The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 538: A New Home

Children.

Until he knew their true nature, that was what Lu Li called them.

Of the original seven children, only five remained. Lu Li had Anna clear the debris, hoping to find the other two, who might have survived beneath the ruins.

While moving a charred section of the roof, Anna spotted movement in the wreckage—another one of the "children" was crawling out.

Its leg was pinned and injured by a fallen beam. Anna helped it get free, and it limped back to the others, acting as wary as a wild animal. It sensed Lu Li's presence, drawn to him yet simultaneously afraid.

As most of the burned remains were cleared, the pile of rubble shrank, and the intense heat began to fade. Beneath the crimson glow of the embers, more dark, smoldering fragments emerged, their light quickly dying.

—Wait.

Just as Anna lifted another scorched plank, Lu Li stopped her. He stepped cautiously onto the crackling embers himself and retrieved a small object from beneath the levitating plank.

It was a pair of glasses, though only the charred frames had survived. The lenses had melted from the heat, and the soot staining the metal was impossible to wipe away.

With this discovery, Lu Li returned to the street where the children were waiting. They watched him approach, and the largest figure slowly crawled forward.Lu Li knelt beside it and placed the glasses on its blurry, featureless face.

—Your name is Vir.

The moment Lu Li let go, the burnt and fragile frames gave way, crumbling into countless tiny pieces at its feet and blending with the blackened earth.

Vir lowered its head as if about to make a sound, but whatever it was died deep in its throat.

After leveling nearly all the ruins, they finally found a trace of the last child—only an intact, charred skull remained, unconsumed by the flames.

—It's time to go back.

Lu Li said calmly, tearing his gaze away from the ashen remains of Elm Street.

Anna didn't have to force the children to leave; obeying some instinct, they started to follow Lu Li on their own.

Anna wanted to lift them and hurry back to the top of the cliff, but as soon as she tried to pick one of the children up, it began to panic, flailing its now-massive paws and struggling in mid-air.

In the end, she had to carry only Lu Li, allowing the children to keep pace at their own speed.

They didn't get lost or try to wander off. The oppressive atmosphere of the Elm Forest compelled them to stay close to Lu Li, who gave them a sense of security. Along the way, Lu Li watched them closely, but even by the time they reached the clifftop, he could only distinguish three of them by their silhouettes, besides Vir: the second largest one, and the smallest girl.

She was so tiny that, lying on the ground, she barely reached Lu Li's knee. She looked more like...

At the top of the cliff, near the wooden cabin, Jimmy was fiddling with a hand-cranked radio, his monstrous body hunched over it.

—Where's Remi?

Anna didn't see her by the cliff's edge.

—Sorting... the supplies. Can't eat it all at once... she set some aside for later," Jimmy answered, his voice faint, emanating from his human body. "And these... things... what are they?

—New residents of the forest, Anna," Lu Li replied, then turned and added, "Please, go get Remi."

Anna lowered Lu Li into his deck chair and headed for the cave.

—You're a good person," Jimmy remarked unexpectedly, dragging the radio closer to Lu Li with one of his paws. "Can you help me wind... the spring?

Lu Li leisurely raised a hand and slowly wound the mechanism, as if they were two patients discussing their symptoms.

—I could have done that myself.

Remi's voice came from behind him. Taking the radio from her brother, she briskly wound the spring and handed it to Lu Li before looking first at him, then at the strange new creatures.

—Did you call me over because of them?

—Can you try to communicate with them?

—It won't be easy..." Remi frowned, quickly sensing their presence as if she could see right through them. "Right now, they're little more than wild animals. I can't feel any trace of a mind.

—What are they?

—Not minions, just infected mutants. Like those Gnasher things we saw near the port a couple of days ago," Remi explained, baffled as to why Lu Li had brought the group here at all. Then, looking more closely at their short silhouettes, she guessed, "Are these... the children?

—Yes," Lu Li nodded. "Do they need food?

—We'll have to see. At midday, my brother and I can head to the outskirts of the city. If we're lucky, we'll find some weak mutants and bring back their bodies to be butchered.

—We could try giving them some canned food.

—That would be a waste... but alright. Hopefully, they won't eat much," Remi nodded and went back into the cave to get some cans of stew from the icebox.

After opening one of the cans, Remi approached the children. They still shied away from her, reacting aggressively to the presence of a stranger by growling and backing away.

In the end, Remi just left the can on the ground and returned to Lu Li's side.

The children drew near again, attracted by the smell. Vir carefully picked up a piece of meat with its claws, chewed it, and then quickly made way for the others.

Each one got a share, after which there was still a little broth and meat left in the can.

—They don't eat much," Jimmy observed, adjusting the crackling radio. He kept switching frequencies but was only picking up unintelligible static, though he hadn't given up hope of finding a signal.

—Actually, they were just yielding to each other," Remi's gaze softened as she looked at Lu Li. "They intentionally left the last half of the can for you.

—Open a few more cans," said Lu Li.

That way, the children wouldn't have to hold back.

Remi did as he asked, opening four more cans.

This time, the children didn't hesitate, greedily sucking the food out of the cans.

They ate quickly; if not for the narrow opening of the can, their sharp teeth would have finished everything in a matter of seconds.

It was a small relief: the children ate no more than an ordinary person, and the youngest one couldn't even finish half a serving.

Nevertheless, even with such modest appetites, Lu Li's supplies—including the 25 crates he'd bought from the Trader—would barely last them a month.

—I wouldn't advise feeding them human food, by the way," Remi remarked. "For mutants to grow and develop, they need the bodies of their own kind. Even for my brother, human food isn't enough... unless, of course, it's humans themselves.

Humans were the second-best alternative for their growth.

Lu Li didn't argue, simply asking, "In that case, could you watch over them?

—Of course, but you mean..." Remi began, already guessing his intention.

—I'd like them to stay in the forest.

Remi thought for a moment. "We could set up a separate shelter for them near the entrance to the clifftop. Build a small cabin so they'd be close by, but still at a distance."

There was still plenty of open space on the clifftop, but that would make the camp too conspicuous. Besides, Remi wanted the children to guard the entrance—for Lu Li's safety.

Lu Li didn't object. "Just be careful with the trees."

—I remember.