novelraw Chapter 485: The Culprit
Chapter 485: The Culprit
Benedict George. That was the name of the first passenger confirmed to be infected.
Shortly after the United Organization took charge of the case, they managed to uncover some information about the young man, a native of Limster in Arumbed County.
Like the other passengers arriving in Belfast, Benedict George had been on his way to humanity's new sanctuary: the Lennon Archipelago.
Unfortunately, the young man succumbed to the disease before he ever reached the islands.
The United Organization's investigation pointed to an anomaly as the source of the infection. Benedict George had been traveling with a caravan, yet he was the only one to fall ill.
However, they had yet to determine whether Benedict George himself was the source, or if it was some unknown anomaly.
Lu Li came to a stop before the "Glanrit". The light from bonfires and torches cut through the fog surrounding the ship, where exorcists stood guard, keeping the cordoned-off vessel secure and preventing the Gnashers from escaping.
Nearly all the Gnashers in the port had been eliminated. Only the "Glanrit" remained, deliberately left untouched.
Inside, there were likely a dozen or so Gnashers still left.
"Be careful of the bits of flesh on the walls. Touching them could get you infected," a member of the United Organization accompanying him warned Lu Li.Aside from those killed in the Gnashers' attacks, many others had become infected through accidental contact with stray pieces of flesh and monstrous fluids. The situation in the port was somewhat better—one only had to be wary of the wooden workers' huts and the ground itself. But inside the ship, within its confined spaces, the risk of contamination was far greater.
"Thank you for the warning."
Under the watchful eyes of the United Organization, the exorcists, and the other onlookers, Lu Li and Anna ascended to the deck and vanished from sight.
...
The deck of the "Glanrit"—the source of the outbreak and an untouched pocket of the infection—was coated in a repulsive layer of slime and chunks of flesh.
Just to be safe, Anna kept Lu Li from touching the deck; he hovered about a meter above its surface.
Lu Li's very presence, which drove the Gnashers into a frenzy, should be enough to draw them out of hiding. There was no need to go looking for them.
The Gnashers did not keep them waiting. Scarcely thirty seconds passed before a distorted shriek echoed from the fog shrouding the deck.
Down in the port, the people tensed at the sound of the Gnasher's cry. A viscous squelching of footsteps drew nearer through the fog. A Gnasher emerged into the circle of light cast by a lamp, only to be instantly paralyzed by Anna's power.
Without hesitation, Lu Li drew "The Atonement" and fired at the monster's immobilized head.
The head, covered in grotesque pustules, exploded. Lu Li was plunged into the vision of its death memory.
Second class cabin. An old man with a cane shuffled toward a door that someone was pounding on, grumbling to himself. He opened it and was immediately tackled by a Gnasher. A sickening sound of chewing filled the air, and the vision ended.
This Gnasher had been infected by another of its kind, not by the original source.
Lu Li's vitality increased slightly.
Lu Li turned to the next Gnasher, drawn in by his scent and held fast by Anna. He holstered "The Atonement," reloaded, and fired again.
The next five Gnashers had also been turned by other monsters.
Considering the "Glanrit" had carried several hundred passengers and crew, seeing the memories of only five Gnashers meant Lu Li still had a long way to go to find the source.
And with so few Gnashers left on the ship, that path might well be a dead end.
The sixth Gnasher lunged for Lu Li, only to be stopped dead about three meters away.
The shrieks on the ship died down. There were likely no more than three Gnashers remaining.
With that in mind, Lu Li fired again and sank into the sixth Gnasher's memories.
Screams and sobs filled his ears.
People scrambled past him in a panic.
Desperate passengers threw themselves overboard.
Some fell, a few managed to struggle back to their feet, but most were trampled by the mob.
Chaos ruled the deck. Passengers and crew fled in every direction, their panicked forms passing right through Lu Li.
This was the scene on deck after the outbreak began, but it wasn't the source.
Lu Li tried to spot the person who would become the sixth Gnasher amidst the crowd, but it was no easy task. His gaze swept across the fleeing figures and settled on the companionway leading to the cabins—the epicenter of the chaos.
As he looked away, Lu Li's eyes caught on something strange, something out of place in the scene.
He scanned the crowd again and found it—the detail that had snagged his attention.
It was a young man with a deathly pale face. He was standing by the railing, calmly observing the pandemonium, a stark contrast to everyone else gripped by terror.
Lu Li's gaze lingered on the man's face for a moment before the vision shattered, returning him to the fog-shrouded deck.
Lu Li holstered "The Atonement," his expression thoughtful.
"Did you find something?" Anna asked, sensing the shift in his demeanor.
Lu Li met Anna's gaze. "Richard was on this ship when the outbreak started."
Lu Li had only met Richard once, but it was enough to commit his face to memory. The young man by the railing was him.
Richard wouldn't have left Belfast without a reason.
Perhaps they had been mistaken from the start. The Gnashers weren't drawn to Lu Li's vitality, but to the Bloody Tentacles within him.
Richard had wanted to use the Gnashers to slow Lu Li down.
In a way, he had succeeded. Lu Li hadn't needed to pass through the port before or after his journey, but his conscience wouldn't let him ignore the crisis.
"Kill it," Lu Li stated. "We can go."
The culprit had been found. There was no longer any point in searching for the source of the infection.
"Alright."
Anna snapped the neck of the last Gnasher, and she and Lu Li returned to the port.
After some consideration, Lu Li told Deputy Mayor Gerard and the others about Richard, omitting the details they didn't need to know. He explained only that Richard was a fugitive, and that Lu Li was hunting him.
Frankly, a man like Richard, lurking in the shadows, was bound to cause more trouble. The exorcists of the United Organization, now armed with the truth, might not be able to catch him, but they could at least keep him from interfering with Lu Li.
And that was enough.
Once Lu Li dealt with the final Bloody Tentacle, whatever Richard was plotting would be impossible to achieve.
With the United Organization's assurance that they would deal with Richard, Lu Li left the port.
Less than half an hour remained until dawn, and the fog was beginning to thin.
But the anomalous fog had still not dispersed.
"Thank you for your help," Rachel and Gerard called out as Lu Li climbed into a carriage provided by the United Organization.
Lu Li gave them a nod and took the reins. The clip-clop of hooves soon faded into the fog.
The Bloody Tentacles on the horizon appeared ghostly and indistinct in the pre-dawn haze. Lu Li steered the carriage toward the last one.
When he made a brief stop at his detective agency in the longhouse, the sailor on watch at the entrance informed Lu Li that a letter had arrived for him.