The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 570: The Spirit Hunters Association's Conspiracy

"Will it spread?"

Anna already knew the answers to many of her questions, but she still loved asking them, just to hear Lu Li's reply.

"I hope not, but it's unlikely."

The dandelions carried away by the cyclone were only the majority, not the entirety. Perhaps some seeds had clung to the water, remaining on the pavement and in the puddles. Perhaps some were hidden beneath clothing. Perhaps others had already flown into the houses along the road...

Even burning down the entire district couldn't guarantee their complete destruction. It was possible some dandelions had already left this street, scattering to other parts of the city.

All they could do was hope that the United Exorcist Organization had a way to detect the dandelions, or that the seeds would quickly rot and lose their anomalous properties.

In any case, an anomaly invading Ellen Royal City on the eve of the Exorcist Council was a deeply unsettling event.

One could only hope that tomorrow's council would proceed smoothly.

When they returned to the hotel, they found all the guests discussing the anomaly incident on the adjacent street. Many frightened guests had packed their bags and were heading downstairs, intending to get as far away as possible.

"Maybe we should go back, too."In their room, Anna tried once more to convince Lu Li. Of course, she understood the importance of the Exorcist Council, but nothing was more important than Lu Li's safety.

A sudden knock at the door interrupted Lu Li just as he was about to respond. Lilia entered, wanting to know what had happened outside.

Lu Li briefly explained the dandelion anomaly and advised her to keep all the windows and doors in her room shut.

After Lilia left, Lu Li turned to Anna, who had just finished checking that the windows were sealed tight.

"I want to test a theory."

"What is it?"

"Regarding Project Fire."

His speculations about Project Fire had shifted from the realm of conjecture to fact, but many questions remained unanswered.

For instance, what would happen to the exorcists who were not included in the evacuation plan for the shelters?

One could view this from an optimistic, pessimistic, or even a conspiratorial perspective. The optimistic version: the shelters were simply a backup plan for the Spirit Hunters Association, true to the project's name—"Fire"—preserving the seeds of humanity's elite. When the flood receded, they would emerge from the mountains and underground to rebuild civilization on the ravaged earth.

The pessimistic version: the people inside believed they had been abandoned and had no faith that light would ever pierce the clouds after the catastrophe. They had no intention of ever leaving their shelters.

And the conspiracy theory...

The Spirit Hunters Association was as mysterious as the anomalies themselves. Exorcists and the Night's Watch could be found in almost every major city, and investigators were less common but still present. But members of the Spirit Hunters Association were exceedingly rare, and their stance toward anomalies was ambiguous—they were the first to begin using evil spirits and other anomalies for their own purposes.

What if the Exorcist Association, realizing the impossibility of resisting the invasion of anomalies, had decided to compromise?

Preserve the "fire," abandon all resistance, gather all opposing forces under one roof, and offer them up to the anomalies...

Conspiracy theories were called such because they were based on worst-case scenarios and extreme distrust of others. They were baseless, but difficult to refute.

The problem was, Lu Li's assumptions were leaning closer to the last of the three versions.

So, if reality was indeed pointing toward the conspiracy, then an anomaly invasion was bound to happen during the Council.

"Like the dandelions..." Anna whispered.

If Lu Li hadn't happened to stop here, the dandelions would have likely spread uncontrollably through several districts, infecting the entire southern part of the royal city.

"Then why aren't we leaving?" Anna asked, perplexed.

"The dandelions aren't that hard to deal with."

For unsuspecting ordinary people, yes, the dandelions were deadly. But people would soon learn their rules, just as they had with the rituals of evil spirits.

Then, all they would need to do was stay indoors, in sealed rooms, or even just wear clothing that covered their entire body.

No exorcist was foolish enough to die at the hands of dandelions whose rules were known.

"What if the dandelions are just the first wave? Like street thugs starting a fight to test the waters."

"That's why I'm waiting for the second wave," Lu Li replied calmly.

Whatever happened, it would confirm a part of the conspiracy theory: the anomalies were aware of the gathering of exorcists and wanted to wipe them all out at once.

Whether the Spirit Hunters Association was involved or not, staying in the royal city was no longer safe.

By nine in the evening, the streets were far emptier than usual. Nearly half the rooms in the hotel had been vacated as people tried to distance themselves from the street where the anomaly had appeared.

As Lu Li drifted off to sleep, Anna covered him with a blanket, took the book from his pillow and placed it in their suitcase, quietly guarding his rest. If anything happened, she could get him away immediately.

...

By five in the morning, the district was completely cordoned off.

The surrounding neighborhoods were also being controlled by the United Exorcist Organization, but it was city guards, not exorcists, who stood watch at the intersections.

"I think I'm about to freeze solid..." a guard grumbled from beneath his metal helmet at the northern crossroads. "Whose bright idea was it to post us out in the cold in metal armor?"

"Complain less. Those exorcists are in far more danger than we are," his partner replied.

A gust of cold wind made the complaining guard shiver, his armor rattling.

"At least they're not cold."

At the end of the street that stretched before them, they could see a growing blaze.

The United Exorcist Organization had ultimately followed Lu Li's advice and set the entire district on fire to prevent the anomaly from spreading.

Members of the Alliance went from house to house, warning the local residents not to panic and to stay indoors unless absolutely necessary.

Doused in kerosene, the wooden houses ignited quickly, crackling as the flames leaped to neighboring buildings.

Exorcists in protective suits with bird-like masks emerged from the Fifth District, retreating further and further from the advancing wave of heat.

The moisture in the air evaporated rapidly. All the corruption was turning to ash and smoke in the purifying flames.

People stared at the infernal spectacle, the fire reflecting in their eyes as if it would never go out. No one noticed the thin, dark limb silently reaching out from beneath their feet, stretching toward the burning district.

...

Crack...

The sound of splitting wood echoed all around.

The moisture in a wooden wall quickly evaporated, and one of the dandelion seeds that had been stuck to it was set free.

Its fluff was matted, and it should have fallen powerlessly into the mud. But a wave of heat caught it, lifting it above the burning rooftops.

Everything was engulfed in flames, but just as the dandelion seed was about to be consumed by the fire... the raging district was suddenly plunged into dead silence and darkness.

...

The flutter of wings sounded outside the window.

Anna pulled back the curtain. A Black Crow was perched on the windowsill, tilting its head as it looked at her. A bamboo cylinder was tied to its leg.

Anna opened the window and let the crow in. A rush of cold air swept into the room, carrying the scent of smoke from the walls.

Lu Li was already awake. He took the note from Anna and unfolded it.

There was only a single line, written in a hurried scrawl.

[Run]

Unseen, a fog began to rise from the withered fields outside the royal city.