The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 480: The Infected

No one could harm Lu Li.

Anna’s cold gaze locked onto the approaching figure. The very air seemed to solidify, and the creature froze in mid-air, completely immobilized.

The creature was a hideous sight, an embodiment of the most terrifying nightmares. Its body was covered in growths of various sizes, resembling enormous, bloated clusters of grapes. Some, crushed beneath its clothing, had burst, and from the rotting flesh, new growths sprouted.

The growths swelled, ruptured, and regenerated at an incredible rate, transforming into festering pustules and grotesque malformations.

With a look of revulsion, Anna slowly clenched her slender, pale hand. Suspended in the air, the infected creature’s body began to compress, as if squeezed by an invisible force.

The infected creature was gradually crushed into a shapeless sphere filled with a murky, viscous, dark-red fluid from which fragments of bone protruded. Sprays of blood and pus concealed the horrific process happening within.

Lu Li looked away.

While the sight couldn't affect his mind, there was no reason to dwell on it.

The brief delay gave the exorcists rushing toward Lu Li a clear view of what was happening to the infected creature. Several of them stopped short, overcome with disgust.

Sounds of retching echoed around them."What should we do with it?" Lu Li asked the exorcists who had gathered around.

The infected creature, now compressed to the size of a barrel, was a pulsating sphere of murky, dark-red fluid and floating bone fragments.

"Fire will cleanse this filth."

A hoarse female voice spoke from behind one of the bird-beak masks.

While the others averted their eyes in disgust, Lu Li and Anna, along with the "ball of flesh," followed the two masked exorcists to a nearby bonfire.

The bonfire blazed next to a barrier. Beyond it, the sound of the surf evoked the presence of a wide, sandy beach.

Anna guided the sphere over the fire and willed an opening to appear.

The viscous liquid poured down, igniting like oil before it even came within inches of the flames. The fire, like a living creature, surged up the stream of fluid and completely engulfed the sphere.

For a moment, a blindingly bright fireball hung in the air, driving the fog back several meters and illuminating the surroundings.

If it weren't so contagious and disgusting, the substance could have easily replaced kerosene.

As the sphere burned, Lu Li averted his gaze and turned to the exorcists. "If the infected are so flammable, why aren't you using fire against them?"

The exorcist before Lu Li said nothing, her gaze fixed on the burning sphere. The flickering flames reflected in her eyes.

Another exorcist answered him, "We can't just burn down Port Roadster. There's not much time, and hundreds of thousands of people are still waiting for evacuation to the Lennon Archipelago."

Lu Li remained silent.

Fire was certainly a quick way to destroy the infected, but rebuilding a burned-down port would take a very long time.

The exorcist before him turned. The hoarse female voice asked, "Do you remember me, Lu Li?"

"The hut in the Shadow Swamp?"

The exorcist's attire reminded Lu Li of the figure in the bird-beak mask.

"The swamp? No..." The exorcist shook her head and removed her mask. The mole by her eye and her strikingly vivid lips helped Lu Li place her. It was Rachel, one of the four supervisors for the Belfast Investigators. Now, there were only three.

Her presence here made sense.

"You've surprised us, Lu Li," she said. "No one expected you to make Senior Investigator in under two months."

"If I had the choice, I'd have preferred it happen later," Lu Li replied evenly.

The flames of the fireball began to die down, and the fog closed in once more.

The other masked exorcist cut in. "You two can talk later, Rachel. I need to know how that infected creature got in here."

His tone was unpleasant. It wasn't malicious, just arrogant.

"It was one of the infected, hiding among the survivors," Rachel replied, giving Lu Li a pointed look. "What I want to know is why it attacked a Senior Investigator instead of someone closer."

"It must be something to do with me."

Lu Li understood her implication and decided to be direct. "For some reason, I seem to attract them... Are there survivors here who escaped from the port?"

"You want to test that theory? Alright. Follow me." Rachel put her mask back on and moved away from the bonfire.

Lu Li glanced at the dying sphere, now nothing more than smoldering embers, and followed Rachel, with Anna at his side.

As Anna’s power receded, the remaining ashes tumbled into the bonfire, flaring up for a moment before dying out.

"Lu Li? I've heard of you." The other masked exorcist approached Lu Li with a nod. "I am Oldingdon Gerard, the deputy mayor of Belfast. I'm glad you're here to help. And this is..."

"Anna."

"...and Miss Anna."

The shrewd politician knew not to impose. Having made his introduction, he fell silent.

Rachel led the way to the beach where the survivors were gathered.

Only the wide expanse of the beach was large enough to hold everyone.

A minute later, Lu Li followed Rachel into one of the tent encampments set up on the beach.

Moans of pain drifted from the tents. Here, both the exorcists on guard and the attending doctors wore the same bird-beak masks.

"Just in case," Rachel said, offering Lu Li a mask before they stepped inside a tent.

"I don't need it."

Rachel didn't insist. She put the mask away and entered the tent first.

Inside, the wounded lay on cots. Most had amputated limbs. Masked doctors moved among them, cleaning wounds and changing dressings.

Despite their horrific injuries, these people were the lucky ones. At least they hadn't transformed into the grotesque monsters roaming the port, and their minds were still their own.

"Are there any infected here?" Rachel asked.

"I don't sense any Gnashers. They could..."

Lu Li never finished his sentence. His words were cut off by a distorted, guttural shriek as one of the figures on a cot suddenly began to convulse.

But before it could even rise from the cot, the infected creature froze in mid-air, restrained by Anna's power. A doctor cried out in alarm.

Deputy Mayor Gerard explained the situation to the other doctors and exorcists who came rushing at the sound of the commotion, while Lu Li and Rachel observed the infected creature.

The creature's left leg had been amputated below the knee. The wound was treated, but clearly not in time—the infection had already spread. Lu Li’s presence seemed to have provoked the sickness. Growths and pustules began to bubble up on its body like blisters on boiling water.

Anna looked at Lu Li.

Lu Li met the infected creature's eyes. Growths were already beginning to cloud them. He shook his head.

"He's already dead. Destroy him."