novelraw Chapter 508: Endless Events
Chapter 508: Endless Events
"Stop your wailing!"
The sharp cry came from a dimly lit window on a filthy, fog-shrouded street.
"Out on the street all day and you couldn't even beg for three shillings, but you demand to eat enough for ten!"
Inside the dilapidated shack, a man was berating a small boy, who was being clutched by his kneeling mother. The boy was sobbing.
The man raised his hand. His wife instinctively shielded the child with her body. This only enraged the man further, and he kicked her. "Neither you nor that brat will get any supper tonight!"
He didn't vent any more of his anger on her. Unlike the useless child, he still needed his wife, who earned a meager wage mending clothes for the neighbors. If she was injured, she wouldn't be able to work.
The furious head of the family stormed out of the bedroom, sat down at the table, and poured himself a full glass of murky swill.
Knock... knock-knock...
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
"Who's there?!"The man glared at the door and shouted impatiently. There was no reply.
"Damn you, if I find out who's messing with me..."
Muttering a curse, the man grabbed the oil lamp from the table and went to the door.
"Hush... it's alright..." In the bedroom, the mother soothed her whimpering child.
"Mama, I'm hungry..." the skinny boy mumbled, lifting his head.
The mother's heart ached with sorrow, her eyes welling with tears. She stroked his face. "It's going to be okay... just hold on a little longer. Soon, we won't be hungry anymore..."
Knock... knock-knock...
As the second knock sounded, the man flung the door open with a crooked grin. "Let's see who... Who are you?"
The smile froze on his face. He stared in bewilderment at the tall, dark figure standing before the door.
A man in an elegant hat, the kind worn only by the upper class or men of status, stood motionless, his face hidden in shadow. He didn't answer the question.
The man at the door had never been patient, especially when his family's entire day's earnings weren't enough for even two loaves of black bread. The stranger's silence angered him, but then he suddenly noticed drops of water trickling from the brim of the hat.
The man froze. His gaze dropped to the wet patch at the stranger's feet.
A gust of wind brought a chill that pierced him to the bone. The man remembered something, and a sense of uneasy foreboding washed over him.
Without another word, he slammed the door shut and slid the bolt.
He didn't even realize his trembling hands were slowing him down.
Knock... knock-knock...
But just as the bolt slid into place, the third knock came, measured and insistent.
Finally having locked the door, the man backed away a few steps, resolving that no matter who was out there, he wouldn't open it again.
And in that moment, he saw a silhouette bleed through the wooden door... the silhouette of the man in the hat.
...
The children's polite refusal didn't surprise Lu Li.
He understood that a distrust of strangers was what had helped these children, whose average age was not even eight, to survive.
Though the youngest among them had yet to learn that lesson.
"The fog isn't lifting. It will be dangerous after dark," Lu Li repeated. His desire to help these children had nothing to do with Richard's request. He simply wanted to.
"Thank you for your concern, but could you give us some time to think?" The girl with glasses, who seemed to be the leader of their small group, nervously chewed on her finger. "You can leave us an address, and we'll come to you in the morning once we've made a decision."
The two boxes of canned food had lessened her distrust of Lu Li, but not enough for her to trust him completely.
"Alright."
Lu Li didn't press the matter and gave her the address of the detective agency.
The girl sighed in relief, glad that Lu Li wasn't pressuring them. But with the relief came a faint sadness.
"We'll come to you as soon as we decide. My name is Vir!" Fearing Lu Li might change his mind, Vir added with a shy smile.
"Alright, Vir," Lu Li nodded and left the room without lingering, followed by the sad gazes of the girl who had brought him there and the other children.
"Why didn't you agree? He's a good person..." a child's voice reached him from behind the closing door.
"He wasn't lying," Anna's voice sounded beside him as Lu Li walked toward the sewer exit.
"As an orphan himself, he ought to sympathize with children in the same situation. Unless, of course, he's an absolute villain."
Thinking of Richard, Lu Li reflected that he wasn't the embodiment of evil. But that didn't change the fact that he was responsible for the deaths of thousands.
"Are you leaving?" The boy who looked like a scout was standing at the sewer exit.
"Yes."
"Safe travels!" the boy shouted, snapping to attention.
"Thank you," Lu Li replied, walking past him.
Sensing the respect in Lu Li's voice, the boy straightened up even more.
Lu Li emerged from the sewer. A cold sea wind greeted him.
"I have a bad feeling. They won't survive the night," Lu Li said quietly to Anna.
He wasn't sure if it was a premonition linked to his abilities or simply worry for the children.
"But they've been living here for a long time," Anna replied.
Lu Li shook his head. "Things are different now."
Just a week ago, the main problem for most people was the Night Calamity.
"What are you going to do?" Anna asked.
Before Lu Li could answer, the flapping sound of wings emerged from the fog, growing louder.
A black crow flew out of the fog and perched on the oil lamp in Lu Li's hand. A small bamboo tube was tied to its leg.
Lu Li took the note from the tube and unfurled it in the lamplight.
[New event in the Belfast region: Bloody Cabin]
[Difficulty: Unknown]
[Information Level: 3%]
[Known Information]
[3%: The cabin itself is an anomaly]
[Investigators in the area are advised to decide for themselves whether to investigate or avoid this event]
The investigator base had reported a new event. But it wasn't the only one.
[New event in the Belfast region: Gnashers]
[Difficulty: Simple]
[Information Level: 100%]
[Known Information]
[10%: The source of the Gnashers is the town of Squinn in the central region of the mainland]
[5%: Gnashers attack all living things, possessing only basic instincts]
[25%: They are infected humans. Their bodies are vulnerable but possess high regeneration. Death only occurs when the heart is damaged]
[10%: Scratches from Gnashers lead to infection]
[50%: The infected do not turn into Gnashers instantly. The transformation occurs in several stages, usually over 1-2 days. During the incubation period, the infected show no visible changes and are not contagious]
[Investigators in the area are advised to decide for themselves whether to investigate or avoid this event]