The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 540: More Dangerous Every Day

A lamp glowed softly on the writing desk, while a fire crackled quietly in the hearth, filling the shelter with warmth and comfort.

The light spilling from the shelter cast long, winding shadows outside, where the "children" and Jimmy and his sister huddled by the entrance. If an anomaly were to attack, it would have to overcome their living shield first.

Until Lu Li's body and soul achieved their full Radiance, they would all remain in this cave shelter.

The sleeping figure on the bed snuffled softly. Anna sat beside him, gently stroking the black cat curled into a ball on her lap—though she couldn't feel the touch.

In the peaceful silence, Anna suddenly turned to the sleeping man.

“What time is it?”

Lu Li opened his eyes and tried to make out the time on the alarm clock on the bedside table, but the numbers were blurry.

“Two o'clock.”

Anna let the black cat go, allowing it to jump onto the bed. With its tail raised, it circled Lu Li's head, brushing lightly against it.

Lu Li raised his hand to pet it, but he moved a bit too hastily. His arm lost all its strength and fell limply back down, leaving only the ghostly shadow of his hand lingering in the air.It was a good thing Lu Li barely tossed and turned in his sleep; otherwise, he might have accidentally slipped right out of his own body at any moment.

“It's a little better,” Lu Li replied to Anna's worried look.

His recovery was slower than he had expected. In a full day, he had only managed to bind his body and soul a little more tightly together. He would need at least ten more days of rest to stop worrying about his soul suddenly detaching.

Anna gave Lu Li some warm water to drink, which had been boiled earlier and gently reheated by the fire. Afterward, he sank back into a deep sleep.

When Lu Li awoke again, he realized it was nearly noon. Neither Jimmy and his sister nor the "children" were in the cave; only the muffled sounds of cheerful voices could be heard from a distance.

Anna helped Lu Li wash up and eat, then carefully settled him into a deck chair. She extinguished the lamp and moved him to the entrance, letting him get a break from the stuffy air inside.

The rain had stopped during the night. The temperature had dropped noticeably, as if autumn had arrived overnight. Lu Li and Jimmy were wrapped in thick blankets in their deck chairs, while the fire continued to burn in the back of the cave.

In the distance, the sea looked perfectly calm, but ships rarely appeared now. It felt as if they were stranded on a deserted island, not near what was once one of the busiest ports.

Suspended in the black void of the sky, the sun now looked especially sinister, its appearance hard to describe. Looking at it, one heard neither the clicking of a detector nor any whispers—it remained strangely silent.

Anna mentioned that the strange fog receded almost every morning, as if some unseen party were strictly adhering to a special agreement.

Jimmy was still fiddling with the radio receiver. The news was increasingly filled with reports about the strange fog. It wasn't just frightening; it was slowly becoming a regular part of the night, pushing residents further and further from the coast. Many cities had already suffered from its sudden assaults, forcing people to flee deeper into the mainland.

But this forced retreat changed nothing; the strange fog was now encroaching on the interior lands. Just last night, it had crossed Sugard Mountain and was now only about three miles from the Sentry Post!

And tens of thousands of people lived there—locals and refugees from Belfast.

The broadcast reported that exorcists from various regions were trying to find and destroy the source of the strange fog. So far, there had been no news of their progress.

With each passing day since the disaster, more and more cities fell victim to anomaly attacks. The few survivors rushed to warn other terrified cities of the danger. Small towns and villages were hit the hardest; wherever the fog appeared, nothing remained. It was as if these places were wiped off the map.

Gradually, the anomalies claimed more and more territory, becoming the new masters of the land, while humanity was forced into the background.

Only the summit of the Elm Forest maintained its fragile tranquility.

Lu Li listened to the radio, drifting in and out of sleep.

After undergoing the fusion process, Lu Li's body and soul demanded more rest. He found himself falling asleep frequently and at any time, like an old man.

At such times, Anna would gently lift the black cat from his lap and pull the blanket higher, up to his neck.

Sometimes, Remi would tease them with a smile, “You two are just like an old married couple, always taking care of each other.”

While Lu Li rested, Anna left the Elm Forest again, descending into the city for a short while.

There hadn't been any survivors there for a long time—at least, Anna hadn't encountered anyone.

Entering an undamaged shop on a street untouched by the fire, she gathered everything that might still be useful. She left half of the supplies behind, taking the rest back to the summit.

Four crates of canned goods, thirty pounds of kerosene, several sacks of sand and charcoal, and a new set of tools.

The cellar was already packed with canned goods and kerosene, so she had to temporarily stack the rest next to Jimmy and Remi's cabin. As soon as Lu Li was back on his feet, he and Remi would build a shed behind the cabin for tools and firewood.

Now they had everything they needed, except for Deep Sea Stone.

Three days had passed since the destruction of Belfast—their third day of living on the summit of the Elm Forest.

Today was Monday.

In the morning, the Trader appeared, just as arranged.

He climbed to the summit and stacked twenty-five crates of canned goods at the entrance to the "children's" cabin.

It was impossible to fathom how he had managed to carry up a supply of provisions that would have been a heavy load even for a horse and cart.

This time, he brought not only the goods but also the latest issue of the Investigator Weekly and Lu Li's payment.

As a Senior Investigator, Lu Li earned 1400 shillings a week. But in the contaminated zones, this currency had lost almost all its value; food and essential supplies were what mattered most to survivors. Therefore, his payment was issued as 140 investigation points.

Contaminated zones—that was the new name for all lands seized by anomalies. Aside from the Lennon Archipelago, the Allen Peninsula, the Main Continent, and a few isolated coastal wildernesses, which had been largely untouched by the disaster, all other coastlines were now shrouded in the strange fog and overrun with monstrous creatures.

On the map, the expanses of the sea looked as if they were veiled in absolute darkness, and the tentacles of this darkness reached for every patch of land.

“Is it safe here?”

Anna took the newspaper from the Trader. Lu Li didn't start reading it right away; first, he asked the merchant a more important question.

“140 investigation points.”

The price of knowledge was a week's salary.

“Done.”

The Trader's voice, muffled by a grimy scarf, replied, “The forest is protected. Anomalies strip you of your humanity; Deep Sea Stone suppresses it. As long as your humanity is too strong, it won't be easy for anomalies to overwhelm you. Until that changes, the only danger here comes from the creatures of the In-Between.”

“How do we stop the creatures of the In-Between from entering?” Anna frowned.

“You can't.”

Creatures from the In-Between usually appear as projections—like an evil spirit, for example. Since they are only projections, they are not bound by normal limitations.

Walls can protect you from a storm, but not from the cold.

Lu Li's attention was caught by a new term in the Trader's words—humanity.

“What is humanity?” Lu Li asked.

“One hundred investigation points.”

“Why so cheap?”

“It's ceasing to be a secret. Soon, everyone will know.”

“I agree.”

Humanity...

It is called by many names: life force, soul, Hope. It is everything that is the opposite of darkness, gloom, and despair.

It is incompatible with anomalies; to them, it is food and fuel. Therefore, possessing humanity always carries the risk of attracting destructive calamities.

When a defenseless young animal enters a dark forest, greedy eyes will stare out at it from every shadow.

Humanity is the source through which anomalies enter the world.