The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 644: Soon to be the Richest in the World

Anna didn't know how to use a printing press; she had never even heard of one.

But she had another way to stop Lu Li. "I can bring the press here."

"Can you recognize it?" Lu Li asked.

"Then I'll just move the entire editorial office."

If the building was small enough, Anna could simply rip it out of the ground and bring it to the cliff.

"Half the city would see a building flying toward the Elm Forest," Lu Li remarked, looking at her calmly. He couldn't understand her resistance. "I'm not an infant meant to stay in a cradle forever."

"But you don't have to do anything for this," Anna countered, her gaze serious.

Remi interrupted their argument—or rather, Anna's overprotectiveness. "Lu Li, you stay in the shelter. I'll go with Anna to the newspaper office."

"No, you have to stay here and protect Lu Li," Anna rejected that offer as well.

Jimmy was too clumsy, and besides, he had a physical body—not the best protector for Lu Li. As for Adamfiya, she was powerless.Remi shrugged helplessly, feeling they could argue for a long time, but what happened next almost made her exclaim, "Wow!"

Anna suddenly moved closer to Lu Li, right up to his face, their foreheads almost touching. Gazing into his brilliant, bottomless eyes, which shone like black diamonds and filled her entire vision, she murmured softly:

"I'll handle your task. Trust me, alright?"

Lu Li took a step back, pulled out a clean sheet of paper, and sketched the outlines of Belfast and the Elm Forest, marking the highest point of the woods with a cross.

"Even illiterate anomalies will understand this, and it will prevent them from wandering into the Elm Forest by mistake," Lu Li said, folding the map with the first leaflet and handing it to Anna.

Anna replied with her characteristic smile. "Wait for me."

"Be safe," Remi waved as Anna carried the newspapers away. When she was out of sight, Remi turned and headed into the cave to read, an inexplicable warmth in her voice.

Lu Li remained impassive. He tossed another log into the fireplace, only then realizing the fire was already burning brightly enough...

Anna was familiar with the Belfast Daily Gazette.

Under the bookshelves in the detective agency lay stacks of newspapers, including that one.

Anna had wanted to use them as kindling for the kitchen stove, but Lu Li had stopped her, apparently intending to look through them when needed. The disaster, however, had struck suddenly, and the newspapers had been left to gather dust in the agency, forgotten by everyone.

"I could grab them now, if they haven't gotten damp and stuck together," Anna thought.

The editorial office was located at the foot of Sugard Mountain, near the industrial zone.

Chimneys rose everywhere. When the wind was light, the smoke from dozens of stacks couldn't be dispersed even by the sea breeze. And when the wind blew from the north, it was even worse—the fumes would spread across the entire city.

Fortunately, north winds were rare in Belfast. The city officials weren't foolish enough to build factories in a location that would poison the whole city.

But all of that was in the past. Ever since Lu Li had taken Anna from the art gallery, the chimneys had stopped belching smoke like monstrous beasts and had never resumed their work.

"It's hard to believe that just four months ago, I was hiding in a painting, scaring the night watchmen..." Anna mused. It all seemed so long ago now.

And her thoughts were unusually active today.

Perhaps she was happy about her closeness with Lu Li and his subsequent actions.

Even though Anna had no body, nor a heart.

Returning to the present, Anna glanced at the forest of chimneys in the distance and entered the Blackwater District.

The office of the Belfast Daily Gazette was located here.

Shortly after Anna left, Lu Li once again took out the box of rotten meat to summon a messenger—or more accurately, a Trader.

Meanwhile, Remi watched in surprise as Lu Li wrote another message, placed it in an empty envelope, and then carefully surveyed the cave, as if searching for hidden anomalies.

The Trader appeared quickly, awaiting the terms of the deal.

"Do you deliver goods, like postmen?" Lu Li asked.

"Yes," came the unchanging voice from beneath the scarf.

"Including to the Fallow Lands?"

"...That will be expensive."

Expensive, but possible. Lu Li didn't actually have anything to send to or receive from the Fallow Lands—it was merely a test of the Trader's capabilities.

"My cargo is on an island a few miles off the coast of the Oak Grove, south of the Belfast ruins," Lu Li explained in as much detail as possible. "The Deep Sea Stone that makes up the Ghost Prison. I need you to bring it to me."

The all-knowing Trader was, of course, aware that only stones remained there. "It belongs to no one. It's abandoned property."

Clearly, the Trader didn't consider Lu Li the owner.

"The prison warden gave it to me," Lu Li declared. Old Man Miklos had indeed said as much.

Old Man Miklos was not just the warden but the owner of the Ghost Prison—after all, it was his second home.

In normal times, the Exorcist Association, which had built the prison, might have interfered. But even if their organization had survived, they were in no position to care about what was happening on the remote Allen Peninsula.

The Trader fell silent for a moment, as if verifying the truth of Lu Li's words with some unseen entity, then received a response.

"You want all of it?" the Trader asked, acknowledging Lu Li's claim to the stones.

He really did know everything.

"A portion," Lu Li stated, providing a pre-calculated volume. "Deliver 100 cubic meters of Deep Sea Stone, cut into ten-cubic-centimeter cubes, like the walls here."

Lu Li raised his lamp, allowing the Trader to examine the walls of the shelter.

"Transportation and processing: 150 contribution points per cubic meter," the Trader replied.

That meant cutting and delivering one cubic meter of stone would cost 1,500 shillings.

In peaceful times, crowds of laborers would have fought for such a job for 100 shillings.

"Alright," Lu Li didn't haggle, moving on to his next question. "What is the current price of Deep Sea Stone?"

"...1,300 contribution points per cubic centimeter," the Trader paused again, as if checking the price or realizing something.

"And the buyback price?" Lu Li asked calmly.

He knew the Trader wouldn't pay full value. But even at a tenth, a hundredth, or a thousandth of the original price... Lu Li would instantly become the wealthiest exorcist, or person, in the world.

After all, one cubic meter was equal to one million cubic centimeters.

This was a massive transaction. At least, for Lu Li.

"Seventy-five percent of the item's original price," the Trader announced, then quickly added, "But we will not take much."

"How much, exactly?"

"...Ten cubic meters."

Lu Li frowned. "Too little."