The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 624: The Prison on the Sea

Black waves crashed against the rocks at the foot of the cliff, their ceaseless roar echoing day and night.

The mist curling up from the depths of the sea showed no signs of dissipating.

A sea breeze swept over the top of the cliff, causing Enni to sway gently.

— Look, buds, — Anna remarked, standing beneath Enni's tree as she watched yellowish shoots emerge from the withered, gray branches.

— Enni is starting to love you almost more than she loves me, — Anna whispered, running her hand gently along the trunk.

— You're two days late... Did something happen? — Remi asked from a short distance away. She sensed that Anna had become... different.

— Something did happen, — Lu Li replied, glancing at the children frolicking around Amper and Adamfuya. They were the most excited to welcome the new residents.

— This is Adamfuya, Tesla's wife. She'll probably be living here for quite some time, — Lu Li introduced Adamfuya to Remi and Jimmy. He had already told her about Enni and the children on the way.

This meant a third house would have to be built in the Elm Forest.

— Leave it to me and my sister, — Jimmy volunteered. His monstrous body had recovered significantly thanks to Anna's hunting. Having already built two houses, the siblings could almost be considered master craftsmen.Amper showed no interest in a house, preferring the open spaces, the Elm Forest, and... the children. He even let them clamber onto his back and play there.

Anna reminded him not to get too close to the forest trees or harm them, then carried a carriage-load of books and food into the shelter.

After stowing the food in the cellar, Anna wondered where to put the books—the shelter was clearly running out of space. With a bed and table in place, there was almost no room left, and Anna's books would require several shelves.

— We'll leave them in the cave for now, — Lu Li suggested. But not for long... The fragile books wouldn't hold up in the dampness. Perhaps the shelter needed to be expanded, he thought.

The shelter was originally intended as Lu Li's final refuge after the apocalypse, but Anna and the residents of the Elm Forest had created something more: a sanctuary. This diverged from his initial plan.

— We don't have much Deep Sea Stone, — Anna said, as if reading his mind.

— There's a place that has a lot of it, — Lu Li replied. They had used the stone for construction there just as extravagantly as he and Anna had. The Ghost Prison. And it was right on the doorstep of the Elm Forest—in Belfast.

The only question was whether it was worth releasing the imprisoned ghosts for the sake of the Deep Sea Stone, even though Belfast was already a grim enough place.

— Later, during the hunt, I'll look for the prison, — Anna said. Lu Li didn't object, but he asked her only to scout it out, not to get close or investigate.

He remembered Tesla's words: the prison's warden was an evil spirit. Whatever its relationship with humans, it certainly didn't get along with its own kind.

Outside the cave, hammers began to ring. Anna rekindled the hearth, which had gone cold during their few days away, while Lu Li carried out the ashes and scattered them.

Amper lay near the entrance, and the children, tired from their games, had nestled together in the curve of his body as if they were his own. Nearby, Jimmy's monstrous form was erecting a new house next to his and Remi's hut, while Remi herself was crafting shelves for the books.

Returning to the cave, Lu Li saw the potted sprout Remi had left by the entrance. The shoots were no longer reaching upward, as if frozen in time since his departure. Their drooping, yellowish stems spoke of imminent death.

Lu Li placed the pot on the table next to the one they had brought from Ellen Royal City. This pot, which had brought Lu Li and Anna together, had rightfully returned to the clifftop.

Perhaps by morning, new, dew-covered sprouts would emerge.

Soon, Remi brought in a crudely assembled shelf. The bark hadn't been fully stripped in places, but it would suffice for temporary storage.

Anna arranged the books, filling the shelf, and placed the remaining volumes on the table in the shelter. It didn't matter if they would ever be read; the books gave the shelter the atmosphere of a lived-in space.

Then, Lu Li turned to something he had long planned to do—visit his "neighbors," the elms.

His gift was simple: himself. It didn't sound particularly flattering, but the current Lu Li was like fertilizer, a welcome guest for the trees. Wherever he lingered, the elms, steeped in despair, would slowly begin to shift their mood.

Lu Li and Anna walked around the vicinity of the cliff. Although the elms here didn't yet radiate the same friendliness as the trees at the summit, if they walked this path every day, change wouldn't be long in coming.

By midday, Anna took The Atonement and set off to hunt. The construction of Adamfuya's house was nearing completion; the sharp, intermittent sounds of a saw and hammer meant Jimmy was now crafting furniture.

An hour later than usual, Anna returned with her prize: a grotesque shark with nascent hind limbs. Jimmy ate a small portion, and the rest went to the children and the newest resident, Amper.

Anna reminded Amper not to eat the bones—she planned to pile them along the border of the Elm Forest.

— I found the Ghost Prison, — she told Lu Li, who was sitting with a book at the cave's entrance.

— Is it by the sea? — Lu Li closed his book, picked up his holster, and laid it on the armrest of his rocking chair.

— More like in the sea.

To the north of Belfast was the Elm Forest; to the south, the Oak Grove. But unlike the forest, the grove was closer to Belfast, and no high cliff separated it from the coast.

The Ghost Prison was located there. Beyond Moon Bay, at the edge of the Oak Grove, on an island less than three kilometers from the beach. It was a secluded spot—reefs deterred ships, and it was a fair distance from the city.

The choice of location had been controversial: why not build the prison farther from Belfast? People feared that a riot in the prison would spell disaster. The irony was that Belfast had fallen long before the prison ever had a chance to rebel.

Anna hadn't gotten close, but she noticed something interesting: the beach near the prison was covered in fresh tracks. There were signs of felled oaks and a recently built boat. Some group was interested in the island prison and was trying to approach it.

Among the tracks were strange, inhuman ones. Humans and monsters, working together... The only thing that came to Lu Li's mind was heretics.

— Heretics... Why would they need the prison? — Lu Li frowned. Dark deeds were clearly brewing in the ruins of Belfast.

— Heretics don't just worship evil gods. They can be followers of any powerful monster, or even legends, — Sara's memory prompted Anna, who then relayed it to Lu Li, — perhaps their master needs power, or new followers.

And what could be easier to acquire than a group of imprisoned ghosts?