The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 505: Time to Begin

A few seconds later, Lu Li lowered his arm, but Anna continued to hold him.

The intimacy felt a bit awkward to Lu Li, but Anna's incorporeal form caused little trouble, save for the clicking of the counter.

Lu Li had expected Anna to release him once she calmed down, but many seconds ticked by, and she made no move to pull away. Instead, she lifted her head, her gaze fixed unwaveringly on his dark eyes.

"What are you doing?" Lu Li asked, his tone as placid as ever, as Anna drew nearer.

"I... I was so worried about you," Anna answered, her gaze faltering as she drew back slightly, though she remained close, their proximity still intimate.

"It's over now." Lu Li looked toward the charred ruins of the hospital, which still radiated a faint warmth, and then to the distant silhouette of Sugard Mountain. "Richard is dead. The problem is half-solved."

A thin shroud of mist clung to the mountain's peak.

"Half-solved?"

Looking away, Lu Li answered, "I never got the chance to ask him about the Door."

"So we've lost the trail..." Anna murmured, her voice barely a whisper."Not necessarily." Lu Li shook his head. When Anna looked at him, he didn't elaborate. "Let's get out of here first."

"The coachman is waiting for us by the estate."

"Alright."

Exchanging a few more words, Lu Li left the estate grounds and returned to the carriage, instructing the coachman to head for the Sentry Post.

The situation in Belfast was unclear, and Lu Li wanted to get a handle on it first.

Ten minutes later, they arrived at the bustling Sentry Post.

Most of the refugees from Belfast had congregated here. They filled the streets, their faces etched with fear and despair as cries and sobs echoed through the air.

The carriage pulled up to the police station, which was in a similar state of turmoil. The office was crammed with people.

Lu Li found an officer and was escorted to the sheriff's office. The sheriff himself was preoccupied with a series of frantic phone calls.

"You're not the one they sent to deal with this?" Undisguised disappointment clouded the sheriff's round face, but he still recounted the events in Belfast for Lu Li.

The sheriff confirmed what Lu Li already knew and added a few more details. Repair work at Port Roadster, for instance, had been suspended indefinitely. The port would remain closed until the anomalies generating the fog in the bay were eliminated.

Fortunately, thanks to the strange fog that had lingered until morning and the port quarantine caused by the Gnashers, no fishing vessels had left the harbor, and none had come to harm.

"Have any other anomalies appeared?" Lu Li inquired.

"Not yet. So far, these monsters are only creating fog, but... To be honest, no one knows when we'll be able to destroy them, or how long this fog is going to last," the sheriff replied.

This was precisely why the residents of Belfast, along with newly arrived travelers, were fleeing the city. Beyond the immediate danger of the fog, the simple matter of survival was becoming an equally pressing problem.

Ordinary folk had little money left. Their stores of food and kerosene were dwindling. Factories, shops, and fishing boats were all idle due to the danger. With supply lines to Belfast cut off, prices were skyrocketing, creating a vicious cycle.

The longer the fog lingered, the deeper the despair grew.

Though Lu Li knew this was inevitable, he still fell silent at the news.

Fragile humanity was like a colony of ants, powerless against even the slightest breeze heralding a storm.

Leaving the police station, Lu Li glanced toward the mountain peak. The fog limited visibility to a few kilometers, but he could still make out the road leading to Belfast, choked with a long line of carriages.

"Where do we go now?" Anna's whisper came from beside him.

"Back to the detective agency first."

As Lu Li approached the carriage, he saw the coachman surrounded by a crowd of people laden with luggage, all clamoring to know the price of a ride to the mainland.

Lu Li made his way to the coachman, thanked him, and told him he could return.

Ignoring the crowd that immediately swarmed the driver again, Lu Li headed for the carriage rental office.

Just as he'd expected, every last carriage and horse was already rented out.

"We'll fly back as soon as we're out of town," Lu Li said. There was no longer any point in concealing their abilities.

"Alright."

Just as he had with the Mother of the Swamp, Lu Li had no time to visit Gades, who had relocated to the Sentry Post. After buying an oil lamp from a shop and filling it with kerosene, Lu Li left the settlement.

Once he was certain they were unobserved, Lu Li rose into the air with Anna's assistance and flew toward the mountain's peak.

Below, the few people who noticed the passing shadow stared up in a mixture of awe and fear.

Click... click... click...

At some point, the clicking of the Mind Level counter began to quicken.

Lu Li frowned. He didn't sense any approaching danger.

"Anna?" he called out softly.

The moment he spoke her name, the clicking slowed.

Anna's voice came from beside him. "What's wrong?"

After a brief pause, Lu Li said, "You're being strange."

"Well... ever since I saw you again, I've had this urge to be close..." Anna whispered. "...even if your life force makes me uncomfortable..."

"Why?" Lu Li asked, wondering if this had something to do with the trial.

"I don't know..." After a moment, Anna's voice turned sorrowful. "...I can't control this feeling... I'm afraid I might hurt you."

"You're a great help to me," Lu Li stated.

"Okay."

Anna found comfort in more than just Lu Li's words.

'Perhaps it's worth a try when we get back,' she thought.

Skimming low over the ground, Lu Li rapidly closed the distance to Belfast.

The surrounding fog grew denser, and visibility shrank from several kilometers to a few hundred meters, then to mere dozens.

The flickering torches of the caravan below helped Lu Li maintain his bearings. By the time dusk began to fall, they had reached Belfast.

Anna had intended to fly Lu Li over Agate Lake, but as they drew near, she sensed an unsettling, malevolent aura.

There was an anomaly dwelling in the lake.

Giving the lake a wide berth, Anna delivered Lu Li to Sailor Street.

The usual morning bustle was gone. The streets were deserted and silent. It was impossible to tell if the residents were hiding in their homes or had fled the city entirely.

Lu Li returned to the tenement building, nodding to the residents who greeted him. He retrieved the key from beneath a damp doormat and opened the door.

Creak...

The door scraped against the floor as it swung open. Lu Li glanced down. An unaddressed envelope lay on the threshold.

Lu Li closed the door, picked up the letter, and tore open the envelope.

Inside was a single sheet of paper covered in a messy, almost illegible scrawl.

[Did you really think I was dead, Lu Li?]