The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 581: Anomaly Hunt

The body lay on the ground.

The anomaly was gone, but its shell remained. The dismembered, cold body had not yet stiffened, as if death had come only recently.

Fear and astonishment filled their eyes. They had no reason to doubt the words of the one who had just destroyed an anomaly.

"Please, get us out of here..." they pleaded.

Lu Li glanced at the anomalies wandering in the distant garden. "What I said was only to keep the other anomalies calm. It's just as dangerous outside, and there are no other people there."

The survivors exchanged desperate glances.

"What... what do we do now..."

"Stick together, work as a team," Lu Li said. He asked Gavril York to tell them about the exam scheduled in half an hour. "I'm going to try and leave the university. If any of you pass the exam, I'll take you with me. If not, stay here. Things here are about to change."

These changes were part of Tristan's plan. His sacrifice could not have been in vain.

Some recoiled, while others wanted to leave, questioning Gavril York about the exam's content. But Gavril York didn't know what to expect. Standard academic knowledge? Impossible!In any case, the remaining four decided to stick together to survive the next half hour.

Yesterday's rain had softened the earth. After burying the body, the four of them left the area.

"Where are we going?" Gavril York asked, noticing that Lu Li wasn't heading toward his office.

"Hunting."

"What?" Gavril York stopped in his tracks, but seeing that Lu Li had no intention of waiting, he hurried to catch up. "What do you mean..."

A bad feeling crept over him.

"What are the rules of 'Paradise'?" Lu Li asked without turning back.

"Well... the anomalies pretend to be human, then they find the real humans and kill them..."

"But no one ever said humans can't kill anomalies if they find them first," Lu Li countered, continuing on his way.

Gavril York froze again, but then he resumed following Lu Li. "You want to..."

"Yes."

The kitchen knife and Tristan's sacrifice had changed Lu Li's thinking. He would follow his heart, do what was within his power, and gain humanity along the way.

The rules of "Paradise" cut both ways, and that was interesting.

"The master" didn't forbid humans from hunting anomalies. The truth was simply hidden behind the terror and power of the anomalies.

Lu Li wasn't alone in this. There were surely many others in the royal city hunting anomalies, just without any exorcists among them. The sealed-off Shutes University was an exception.

"Now I understand why I'm just a scholar, and you're an exorcist..." Gavril York remarked after a long silence.

What came next was not for him. Gavril York and Lu Li parted ways in the garden.

Lu Li sat on a bench by a dry fountain, gazing at the inverted city above, searching for anomalies that looked weak and like easy prey.

The massive, phantom-like anomalies were not his targets. They were usually difficult to handle or possessed dangerous abilities.

An emaciated figure wrapped in filthy bandages shuffled past the fountain nearby. In the world below, it wore the guise of a sturdy young man.

Rising from the bench, Lu Li approached the anomaly. "Follow me."

He uttered the words in a low voice and, without breaking stride, rounded the corner of a building. The plan worked—intrigued by Lu Li's strange behavior, the anomaly followed him.

Pressed against the wall, Lu Li listened to the approaching footsteps. The moment the figure appeared around the corner, he clamped a hand over its mouth and plunged the kitchen knife into its body.

The anomaly froze, not reacting.

It had mistaken Lu Li for one of its own kind.

It never thought Lu Li would break the rules and attack.

It felt no pain.

Therefore, it was only when its arms and head were severed that the anomaly realized Lu Li was attacking it. But by then, it was too late.

Lu Li shoved the barrel of "The Atonement" into its mouth, silencing any scream. A few seconds later, a hand reached into the dissipating smoke and caught the falling pistol.

Another particle of humanity flowed into Lu Li.

The ticking from the Mind Level counter stopped the moment "The Atonement" was returned to its holster.

Lu Li didn't bother burying the body. He tossed the remains into the nearby bushes. The dry branches concealed them. Although someone could find them by getting close enough or catching the scent, Lu Li would be long gone by then.

However, just as Lu Li finished and was about to leave, a small problem arose.

"What are you doing, Lu Li?" a mocking voice called out. The portly student who had caused him trouble before approached.

"You can see for yourself," Lu Li replied calmly.

The portly student did just that. He walked over to the bushes and saw the dismembered body... The next moment, his world turned upside down. He saw his own headless body falling to the ground.

A faint sound echoed for an instant, then vanished.

Holstering "The Atonement," Lu Li gave a slight shake of his head. It was hard to say whether it was for the anomaly's foolishness or the problem of disposing of the bodies.

The latter was what truly troubled Lu Li.

The low bushes couldn't hide two bodies. He needed to find a way to get rid of them. For instance...

Dark openings seemed to be everywhere in the city.

At the base of a nearby wall was a crack as wide as a man's arm.

Picking up one of the severed arms, Lu Li walked over to the crack. As if recognizing him, a bony paw with a missing claw extended from within.

Lu Li tossed the arm to it. The paw snatched it and dragged it into the crack. Soon, the sounds of tearing and devouring flesh echoed from the fissure.

A few seconds later, the bloodied paw emerged again, along with several others peeking timidly from the darkness.

It seemed he had found a more efficient way to dispose of the bodies.

Lu Li was like a farmer feeding his livestock. Only this was no livestock, and he wasn't feeding them hay.

Chilling sounds emanated from the crack. The meal had driven the creatures into a frenzy. They began to widen the opening, and more and more bony paws appeared... It seemed the entire wall was teeming with them.

Lu Li backed away cautiously, though the bony paws showed no aggression toward him.

Within a minute, not a trace of the two bodies remained.

Lu Li returned to the bench by the fountain, searching for his next victim.