The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 618: Entering the Secret Passage

The shadow shrouding Flarand did not lift until morning.

Just then, a piece of good news broke through the layers of dandelions, reaching the besieged city of Flarand: the Safe Corridor had reached the edge of the blood-red mist. Though its path could still shift, the corridor was steadily expanding, and the evacuation plan could finally begin.

The electric lights in the mayor's office gradually dimmed as the power plant workers and exorcists began to return to the safe zone.

The entire staff was preparing for the most crucial task: the evacuation.

Mayor Valentine tallied the numbers he had deliberately avoided until now: the count of Flarand's surviving citizens.

The final count was three hundred thousand people, perhaps slightly more.

A somber figure. Before the catastrophe, Flarand's population had exceeded one million.

The wind-borne dandelions had killed many unsuspecting citizens, while the dilapidated, drafty longhouses claimed the rest. Others had perished after venturing out from hunger or attempting to flee Flarand on their own.

When Lu Li, Anna, and Doreen entered the mayor's office, Valentine's coughing echoed from every corner of the hall.

An attendant brought medicine and water. Valentine took them, raised his head, and said, "There is just one last thing I need your help with."Evacuating three hundred thousand people through the secret passage would take a great deal of time; even by nightfall, they would only manage to get about half of them through. The Blood Dandelions might hide the movements of dozens or even hundreds of workers, but tens of thousands was another matter entirely. Valentine needed Lu Li to remain in Flarand during the day, help bring the last group of survivors to the safe zone, and then, in the evening, travel through the secret passage to guard Anna's corridor from the other side throughout the night.

Lu Li did not disappoint him, agreeing to Valentine's request.

The fence at the edge of the mayor's office grounds had been removed, clearing a path to the secret passage in the garden. Several archways had already been constructed in front of the entrance.

Torches were placed on both sides of the path, and as the archways were lit, they burst into flame, creating a fiery gauntlet.

Everyone knew that letting a single dandelion into the secret passage would mean disaster. Consequently, people were only allowed to carry a few belongings with them. Anyone wearing more than a single layer of clothing was required to remove the outer layers and pass through the fiery archways again for decontamination.

The first group of several dozen citizens filed through the fiery passage and into the secret tunnel. The process took over ten minutes, but as people grew accustomed to the procedure, the pace quickened considerably.

A steady stream of citizens flowed out of the safe zone, passed through the decontamination process, and entered the secret passage.

"Duck and move quickly when you get to the boarded-up fork in the path! Duck and move quickly!" the staff at the entrance reminded each person who entered. Though the fork was blocked and guarded by exorcists, a hidden threat remained.

Lu Li and Anna's task was to venture into the contaminated zone every half hour, retrieve the large groups of survivors gathered by the sweeper teams, lead them to the square, see them through the chaotic decontamination process, and then settle them in the safe zone to await their turn for evacuation.

By morning, there had been no bad news from the secret passage, which was a relief to everyone.

"How much food do we have left?" Valentine asked his assistant, Tom.

"Vegetables and meat are almost gone. We have thirty-six hundred crates of canned goods."

"Set aside six hundred crates and enough for those in the safe zone. Distribute the rest to the citizens still in the contaminated areas. We can't have them losing hope with the morning light."

For Flarand, a city that once housed a million people, thirty-six hundred crates was a paltry amount. It wasn't even enough to feed a tenth of the original populace.

However, at a time like this, the symbolic value of the food far outweighed its practical worth. The canned goods sent a clear message: The mayor has not abandoned you. Keep holding on. Rescue is coming.

The citizens in the contaminated zone, restless since the evacuation began, actually started to calm down. They gathered at their windows, watching the sweeper teams pass through the streets below again and again.

There was bad news, of course. Some residents, unable to bear the wait, rushed from their homes only to be killed by the dandelions. One of the sweepers tore his trousers and became infected. A commotion at the entrance to the secret passage caused a delay of more than ten minutes.

But despite it all, the evacuation proceeded methodically.

The lights from the power station gradually brightened. As evening approached, Lu Li, Anna, and a trailing Doreen escorted a final group of several hundred citizens to the square before heading to the mayor's office.

Doreen went to find her brother, Tom. Mayor Valentine, who looked even more exhausted behind his desk, thanked them and updated them on the situation at the Safe Corridor.

St. Endy had established an observation post twenty kilometers from Flarand to monitor the wind. They had assembled a team of scientists to analyze the patterns: the air current sweeping over the Serma Mountains was heading south, meaning Flarand wouldn't have to worry about a sudden shift in the wind for at least a week.

At the same time, St. Endy had dispatched five squads of the Night's Watch and dozens of exorcists as reinforcements—fully half of their available forces.

They had departed by carriage that morning and were expected to reach the Safe Corridor by midnight. By then, Lu Li would no longer have to fight alone.

Meanwhile, his duties finished for the moment, Tom returned with Doreen. He led Lu Li and his companions to the secret passage, guiding them through a fiery archway near the base of the fountain.

By now, most of Flarand's citizens knew the source of the fire that had twice illuminated the night sky, so no one complained when Lu Li and his companions moved to the front of the line.

"Please, take care of her..." Tom pleaded, his eyes fixed on them until their figures vanished into the secret passage.

...

The secret passage was more spacious than expected.

The citizens shuffled forward in a double file, yet there was still enough room for the staff maintaining order to squeeze past them sideways along the walls.

It didn't seem like it was built merely for evacuation. Perhaps only Mayor Valentine, after poring over countless historical tomes, could uncover the original reason for its construction.

The secret passage was crammed with people, and the air was filled with the sounds of hushed conversations, shuffling footsteps, and coughing.

A fine gray dust, like sand, rose from the floor with every step, filling the air. The torches hanging on the walls consumed what little oxygen there was, making it difficult to breathe in the murky atmosphere.

Lu Li and his companions were the exception. An invisible shield projected by Anna kept the choking dust and murky air at bay. This also made the citizens immediately in front of and behind them move with a certain awkwardness.

"We should have traveled on the surface," Anna whispered. "Coming through the secret passage wasn't the best idea."

Lu Li agreed with her, but it was already too late to turn back.

They followed the shuffling crowd for over twenty minutes. A staff member squeezed past them from behind, reminding Lu Li that the dangerous fork in the tunnel was just ahead.

Lu Li peered ahead, past the endless line of backs, and could faintly make out two figures standing guard.

He glanced back. The murmuring crowd pressed in on them from behind, leaving no choice but to move forward.

Lu Li frowned. He couldn't tell if the sudden unease tightening in his chest was from being crammed into the passage, surrounded by so many people, or from the approaching fork in the tunnel.

Just then, a little over twenty meters ahead, a commotion erupted near the fork.

Over the shouts of the exorcists trying to stop them, several citizens, as if driven mad, charged toward the boarded-up fork. The narrow passage instantly plunged into chaos. People screamed, shoving each other aside. Someone fell. A parent frantically searched for a child who had been pushed away in the crush. The security staff hurried toward the disturbance.

Suddenly, Doreen, who had been standing right behind Lu Li, lunged forward.