The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 541: Humanity

Anna stored the twenty-five cases of canned goods in the newly cleared space in the cellar, and the Trader departed soon after.

Lu Li lay on the deckchair, "The Atonement" resting on his lap.

The old holster concealed the spirit pistol, preventing the aura of the In-Between from seeping out.

Now Lu Li knew exactly what the "life force" granted by the spirit pistol was—according to the Trader, it was "Humanity."

Humanity was like a campfire: it offered warmth and a sense of security, but it also drew in dreadful creatures, eager to feast upon it.

"Humanity" was perceived differently by anomalies: evil spirits and evil gods considered it nourishing food, spirits of defilement ignored it completely, and those anomalies that desperately needed it saw it as a source of fuel.

When that fuel ran out, such anomalies were forever consumed by the Abyss.

This was precisely why Jimmy was growing weaker. His soul was losing its Humanity—he could only regain his strength by destroying other anomalies or humans... only then would his body gradually recover.

Although Lu Li hadn't had time to ask the Trader about everything, he understood that Humanity was closely linked to one's Mind Level, much like the connection between body and soul.

Increasing one's Humanity didn't necessarily raise their Mind Level, but it did strengthen their resistance to various anomalies—making it difficult for them to cloud one's thoughts.An ordinary person could not follow this path. Humans knew how to use tools, but to change themselves with those tools was far too difficult.

However, it was Lu Li, thanks to "The Atonement," who had a chance to find Hope—he was capable of growing without perishing in despair like most others.

"When are you planning to go hunting?" Anna asked Jimmy and Remi after Lu Li had finished sharing his thoughts.

"Later," Remi replied, guessing Anna's intentions.

"Let me hunt today. You two can stay here and look after Lu Li."

Anna wanted to take "The Atonement" with her—to help Lu Li gain even more Humanity.

It was a good plan, but with one caveat. Lu Li turned to Jimmy. "Can you recover if you don't kill the anomalies yourself?"

"I don't think so... Only if I feed on them myself."

So, Jimmy couldn't use the same methods as "The Atonement"...

Lu Li nodded, agreeing to Anna's proposal. "Just be careful. Don't go too deep into the city, and avoid dangerous areas."

Anna nodded in agreement, took "The Atonement" from Lu Li's lap, gave him a light kiss on the forehead, and left the summit, heading into the city in search of anomalies.

As a vengeful spirit, she would be more than strong enough to handle most of the lesser creatures that had wandered into the city.

Once Anna was gone, Remi frowned and said to Lu Li, "The Trader warned you: as your Humanity grows, you become easier to notice. That's dangerous."

"But if we do nothing, all we can do is wait for the end," Lu Li said, shaking his head.

Hiding and waiting it out wasn't a viable long-term strategy—the contaminated zone would gradually swallow everything around them.

Then people would be forced to flee, hiding like rats in the hope of surviving just one more night.

Remi sighed heavily at the fate of this world, helped her brother, Jimmy, turn on the radio, and returned to the new shed to finish the roof.

Lu Li lowered his gaze and opened the latest issue of the "Investigator Weekly."

Jimmy asked him to read the news first—he couldn't read.

"The main city of the Allen Peninsula, Belfast, has been completely destroyed!"

Just as Lu Li had expected, the front page detailed the catastrophe in Belfast. Along the edges was a grim photograph: the city burning, shrouded in fog.

The paper provided details: the number of dead, the number of survivors, and information about a rescue operation that Lu Li himself hadn't known about. A joint team of exorcists had been sent to search for survivors in Belfast.

"The waiting period has long since passed. We waited until dusk, even as the fog enveloped the surroundings, but no one returned... We don't know what befell them, but it was likely the most dangerous of anomalies. The hope that they might still make it out has not been extinguished," stated Soren, the Night's Watch Supervisor for the Belfast area, who was praying for the team's rescue.

"Unfortunately, an investigator messenger who surveyed the city's ashes at night reported that the entire rescue team had vanished without a trace. Traces of cultists were found at the scene."

"The missing include: Spirit Exterminator Feit Kibi, Night's Watch Sergeant Jeffrey Mata, Isha Gay, Investigator Hubble Lloyd, and Germen Robinson from the Night's Watch."

"Cultists..." Lu Li murmured softly.

Belfast was relatively calm during the day, but not for the mysterious cultists—they were capable of wiping out even well-prepared teams of exorcists from the shadows.

The second story, contrary to Lu Li's expectations, wasn't about other cities—it was about events in the Fallow Lands.

Another great disaster was brewing there—the third "catastrophe."

The article reported that half of humanity's remaining forces—the best agents, exorcists, and demon hunters—had already arrived in the Fallow Lands to investigate and find the source of the new threat.

"Let's hope it's worth it... The world is already on the brink of collapse... cough-cough-cough..." A sharp coughing fit cut Jimmy off. He hunched over in pain, struggling to control the spasms, only recovering after a long moment.

The "children" playing nearby were startled and froze, casting wary glances in their direction.

Following that were short news updates about attacks on various cities—one of which Lu Li took special note of.

"The Exorcist Council has scheduled a meeting in ten days in Ellen, the capital of the Main Continent."

All exorcists were advised to travel to Ellen Royal City, if their safety permitted.

The topic of discussion—joint measures for the survival of the human race.

Ellen Royal City...

It was nearly a thousand kilometers away. By carriage, the journey would take more than half a century, but with Anna's help, he could get there and back in a single day.

However, an ominous shadow hung over the meeting itself, as if whoever was organizing it intended to eliminate all the participants at once.

Lu Li hoped it was just paranoia, because he intended to take part.

He needed to find out what the real situation was and what kind of solution people were looking for.

Just then, Lu Li felt it: the human part of his soul shifted almost imperceptibly—the increase was minuscule, less than one-thousandth.

Without the doubling effect from the malevolent "Book of the Apocalypse," he wouldn't have noticed the difference at all.

After reading the last of the news, Lu Li waited another ten minutes—and Anna returned.

Silently.

With a muffled thud, a humanoid monster covered in sharp, mantis-like bone growths fell onto the clearing.

Its entire body was riddled with holes, yet there was no blood—only dark, desiccated, brittle flesh, like a piece of dried meat.

"I only found two anomalies with physical bodies. One was dried up like this, and the other... was something like the Gnashers..." Anna explained, turning to Remi, who had walked over.

"That's already good. It's more than we had before," Remi said with a smile.

Anna nodded and shifted her gaze to the edge of the cliff, where Lu Li was sitting.