed, and then another knock sounded.

With a wave of her hand, Anna opened the door. A sailor stood on the threshold.

"Excuse me, is Miss Anna here?" he asked Lu Li. "There's a letter for her."

Mery glanced questioningly at the empty space beside Lu Li. Lu Li frowned. "Who is it from?"

Anna was a vengeful spirit and did not show herself to people. How could anyone know she was here?

"I don't know, sir."

Lu Li took the letter, closed the door, and handed it to Anna, who had just appeared.

Anna opened the envelope, her scarlet eyes scanning the lines. Then she folded the letter and slid it back into the envelope.

"Who from?" Lu Li asked.

"From Daisy. It's nothing important," Anna replied.

Anna was a terrible liar. Lu Li watched her in silence for a few seconds, then looked away without saying a word.

The letter did not dampen the joyful anticipation of their imminent departure from the dangerous city. But when JoJo returned to the cabin, half an hour before the Avitanis was due to set sail, there was another knock on the door.

The sailor had brought another letter, this time for Lu Li.

Under the gaze of everyone present, Lu Li unfolded the letter and froze.

"I'm afraid I can't go with you," he said, finally tearing his eyes from the paper. "Something urgent has come up."

His gaze settled on Anna's translucent figure, but she answered before he could speak. "Where you go, I go."

She knew Lu Li wouldn't act without reason. Something had happened.

"But..." Mery stopped a bewildered JoJo. She didn't ask what had happened, only clarified, "Will you return to the Lennon Archipelago after you've finished your business?"

"Perhaps."

"Then wait for me," Mery said, walking into the bedroom. She opened a suitcase and took out a document. "Here are the deeds to the house. There are still some canned goods stored in the cellar."

Lu Li took the documents and nodded.

JoJo also ran into the bedroom, found Lu Li's suitcase, and returned to the main cabin with a confused Frank, setting the case at Lu Li's feet.

She stood on her toes and hugged Lu Li, immediately pulling back from the cold radiating from him. "We'll be waiting for you in the Lennon Archipelago."