The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 650: Questions and Answers

Grateful, Adamfiya took the pen and notebook and flew off to the hut.

Lu Li also had things to record. He opened his notepad, the tip of his pen touching a clean page. "What exactly happened in Belfast last night?"

"One thousand investigator points," the Trader named the price. Without waiting for Lu Li's reply, it continued, "The awakening evil god was attacked by anomalies. Its essence was torn apart, most of its followers died, and the released power contaminated the Oak Grove."

Lu Li noted the word "most." "So, not all the followers are dead? Can they still resurrect it?"

"Perhaps yes, perhaps no." Due to the ambiguity of the answer, the Trader didn't demand payment.

"Be more specific," Lu Li said without looking up, continuing to write.

"A negligible possibility, an undeniable impossibility," the Trader answered cryptically.

This meant that the chances of the surviving followers resurrecting the evil god were minuscule.

"Will this affect Belfast?" Anna asked.

"Fifteen hundred investigator points." The Trader glanced at Lu Li and received his answer: "The points are hers, too.""Yes. The unclaimed power will remain in that land until it dissipates. Those who enter it will be assimilated, turning into servants of the evil god."

"And if you just look at it?"

"Three hundred investigator points. Only an attraction, with no effect on one's Mind Level or soul."

"Will the creatures that enter the vortex begin to worship Him due to assimilation?" Lu Li asked.

"Yes."

"So, if too many creatures enter the vortex and many of them become servants, can the evil god be reborn?"

This time, the Trader hesitated for a few seconds before naming a high price. "One hundred thousand investigator points."

Barring any potential inflation, the answer to Lu Li's question was clearly valuable information.

"I agree."

"Faith does not resurrect dead gods. And what the followers resurrect is not the same god as before."

Cryptic and contradictory again. Lu Li clarified, "So, a dead god is dead forever, and even if it is reborn, it will be a new god, merely similar to the original?"

"Yes."

"Will it inherit the memories?"

"No."

It seemed Lu Li wouldn't have to worry about this evil god being resurrected in his lifetime and tracing its way back to the cliff.

His paused pen began gliding across the paper again. "What about the ghosts abducted by Its followers?"

"Three hundred investigator points. Most died, a few escaped."

"And the Rope of Descent?"

"Three hundred investigator points. It vanished, but it did not die."

The Trader had taken the Ghost Prison, so old Miklos was unlikely to have gone there. Perhaps the spirit had returned to its homeland.

"I heard there was another evil spirit in the Ghost Prison named the Evil Eater."

"Three hundred investigator points. The deputy warden of the prison. The followers killed it during the invasion."

"Was its true body there?"

"Fifty investigator points." Since it was dead, the price was symbolic. "The object to which the Evil Eater attached itself became its body. It attached itself to the inner wall of the prison. When the outer layer of Deep Sea Stone was destroyed, its turn came. The wall was breached—and so it died."

That was always the way with evil spirits. Behind their terrifying rituals hid a fragile body that even a child could destroy. That was why they usually hid their bodies in the safest, most inaccessible places imaginable.

The matter of the Ghost Prison was closed. Lu Li asked about something else: "Why is Deep Sea Stone so expensive?"

"Its sealing effect is getting stronger. It can no longer be mined."

The mountain of Deep Sea Stone had been a remote island, far from land, before it was discovered. After its discovery and subsequent mining, it was reduced from an island to a rock, then to a reef, and now it was difficult to even spot from the sea.

"They say it was used to seal some kind of creature," Lu Li recalled, thinking of Tesla's story.

"Yes."

"What did they seal?"

"Five hundred investigator points. An Ancient God, whose name cannot be spoken, whose form cannot be imagined."

This led Lu Li to a new question. "They say the Ancient Gods are kind to humans."

"Most are not kind; they simply do not harm you without reason." The Trader didn't name a price for this; it was free information. Or, to put it more coldly: they are indifferent.

But compared to the anomalies that actively hunted and killed humans, they could indeed be praised as gods—and that was how the churches came to be.

"And the minority?" Lu Li had also noticed the word "most."

"Five hundred investigator points. Those who changed their stance because of your faith."

So, the church wasn't useless after all, at least not in this world.

"Why did they fall into slumber?"

"Ten billion investigator points." The Trader's answer sounded cold due to the exorbitant price.

No one had that many points, not even Lu Li. Apparently, the powers behind the Trader did not want him to know.

"Can I use the Deep Sea Stone as collateral?" This was an important secret, and Lu Li wasn't ready to give up.

"No."

"Why did the creature under the Deep Sea Stone fall into slumber?" Lu Li changed the question.

"One thousand investigator points. Because of enemies."

"What kind of enemies?"

"Five thousand investigator points. The former rulers of this world and beings from the depths of space."

"Why didn't they kill It, but sealed It with Deep Sea Stone instead?"

"It cannot be killed."

Nothing was unkillable. Even worlds withered and died, to say nothing of ancient gods born of this earth.

Lu Li put down his pen and looked at the Trader. "Who is It?"

"Ten billion investigator points."

The price seemed the same as before, but in reality, it was much higher. Even if Lu Li ever managed to accumulate ten billion points, the sum would simply rise to twenty billion, or an outrageous trillion, just to discourage him from asking.

This seemed to violate the Trader's rule of fair exchange, but Lu Li was asking for exclusive information—knowledge known only to them or a select few. Lu Li was not among them.

In the end, Lu Li bought ten stone medallions. That was what the Trader called them, but they looked more like round, unfinished stone blanks.

If he poured water on one and broke it, he could summon the Trader, bypassing the extra step involving the crow.

Adamfiya entered the cave with the letter for Tesla, which she had rewritten several times, and gave it to the Trader along with Lu Li's own letter.

"Did it fit on half a page?" Lu Li asked.

"Yes," the Trader replied.

Lu Li glanced at Adamfiya, responding to her hopeful expression. "If nothing goes wrong, Tesla will read your letter tomorrow."

Adamfiya was overflowing with gratitude, while the Trader asked impassively, "Any more business?"

"Show me the Deep Sea Stone," Lu Li said.

One hundred cubic meters of Deep Sea Stone lay on the slope leading down from the cliff. They were almost perfect cubes, but they hadn't been cut into centimeter-sized blocks.

The Trader said that would take time and would be done by tomorrow.

Lu Li thought for a moment and told the Trader not to cut the stone, and to refund the fee for the cutting.